Andrea’s Weblog

This was originally intended as Elizabeth’s 3 Year Check-up Update, but I just now found it in my drafts, and she’s been 3 for a couple months now!
31 lbs, 40.75 inches
That puts Elizabeth in the 50-75th percentile for weight and above the 97th percentile in height!
I haven’t written much about Elizabeth recently, so I’ll [...]

Much-needed Update
I’ve been blogging here for about 3.5 years and this has been my longest break. It’s hard when you fall behind, so here is my attempt at catching everyone else up on our summer.
To quickly bring you up to speed:
Elena, just shy of 7 months, is belly crawling, pulling herself up to a [...]

It’s been almost a week since we started a new bedtime routine. With Elizabeth not really taking afternoon naps anymore, grumpzilla often dominates our evenings.
Until last Sunday, Elizabeth was sleeping in her crib beside our king-sized bed with me, Elena and Frank. Now that Elena’s established herself as a permanent member of the family, [...]

Elena is already two months old today. She’s already so different from Elizabeth. I had no idea that babies can just fall asleep on their own, but Elena will usually just fall asleep when she’’s tired. In the last few weeks she’s started being awake more. She can still sleep a whole day away when [...]

This story begins two days ago when I noticed Elena’s umbilical cord was gone. It was hanging by a thread, so I had covered it with a band-aid so it wouldn’t get yanked off. Her cord was longer than most (about 2 inches) because in our hurry to leave the hospital, they never came by [...]

We just had Elena in for a 11 day check-up and she’s gained a pound since she was born. Granted, she had a diaper on at the weighing, but the doctor was extremely pleased. They’re usually happy with .5 oz a day weight gain, which would have been .5 pounds. All I can say is [...]

Elena Marie arrived Monday January 22 at 4:51 am after a fast labor. She weighed 7 lbs 10 oz and is 20 inches long.
We had the last meeting with our doula that afternoon and when she left at 4:00, I tried to get Elizabeth to take a nap. She nursed her usual 2 minutes before [...]

Week 25, 167 pounds
Last pregnancy I gained over 50 pounds, so I shouldn’t be too surprised that I’ve gained over 13 pounds in the last 4 weeks. No wonder I’m having a hard time bending over and feel like I’m wearing weights every time I walk up the stairs!
Aside from the weight gain, there wasn’t [...]

A few weeks ago Elizabeth was getting up what felt like every hour all night long. Since I refused to wake up enough to count how many times or check the clock, I don’t know exactly how many times she was waking up. All I know is that I would wake up at 9:00 am [...]

Saturday was Elizabeth’s 2nd birthday. We celebrated by having a few friends over for cake, ice cream and presents. I had Elizabeth open some of the presents before company arrived to prevent her getting side-tracked from the present opening. I was afraid that if she opened her big girl underwear she would want to model [...]

Ack! Elizabeth has just learned how to open doors. Frank and I still struggle with the cabinet latches, now it appears that we’ll be struggling with childproof door knobs — at least on a few strategic doors. Right now she’s in the closet getting snacks out of her diaper bag. Other problem rooms will no [...]

Elizabeth is making little sentences now. She’ll say “Daddy bye-bye work, stinky diaper, bicycle ride.” It’s fun to hear what she comes up with.
She’s also saying her name. She’ll say “Bay-beth” or something like “thizzy.” She seems to prefer to call herself Baybeth. I determined this in a non-scientific study. I said “Lizzy, what’s [...]

On Sunday Elizabeth was released from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
and got her own private room, which she shared with her parents. We
were very happy to be able to hold her whenever we wanted, provided the
nurses weren’t in there sticking her. I wish I could say that our first
night together was wonderful, but she decided [...]

Well, like everyone said it would, life has changed a lot since Thursday. After 29 hours of labor, Elizabeth appeared, but was immediately whisked away from us because she inhaled meconium. (Meconium is the baby’s first poo, and is a sticky tar-like substance.) It was so strange for Frank and I to be sitting in [...]

Frank and Andrea are delighted to announce the birth of their daughter
Elizabeth Lee McPherson
Born at 2:55 A.M. on July 29, 2004
In Augusta GA
She weighs 8.24 oz., has dark hair, and is pink, wrinkly, and beautiful.
Congratulations Frank and Andrea!
Welcome home Elizabeth Lee!

Well, it seems that with only 7 hours to go before they induce me, Baby M is on the way. Maybe the dinner of eggplant parmesan worked. Figures that the most nonsensical wives tale for starting labor is the one that worked (or just happened to be the last one we tried).
Stay tuned…

Week 40, 180 pounds
At what I hope was my last checkup on Monday the doctor said that the
baby’s head is “down there” and effacement is going well, but no
dilation. I was a bit discouraged about that before I read that you
don’t have to dilate before labor starts–that is the point of labor.
She had me schedule [...]

Week 38, 179 lbs
I just had what may be my last visit to the doctor. She’s on vacation
next week, so my next appointment is Monday July 19th. This visit was
fairly exciting because I had another ultrasound to see how big the
baby is.
I can tell you though that, after this past weekend, I was convinced
that the [...]

Week 37, 177 pounds
The belly continues to grow straight out, getting rounder and bigger. I
noticed this week that it actually rests on my lap. I guess it’s nice
to give my stomach muscles a bit of a rest from supporting the weight
of the growing baby. The belly seems to be taking on a life of it’s
own. [...]

176 lbs week 36
I had a bit of a shock when realized yesterday was June 21, meaning
exactly one month till my due date. Today we had another checkup.
Everything followed the normal routine–the only unusual occurrence was
that I had a difficult time peeing into the cup. I realized my belly
now completely obstructs my view, preventing proper [...]

This may seem like a change in attitude from previous entries, but I’m
going to begin a count-down. Today marks 42 days till b-day, exactly 6
weeks. I guess it doesn’t stress me out too much to think about the
baby coming now that the crib is assembled and the nursery is in good
shape. And after tonight we’ll [...]

Week 28, 2.8 pound baby, 164 pound Andrea
Yesterday we spent about 3 hours at the doctors office getting an ultrasound, blood sugar test and doctor’s exam. The ultrasound wasn’t as exciting as the first one, mainly because the baby is so big that you can only see one body part at a time. I was [...]

159 lbs, 24 weeks, 9.75 inch belly
It’s now official that the rest of the world can tell that I’m
pregnant. I’ve been asked by our UPS carrier if I’m “with child.” The
most popular question is “when are you due?” followed by “do you know
what you’re having?” I have to hold my tongue not to respond “a [...]

151 lbs, 20 weeks, belly 8″
Today we got to see baby McPherson with the ultrasound. The baby must
have heard us talking about not wanting to know if he is a boy or girl,
because he dutifully kept his legs crossed for the sonogram and stayed
curled up in a little ball. This did make it [...]

144 pounds – the eating is paying off!
These appointments are getting rather routine: I show up and wait for
20 minutes to be called back by the nurse who immediately shoves a
plastic cup at me. (I hope I don’t develop a conditioned reflex like
one of Pavlov’s dogs and pee every time I see one of those [...]

2nd Checkup, 137 pounds and counting
Well, the coworkers all know now. Everyone’s happy for us. Anca said “so that’s why you stopped drinking coffee.”
We went to my second checkup today. Frank noticed immediately that there were men in the waiting room this time—last time he was the only one. My doctor’s nurse is somewhat gruff. [...]