Ready for His Closeup

Clearly he has Ted's hair. We're thinking my chin, and an amalgamation of our noses. His eyes, though you can't see them here, are a lovely chocolate brown.

Epidurals are a Girl's Best Friend

Richard Constantine Leoutsakos arrived this morning at 11:59am, weighing 7lbs 8oz and measuring 20 inches long. We are all doing well. Richard is my father and grandfather's name, and Constantine (Charles) was Ted's father's name.

Live From Halsted 2

I'm here, but, as you might surmise from the fact that I'm still blogging, they have not started my pitocin yet. I hear that's when the fun really starts. It's coming in about an hour. Good times.

D-Day + 6

Well, so much for going into labor on my own, unless it should happen in the next 5 1/2 hours. In a way I feel slightly guilty serving the eviction notice - but it's starting to get really hot here. It was 90 yesterday - that's like 150 in pregnancy degrees. And the research literature suggests better outcomes when you induce at 41 weeks rather than 42 or later. Anyways, wish me luck - we check in at Hopkins at 6pm tonight.

D-Day + 5

And I am still here. Yup. Slept twelve hours last night, which is very unusual for me. I've threatened to start charging Richard rent, but he seems unconcerned. Grocery store, sewing and a long walk are on the menu for today. I took the online test for Jeopardy a few months back - it was super hard and I was sure I had failed, but it seems I passed, and I have an audition (another written test, mock game, and personality interview) on Thursday, July 31 in DC. No guarantee at all that I'll get on the show, but exciting, still. Wes has promised me his copy of the book "How to Get on Jeopardy and Win". There are a lot of topics I'm weak in, like sports. Right now I'm studying US Presidents and Shakespeare, classic Jeopardy topics. This website has archives of all the questions from past Jeopardy games, so it's useful to identify weak areas for me.

Not Richard's Mama (Yet)

Well, we can officially put to rest the "eat spicy food to bring on labor" myth. Just got back from my second go at that at Nacho Mama's. Spicy food at a restaurant with the word "mama" in it should really have done the trick, don't you think? Going to see Wall-E with Ted tonight. It got excellent reviews. Many thanks to Matt for sending me this cool link. Maybe tonight's the night. My theory is that I will tempt the fates by going somewhere where I would least like to go into labor, thus inviting it. Not sure exactly where that would be, but during dinner and/or movie at big mall sounds sufficiently inconvenient. Also, we'll be in separate cars, thus compounding said inconvenience.

D-Day + 4

Screw it. I'm bored, I'm going back to work. I can never get Ted out the door on time, I have no idea why I thought his son might be any different. The good news is I get one more lunch at Nacho Mamas today. Saw Hopkins last night. Not sure what to make of it. I liked the urologist, but I don't think the other two doctors came off very sympathetically. I'm not sure what the overall message was supposed to be. On second thought, feeling a bit tired, maybe I'll see if I can squeak out a bit more sleep. Ted woke me up early this morning - something in the house was beeping... He thought it was the CO detector. Well, I couldn't hardly just shrug and go back to sleep when I was about to be asphyxiated, could I? It turned out to be his phone. Grrrr.....

D-Day + 3

I'm still here, Richard is not. Looks like I will be meeting my good friend Mary Helen for Mexican food again this Friday. Waiting sucks. I can't get any work done, so it's not even productive time. Netflix now allows you to watch movies online and it doesn't affect your queue. Sally Hansen now makes a french manicure kit with a new kind of pen. DIY manicures are really one of the few advantages of being quasi-ambidextrous. Maybe I'll go to work today.

D-Day + 2

And still not in labor. Woke up a couple of times during the night with some really toe-curling contractions, so it seems things may be stirring. Apparently I was quite happy when relaying this to Ted this morning and he thought that was pretty odd - that I was excited to be in pain. I'm just excited to get things going, though.
According to this, spontaneous labor (not c-section, not induced) shows no trend by day of the week, though births overall do. The time of day with the most births is 1pm-2pm. Onset of labor peaks at 1:45am, and seems to be associated with hormonal levels. Births are highest during the fall (26%) and lowest during the spring (24%).

Tuesday's Child?

According to this, Tuesday's child is "full of grace" - that sounds pretty good. Tomorrow's outlook is less favorable, but then again, I was born on a Wednesday and things have turned out pretty well for me. Ted has predicted a Friday birth. It seems he will definitely be a Cancer. According to his horoscope, friends will want to be with him from the 26th to the 29th. Hmmm... I suppose if I have to be induced I will have one more quiet and lazy weekend. This past Sunday, my very nice husband took me for a walk and we had treats at the Old Mill Bakery Cafe. We sat here just like on our first date.

Here he isn't!

Went to the doctor's. I am 1 cm dilated, 75% effaced, and -3 station. What does this mean? Apparently, nothing. My induction is scheduled for Sunday at 6pm.

Today is (not) the day....

So the due date is here and Richard is not. sigh. It's an awkward holding pattern I'm in. Made the curtain yesterday. Need a new project for today. Maybe i will get some good news at the doctor's today...

1 Day and Counting...

Except it seems that the average human gestation is 283 days, not 280. Also, I was two weeks late, which may increase my risk of a having a prolonged pregnancy.
Hmmm...
So, today I'm doing laundry and making curtains. Even though I feel totally fine, I think I'm going to stay home next week, because Friday at work, people kept asking me when the baby was coming, and it was getting a bit frustrating. Also, pregnancy seems to lower people's inhibitions about asking really personal questions. An odd sociological phenomenon that someone should write a paper about.

4 Days and Counting

Still no sign of Richard... I did do a bit of cleaning today, so maybe I'm "nesting", a sign of impending labor. I've been rocking the wii fit, especially the hula-hoop game. Ski-slalom is fun too, but I'm not very good at it. It's also a little disheartening that it keeps telling me I'm overweight. I wish there was a way for me to tell it I'm pregnant.

Seven Days and Counting...

Now we are counting the time left in days instead of weeks. Unfortunately, Richard shows no signs of wanting to vacate his current cramped quarters in favor of his rocket-themed nursery . I'm sure when he's 35 and still living in my basement I'll be looking back on these days with amusement, but right now I really wish he'd hurry up and get here already. I may be resorting to some of these soon.
I am told that according to Chinese Astrology, being born in a year with an 8 is very lucky, and he will be a "rat", which contrary to the western connotation, is also auspicious, rats being known for their quick wit, charm, and excellent taste (think Ratatouille).
Unpacked the wii and wii fit today - that, along with Dance Dance Revolution will hopefully help me lose the baby weight.