How Tired Are We?

Erin just made pasta and tried to drain it on the counter instead of in the sink. Anthony was watching ESPN in regular definition, not HD. If you've ever seen our tv and know how Anthony feels about college football and the need to watch it in HD, you'll know how big of a deal this is.

Given that we are too tired to make dinner or watch football in the proper definition, it should come as no surprise that we're still too tired to update the blog with actual, written posts. Of course, we know you don't visit for the writing but rather for more pictures of the Nater Tot, so we'll appease your appetite with some more adorable photos of Nate's first week of life. Note: We wanted to take a photo of Nate and his dad in their matching Michigan gear as we all watched Nate's first Wolverine victory, but (1) Nate peed all over his Michigan onsie before we could even get it on and (2) the Big Ten network, which we ordered yesterday so we could watch all the games together, mislabeled the programming so we ended up recording the Penn State game by accident. Next week!

First trip in the stroller: Peds Appt

Milk Coma

Sucking his thumb

Sleepy baby

Chillin'

The Peanut Burrito is Home!

We're finally home!! Nathaniel (Nate) David Gill arrived 12 days late on September 14th at 12:48pm. He weighed 8lbs 2.5oz and is a tall 21.25 inches! He's in the 50th percentile for his weight but a shocking 90th percentile for height. Who would have guessed we'd have such a tall baby?! Needless to say, he's absolutely perfect.

We'll post about labor, delivery, and our time in the hospital later. Right now, everyone is exhausted and adjusting to life at 40 PPW.... In the meantime, here are some photos to tide you over.

Seven Years Ago

On September 13, 2002, to the surprise of none of our friends, we drunkenly and nervously decided that we were more than just friends and that we should risk that friendship and start dating. Perhaps if we'd know that exactly seven years later we'd be heading to the hospital for the birth of our first child, we wouldn't have been so hesitant!

Yes, today is the beginning of the end of Erin's pregnancy. She's checking into New York Presbyterian Hospital - Weill Cornell at 5pm this evening to begin a round of cervidil and will be induced tomorrow morning. This is not even close to what we had planned for the birth, but we know that's just the way it goes. Babies are their own people and don't care that we hired a doula we now don't need or that we spent hours in a natural birth class. At this point, 11 days later than expected, we're just so excited to finally meet our little guy that we don't much care how he gets here - as long as he gets here safely and soon.

Grandpa Meek leaves today at 3:30pm and will miss the arrival of Baby Gill. However, because everyone knows that a grandma cannot be denied the opportunity to be one of the first people to see her grandchild, Grandma Meek will be staying with us until Wednesday. She'll also be a comfort to dear little Birkin who has been spending even more time with Erin than usual (currently lying between Erin and the computer, resting her head on Erin's right arm) and clearly can sense that something is amiss.

And now The Gills are signing off. The next time you hear from us, we'll be parents. Look for an email from Anthony officially announcing the birth. He's also in charge of updating the blog (unless Erin can do so from her hospital bed - and you know she'll try) with photos and video of Baby Gill's first days of life. We can't wait to share his birth with our friends and family.

Love,

Erin and Anthony

T+9

Erin had her third non-stress test today, and the results were the same as the last two - everything looks great. So, unless the baby comes on his own in the next 42 hours, Erin will be admitted to the hospital at 5pm on Sunday to begin the induction process.

Not in Labor Day Weekend

Nothing to report. The baby did not choose to have a sense of humor and arrive on Labor Day. He also refrained from coming on Saturday and causing us to miss Michigan's win against Western Michigan - GO BLUE! However, we gladly would have missed the game had it meant we'd be at home with Baby Gill right now instead of Erin being home alone with the cat and Anthony being stuck back at the office for what looks like another week.

We went to the hospital this morning for a second non-stress test and had identical results to Erin's first test. The nurse was visibly surprised to learn that the baby is 6 days past his due date, as his fluid levels remain very high and he is under no stress whatsoever. Erin continues to maintain a blood pressure that is just barely above "dead," which seems strange to us given that she's feeling extremely stressed out at this point.

After the test, we went to the doctor for Erin's 41 week exam (she is 40.6 weeks pregnant today). The doctor noted some progress from last week's exam, but nothing to indicate that the baby is definitely coming in the next day or so. Erin was concerned that the baby is perhaps too active at this point, since he kept her up with constant movement from 12:30am - 4:30am last night, but was reassured by the doctor that a baby simply cannot move too much - especially when he's past his due date. While it may be uncomfortable for Erin, the aggressive round-house kicks Baby Gill regularly delivers to her right side are actually a good sign that he is still very much thriving in the womb.

Knowing that we are trying for a natural birth, the doctor agreed to allow Erin to continue the pregnancy until Monday, when she will be 41.5 weeks pregnant. Doctors in the US will not allow a pregnancy to go beyond 42 weeks, so a Monday induction is about a long as we can wait to have the baby. Erin will be admitted to the hospital at 5pm on Sunday night to begin a round of cervidil (a drug that helps soften and efface the cervix) and, assuming the cervidil itself doesn't send her into spontaneous labor, as it very well might, will begin pitocin on Monday morning. Erin was very tempted to take her doctor up on the offer to just go ahead and induce tomorrow, but has done enough reading to know that at her current cervical state, there is a high likelihood that an induction at this point will fail and she'll end up with a c-section. The doctor did say that Erin can change her mind at any point between now and Monday and decide to be induced earlier.

Erin is going to try to relax over the next few days in hopes that the baby decides to show up on his own - perhaps when the Grandparents Meek are here, so that they can actually meet the little guy! She's getting a 1.5 hour prenantal massage tomorrow and hopes that it works some physical and psychological magic. Keep your fingers crossed!

Test Stress

In case you were wondering, Erin is still pregnant. Still.

Today, she went to the hospital for the non-stress test and discovered that, not only is the baby doing just fine, he's quite happy where he is and could stay there for at least another week - if not longer. Erin's amniotic fluid levels are high and her blood pressure is a very low 90/60. The baby's heartbeat is strong and regular and responded normally to movement. After administering the test, the nurse was so confident that Erin won't have the baby this weekend that she went ahead and scheduled her to come back on Tuesday the 8th...even though they are completely booked that day. Yes, other people are predicted to have their appointments cancel due to delivering the baby, but not Erin!

So, unless this full moon thing actually has legs, you can all enjoy your holiday weekends out of town and rest assured that you won't miss the birth of Baby Gill! Erin can't tell you how excited she is about this...

Sept 2 - Just Another Day

Well, yesterday came and went...and no sign of the baby. Taking advice that walking can help move things along, Erin walked in the park for an hour in the morning and then spent about 3 hours walking around the neighborhood in the afternoon. As far as she can tell, all this accomplished was making her very very sore.

More walks are on tap for today. Anything to keep busy and out of the house! Erin is meeting with our doula today at 5pm for a stroll around the park and to get advice on natural induction methods now that she's officially overdue.

Erin goes to the hospital tomorrow for the non-stress test and is hoping that the results will at least allow her to continue the pregnancy through the holiday weekend (but also hoping to have a baby before then!). There is a full moon tomorrow night and, according to The Internets and some nurses, the labor and delivery wards go nuts when there is a full moon. While Erin would prefer a quieter night in L&D, if it takes a full moon to get this baby out, then so be it! Anthony is feeling better, so if that's what was holding Baby back, he can now relax and know that his dad is fully prepared to care for him when he arrives.

Baby does need to come on or before Sept 10th, as that's the day his Grandparents Meek are coming to town to meet him. They'll be here through the 13th, and we're pretty sure they aren't coming to stare at Erin's giant belly again...

We'll keep you posted on any new developments!

One More Day? Ha!

Seeing as Erin has yet to give birth, we were back at the doctor this morning for her 40 week appointment (she is 39.6 weeks today). She's due tomorrow, but apparently no one told the baby that. The doctor said that based on today's exam, it's unlikely the baby is coming tomorrow...or even in the next couple of days.

Assuming the baby hasn't arrived by Friday, Erin will go to the hospital for a non-stress test that will determine whether the placenta is continuing to adequately support the baby. The test is routine for anyone who goes past their due date. Erin will be hooked up to a fetal monitor for 20 - 30 minutes to watch the baby's heartbeat and then will have an ultrasound to check her amniotic fluid levels. If everything looks good, she'll get to go home and continue waiting for the baby to arrive! If not, she'll likely be admitted for an induction. If Erin is still pregnant by Sept 8th, she'll go back to the hospital for another non-stress test and will also see the doctor to discuss next steps, including when to induce. Generally, doctors prefer to induce at 41 weeks (Sept 9th) or 41.1 weeks at the latest (Sept 10th). We think that if Erin is still pregnant on Friday and everything looks good in the non-stress test but the baby still isn't showing signs that he's ready to leave his aquatic home, she'll see an acupuncturist. We've heard that acupuncture can be a great way to prod labor to start without resorting to drugs, which we would really like to avoid.

Despite Erin's eagerness to GET THIS BABY OUT, a delay of a few days may be a good thing. Anthony came down with the flu on Sunday and is still feeling pretty under the weather. Perhaps Baby Gill is just waiting a day or two to give his dad a chance to recover? What a nice baby!

Someone else who is in no hurry for our new addition to arrive is sweet Birkin. With Erin on maternity leave for the past three weeks, little Bear has become even more co-dependent than usual and gets quite anxious whenever Erin and Anthony leave the apartment for more than an hour...or even leave her alone in a room for more than a few minutes. She's curled up next to the computer as we write this - rubbing agains the computer and wondering why it's taking all of our attention. Poor little kitty is in for a big surprise! She's also still lonely and missing her best friend, Piper, who passed away from lymphoma in May at the age of four. We promised Birkin we'd get her a new friend, but not until November. New baby + new cat may be too much for Bear to, well, bear.

In other news... You may have noticed that we set up a Twitter account. We've never used Twitter before and may not really get hooked on it, but it seemed like fun and "the41stweek" was available as a name, so we figured we'd give it a shot. No Tweets yet - perhaps when Baby G finally arrives! You can follow us by clicking on the link on the top, right side of the blog or by visiting www.twitter.com/the41stweek.

Tomorrow is D Day. We'll post at the end of the day and let you know if anything happened!