Friday, March 29, 2013

Where HE eats. A lot. Your feedback needed.

Oh dear readers, at long last, BBB is here.

He is healthy and beautiful and simply the most wonderful baby ever. And more details are coming soon. I promise.

But right now I need some immediate input. It's 2:30 am. BBB's appetite is voracious. its taken him less than 72 hours to chow down the milk supply it took me six weeks to produce. We are down to the last 7-8 oz of my expressed breast milk and no formula in the apartment other than the sample containers you get at the hospital that M would rather not use unless necessary (because this is what happens when you go on the Internet and start reading.)

For those of you who have had experience using formula, which did you use and why? Have any of you mixed breast milk and formula and if so, with what result? Please tell me anything you can.

Except that "breast is best." Yes. I know. I got it. I agree. But we can only do what we can, right? I am, and will continue to do so, but it will take more than me to satiate this little guy. This is becoming painfully obvious.

Doc appointment is at 10 am tomorrow, and well seek advice here too. But please, tell me. Is there any formula brand that is not the devil? Feel free to email me privately of you'd rather not name names here.

Love,
m

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Where We Eat. A Lot.

JFC its cold out here. Dipping into single digits with the wind chill. No lie.

I did tell you neither of us packed coats, right?

We've got sporty little down vests. Great for long car rides. Sucky for walking icy, windy streets. We packed thinking we would be heading straight to a hospital and hanging out there for a few days. Heavy on sweats and hoodies and slip on shoes. Light on everything else. The good news is that folks are so bundled up here, its hard to tell what anyone's wearing anyway. I don't feel too terribly self conscious going out in my casual wear. Except for when M shows me up with the one button down shirt he packed. Damn him.

Better news: I finally realized we don't have to spend an extra $10 a night renting a fridge at the hotel. I did the first few nights until I realized, heywaitaminute.....the coffee in our mugs that we left in the car froze solid overnight, so why not keep my breast milk in the cooler out there too.

Oh yeah. Duh. Who brought the smart girl? It's rock solid. Solid as a rock.We'll need an ice pick to get through the ice to the actual milk.

We've bounced between 3 hotels in our week-long stay - that's what happens when you're bidding one night at a time via Priceline. Because the moment you commit for a week will be the day we get a call to pack up and go. So far, every place has been great. We're back in one of our favorites, complete with a free shuttle that will take us anywhere and shuttle drivers that have warmed to us.

"So, what brings you two to _____?"
"We're, uh, waiting for our son to be born."
"Wow! Wow! (quick glance in the rear-view mirror to make sure he didn't miss something) that is so cool. Are you guys adopting or using a surrogate or something?"
"Yep. A gestational surrogate. And this might be our last night here, it might not. So, where should we go to dinner? Where's a fabulous place to be?...."

We're getting pretty good at this conversation the more we have it. (And having some great meals.) We're waiting for our son to be born. Wow.

Most of the texts and emails from family assume we are biting every nail from our fingers and sitting on the edges of our seats at all moments. The truth is far more boring. M is dialing into his daily 9 am meeting and cursing at his computer. I'm pumping and finishing up some documents for work. We're getting bagels and coffee every morning and trying out a new place for dinner every night. We're trying to enjoy these "last moments of freedom" as the doctor described it this morning. But there comes a point when even going "out on the town" starts to feel mundane and routine. Especially when its ten degrees outside.

Especially when you'd rather be doing something else.

But we sit and we wait and we try not to think about things too much. There is only so long you can maintain an OMG OMG OMG OMG! state of mind, right?

But back to the news you want to know: we accompanied L to her doctor's appointment today. All is well. BBB is good. ETA is still set for Monday.

BBB's heartbeat is strong. And he even entertained us with a few kicks after lunch. He's still head down, butt jutting out. L says she feels great. She looks great. All healthy and aglow. This morning's appointment gave us a chance to go over some logistics.

"Can we talk about where you want us to be, and not be, in the delivery room?" I ask the doc.
"Oh yeah, that's would be great since this is a new thing for me too," He says.

We walk through the day starting from induction and how things might progress from there. Where we'll be, where he'll be, what's to be done after delivery, who gets to do what.

It all sounds pretty awesome.

So, we're here. Chilling. Literally. In search of some live trivia this evening. Because that sounds like a fun distraction. 

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Spoiler: No baby yet.

I love americana. Love it. Love. It. I love small towns, big cities, little havens, sprawl. Pretty much everything about my lovely country. The majestic bits as well as the quirky. I haven't seen every nook and cranny of it yet, but I think I've seen a lot.

And I have to say the drive between where we call home and where we are now is the longest, most painfully boring, nondescript, landscape one could possibly ask for. All 15 hours of it. Toll route. Non-toll route, avoiding highways....between this sprint and our previous visit, we've tested all options (pttttghthh). That's me. Blowing a raspberry.

But now, here we are. We are here. Here are we. In a town that we LOVE. Waiting for news. Not much is happening today. But yesterday, L felt like she was heading into labor. So I am so, so happy she called. I know she probably thought long and hard about when to bring us into the mix in case it was a false alarm. Again, reason #4321 why we love our surrogate. She errs on the side of caution and inclusion. Thank you, lady. I would rather be here than not be here.

M and I both have our computers and a handful of things to get done before this ride begins. We'll work from here as long as we can. Just to wrap up lose ends. Get people access to what they need while we're gone. All that. You would not believe the gorgeous hotel we scored on priceline or what we are paying for it. ($45/night holla!) nice rooms, sweet gym, can I get a hot tub? Why yes, yes you can. Now that we are here, we are content to just be until BBB decides to be here with us.

Just to be safe, L is giving her doc a call first thing in the morning to see what he thinks about all the activity yesterday, and if he thinks things are still on schedule, or if BBB is nudging his way to us a little sooner. She invited us along to the appointment so we may even get a sneak preview of our little kicker before his birthday.

Oh you feisty little thing.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

en route!

BBB is a movin'!!

in a way that made our gc text with a gentle suggestion that maybe we should come a little early....like, now.

we are en route. quite a drive ahead of us. hoping the little guy waits for us. wsit for us, dude!

today officially ends The Streak. 240 days strong. every step hoping us towards the next few days and all that awaits.

want updates? fb and twitter are the best bets. check the left sidebar (oops. sorry. right. I meant right. Forgot about the new design) for deets. will post as often as possible.

here we go!!!
Google