Introducing Lucas Orlando Milliken

Hooray! Luke is here. After 42 hours of labor, Luke was born this morning at 11:27 am. He weighed in at 7 pounds, 10 ounces, and measured 20 inches. We are all doing well and are just so tired and happy and excited to have this new little bundle of love in our lives. Enjoy a few shots of his first day:

Quick Update

I have been in Early Labor since last evening. It was a very long night, timing contractions and dealing with the pain, discomfort, and fatigue. We went to my doctor's appointment this morning and things weren't progressing quickly enough for them to admit us to Labor and Delivery. So we drove our sorry selves home and went back to bed for five hours. (This was helped in great deal by the Ambien my doctor gave me--dreams were really trippy--I had to fight a lot of animals--but they took my mind off the increasingly painful contractions.) Now we're up and ready for round two, although a bit discouraged by my tendency to have contractions six minutes apart, not the magic four or five.

Hoping to have better news next time!

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa/Still No Baby

My parents came up from New Jersey for a few days last week for a couple of reasons: 1. I wanted them to see our new house before it was overshadowed by the arrival of our son and 2. Because my mom wanted to see me in my very pregnant state. They came up Wednesday morning, which is when my OB told me I was probably going to deliver within a week (it's Tuesday and I'm still waiting...) so as soon as they arrived, we started obsessing about when they should go home. Should they stick around until the baby is born? We wouldn't want them to drive home only to have to come back the following day. But this could mean they might be here until August 20 (two weeks after due date--yikes!) In the end, they decided to go home, which is a good thing because the baby is not here yet, and I have decided to completely ignore my doctor's prognosis since it turned me into an obsessive freak.

Our visit was lovely--mom now knows where everything is so she can help out when baby's born, and my dad enjoyed spending his days reading and searching for properties. Dad and I also bonded over the hysterical TV show "The Greatest American Dog." We managed a trip to Moody Street, Davis Square, Prospect Hill Park, Pizzi Farms, and the DeCordova museum, as well as a few neighborhood walks. Okay, more than just a few because I really wanted to induce labor.

Encouraging Prognosis

I went to the doctor's today and she thinks I'll be having the baby within the week! I'll spare you the details, but based on my symptoms and her examination of me, she thinks he's ready to go. Now I have learned from friends (most notably Jen D--thirteen days late) to be suspicious of doctors who raise your hopes of an early delivery, but I got the "final talk"--pack your bag, this is when to call, etc.--and her last words to me were "I'm on call Saturday, that would be a good day to do it", so that's gotta mean something, right?

Welcome Baby Delaney!

A hearty congratulations to my co-worker (and neighbor) Jen and her husband Rob on the birth of their son, Ryan James (9 pounds, 7 ounces!). Ryan and Baby Milliken were originally scheduled to be exactly one month apart, but Ryan's arrival was thirteen days later than expected, so I'm hoping that Baby Milliken doesn't have the same plan! No pictures of Ryan yet, so for now enjoy this picture of Jen and I, shot at the pool a week ago.

Godfather

Look, our son was born! Just kidding, that's Xander, son of Marcus and Stefanie Howell. They came to visit us this weekend all the way from Rhode Island, and asked Jamie to be Xander's Godfather!


Although he looks calm in this photo, Xander really got excited about the bright flowers on my shirt.


Sugar eyed Xander cautiously, but she was very gentle!

30 Days Until Baby

In a world where babies actually come on their due dates, that is...

*I have many updates. First of all, a follow up from last week's post: so five out of a whopping ten voters thought that Jamie was the family member who was rushed to the ER during our vacation. But the truth is, my dad was. A bad combination of acid reflux and naughty foods and drinks wrecked havoc with his system for a bit, and we had quite a scare, but he's himself again, just needs to watch what he eats.

*My brother remarked that there hasn't been a belly shot in a while, so I am reluctantly posting this picture of me and my beach ball. Yes, under 30 pounds of baby, that is actually me. I have been feeling okay despite the nausea that has annoyingly returned and what my doctor calls my "very pregnant hands."

*Speaking of my brother, he and Tina found out they are having a little girl in November! This is exciting because now I get to buy adorable outfits for girls too.

*The nursery is done! (Now what do I do with the rest of my summer?)


*And here's a cute little picture of Sugar curled up on the bouncer.