Bat Girl

Ed took Matilda out trick-or-treating on Halloween while Evelyn and Mommy were still in the hospital. She went as a bat with little wings and everything. They managed to get to a grand total of two neighboring houses. Matilda loved carrying her little halloween pail, but apparently hated when anything got in it. So Daddy spent most of the time picking up candy Matilda had thrown on the ground.

100% Adorable

Evelyn Louise Gustafson

Born October 30th at 5:51AM. 8 pounds 5.5 ounces and 19 inches long!
-Edward

It's almost time

We have big news--Chili will be born this week! That means it's time to get your final boy/girl vote in on the poll in the upper left corner of our blog if you haven't voted yet (the poll will close Thursday night.) Due to some complications, labor will be induced and we expect Chili to arrive on Friday October 30, 2009. Our little turkey is going to be a little pumpkin! Below you can find more details of what has been going on and learn more about my condition and pregnancy than you probably ever wanted to. As a reward (or just scroll to the last paragraph), at the bottom you'll find a link to our maternity and family portraits we had done a couple weeks ago.

Over the past few weeks my pregnancy discomforts had become difficult enough that I thought something might not be quite normal. On Monday, October 19 I was uncomfortable enough to go to labor and delivery at our hospital to have everything checked out.

While I was there they took blood for some tests and monitored my contractions and Baby Chili's heartrate and movements. I was not dilating, but I was having frequent, strong contractions. They gave me a shot of terbutaline to calm the contractions and were going to discharge me.

Then the results of my bloodwork came back. The nurses were confused because apparently my doctor had not ordered any blood work. The test was done by accident--it was meant for the girl in the next room. But it showed that my liver enzymes were elevated. They decided to keep me overnight.

On Tuesday, October 19 the high-risk OB came to visit me. He explained that the elevated liver enzymes could indicate early pre-eclampsia, obstetric cholestatis, or nothing. The plan was to do an ultrasound that day to check on Baby Chili's size and general health, and then begin twice weekly monitoring of me and the baby with non-stress tests and biophysical profiles.

We went in for our ultrasound right away. I was 35 weeks and 6 days pregnant. Chili was 7 pounds 10 ounces already--a very large baby! The average baby at that gestation is closer to 5-6 pounds! Most babies will put on approximately 6-8 ounces a week at this stage in the pregnancy. Chili could be expected to gain about 2 more pounds if I went to my due date!

We were discharged after the ultrasound showed that Chili was big and healthy and doing fine. I was told to try to be on bed rest (which is pretty impossible with Matilda around!) and made an appointment to see the high risk doctor for more monitoring and my regular doctor for my 36 week check up on Friday, October 23. Ed stayed home to help for the day and I finally got a little sleep and was feeling a bit better.

By the time I went to see the doctor and have Chili monitored on Friday the 23rd I had lost 4 pounds, was incredibly uncomfortable, and my hands and feet were constantly itchy. My OB diagnosed me with Cholestatis of Pregnancy. It is a condition where the pregnancy hormones interfere with the functioning of my gallbladder causing bile to back up and spill into my blood. It makes me sore and itchy (and very very tired) but is not particularly dangerous to me and should resolve upon delivery and symptoms should be gone within about 3 days. However, it can be very dangerous for the baby if allowed to go on too long.

The doctor ordered an amniocentesis on Friday to check the baby's lung maturity. First, the fluid was sent for a 1 hour analysis called the LBC (Lemellar Body Count). If the numbers came back 10,000 or lower, the lungs would be immature, if they were over 50,000 they were mature. If they were inbetween, it would require a longer test. The numbers came back at 29,000. They sent it off for the longer test (L/S ratio)and expected to induce me on the 24th. Chili needed to score a 2.5 to induce on the 24th (although 98% of babies with any score over 2.0 will not have respiratory distress syndrome issues.) On the night of the 23rd the numbers came back--only 2.1. We were close, but not ready.

We went back to see the doctor again on Monday, October 26. My itching continues to get worse. Chili's heartbeat and kicks were monitored for over an hour in a non-stress test--Chili got an A+! But the doctors said that we were getting to the point that the scales were tipping in favor of inducing soon for the baby's safety. We scheduled the induction.

I will check into the hospital on Thursday night to begin the induction with administration of a prostaglandin. Friday morning, provided I have made sufficent progress overnight, the doctor will perform an amniotomy (this is a painless proceedure where the doctor breaks my water) and start pitocin. The doctor expects the baby to arrive on Friday, October 30. I will be 37 weeks and 2 days pregnant on Friday. 37 weeks is considered full term. I feel lucky to have made it this far.

We are VERY eager to meet our little Chili!

Now, if those weren't enough links for you, we had family and maternity portraits taken 2 weeks ago. Here is a link to the pictures. To see ours, follow the link. Click on the blue-boardered image to enter the photographer's website. At the top of the page find and click on "view proofs." You will be prompted to provide a name, email and password. You can enter you own name and email. You will not get spam. It is just to keep track of your favorite pictures and place orders. The password is Gustafson.

Great-grandma Shirley

Today is great-grandma Shirley's funeral. Matilda was lucky enough to be able to visit her twice and she loved great-grandma very much. Shirley loved Matilda and the rest of us and enjoyed being kept up to date on Matilda's new developments through pictures from this blog. We will always be grateful for the time we were able to spend together. It is a sad day and she will be dearly missed and always remembered.

Baby in a Box

Now that Matilda can walk she is enjoying the freedom of being able to carry things. Of course she also likes to climb, hide, and be adorable, so this box was a perfect diverson for an evening.

Cape Cod Part 3

We certainly didn't spend our entire trip hanging out at the house--we explored the cape.

We drove through the National Seashore park. We stopped at the Marconi Radio Station (the site that the first trans-atlantic wireless message was sent from Thodore Roosevelt to King Edward VII on January 18, 1903). The station had long ago tumbled into the ocean, but there were beautiful vistas, a model, and we even saw some seals down on the beach!


We also visited Nauset Light Beach and let Matilda walk around in the sand and watch some surfers.


We did spend more time on our little beach at home, Matilda played while we looked for shells to take home as souvenirs.


And we enjoyed quiet moments watching the waves at home.


Ed put together a really nice little set-up on the deck to sit and read his book. It was also perfect for watching the stars after Matilda went to sleep.


And Ed did his part to fight lobster over-population.

Cape Cod Part 2

We stayed close to home for a few days. Matilda and Daddy spent time at the beach building sand castles:


Making sure they were JUST right:



And knocking them down!


Snuggling on the beach:


And heading home to watch the sun set from the deck:


It got windy some days:


VERY windy:


It was so peaceful and relaxing just spending time together as a family, resting, playing and doing whatever we wanted.

Cape Cod Part 1

We had a wonderful week in Cape Cod from September 27-October 4. Here are some highlights:

The view from our deck:


Eric and Kim came out the first 2 days, here they are walking along the path to the beach. That is the house we rented behind them.


We stopped in Chatham to get Matilda her first ice cream cone. Hers is the vanilla frozen yogurt, mine is the butter pecan.


Matilda was barely even curious about her treat. She poked it a few times:


And flat out refused to eat it or even taste it! I got full too, so poor Daddy had to finish them both off!


After ice cream we went to the beach.





As you can see, Matilda had a great time playing with Aunt Kim and Uncle Eric. She also enjoyed seeing and waving at the seagulls and here, even waving at her own shadow.


Daddy was enjoying the pleasant weather and relaxing. Matilda had to put a stop to that!


And I helped.


Kim and Eric took this nice family picture for us. Matilda is just a few days shy of 15 months here and Chili is 33 1/2 weeks along.


And of course there was LOBSTER! Ed prepared them himself at home and got great reviews.