Andrew Patrick Thomas has arrived!

We are so excited to welcome Andrew to our family - he made his appearance on Thursday, March 25th at 4:24 pm after an uneventful induction (thank goodness!). Our little guy was 9lbs 4 oz and 22 1/4 inches long! I guess all of those ultrasounds were right! (big boy) Thank goodness we didn't wait another week or two otherwise, according to our OB, we would have ended up in a c-section - his head (which was sideways by the way) barely fit as it was. Another week or two of growth and there would have been only one way out of there!

Mom and baby are doing fine (it is much easier the second time around) and Luke is thrilled with (completely unaware of) his little brother. It looks like things are business as usual again at the Thomas house. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers for the safe arrival of our little one.

We will keep you posted!

Milestone March Madness

March is a milestone-packed month for our little guy. Milestones achieved this month include (but are not limited to):

Crawling (see video)

Standing up in our crib (see eight is enough haircut photo)

Standing up in our playpen (see I'm shocked I can do this photo)

Things my husband says and shouldn't

Me: Hey, I am going to get your lunch (leftovers) ready for tomorrow. Do you have something to cut it with at work or do you need it cut up?
Billy: When it is really tough meat like that I need it cut up. All I have at work is plastic knives and forks which won't cut through that.

To Be or Not To Be (induced)

For those of you who have been pregnant or had someone close to you who was, you know the question that a lot women grapple with at the tail end of a long 40 weeks is - intervene or not? We bounce on birthing balls, drink herbal teas, eat raw pineapple and spicy food and then we close our eyes and make a wish that the labor Gods will show favor upon us and bless us with a broken bag of water and some wicked cramping (what is wrong with us?). With the modern-day medicinalization of pregnancy, we sweat bullets as the due date approaches or even comes and goes, growing more and more impatient as time marches on. Catastrophic thinking clouds our judgement as images from discovery health shows dance in our heads. Somewhere between the foreboding voice-overs and somber music, we insert ourselves. What if that happens to me? What if my baby gets stuck? What if I end up needing a crash c-section? We forget that our fate is not at all governed by ratings, and the more likely outcome is, as a general rule, much less dramatic.

That said, what if you say no, we don't want to intervene, and as a result of that decision, you are faced with a complication that could have been prevented. Your conscience becomes heavy with the burden that your action to take no action ended with an otherwise unecessary c-section or, worse, a negative outcome for your little one. That is where we found ourselves today. Billy and I went to see our sweet OB again and after she noted that not a DARN thing had changed regarding my cervix (although she did note that Billy's haircut had changed), she pulled out the dreaded induction paperwork. She said that, without hesitation, this is the most responsible decision, since we are 39 weeks and all along we have suspected this little guy is a bit big and is likely sunny-side-up. She said she wouldn't feel comfortable waiting another week, giving him more time to grow but not becoming any more mature than he already is.

So, there it was, what do we say? Yes? give us synthetic hormones to trick my body into going into labor - ready or not, birth canal, here babe comes. Or do we say no! Give the little guy another week (or two or three) to pack on the pounds, grow a bigger head only to get lodged under a my pubic bone and end up in a c-section anyway.

For now, we are going to trust the good doctor, that is after all the path of least resistance. So, March 25th it is! We will be induced that morning. So send your thoughts and prayers our way for a safe and painless (ha) delivery of our little one and we will keep all of you posted. As an added bonus since we are taking Dr. Hampton's advice, we can sleep under a warm comfy blanket of shared blame, if there is a c-section in our future.

oh baby!

So as most of you know, I am expecting yet another babe. People always see Billy and I with Luke, and then they see my belly and (scrunch up their eyebrows) and then say, "how far along are you?" When I tell them, it is mildly entertaining to watch the wheels start to turn as they start to do the math in their heads. Then it is all smiles, and slaps on the backs, and one by one the cliches start coming out. ("wow, you didn't waste any time!" You guys are going to be busy!" They will be such good friends")

For the last few months we have been dilligently going to our OB appointments and checking up on our little surprise (another boy by the way) and at the urging of our sweet doctor, we went to see a maternal fetal specialist regarding his size. This lead us to growth/anatomy ultrasounds every 2-4 weeks to check up on the growth status of our little (or huge) pumpkin.

During these ultrasounds, we have been told that:
a.) the baby is big.
b.) the head is big.
c.) the baby is feisty (the words of mohammed the sono tech).
d.) and once again (actually twice during last Wednesday's scan) that the head is big.
So Billy and I have been mentally preparing ourselves for a large-headed chubby babe who would potentially make an early appearance.

At 38 weeks, I have come to terms with the fact that - no, the little guy will not be making any kind of early appearance and after a cruel false alarm complete with contractions, packed bags, a high-protein snack, and a trip to the hospital (LAST WEDNESDAY) my uterus has gone on hiatus. Not a contraction to be had. So sleep tight and rest up little uterus, get ready for the battle ahead. Come Friday, the gloves are comin' off and I'm gettin out the castor oil.