His name

Zachary: G-d Has Remembered.  And we believe that He has.  We picked the name in light of our infertility. (And because there was an adorable little boy named Zachary sitting behind us on an airplane at Thanksgiving, and we just really liked the name.) But after the harrowing events of Z's arrival, it means even more to us.  In addition, in the New Testament, Zechariah was the husband of Elizabeth and father of John the Baptist.  Elizabeth and John are both family names, and Elizabeth is one of my barren heroines.  So the name has layers of meaning and connection for us.

Houston: My paternal grandmother's middle name and her mother's maiden name.  Plus it's just cool.  If we didn't live within spitting distance of Texas, we might just have named him Houston.  But we decided that wasn't the best choice for our Sooner boy!

A much delayed announcement: he's here!

Zack joined us at 7:35 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12, weighing in at 8 pounds, 9 ounces.  He made sure his arrival was as dramatic as possible -- back labor (me), irregular heart rate (him), urgent c-section (me), broken arm (him), a trip back to urgent care a week later (me).  But after 36 hours in NICU, he is doing wonderfully.  And after a week of antibiotics, so am I.  He is practically perfect in every way -- especially sleep, thank goodness!  We all just love to stare at him while he smiles in his sleep.  We are hoping the splint comes off his arm Thursday, then our summer of fun can begin!

38 weeks, 2 days: Still hanging on

He's showing no signs of moving out.  I was thankful for the reprieve as I recovered from the stomach flu and got some work taken care of this week.  I have some meetings on Monday; but anytime after that would be great!  So I thought I'd invite you to join in a pool.  When do you think he's joining us?  (No picture - but rest assured, he hasn't dropped.)

37 weeks, 3 days: Late pregnancy funny

For most of the last 35 weeks or so, I've been primarily worried about whether my body could actually grow a healthy baby.  Brent has been worried about whether he'll be a good dad.  But now that Baby's arrival is right around the corner (knock on wood that he'll be healthy!), my anxiety suddenly shifted the other night.  I said to Brent, "What if I don't like him?  What if I don't recognize him?  What if I think we got the wrong baby?  What if this was all a bad idea?"

Brent's reply?

"I'm more worried that he'll get here, and you'll want six more."

37 weeks, 2 days: All Done!

As of two days ago, Baby is fully baked!  And as of last night, I'm done with moot court.  Now there's nothing to do but grade papers ... and wait.  I am definitely ready, but there are no signs that he's ready to make his appearance anytime soon. 

36 weeks, 4 days: Happy Birthday Grammy Deb!

Lots of pictures today: two belly shots because I'm not sure the first one really did it justice and some sneak peaks of baby's spaces-in-progress.

35 weeks: Update

Today was a big day: we installed car seats and started packing a hospital bag!  The car seats were fine; the hospital bag freaked me out.  Although there are many things left on the to-do list, we would be ready if we have to be.  In addition to the car seats, we have a cradle and clean sheets and diapers and clean clothes and clean blankets.  He would not be neglected!

But I keep reminding him that he's not allowed to arrive yet.  Despite plenty of Braxton-Hicks contractions (pretty much every time I stand up), my midwife is letting me go two more weeks before my next appointment.  I'm trying to get my grading done, but pregnancy brain is making it challenging.  Everything I do right now, physical or mental, is very, very slooooowwwwww.