In Love

Wow. I know the suspense must be killing all of you faithful readers, but I just haven't been able to peel myself away from my handsome little fella to blog. When I'm not feeding, burping, cleaning, and caring for my son, I'm either watching his awesome little mannerisms or trying to catch some sleep myself. He has so much personality already! And I have a million pictures - I just haven't had time to process them. He is constantly doing the funniest or cutest thing. Thank goodness his Diva (my momma) is here to catalog this first week... Otherwise, this momma would be going WITHOUT sleep totally.

Oscar is really the coolest baby. He is a whole week old! He is so strong, trying to hold his head up when we burp him and kicking off the back of the chair when I try to nurse him. When he sleeps, he gets the sweetest expressions - like he has a complete understanding of what is going on around him and it's his own private joke. He makes this pucker face that I absolutely cannot resist. This boy is gonna be trouble for the ladies! His eyes are dark blue and I think they may turn brown. I don't get to see him awake and alert very much yet because he is still is that sleepy growth stage. But Oscar is such a cuddler. I LOVE that about him! He snuggles up close to you and sighs and it melts your heart. He has his Poppa and Diva completely wrapped around his fingers (and us too of course!). I love singing to him and tickling his back - that's his tickle spot so far. He is really very smart, too. I try tricking him sometimes when I nurse him, but this boy knows what he wants and when he wants it. When I bottle feed him what I've pumped, he pulls the bottle to himself with his strong lean arms! It's almost weird. And I usually let him hold the burp rag, which he promptly uses as a snuggle blanket. Seriously cute. I really just can't get enough of this amazing tiny being!

And there is something to be said about that "new baby" smell. It's delicious! Speaking of, I'm going to go get back to doting on my baby boy... More later.

Introducing!!!

He's here!!! My little jellybean is finally home. It's been a CRAZY weekend and I have much to say, but it's late and I need to feed my little man (who is smiling in this picture, by the way...) and put everyone to bed for a few hours. So here he is - Oscar Elijah Bomgardner. The newest love of my life. I am SO smitten, it hurts. He was born Saturday night at 11:55 pm and weighed in at 7 pounds and 3 ounces.

Week 39

This was taken today at the Kensico Dam - our new favorite picnic spot. Four days to go till my due date!!!

Still Pregnant...

Yup. I had my doctor visit today and she said that I'm still pregnant. I figured as much. Anyone want to place bets on the date yet?!? I'm still only dilated a "fingertip" - whatever that means. My guess is that he will be an October baby. October 1st. I was two weeks late and Tim was FOUR weeks late (yikes!), so maybe this little baby will also be a procrastinator.

We also went to meet a pediatrician today for an interview. (Don't we sound on the ball?!?) We really liked this lady, so I am thinking that we'll go with her. She is just a short drive away and has a really nice (small) practice, so she will be the "available" type of doctor. I get really frustrated with large practices that never have the doctors available to talk with. I also like that she spreads out the baby's immunizations and only does two per visit. I don't think I could handle more than that! Our neighbors recommended her highly, so we feel pretty good about the decision.

Little Cowpoke

Did you notice the baby ticker? The countdown says FIVE days left. Oh my word. Five days till my little cowboy comes out to see his momma. Uhhh... Am I ready? Crazy!

Today, I head over to the police dept. to have them "properly" install my car seat. Not that I can't do it, it's just a peace-of-mind thing. So that is another item off my "to do" list. Then tomorrow, we meet with a recommended pediatrician after my doctor visit. Another check off the list. Things are coming along, it's just you can never fully be "prepared" for this, I guess. It doesn't even matter if I had EVERYTHING done off my list, I'd still feel not quite ready.

That's not to say I'm not insanely excited to see my little guy, though! I really can't wait to meet him and kiss his little cheeks. I found this really cute pic of my hubby as a little cowboy - thought I'd share that. I wonder how much my little guy will look like his daddy? Lately, I've found myself just looking through our old baby pictures and wondering what he is gonna look like.

As far as house preparation goes, the nursery is clean and almost all of his clothes, blankies, sheets, etc. are cleaned and fresh. His room is construction free and drywall dust free! And my bedroom is as well (he'll be in a bassinet for the first few months). So, even though I'd love another weekend to fix up the rest of the place, if he came today I'd be okay. But seriously, I'd really love some extra time. We'll see.

Friendships

So here I am, trapped at my domicile. Between waddling back and forth from my bedroom to my (drywall dust filled) bathroom, I've been catching up on my reading. I have TONS of Mothering magazines (thanks Beck) and Parenting magazines to catch up on, not to mention some fun fantasy books by Diana Wynne Jones and whatnot.

Anyways, I came across a quote I wanted to add here today. I think Becky already mentioned in her baby blog this really great article from Ani DiFranco in the May/June Mothering mag. I'm gonna quote from it again cause I get it now. The quote is in reference to assumptions of motherhood that irk her. And lately, it has really irked me too.

...that sort of unspoken assumption that as you become a parent you become more conservative; that it's a process of indoctrination, and you'll fall into teaching your child conformity. It doesn't feel that way to me. I see in the eyes of some friends who don't have kids yet, "See ya. There goes the person I know and here comes the parent."

I have to admit that I had some friends who I thought would not be into, and not get, me having a baby. But they are into it, and they do get it so well. Others who I thought would be more into it... it turns out that they have no way of relating to a woman with a kid, or relating to a kid.

I've been dealing with certain friends who have not taken the "baby" news as well as I had hoped, and that is a frustration to me. And as my bundle of joy will soon arrive, I wonder how that will change those friendships. It sucks to be sitting here trapped and having those kind of thoughts on my mind. And it's easy to just say "Well, those friendships are just not worth it anymore, then." But that is hard to say about friends you've had for a long time. I don't know. At least it's nice to finally be able to vocalize my feelings. Thanks Ani. And if someone would blow off a friendship with a person as cool as she is, then I shouldn't feel so bad.

Nesting Nightmare

If you REALLY want to know what is going on the raise my blood pressure, check out my regular blog here... and here... Then you'll know why there is cause for concern!

Week 37

Well, I'm nearing the end of week 37. Crazy. My baby boy could come any time now. I just hope that my water doesn't break in a crazy place out in public or anything. I'm sure I'd be pretty embarrassed about that! I can just envision standing in a puddle with a big gasping crowd and my face all red. Oh wait - wasn't that part of my nightmare last night?

That is one thing I won't miss about being pregnant, the CRAZY dreams. Man, I can really have a vivid imagination sometimes. That is usually a good thing, but not when you are suffering from a severe lack of sleep anyhow. I woke up last night at 5:00 and just could NOT get back to sleep for about an hour afterward. I even watched the sun come up. It was pretty.

So as far as my (and baby's) health goes, I suppose I could have it worse. I can't really complain too much. My main health issue is blood pressure. Every time I go in to see the doctor (now weekly - but this week was twice!!!) it's a crap shoot about where my BP will be. This Tuesday it was pretty high. It was 130 over 90. Yikes. So I got put on bed rest for a couple of days and had to come back Thursday and get it rechecked (with a MAN doctor - yikes!). Anyway, it was a little better, not much, but it was 125 over 85. So basically, I'll be taking a much earlier maternity leave than I expected. As in, today is my last day at work.

But everything is good with baby boy Bomgardner. The docs were very thorough and checked my blood and also gave me another ultrasound to make sure I had plenty of amniotic fluid and all that. So all is well. Bring on week 38!

Crazy Hormonal...

Bedrest - Grrr...

Arrg. My doctor told me yesterday that I couldn't go back to work (at least until my BP gets back to where it is supposed to be). I have to go back tomorrow morning and have it checked again. Cross your fingers that my blood pressure is good tomorrow, because bed rest is SO BORING! And I still have all kinds of electricians crawling all over my place - not a very restful situation. Also, we have carpet installers coming tomorrow. I really don't want to be home for that. Really bad timing here.