Dairy Queen Now Open

apologize for blogging absence but have excellent excuse ... as many of you know, little Annie Catherine Barclay has arrived! went to hospital last Sunday night after "The Sopranos" (must keep priorities straight) with what were possibly contractions ... self not at all sure but dr. said come on in ... arrived for observation and had dilated to almost 5 centimeters by Monday morning ... was fairly comfortable and still not sure if contractions were in fact CONTRACTIONS but turns out they were ... dr. came in early Monday morning to check on things ... ordered epidural and checked on Annie ... as her heart rate was occasionally dipping, possibility of C-section was discussed ... dips in heartrate were not entirely dramatic but enough so that additional stress of labor and delivery determined not be the best thing for Annie so self was prepped for a C-section (not emergency, though) ... lovely epidural arrived, additional prepping occurred, and Annie was born at 8:05 AM on March 27... as self has always said, Annie was extremely active in utero so was little surprise that umbilical cord was wrapped around her wrist, her leg and part of her torso ... nonetheless she was breathing and crying immediately and just like that Anthony and I became parents! absolutely amazing and indescribable experience and in lovely little serendipitous occurrence Annie was born 9 years to the day when Anthony and I had our first date ...
life has certainly changed but is wonderfully fun ... of course there is the matter of sleep deprivation, the automatic breast pump (heretofore referred to as "the milker"),the fact that self overnight became not only a mom but also a food source (feeling more and more like Dairy Queen), and of course the entirely unforgettable experience this morning where I put breastfeeding pads into my bra as we went to Annie's first pediatrician appt. only to discover an hour later that I put the adhesive side on my boob ... "ouch" only "family friendly" word I may use here to describe moment adhesive side was removed from self.
will return shortly ... it appears Dairy Queen has a beautiful and hungry customer ...

Big Day

ok ... have returned from dr's appt... am officially 3 centimeters dilated, fully effaced and off my anti-contraction medicine ... for all practical purposes Annie could arrive any time from here on out but my dr. thinks maybe next week or the next ... will keep posting new info ... big news of the day: am dilated enough that dr. said I can have epidural as soon as I arrive at the hospital to give birth :)

Status Quo

still enjoying periodic outings (even the grocery store is very exciting now) and continuing rest at home ... have now completed 36 weeks, so Annie is technically full-term which is certainly a blessing ... still taking anti-contraction medicine but dr. may stop that this week and let nature take over ... shall see ...
as am sitting around a lot have really been enjoying Direct TV ... discovered Game Show Network and am rediscovering "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" am able to answer more questions than on Jeopardy, which makes me feel a smidge dumb ... however, even on "Millionaire" geography questions are hard ... if actually found self in the hot seat on "Millionaire" and got a geography question would probably scream and cry, running away with $100 and leaving all my lifelines unused ...
and (of course) only 4 1/2 hours until "American Idol" very excited ... Simon Cowell recently spoke to Howard Stern and predicted the top three would be Elliott, Taylor and Kellie ... like them all but in my personal top three I have Kellie, Chris and Mandisa ... don't forget: Mandisa is a Nashville native ...

All Clear

had follow-up dr's appt. yesterday ... am now dilated 2 centimeters, but apparently have passed a major milestone as from now on whenever Annie is born she'll come home with us ... dr. very happy with current situation ... will continue medicine until my appt. next week and then re-evaluate ... was cleared to make 4 or 5 outings this week which is wonderful news!
besides appt. yesterday was interesting day as most days are ... before leaving house self was determined that rings would still fit on pregnancy-size fingers so crammed one ring on and was very pleased until realized ring was actually causing pain in finger and absolutely would NOT come off ... removing ring required pouring olive oil onto finger and more pain ... depressing situation but oh well. loaded car with newly packed just-in-case-we-go-to-the-hospital bags, including clothes, baby stuff, movies for hospital room, CD's my iPod, etc. and went to dr. ...
after appt. went to Vanderbilt to visit Anthony's new co-workers ... found spot in parking garage, walked to his building and had lovely visit with various people ... upon walking back to the car realized self had left passenger door open ENTIRE time we were gone ... apparently just hopped out of car and never closed door ...was appalled as purse and hospital bags were in car but nothing was disturbed ... pregnancy brain is mush ...
another depressing moment after leaving Vandy on way to sports store ... realized watch on wrist was so tight it had actually drawn a bit of blood ... another piece of jewelry bites the dust ...
one more happening at sporting goods store: tried on cool new Nikes and walked around store feeling like I was on air (shoes were so comfy) ... purchased shoes and off we went to Target ... realized something was missing from car ... self had left purse in shoe section so back we went to retrieve it. wonder if brain ever gets back to normal??
big vote-off American Idol tonight ... should be interesting ... feel perhaps Melissa will go away but no telling ...

Shipping Purgatory

can't talk about American Idol ... very sad that Gideon got voted off last week! however, due to current sedentary position have made lovely tri-fold cardboard masterpiece with USA Today pictures of all remaining contestants ... is very colorful and helpful ...
nursery is almost complete ... crib we ordered several weeks ago appears to be in some kind of shipping purgatory ... is stuck in customs overseas with no known ship date ... order has been cancelled, and Anthony went and bought a crib today and is currently assembling it ... that will pretty much finish the nursery. is very exciting but still staggering how much stuff Annie appears to need! yes, yes, in my baby days things were very different (or so I hear) but, alas, things have changed!
will be 35 weeks tomorrow and heading into week 36 ... has been 2 1/2 weeks since self was admitted to hospital, so Annie is doing good as she continues to incubate ...

Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy

mercy, mercy, mercy ... as have lots of free time on my hands have been reading The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy, which is HYSTERICAL ... turns out pregnancy weight doesn't just drop right off after the birth ... probably knew this subconsciously but is still alarming ... can picture self making first grocery store outing with Annie and pregnancy pounds ... will get to check-out line, where check-out person will express shock at fact that self is pregnant again so soon after Annie's birth!! self will throw up, scream and run from grocery store ...
big vote-off night for American Idol ... LOVE Mandisa as she is from just outside Nashville plus she is amazing ... also love Chris the rocker... shall see how things turn out ...

Ready to Wait

follow-up visit with doctor today ... he was very happy that Annie continues to incubate, which of course is wonderful, but the progress (or lack of progress) I'm making as far as the impending birth means I must continue my little bedrest world. Basically I have to sit around (or rest in bed) getting up to go to the bathroom or take a shower but not a whole lot else ... he wants me to continue the Terbutaline (anti-contraction medicine) for 2 or possibly 3 more weeks. He does not think Annie will wait until her due date (April 18) but he wants to try to get me within 2 or 3 weeks of that date. All in all, things are looking very good :)
Because Annie could hypothetically arrive whenever, I must constantly be hospital-ready ... legs shaved, bag packed, eyebrows plucked and shaped, hair clean, etc... want to be at personal best when arrive at hospital for grueling childbirth which results in tiny person coming out of me ... will be sure to touch-up with powder before post-birth pictures are taken!!
Must go ... American Idol is on!

The Personal Incubator

ah, another day, another 24 hours Annie has stayed in her personal incubator ... every day counts!! will be 34 weeks tomorrow and heading into 35th week ...
must take a moment and comment on Oscars ... although very excited that Reese won and that "Crash" won best movie, still found ceremonies to be incredibly boring ... not sure why but seemed as if life had been sucked out of the whole thing ... felt a bit sorry for Ben Stiller in his little green get-up.
nursery is coming together ... Anthony painted it, furniture is put together and have received wooden letters to spell "Annie." actually have only received A,I,E as "N" is backordered ... in meantime, self immediately thought of American Idol the second letters came out of the box as am a bit obsessed with show this season ... more on that later ...

The Ever-Exciting Annie

have lots of updating to do!! had dr's appt. on Friday, where he discovered I was dilated to about 1 cm. ... not unusual as people go for weeks being dilated with nothing happening; however, because he could feel pressure on my cervix he sent me over to the hospital for monitoring ... wonderful facility and wonderful nurses, I might add. was not alarmed at all but went to hospital where I received antibiotics, steroids to "boost" the baby's lungs and was given Terbutaline to stop contractions (monitor picked up several but I couldn't feel them.) spent night there so could continue monitoring but went home the next afternoon as contractions had stopped. am now on modified bedrest and continue taking Terbutaline for awhile longer. saw doctor on Tuesday, and he was very pleased with the whole situation ... if Annie is born anytime between now and her due date, she'll be fine ... only issue is if she comes a little early, she may have to spend a little extra time in the hospital before coming home. in summary: Annie and I are both doing fine. she was monitored at the hospital as well and was never in distress ... quite the contrary actually as doctor said she seemed to be really enjoying herself!! what a pistol she may be ... will continue to communicate here primarily as self is losing voice for unknown reasons!!