Abigail's birth story

This is a long, detailed post so feel free to skip over if you are not into birth stories.

Eric and I fully expected our baby girl to show up a week or two late.  My mother and my sisters had all their babies late so I was convinced it would be the same for me. When things started happening the Wednesday (June 6) before my due date (on Sunday), it definitely caught us by surprise. Eric and I had stayed up later than usual that night, I think he was studying and I was just staying up with him.  We were climbing into bed at 11:45pm, when I felt liquid between my legs.  My first thought was that I had lost bladder control and wet myself.  I started to stand up and the liquid started coming out even faster, and I suddenly realized that this was my water breaking. I was completely in shock.  I made my way into the bathroom but just stood there over the rug staring down, not believing this was happening. After at least 30 seconds, I finally had the sense of mind to stop soaking our rug and cleaned up.  The fluid continued to trickle and come out in small gushes over the next several hours. 

As it started to hit us that our baby was on her way, the first thing I thought was, we aren't ready! We had all the big stuff ready to go, but hadn't finished the last minute preparations yet – the fridge was pretty much empty, carseat hadn't been checked yet, I hadn't sewn my cloth wipes, etc...  Despite all these thoughts, we also realized that we needed to try to get some sleep since the next day was going to be a long one for sure.  We tried to calm down.  Of course, neither of us could sleep very well - too many thoughts going through our heads. And the contractions started coming at about 12:20am. At first they felt just a bit stronger than the Braxton-hicks I had been feeling. Gradually they grew more intense to the point that it was hard to try to lay down through them. By 3:30am they were about 10 minutes apart, so I was continually getting up to lean over the bed or sitting on the toilet to make it through the contractions.  I also kept needing to go to the bathroom.  In the early morning hours, some thick, pinkish stuff came out with the trickling fluid.  Maybe this was the mucus plug?  It wasn't until 4:30am that I was finally able to lie down and doze off a little between contractions.

When morning finally came, I called the midwife on call to let her know my water had broke and to find out what she wanted us to do. She asked a few questions and then told me to call back after 8am since the midwife would be changing, but she let me know that we would be coming in to the birth center sometime that morning to be checked.  As we waited an hour, we got dressed, pausing for the contractions which were about 7 minutes apart at this point.  I was absolutely starving so we ate some breakfast (home-made yogurt with granola and fruit!), knowing we would need the nourishment.  At 8:30am I called the midwife, who told us to come in at noon and they would check to confirm that my water did break and see how far I had progressed by that point.  That was actually sooner than Eric and I had thought we would be going in.

Knowing what time we had, Eric and I started to get things ready.  We called my mom to let her know that I was in labor since she was planning on driving down from Fontana to be there for the birth.  We all figured the labor would last the whole day so she said she wouldn’t start the 2 hour drive until the afternoon. Eric and I started putting the last few things in the labor bag and prepared all the snacks and food to take with us.  This basically turned into a frantic rush to see how many graham crackers we could spread with peanut butter before we ran out of time.  Luckily, we had a bit of a leftover noodle dish that we brought with us for the after birth meal.

Me sewing the heating pad between contractions

At 9:50am the contractions started coming faster, stronger, and more painful, about 5 minutes apart. My back was killing me during each contraction. We tried different positions to ease the pain, but it was mostly kneeling and leaning over our birth ball or the couch with Eric pushing on my back. It helped some.  I started regretting that I had not gotten around to making the rice heating pad that was on my to-do list.  Amazingly, I decided I could make one right then - it could be my ‘labor project.’ So Eric got out the sewing machine and the rice.  In between contractions, I sat down and sewed.  When a contraction started coming, I would get up and lean on Eric or the birth ball.  Luckily, it was a super easy sewing project, so it didn’t take too many contractions to make.  And, once it was done, oh my how amazing it felt on my back!  Definitely worth it!  I think Eric also appreciated the break from having to push so hard on my back.

About to leave for the birth center!  (still smiling)

Just arriving at the birth center (luckily only 5 blocks from our home)

Throughout the whole morning, the contractions kept progressing, but I still felt pretty good – still able to laugh at all of Eric’s jokes in between.  The morning seemed to go by quickly and, before I knew it, it was time to head to the birth center. Thankfully, we were able to find close parking – there is no parking lot, just street parking, so we usually have to park a few blocks away. We made our way slowly to the birth center, having to stop a few times to get through contractions. When we finally met with the midwife, I must have looked very calm (not in heavy labor) to her, because she was ready to send us off for a couple more hours to walk around the park.  When she checked, though, I was dilated to a 5!  That meant we were staying!

Since my water had broken, I had to do fetal heart rate monitoring for about 20 minutes.  This was the only time during the whole labor that I had to sit still in one spot and be hooked up to something.  It was awful – the contractions felt so much more painful!  I don’t think the midwife (Britta) even kept me hooked up for the full time because she could tell I was so uncomfortable.  Baby girl was just fine, so we headed upstairs to our room.  (One of the reasons we were excited about giving birth at this birth center was the rooms.  We had a full bedroom, a bathroom, a large bathtub room, and a waiting room all to ourselves!  And it was all decorated in a cute, vintage fashion!)  We checked in just after noon.

In the downstairs bedroom at the birth center upon first arrival

We were looking forward to a water birth, but I wasn't far enough along to get in the tub yet, so we opted for the shower to help relieve some of that back pain. I sat on a chair in the shower and Eric sprayed water on my lower back.  It felt amazing!  That is, it felt amazing when the water was warm.  Eric couldn't quite figure out the temperature, so it kept going back and forth between warm and cold.  I didn't stay there very long.  For the next couple hours, I went back and forth between using the birth ball, leaning on Eric, and sitting on the toilet.  The whole time I felt like I needed to poop, a feeling that became stronger as the time went on.  I mentioned this to the midwife and she said it was likely due to the baby's head getting lower. 

She checked me again at 2:00pm, and we were all surprised to hear that I was already dilated to a 10. Wasn’t I supposed to go through transition and super horrible, intense contractions?  I definitely couldn’t pinpoint any point that felt like that.  My contractions had been continually getting stronger, but not like I was expecting.  And here we were, ready to push!  The midwife said the baby was really low down and that she would likely be here in about half an hour, especially considering how fast I had already progressed. 

That was exciting to hear! I was almost there!  I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this isn’t so bad!’  I got into the tub, and the water felt so nice.  Eric was calling my mom, letting her know I was already pushing.  She was still 45 minutes away so we weren't sure if she would make it in time. The midwife’s assistant was still an hour away as well.

In the beginning, I definitely was unsure how I was supposed to push.  I had heard it is supposed to be instinctual, and I felt like I needed to push but just didn’t know how to do it.  My first few pushes were very ineffective and unsure. The midwife could tell and coached me through how to do it until I got the hang of it. After each push, the midwife checked the baby’s heartbeat with a Doppler to make sure she was okay.

Time started passing.  Next thing I knew, both my mom and the assistant midwife were there.  And I was feeling really tired. They kept giving me this juice drink to keep me hydrated, which I was definitely not interested in by that point. I kept pushing contraction after contraction, but after a couple of  hours I hadn't made any real progress.

From then on for the next several hours, it was trying one position after another, looking for one that would work for me. We tried side-lying on the bed for a while, hands and knees, squatting, hanging onto a rebozo scarf, etc.  Nothing seemed to be working. After about 3-4 hours, I was so exhausted. I couldn’t understand why the baby wouldn’t just come out already! Her head was very low this entire time. Everybody was getting pretty tired, especially since we didn't know why the pushing hadn't progressed farther.

The midwife (who, by the way, was super amazing, encouraging and patient the whole time) had me move back to the tub to relax while she called her colleagues for advice. Right before moving back to the tub, Eric gave me a priesthood blessing.  The midwife came back and told me she was a bit concerned with how slowly it was going and that I might need to consider being transferred to a hospital since they didn't have the equipment to perform any procedures to help the baby come out at the birth center. She was worried that maybe my pelvic bones were just too small for the baby to fit through (even though she could tell the baby was a smallish baby). However, she still gave me the choice to keep trying at the birth center for a little longer if I wanted.  She knew that we had worked hard and prepared to give birth there.  I decided to keep trying.

So she made me a protein shake to try to give me some energy back and she called a couple of the other midwives to come help, and we got going again.  That little break definitely gave me a burst of energy. I was hoping (an understatement) we could get the baby out soon.  I pushed as hard as I could each time, asking baby girl to come, and just telling myself over and over that I could do it.  Honestly, I wasn’t sure that I could do it by that point.  I was so tired of pushing, it hurt so much, and it didn’t seem to be making any difference. I was trying to reach as deep as I could for the strength each time and tried to give it my all. 

This whole time, Eric was amazing.  He stayed right by me, comforting me, telling me I was doing great, and helping with all the different positions.  I can only imagine how horrible I looked at this point. I sure felt awful.  The assistant midwife and my mom kept putting cool washcloths on my head and chest which felt amazing. The midwives were also incredible.  They were so encouraging and positive. When I would say, ‘I can do this.’ They would say, ‘you are doing this.’ They talked softly which was so calming. They stayed right next to me throughout the entire pushing phase, lending me their shoulders so that I could push against them with my feet.  I'm sure they needed some therapy themselves after bruises I gave them!

Each time they asked me to change positions, it was so hard to even move. I could feel baby girl’s head down there and walking was really uncomfortable.  I’m not sure what time she started crowning, but it was soon after I got out of the water the second time.  When they told me she was crowning, I felt so relieved – I was finally getting somewhere!  Unfortunately, for me that didn't mean we were getting anywhere fast.  From the time baby girl started crowning to when she came out was about 3 hours.  When she first started to crown, I got to reach down and feel the top of her head.  That was of course, amazing, but I was also so completely out of it because of the pain and super exhausted that I didn't appreciate how wonderful that was at the time.  I really couldn't focus on anything else at that point.

A couple more hours passed, and by this point we now had four midwives with us.  Again, they broached the possibility of needing to go to the hospital.  They reminded me that I would not have failed if I did have to go in. I knew this, but we were so close!  I did not want to have to give up.  I also did not know how they expected me to move anywhere. Going anywhere sounded like the worst idea ever.  Also, knowing that they would probably be using vacuum or forceps at the hospital also made me very resistant to the idea. They started discussing what else they could do to help get her out. One of the midwives asked if I had been to the bathroom recently.  I said no, though they had made me drink a ton over the hours.  There was no way I was getting up to go now!  They suggested trying a catheter to see if emptying my bladder could open up some more space. I was willing to try anything if it might help, and keep from having to move me anywhere. So they got that set up and were able to get about 300mLs out.

And that turned out to be the trick that got her out!  The midwives continued to encourage me to give it my all with each push, which I was certainly trying to do.  I had one midwife next to my head, holding my hand, the other three down at my feet, encouraging me, and holding my legs and feet. Finally, (FINALLY!), after one gigantic push, her head came out!  A couple more pushes, and the rest of her followed.

They immediately placed her on my chest.  I just cried in relief and amazement that she was finally here.  So tiny, so beautiful, and mine. Eric and I continued to stare at her, touch her as the midwives cleaned me up.  After a few minutes I pushed the placenta out.  We got to look at it before they took it away to store it- we donated it to the birthing center to use in their classes.

Holding little Abby soon after her birth

My mom and I. What a huge help she was!

The new daddy.

An hour or so later, Abby was weighed. 7 lb 7.5 oz.

Our little family

I had torn just a little – a first degree tear –and so they got that all stitched up.  And then they massaged my abdomen to make sure the uterus was contracting back down.  That was incredibly painful. But now I had my baby to hold and look at, so none of that really bothered me.

Finally, when they were done with everything, the midwives all left, replaced by a nurse who would be there the next several hours to check in on us. So, now it was quiet, just the three of us. Eric and I spent much of that first night talking and trying to decide finally on our little girl’s name. Then, early that next morning, we packed up beautiful little Abigail and headed home.

Ready to go!

Overall, I feel that Abigail’s birth was an amazing, beautiful experience. Yes, things didn’t go quite as smoothly as I had hoped, and pushing was awful as I was going through it.  But it was still wonderful. I am glad that I was able to experience a natural birth at the birthing center.  I loved it there.  I think things would have ended a bit differently if I had been somewhere else. So, for me, I am glad I got the birth experience I hoped for.  And most importantly, I am just so grateful for my baby girl.  We love her so much.

Welcome again to the family, little Abby!

One month

Dearest Abby,

One month. And we are all three still here. I think that is a pretty big accomplishment. You had a bit of a rough start; we all did.  But it makes your mamma so happy to know that you are healthy and growing now.

We were so excited for you to join our family, and having you actually here has been incredible. When you are calm and looking straight into my eyes, it fills me with amazement that you are my daughter.  I have loved this time we have had to get to know each other. You are a pretty calm baby, except when I try to feed you.  When you are fussy, your daddy is the one who can calm you right down.  I think you will be a daddy’s girl—you love your daddy.  You love to sit and snuggle with him and suck on his finger. And, when you aren’t eating, I think you like your mamma pretty good as well.

The hardest thing for me has been the difficulty we have had with feeding you.  It breaks my heart to hear you crying in frustration when you have a hard time getting anything. Today at church, we had probably the best nursing session ever.  You were so calm and quiet, and I didn’t even have to use that tube that you hate. I felt like we were finally having a bonding moment that I have been wanting. I hope we will get to the point where every time is like that.

I love all the sounds and funny grunts you make.  And all your little faces – so adorable. My favorites are watching you fall asleep and your mouth curls up in a half-smile, you lifting your eyebrows, pursing your mouth in a little ‘o’. I just love watching you.

My favorite moments with you are when you finish eating and fall asleep, content, on top of me. I never want to move you, and could sit there watching you for hours.

You definitely like being held. We have the hardest time setting you down.  Even when we think you are deep asleep, we set you down and you sure don’t last long. That makes nighttime a little difficult, we are still figuring out how to get you to stay in your pack-n-play (a.k.a. the place where you are supposed to sleep) for more than half an hour.

As difficult as this month has been for all of us, I wouldn’t exchange this time we have had together for anything. I feel so blessed to be your mother. We still have lots to learn and I am so excited for the months and years ahead. 

I love you little girl.

Love, your mom

Why we need to hire a professional photographer (a.k.a. what happens when Eric (daddy) is in charge of the posing).

Another Eric (daddy) idea.

The Fourth - 2012

Eric had the day off work, and with it being the Fourth of July, we decided we needed to attempt our first real outing with Abigail (besides trips to the doctor, church, and store).  We opted not to try the super crowded beaches but instead figured we should start small. We headed to Old Town for a picnic lunch, and then walked around the shops and museums.  It was a good choice. There were lots of things going on - pie eating contests, weaving, quilting, singing, etc. Eric didn't compete this time, though he has proven in the past to be a master at pie-eating contests. :)

Abigail did really well.  She even let us do a photo shoot of her during our picnic! 

 What a fun day!  We ended it with our own little barbeque at home, and dutch-oven peach cobbler, eaten while watching, of course, 1776.

He's done!!

This post should have come almost two weeks ago, but little Abigail has put me behind on pretty much everything. :) I didn't even start checking my own email until a couple days ago...

But, huge news! Eric graduated a week from last Sunday with his Masters degree!

He has worked so hard the last two years and I am so proud of him.  This was a day we have both been looking forward to so much. It was extra special because Abigail decided to come in time to be there with us (she was ten days old on Eric's graduation day). It also happened to be Father's Day so it was a double celebration day for Eric.

We are both so happy to have school done. I think the best part is having Eric come home at the end of the day and be able to spend time with him without worrying that he should be studying.

We haven't mentioned it on the blog yet, but we will be staying in San Diego for now. Eric got a job at IGCC (Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation), a research institute at UCSD. He will be working on projects dealing with China, and he loves research and China so I think it will be a good fit. He started working part time before graduation and now has jumped into full-time work. It will be fun to stay here, we have loved San Diego.  So all of you who haven't come to visit us yet, there is still time. :)

Love this picture. Though little Abby wasn't too happy about it. 

And just a short baby update: Things are somewhat going better.  At least with Abby. She has continued to gain weight and this week finally regained her birthweight.  Breastfeeding has not gotten any better.  We are trying some more things to get the milk supply up because it is still pretty much non-existent. I am at least coping with it better, most of the time.  I went for my first run post-baby today which was wonderful for helping me clear my mind and feel good. 

Thank you everyone for your advice and support.  I really appreciate it. 

An update

Two and a half weeks. It feels so much longer than that in so many ways.  I wish I could say it has been all wonderful. I expected it to be difficult to take care of a newborn, but it has been so much harder, and in ways I never imagined. Eric has been an absolute lifesaver to me every single day these couple of weeks.  If he hadn't been able to be around, I don't know what I would have done.

The birth itself was wonderful, except for the seven hours of pushing with no pain medications. I will post a detailed birth story soon, I just haven't had the energy to do it yet. I am so grateful that we were able to have Abigail at the birth center. It was once we came home that the problems started.  I just needed to let out my thoughts on it all - so please excuse the awfully long post.  It is mostly for me.

Breastfeeding was very painful.  Now, I knew from my classes and reading in preparation that it shouldn't hurt, though often it does.  So, I knew we were doing something wrong. I did my best, but it definitely didn't help that my mom who was staying and helping us kept saying, 'oh that's normal - that's how it should be.' And it also didn't help that the communication between the birth center and the lactation consultant who was supposed to do a home visit got messed up and we weren't visited until three days after the birth.  So I had already gone three days in a lot of pain without any help.  The consultant helped some with the latch and I tried working on it more the next couple of days.

But it just did not get better. It got to the point that I dreaded each feeding, and would often cry through them. On Wednesday (Day 6), I decided I needed more help.  We had looked up all the breastfeeding support groups in the area and I went to one.  When the consultant there asked me how I was doing, I almost burst into tears as I told her how hard it was, even though I thought the latch was so much better. She helped some more with that and then just from observing the feeding she told me she though Abigail was tongue-tied. So that night, we looked up and called more lactation consultants so that we could get a diagnosis.

The next morning I woke up with chills, a fever, very achy all over, and a very hard, swollen, and red breast.  I felt absolutely miserable.  As  I sat there, getting ready to feed Abigail, I just cried (again, I was doing that a lot).  I really didn't see how I could do this anymore. I can more easily understand how so many people give up breastfeeding - I honestly did not know if I could keep going.  This was definitely the low point for me.

 It was so hard to even get into the car to go visit the lactation consultant. She confirmed what I feared - I had mastitis, which was why I felt absolutely horrible. Then she had me lie down to get ready to feed so she could observe. She took one look at my nipples and said that there was no way she was going to let Abigail latch on to them, saying that they were some of the most damaged she had seen in a one weeker. (they were very cracked and bleeding). After checking Abigail, she said she definitely had a tongue tie which was what had caused all the pain and damage to me. It was a relief to at least know there was a reason why we just couldn't get it! She gave me a nipple shield and then put Abigail on. Oh my, it was like night and day, the difference with it on.  I didn't hurt!  It was amazing. I will be forever grateful to her.  After seeing her, I felt like I could see some light at the end of all this. I think visiting her was what kept me going.

Unfortunately, things did not get easier.  Abigail's tongue was clipped on Friday (turns out our pediatrician just happens to do the procedure - most don't). And the breast shields allowed me to heal. But the next 5 days were spent in bed, completely miserable as the mastitis took forever to get better. I finally started taking antibiotics 2 days in but they definitely did not kick in right away. I almost didn't make it to Eric's graduation that Sunday.  But I knew I just couldn't miss it.

On top of all this, my thoughts were constantly consumed with worrying that my little girl wasn't getting enough to eat. I could tell I didn't have as much milk as before all of this happened and she just wasn't seeming satisfied after feeding. Sure enough, we went to the pediatrician the next day and she had dropped back down to her low point.  She was born at 7lb 7.5 oz, had dropped to 6lb 11oz, and had gone back up to 7lb the week before.  At this visit she was back down to 6lb 11oz. And then the pediatrician said what I was fearing he would - we needed to get something in her. That meant supplementing with formula.

It was so hard for me to hear and accept that. I have always planned on breastfeeding, I know how beneficial it is and it has always been so important to me. Now I felt like a failure, knowing that for some reason, I wasn't making enough milk for my baby girl. So started the phase where we are now - trying to increase my milk supply. I am taking herbs that are supposed to help, and I am pumping at least 8 times a day between feeds, and then supplementing with whatever I am able to express along with formula during nursing sessions. I am using a supplemental nursing system which means she is breastfeeding and there is a tube that we feed into her mouth at the same time, giving her the supplement.  It would be so much easier to give her a bottle, but I really want to see if this will work.  Oh, I hope it does.

The good news is that Abigail is finally gaining weight and looks so much healthier. Her jaundice has disappeared and she is beautiful. If only we could get this feeding down! I feel like I will be able to enjoy all of this so much more once we do.

Here is our cute little jaundiced baby, the day before we started supplementing

Look at the amazing difference in her color! 

We just love this little girl.  Hopefully now that I am feeling better, we will be able to post pictures more frequently!

The love that brought you here

I imagine most of you who read this blog have already heard the news.  Our beautiful daughter Abigail Joy Anderson was born on Thursday, June 7th at 8:58pm.  That moment was the most incredible moment of my life.  She weighs 7 lbs 7.5 oz and measures 20.5 inches long.

In the coming days, we'll post our birth story in detail, but for now, let me share with you my first journal entry for our girl Abigail.  I think it comes as close as I can get to expressing my true love for this girl and the wonderful woman who brought her here.  She is so precious to us, and we love her!

----
June 8, 2012


I'm sitting next to you right now, Abigail.  You were born just over 24 hours ago.  That was perhaps the most incredible moment of my life.  Your mother worked so hard to bring you into this world.  Oh, I wish you knew how hard she worked.  She did it because she loved you.  For almost seven hours she pushed.  The pain she endured with each push is beyond my understanding.  I don't believe I've ever experienced one moment of what she felt for seven hours.  But she endured, and she did so with godly patience, remarkable kindness to those around her, and, probably above all, motherly love.  You do know she did this all without pain relief, I'm sure.  Even when it looked like she was certain to be transferred to a hospital, she kept going, believing in the ability of her body to give birth to you.


Your Grandma Hinckley was there too, helping the whole time.  She too loved you beyond compare and maintained complete faith and calmness through it all.  I was there, too, of course.  There is nowhere I would have gone to miss being with you.


A lot of things happened that allowed you to be born in the way you were.  There was the faith of family, the extraordinary care of two midwives (four at the end), a priesthood blessing when all seemed beyond our power to help--Heavenly Father truly was blessing you--but above all, and I know this for a fact, it was the love of your mother that made your birth the success that it was.


When at 8:58pm last night you were finally born, I was overcome with feeling.  I couldn't believe I was actually seeing you and meeting you.  I was speechless and felt nothing but love.  I wish you could sense that feeling, but I will always remember it.  You were beautiful.  Oh, you were so very beautiful.


After the whole night discussing it, your mother and I decided on the name Abigail Joy to give you.  Abigail primarily due to our admiration of Abigail Adams, but also because it's a beautiful name.  Joy because of your Grandma Joyce, but really because you are the greatest joy I and your mother have ever felt.  Oh, Abigail, how I do love you.
-----
And how our love has only grown with each hour and each day, Abigail.  Thank you so much for joining our family!  We love you!

Weeks 37-39

Week 37

At our midwife appointment this week, the midwife had a hard time finding the baby's heartbeat.  After feeling around and watching baby girl moving, she told us that the baby had moved into a posterior position (face pointed towards my front). This helped explain why in the past few days, my lower back had really started bothering me, and a few times a day I would get this strange numb, tingling feeling in my behind.  This was all related to the babies position.  

Since a posterior position in labor can make things even more painful (lots more back pain, longer labor, etc), this was not very exciting news. So I came home and looked at the spinning babies website, which I had always meant to look at, but never got around to. After trying to sift through all the info there, I just felt very overwhelmed. When we went to our birthing class that Thursday, I told our teacher about it and she was a lifesaver, showing me three different spinning babies positions that she though would be most important for me to try.  It helped so much having something concrete to do. 

Week 38

Good news, after just one week, baby girl seems to have moved back into a better position.  What a relief!  

I think this week I may have put on a little extra fluid.  No problems with swelling up to this point, but a sudden 3 pound increase and having a harder time putting on my Chacos made me wonder... 

Another new development this week was having my very first noticeable Braxon-Hicks contractions. At first I wasn't sure, but after having a few and paying attention to them, noticing how my stomach tightened up with each one, I figure that's what it is.  People this week have also started telling me that I look like I have 'dropped.' I can't tell a difference, but plenty of other people can, apparantly. 

This week was also my last week at work. It is good to be done because I feel like there is just so much I need to do!

Week 39

No big changes this week. Baby girl sure doesn't feel any closer to coming. 

Things are slowly coming together.  I have the cloth diapers all prepped, baby girl's clothes washed and put away, labor bag mostly put together.  Still have some sewing to do - making some cloth wipes (Eric isn't sure these are a good idea, but I figure I will make some, and then convince him) and nursing pads.  Food to stock up on, last minute baby things to get, books to finish, and my nerves to calm.  So, it will still be a busy few days (weeks?). Here we go.