Bean has been great with Nora, he seems to guard her, always laying or sitting near her.  

Night #2 was much better than #1.  The first night, I called her Noisy Nora the Nightmare as she was up and unhappy from 10 pm to 5 am (no joke).  Last night however, she did great, got up twice to eat and went back to sleep.  She must not have appreciated her nickname from the night before.  

We had our first appointment with the pediatrician today.  She got an A+.  She's down to 6lbs 11.5 ounces, which is fine.  The doctor was pleased and said she has up to 2 weeks to gain her birth weight back, so she'll make that easily.  

Ralph has been AWESOME.  He's super hands on.  I felt proud to show him off at the doctors office almost as much as Nora.  He gets up with her, changes her, burps her.  He was asking all the questions at the MD office, voicing his concerns about her sneezing, or choking  in the night, what to put on her peeling skin, etc.  He calls her his little neck tie when she sleeps on his chest.

Nora's arrival!!!!!

Nora at 15min- 24 hours old

She weighs 6lbs, 13 ounces, is 20 inches long and absolutely perfect


After cooking for 9 more days, Nora Andaman Sweeney arrived on Sat, the 27th (Jeff's birthday) at 2:45 in the afternoon.  Like she was through my pregnancy, she was good to me through labor too.  It was fast (about 3.5 hours), furious, intense, and now that its over I can say it was amazing.  

Ralph dressed her up as Marge Simpson

Bean is a very proud big brother

Pregnancy photos

Our friend, Senneh, a photographer, asked if she could take some prego picutures for her portfolio.  Here's a few.  She did a great job, gave us a disc with almost 400 pictures.  Let me tell you, thats a lifetime supply of big bellies.  

Week 40!!

No change, sill 80% effaced and 1.5 cm dilated.  I feel great.  I'm trying to be patient.  I'm staying active, hiked up Tumalo with a friend Jessie from work yesterday.  She's 20 weeks pregnant.

39 and a half weeks

I feel really good, so good that I'm worried this baby is getting way too comfortable and isn't going to make an appearance any time soon.  Last week I was more uncomfortable and labor felt more eminent, but this week, I feel like I could be pregnant forever:(  

I go to the Dr. again tomorrow, last week I was unchanged,

 still 80% effaced and 1.5 cm dilated. I'm still loving my prenatal yoga and am excited that tomorrow is monday (yoga class day).  We had a friend take some pregnancy photos last week, that fun.  We went and saw the John Butler trio show at the Athletic club, which a great, small, outdoor venue.  The show was great!  

Bean and I have been continuing to do our daily walk on the river trail.  

I baked 12 pans of Lasagna with Mom last week (Dad thinks I'm nesting and that this baby will be coming soon) and 2 pans of enchiladas with Lynnda, so we can have some food for the freezer.

Today, Bean and Lynnda and I hiked up Mt. Bachelor.  The weather is spectacular.  

Huckleberry picking

Bean and I went Huckleberry picking with friends, Stacey and Taylor in an old burn south of Mt. Jefferson.  Hiking in and bending over for those little suckers was harder than I thought, but the huckleberry pancakes this morning made it worth the trouble.  

Week 38

1.5 Cm dilated and 80% effaced.  My doctor recommended cutting back from 12 hour to 8 hour work days from here on out.  I didn't protest at all.  

I'm thinking I'm going to have this little one on the 16th of Septmeber, Ralph says the 21st.  As my yoga teacher says the baby "will be born at the perfect time."

Nursery

Here's some shots of the nursery

We had already painted the room "indian tile" before we found out we were expecting.  Since we didn't want to paint again we decided indian tile was gender neutral.  We decorated with 3 stickers, a tree, a sleeping monkey and a baby monkey swinging from a vine.  

The crib was a favorite of both Ralph and I from the beginning.  It grows with the baby and then will turn into two chairs after the baby is older than 7.

Our friend, Mike Hill, an amazing wood worker, made us this beautiful rocking chair

The Journey

I felt so different at 3 months.  Now, I can laugh, as I had no clue just how different I would get

Ralph and I went on a 7 day back country ski trip in British Columbia for his birthday in March

Hiking and climbing at Trout Creek with Jeff, Jamie, Jeannie, and Ralph 

Ralph was worried early about my belly button piercing.  He took it out some time between 4 to 5 months.

In April we road tripped to 29 Palms in S. California for Betsy and Pete's wedding.  

We met Jamie and Jeannie, Jess and Annalise at Joshua Tree and camped and climbed for a few days.  

Ralph leading

Me following

I think these are months 5 and 5.5 or 6

Ralph and I skinned up Mt. Bachelor and then Lynnda and I went again the next week.  As soon as the Cascade lakes hwy opened I  did South Sister with a friend.  I stopped sking after 7 months as my center of gravity grew out. 

I went to visit Sara, Paul, new baby Essie, and Jess in Saranac Lake in July

It's been fun, it's all gone so fast though.  I can't believe this little one is going to be here sooner than later.

The Labor Necklace

             

Thank you everyone for the amazing necklace.  I'm careful to try it on briefly and then quickly take it off,  as a friends' sister put hers on for the first time and went into to labor that day.  I don't think I'm quite ready this week so I mostly admire it off my neck.  Although I'm now able to read everyone's blessings and stories of their beads without crying 100% of the time, they still bring a lump to my throat and make my voice shake.  

The bookmark is also beautiful.  I love the piece of wood on the end, it's perfect.  Thanks Gene.       

Week 37

Feeling good.  Still working, but have an internal debate each day before I go in, wondering if it was a good decision.

Starting to get my bag ready to go for the hospital, I have the baby's clothes all ready, and I bought a nice soft robe today.  Made a call list a few days ago. 

I think we're less sure about names than ever. We like Nora Andaman (named after the Andaman sea in Thailand), she could be called Nora Ann, that or Mary Andaman.  We like Thomans, Weylin, Arthur, Samual, Maxwell, Fredrick.  We like the middle names of Michael and James.  I think I've become very agreeable to most any name, I find myself saying "I like that" to almost anything.