"You Make Me Feel So Young"

OH MY XANDER

We are proud to report Alexander William Pitzman was born on 02.20.09 at 8:20 am. He weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces and was 20 inches long. Here are a few pics with more to come later...

39 Weeks

Today was my last day of work. It is hard for me to believe that I don't have to go back for months! The c-section is starting on Friday at 5:30 am(ouch) and Xander should be born by about 7:30. I'll be at Good Sam for about four nights. Lyrik's Mom, Betsy, just got into town tonight from Homer, AK and we are so happy to have her with us. I get one last day to relax and rest before baby time begins, and the Moms and I will go out for a little lunch tomorrow. This giant belly is going to be gone soon and replaced with a cute little baby! Xander really amazes me by how much moving around he does in my belly especially for as big as he seems to be and with such restricted quarters. By this time two days from now Xander will be here!

38 Weeks

After last week's attempt to turn Xander we have arrived at the conclusion that the boy just may not be able to turn around. We have planned a c-section for the morning of Friday February 20th at Good Samaritan hospital in NW Portland. That is less than 10 days from now! Dr. Davis said that if Xander does happen to turn before that, he would induce me right away so I could do an normal vaginal birth, and hopefully not give him the chance to turn back around. Xander is still moving around a bunch and may be attempting to turn around, but may just be unable due to obstacles in his little womb space. I am getting very excited to meet my little boy. Lyrik has been reading to him and we have been playing music for him with headphones too. We went to our last baby class the other day which focused on breastfeeding and baby care. I'm sure the on the job training will be where it all really "clicks". My last day of work will be next Wednesday, so with the holiday this Monday (Pres. day), I only have 4 day left of work! Yay! Both Mom and Dad's 60th birthday parties will be this weekend and Chrissy and the kids (and new puppy Jiggs!) will be coming into town. So, I will keep busy for the next few days. The night before Xander's B-day Lyrik and I plan to go out and celebrate our last night together BX (before Xander), but I guess he technically will be celebrating with us! So there is a lot of celebrating to do this next week-for everyone!

37 Weeks

The good news is that today Xander is officially full-term! Yeah, we made it! The bad news is that the version(aka "turning") did not work. The version was not a pleasant procedure, but I was able to bear through the pain and extreme discomfort, with some added relief from acupuncture, compliments of Molly. The actual turning lasted maybe ten minutes, so it was a fairly quick procedure. Dr. Davis was able to get Xander's head down but not all the way into my pelvis. This left baby transverse with his head down, which was promising, but only temporarily. Success would have been achieved had Xander then shimmied down into my pelvis on his own. But he didn't. I got onto my side to have fetal heart monitoring for about an hour, in hopes that this position would coax him down into my pelvis. I got up after an hour to go to the bathroom and by the time I sat back down on the bed, Xander had shifted right back up into his original head-up position. So much for all of that! I think the problem was that the septum of my uterus was in the way, and his little feet couldn't get past the septum. It probably made it even easier to get back into position, because he had a little something to push off from! Alas, I have not lost all hope. There is still chance that he could turn on his own in the next two weeks before I have to get a c-section. I will still try to do all that I can to help him turn and most of all I will try to be positive about whatever the outcome is. Luckily, I am still feeling pretty good considering I am in the last weeks. I'm not sleeping great and I can only fit into two pairs of shoes because my feet are so swollen, but I feel lucky that everything else is fine.