Okay, I think it's time!!!

Been up since 1am. Started with menstral-like cramps for about 2 hours, which sucked because they just wouldn't let up. Then at about 3:30 I think the real contractions began, with only about 90sec. in between. Finally I got up and Adam called the hospital. The nurse said to give it another hour to see if they stay consistent and call back. So now my contractions have stretched to 2 minutes apart. I prefer this to the earlier cramping since at least I get about a minute and a half in between to rest. We'll see if these stay consistent... Well guys, at least don't be expecting me to come into work today! All I know is that if this is false labor I am going to be sooooo pissed!

40 weeks, 6 days

Sadly, yesterday came and went without an appearance from Emery. I thought for sure it had to be the day, it was just too perfect with the full moon, lunar eclipse, the Red Sox winning the World Series, Adam's Great Grandfather's birthday.... oh well, the birthing center was probably crowded with pregnant women going into labor last night anyway. I guess we can wait a few more days until things slow down there a bit. I didn't sleep well on Tuesday night anyway, I would have been way to tired to have a kid yesterday.

Today however would be a great day to have a kid. I got a great night sleep last night, I'm not nearly as cranky as I was yesterday and I have quite a bit of energy. I took the hill up from downtown like a true champ this morning, it felt great! Nothing seems to be happening though. At least last night I had some cramping that made me think that just maybe things would get started sometime soon. But today there's been nuthin'. The kid is already toying with me! But of course, he is our child after all.

I was so annoyed with having to come to work this morning that I decided to be defiant and not do a damn thing today, but I had too much energy to just waste the day surfing the internet. So I actually got some good last minute things done, like catching up my lab book by writing out results I'd forgotten about, cleaning out my fridge space, killing off the last remaining cells I had incubating, even throwing out that 2 month old tupperware container of cottage cheese I've been avoiding in the breakroom fridge. Now I can truly leave work today and not feel bad if I don't make it in tomorrow-although I know that I'll most likely be here anyway. Maybe all this energy is that "nesting urge" they always talk about right before labor begins. I'm afraid to get my hopes up. I just keep thinking about what Heather Pirus wrote me recently, "birth is inevitable". It's my new mantra.....

by adam

i'm blogging for you all and making the massive assumption that many of you are reading this blog. The bad guy in steven seagal's second installment of 'under seige' subtitled 'dark territory' angrily seathes, "Assumption is the mother of all fuck ups!"

When we held our baby shower our friend dina asked with row sham bowing scissor fingers emphasizing each syllable, "are you going to have a circumcision?". the answer to that is 'no'. with a row sham bowed rock emphasizing the single syllable stress beating scissors.

The two final quotes of this blog come from my current readings. The first is from sam shepard's 'a lie of the mind' and that is,"christ' there's gotta be a borderline between polite and stupid." the second is from the novel, the coffee trader by david liss, "justification was for the guilty, and surely he had done nothing wrong".

what does this have to do with emery dean? well we're not going to have chop and these quotes, along with many more, will be shared with emery as he grows and learns how to shill.

40 weeks, 4 days

I'm very tired and am ready for bed, so this is gonna be short. Obviously, I haven't given birth. I did what I truly hope is my last experiment at work today, now I am at a loss as to how I'm going to fill my days at work if I go past tomorrow. So I guess tomorrow has to be the day! I've been told that it's a full moon tomorrow, and that a greater number of babies are born at that time so maybe.... there is also going to be a lunar eclipse tomorrow which would make his birthday even cooler. We'll see!

past due 3 days

as a father this is my first blog. i've decided to change the name to tyler nakashima. its the name i have with safeway, alberstons and qfc. it will make emery's life easier.
there's not much to report. it's just a waiting game right now. tick tock tick tock. we'll know were on our way once the mucus plug pops. maybe you already know this, but hey this is my first blog. at night i put earphones up to carrie's belly and play missy elliot. it sooths emery's womb slumber. i'm done now. the next time i'll have more to write. oh! i do have a haiku.

unsurfeitable
self weaving dormitory
winged lazarus

thank you i'm here all week

40 weeks, 3 days

Emery has been pretty quiet today. But just when I thought that maybe it was some sign- he started poking me in the side as if to say "Don't start getting any ideas Mom, I'm happy right where I am!" As I am writing this he's jabbing my rib cage pretty good. Unfortunately there haven't been any other signs that things are progressing...I hope that doesn't mean I'll make that Friday appointment after all. Adam is still adamant about Wednesday being the day- sounds good to me! We'll see how it goes!

40 weeks, 2 days

Had a fairly productive day today. Mom and I did some detail cleaning around the house, and Adam got some yard work done. We made a yummy dinner of beer can chicken and potatoes, and are winding down to watch a movie.

Emery was pretty quiet all day, maybe getting rested up for the big event? Adam is convinced that Wednesday is going to be the day since his Great Grandpa Price was born on that day. I'm okay with that, as long as the contractions start before I have to go to work (I have two meetings that day I really wouldn't mind missing- too much sitting just isn't comfortable anymore...). The extended forcast shows that Wednesday is going to be the nicest day of the week as well, another good reason to be born on the 27th. I think it would be lovely for his birthday to be a beautiful sunny autumn Seattle day. But, I have told him that if he wants to come earlier than that it would be just fine with me :)!! Any more bets?

Some pictures of the newly rearranged nursery...had to move things around to make room for some last minute stuff :)!!! 

 

 

40 weeks and still growing! 

Still waiting.... 

Grandma Billie & Mommy in the newly rearranged nursery 

Mommy & Daddy compairing tummies 

40 weeks, 1 day

Adam, Mom and I walked all around Capitol Hill today in the hopes of getting things going, but no dice. The wait continues...

In the meantime, here's a current roster of all of the team members that are a part of "Team Emery"-

Greg Hubbell & Craig Couch- early labor photographers and providers of up-to-date labor commentary
Laura Heath- chauffer & gofer gal
Kara Ferguson, AKA "Auntie Kara"- labor & Mommy support
Billie Kliewer, AKA "Grandma Billie"- labor and early baby support
Jeff & Anne Toothaker, AKA "Grandpa Jeff & Grannie Annie"- official Emery welcoming party
Adam Toothaker, AKA "Daddy"- labor partner & new daddy duties (ie- changing diapers, spoiling Mommy, etc.)
Carrie Murri, AKA "Mommy"- well, we all know what I have to do...shoot the kid out as quickly and painlessly as possible!

Thanks to all in advance, you're all helping to make Emery's entry into the world very special!!

Well, dinner's ready- time to feed the kid! Bye for now!

40 weeks, D-DAY!!!

Well, it looks like Emery's due date is going to come and go with no kid in sight! That's okay, I'm hoping for something to happen this weekend though. I'm just glad it's Friday, this week has been extraordinarily long.

Went to the doctor today but no real news to report. I set up another appointment for next Friday, but I am really hoping that I won't be able to make it :).

That's all for now- it's past my bedtime. Jeff- I'll get that picture taken and posted tomorrow...

39 weeks, 6 days

Another tiring day, so this will be short. My mom got in last night, now Emery has got the green light to come! She's pretty convinced that I am nowhere close to having this kid which just confirms my own suspicions.

My brother Jeff has placed his bet on Thursday the 28th. Many people's dates have came and went, so we'll see! I personally would like it to be the 27th so that I don't have to sit through another lab meeting at work- no offense guys :)!

We have another prenatal appointment tomorrow, I'll let you all know how it goes! Better finish now so Adam can get some work done on the computer. Bye for now!

39 weeks, 5 days

No change on the kid front. Too tired to write any more than that, I'll write more tomorrow!

Dear Bugsy... how charmed a life you lived... we will all miss you dearly... :( 

39 weeks, 4 days

Hi all! Sorry I didn't write last night, I completely spaced it. My mom's beloved bunny, Bugsy, passed away yesterday so I spent most of the evening consoling my mom and best friend Kara (who has been taking care of Bugsy) over the loss. We are all very saddned by his departure, he was a very cool rabbit. I don't think he thought he was a rabbit, he would antagonize my mom's cat incessantly to get him to play. They would chase each other all over the house, and make a ruckus with the stratching of their claws on the hardwood floors. One of his favorite spots was to sit on the kitchen chair and stare out the window as if he was waiting for someone, it was so cute! I tried to get a good picture of it but the best I could do was what you see above.

Anyway, I of course have still not had the kid. Had a couple light Braxton Hicks last night but nothing to warrant any special attention. I am still convinced that nothing is going to happen until at least next week, although I have told Emery that Thursday would be a great day for a birthday- we'll see if he listened or not. Didn't sleep for shit last night so I decided to take the day off work inspite of an experiment that really should be done today.... oh well, I've been trying to work out the kinks of this experiment for months with no luck so I'm sure if it doesn't get done today I won't be set back much. I just need some rest...

39 weeks, 2 days

Spent the day at Greg and Craig's getting them set up on the blog and eating yummy food. Greg also burned some great new music for us that we are very excited about! We now have a general plan for "Operation Emery", all we have to do now is wait!

Had a couple of contractions today, but don't worry Mom, I am still confident he's not coming anytime soon! I am more uncomfortable than ever, still battling heartburn and stomach discomfort. But I did get a better night sleep last night, let's hope I can get another one tonight.

Jeff got us set up with the video upload, hope this works. Here's the link- www.murriracing.com/nursery.MOV. It's a quicktime movie, if you have problems viewing it you may need to download quicktime- you can do this at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/. The movie is a big file unfortunately, I hope all of you with dial-up can access it without too much trouble. Jeff is going to see if there is a way to make the file smaller which will hopefully allow everyone to view it a little easier. Let me know how it goes!

Alright, time to feed the pregnant lady- bye for now!

39 weeks, 1 day

Had a lazy day today. Unfortunately I had another sleepless night, but I didn't care so much since I knew I didn't have to get up for work and I could sleep in. Hopefully tonight I will finally get a decent night's sleep so that I can actually get some stuff done tomorrow!

Adam and I just got back from seeing the movie Team America. We figured we should probably go see a movie since it could be awhile before we get the opportunity again. I highly recommend going to see it, it's the funniest movie I have seen in a very long time. It's soooo WRONG on soooo many levels....not one to take the family to, that's for sure. But it made me laugh until I hurt, something that hasn't happened in a long time. So if you get the chance- go see it!!

Sometime this weekend my brother Jeff is going to help me get video uploaded and linked up to the blog. I made a quick little video of the nursery to use for a test, so stayed tuned!

39 weeks!

I can barely believe we only have one week left until the due date. It's a good thing though, both Adam and I are getting a little antsy. Neither of us have been sleeping well, him due to pre-daddy anxiety I assume, and me due to heartburn, frequent trips to the bathroom and an overall inability to get comfortable. Hopefully this weekend will give both of us time to rest up, it may be our last weekend alone for a very long time.

Today we recieved our first delivery of diapers, we're going to give the cloth diapers a try. When I read that each baby contributes 1 TON of waste to the landfills in diapers by the time they pottytrain I thought it was the least we could do. Anyway, we'll see how it goes...

Adam is anxious to watch "The Emperor Strikes Back" on DVD so I'd better go- ciao!

38 weeks, 6 days

Not much to tell today, still no kid of course. I've been battling nausea again which is making me a little cranky. The bus is becoming a problem again, and there are smells at work that are reminding me of the smell of my new car in the first trimester-nasty. Lately at work I've had to spend long hours in dark rooms on the microscope or on the computer and it's starting to get to me as well. I try to take frequent breaks, but it's not helping much at this point. I hope this is just a passing thing and I don't have to deal with this nausea until I finally give birth. However, I have a feeling it's going to stick around- LAME. I'm going to get off the computer now before it makes me ill. Nine more days 'til D-DAY....

My inny isn't so much of an inny anymore... and my bellybutton looks so naked without my navel ring! Turns out I won't need that fishing line after all, I've had my piercing long enough that they say I don't need it... 

Looks like I've hit the 40 inch mark! 

Week 38, day 5

Another long day, but feeling pretty good! My doctors appointment went well. I got measured, weighed and listened to Emery's heartbeat. Everything is right on track. Adam and I asked lots of questions about who to call when, and what possible things will happen if I go overdue. Dr. McKee believes in the least intervention as possible, which both Adam and I like. It looks like we'll play the wait and see approach until about 10 days overdue, then if necessary discuss stripping the membranes, induction, etc. I hope it doesn't come to that! We won't go back for another appointment until my due date, only a little over a week away!

Week 38, day 4

This will be short, had a long day and I'm beat. Everything is fine, no labor pains or signs that the kid is coming anytime soon. We have a prenatal appointment tomorrow and Adam is going to go to with me so he can meet the doctor and ask questions. We finally finished our birthplan and will go over that with her as well. I'll let you know how it goes!

38 weeks, 3 days

The bellybutton ring is out :( . My belly feels so naked! The guy who took it out said that I would have to wait until after I stop breastfeeding to have it put back in, I was hoping to have it back in just a couple of weeks. And, just to piss me off, the removal of it hasn't made the itching go away. If I would have known it was going to be so long before I could put it back in I would have tried to keep it in a little longer. Oh well, better to be safe I suppose.

All else is fine. Today was a good day, so like most of my good days I pushed it and did way too much and am now tired and uncomfortable. Oh well, I just keep reminding myself that it's almost over. Then the real work begins!

The last few days I hadn't really noticed any Braxton Hicks contractions. But of course just as I thought "Wow, I haven't had any contractions", I started having one. They are minor though so I'm sure nothing is going to come of them tonight- I am more sure than ever that he will be at least a little late (man I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying that!).

Well, that's all for now- C

38 weeks, 2 days

Just under two weeks left! I will try to start posting an entry everyday from now on to let everyone know how things are progressing. At this point everything is looking a-okay, no serious contractions or anything. In fact, I think Emery is quite content with his life in the womb.

I think its time for the navel piercing to come out. It's been itching like crazy for the last few days, so I think I'm going to go in today and have it removed. I will replace it with some fishing line so that the hole won't close up, then I can put it back in after the baby is born.

I'm still working on how I can upload video to the blog. My digital camera takes video and I thought it would be cool to have some Emery footage to show every now and again. That way everyone can see his first shot at solid foods, first steps, etc. as soon as I can get them on the blog! Unfortunately I haven't found an easy way to do the upload, so I have given in and got my computer intelligent brother Jeff on the case to help me out. He's schooled me in FTP and the software needed to get the job done. I've been giving it a shot, but still no dice. It looks like I will have to FTP the video file onto his site, then create a link from the blog. I am determined to get this to work- so stay tuned!

This week I bought a breast pump for when I have to go back to work. I sourced it through craigslist (for all of you who haven't heard of craigslist, it's a super-great free site for posting all sorts of stuff to buy or sell- I've got some great deals through it!), now all I need to do is buy some replacement parts and figure out how to work the thing! I must admit it looks a little daunting, but I am sure once I figure out how to hook all of the tubes and suction cup thingies up it will work like a charm and be well worth my minimal investment. Wow, who would have thought a year ago that I'd be thinking about things like breast pumps and the rising cost of healthcare? This pregnancy thing has even gotten me more into this presidential election...don't even get me started on that one... :O

Back to the pregnancy- this week was okay. I have been much more tired and sleeping through the night is getting more and more difficult. Yesterday I did a little too much around the house, and my lower back retaliated with a vengeance. So today I am taking it very easy, making Adam cook me breakfast and rub my back. He's been pretty good lately. This week he made sure to rub my feet every night and brought me yummy fruit from the market for lunch when I was feeling under the weather. He's getting some pre-baby anxiety I think, complaining about not sleeping well, waking up in cold sweats, etc. Poor guy. I think it's all becoming a little too real for him, it will be interesting to see how he reacts when it's finally time. He's been a great coach so far, I think he will do great and keep his freak outs to himself. But it will be fun to hear the stories from my friends and family about his demeanor "behind the scenes" once things calm down a bit!

Adam has started a pool for the due date. So far there's money on the 11th (not gonna happen- sorry Cat!), 14th, 19th (also NOT going to happen), 20th, and 21st of October. If anyone wants in on the pool, its $1- give Adam a call and place your date. I personally feel like he's going to be a week late, but my intiution has never been so great (I however was positive that we were having a boy... so maybe....). Place your bets guys!!

Well, that's all for now. Adam and I are going to go for a little walk, the pregnant woman needs some exercise! Chao!

Here's a picuture of the nursery, thanks to all who helped fill it up with wonderful things! 

Me at 23 weeks, Adam's mom loves this picture. It's a little blurry, but its so telling :)! BTW- that is a nonalcoholic beer I am holding... 

Here's Greg and Craig, the newest members of "Team Emery". Their excellent photgraphic skills and commentary are going to keep everyone "in the know" when the big day arrives! Thanks guys! 

This measurement isn't exactly acurate, but now I know why they call the navel a bellybutton- it's still an "inney" though I swear! 

37 week belly, I refuse to have my double chin photographed... 

T minus 18 days...

I have enlisted some very good friends, Greg and Craig, to help out with the blog when I go into labor so all of you out there will be as up-to-date as possible when Emery decides to make his grand appearance into the big scary world! Thanks guys, you're making a pregnant woman very happy :)!

We measured last night and it looks as if I have grown another 1/2 inch since last week, putting my waist at 39 1/4 inch circumference. And boy am I feeling it- my back is feeling it, my legs are feeling it, even my ass is feeling it. I am over weighing myself, who needs that kind of abuse? Still, all in all I am feeling pretty good. Today I was even able to make the trek up the hill from my bus stop downtown on 2nd all the way up to my work on First Hill at Madison. For those of you who know the area you know that's quite the jaunt, and a steep one at that. So I'm feeling pretty good, the pregnant woman that kicks ass (Nevermind the snail's pace that I did it in, waddling the whole way :))!

Emery's been pretty active too. He's turned what I think are my kidneys (its so hard to figure out what organs are where are at this point) into punching bags. I think he enjoys giving me pain, sadistic little shit. He also likes to use my ribs as a push off point for his dramatic twists and turns, I'm sure his form is great. It's all good though. Everyone says these are the things I will miss terribly once he's born and I will long to put him back where it was all so much easier. I'm sure I will have those moments, but for now all I can think about is how wonderful it's going to be when I can to fit into my old jeans and sweaters- I am so sick of maternity wear! Only a few more weeks though- I can take it :)!

Finally full term!

As of today, I am now 37 weeks and FULL TERM!! However, I am sure that nothing is going to happen for the next few weeks...I have a sneaky feeling that since I am quite ready to get the show on the road this kid is going to be LATE. However, Emery has been told by Lisa Peters that he must be born on his due date since that is also her birthday, so I am hoping that he will listen to her and be right on time!

I got my test results back on the group B strep- negative! I'm very happy about that! Other than that, no real news on this end. Getting a little more uncomfortable as the days pass, and have finally fully adopted the characteristic waddle of a pregnant woman. But in general I'm still feeling pretty good.

Today I bought a glider with ottoman that I found on Craig's list. I am so happy with my purchase! It is in great condition and only $98!! I have no idea where we're going to put it, but we'll find a way to fit it somehow! I am sure it will be put to some great use in the next year or so. That was the last big ticket item that we needed, we're pretty much set now!

T minus 21 days and counting....