Bowen Zephyr

He's here! Meet the newest, tiniest member of our family, Bowen Zephyr. We chose to name him after his daddy; Bo's middle name is actually Bowen. And Zephyr is a nod to the great Tony Alva, who we met last year while I was pregnant.

Little Bowie was born last week on February 16th at three in the morning. The story is short and sweet; my water broke at home at exactly midnight. Not long after, I was having contractions that were three minutes apart. And Bo was at work, finishing up a big project. I texted him to let him know that this was it and he'd better get home fast! We bundled up Lo in sweatpants and bunny slippers and I told her we were going on a midnight sleepover adventure at her grandparents' house. A quick car ride downtown to the hospital and we were on the fast track to baby town! Bo's sweet cousin, Allie, is a labor and delivery nurse (who I had been texting to confirm if my water had actually broken ... or if I was merely peeing my pants) and she met us there. She was amazing and it was really special to share the experience with her.

Just two hours and four pushes later, we were holding our brand new sweet baby boy. He is beautiful and we can't believe he's really here. I couldn't have asked for an easier or faster (!!) delivery. Especially since I was scheduled to be induced earlier this week. We're back home and life is so good. I am over the moon in love with having a family of four. Lo adores her baby brother and is a huge help to us. Seeing Bo hold little Bowie is pretty much the coolest thing ever. The smell of his hair is intoxicating. I want to (and luckily, get to) snuggle him all day long. We are so very lucky ... so very blessed.

A huge thank you to everyone who has wished us well along the way! I'm preparing a big photo dump that I'll post very soon so you can see what we've been up to with this little guy.

no worries

My mother-in-law gave me this rad little pregnant worry doll to keep under my pillow until baby time comes. And the time is here. We're on our way to meeting our newest little family member. Wish us luck!

40 weeks

40 weeks. Hey, little dude. Happy Valentine's Day. Today is the day that we made it to exactly 40 weeks. It's due-date day. And kind of a cool one at that. It is a weird and miraculous thing to think back to last May, when this all began. When February seemed so very far away.

Here we are, and yes, I'm trying my best not to get too impatient but I can't lie. I really want to see this little guy's face and hold a tiny wriggling newborn body in my arms. I've had about four days (and four long nights) of contractions. The big ones. Sometimes they will be ten minutes apart for a few hours, but I'm not quite there yet. So here's hoping ... wishing ... praying ... for a speedy delivery of a healthy little baby boy. We can't wait to meet him.

from here to maternity

Remember these? Little memories, all part of the big picture. Corn dogs, Renegade, pumpkins, NYC ... and getting rounder week by week. A quick look back at the journey. Click here to see all of the maternity posts from 12 weeks on. I have to say that I am surprised that I managed to stick to the weekly photo thing. From the start, I wondered if I could really keep up with it. I worried that it would be redundant and boring and that I'd run out of things to say. Sometimes, I felt like total crap and wasn't exactly thrilled to be taking pictures. At all. But now I am left with this kind of rad history of what this pregnancy was like, and while it may not be perfect or beautiful or super creative, I know it will be cool to look back on someday. Want to see some stellar maternity series pics from some of my favorite bloggers? Check these out: Bleubird. Pacing the Panic Room. Create Loves. Walk to 40 Weeks.

39 weeks

39 weeks: here we go, yo. Little dude, I'm so proud of us for making it this far. Your dad is so excited to have a little boy. I'm pretty thrilled as well. And your big sis is ready to wait on you hand and foot. She has lots of ideas about ways she can help you out. She'll shower you with hugs and kisses and songs and stories and funny faces. Get ready because I'm sure you will love her.

So, this is pretty much it ... right? I'm having lots of strong contractions, but they're all over the place so I know it's not the real deal quite yet. This week? Next week? Any day? A huge thank-you to the blog readers, Twitter pals and most radical friends out there who have followed along and sent sweet wishes our way. I have enjoyed hanging out with you during this fun time of change. You are the coolest. I can't wait to introduce this little guy to you in the very near future. I just can't wait.

38 weeks

38 weeks. Oh gosh. I am so ready now.

My bag is packed, a bag for the baby is packed and a bag for Lo is packed. Bo is on his own but I'm pretty confident he can throw a bag together pretty fast. If we have to go now, I'm ready now. 

We finally have a name picked out, but I think we'll wait to share. I'm exhausted and wide awake and excited and anxious and more than ready to do this. I can barely bend over to put on my shoes. I'm down to about two pairs of maternity jeans that still fit. Yoga pants are awesome. 

Three words: Sonic Cherry Limeade. 

 

My stomach is pulled tight in every direction and I can feel the shape of his little body hanging out in there, ready to push his way out into the universe. I hope he likes his new home with us. We're ready to do this. Waiting patiently.

37 weeks

37 weeks. This is the week where things got big. Legit big. If you can't tell here, I'll assure you ... the kid is big and the belly is round.

According to our doc, the baby boy has dropped, I'm dilated to 3 cm, and things are a bit uncomfortable. Like ... even sitting. Is uncomfortable. But I'm good! Still trying to knock things off the to-do list ... car repairs, dentist appointments for Lo, and teaching my last round of knitting classes. Which I just finished tonight. My appetite hasn't been huge but I've been craving fruit. Berries. Smoothies. Mandarin oranges. Yummy treats for mom. Can't complain. We're almost there.

Mostly, my thoughts revolve around seeing this little boy's sweet little face for the first time. Any mom can relate. That's what gets you through those last weeks and days. Baby day-dreaming. So close now.

36 weeks

36 weeks. I have developed a serious waddle. People have commented on it. My hips and pelvis are under some major pressure. I had yet another ultrasound today and things are looking good. This little dude is no longer breech and my fingers are crossed that he'll stay that way. I'm a couple of centimeters dilated/70% effaced (sorry, TMI?) and well on my way. At least all of the contractions I've been having are doing some decent work. It's all about getting through it, now. You know ... survival mode. 

But yet, I've been reminding myself to take a step back from whining about contractions or feeling exhausted. Just to make sure I'm taking the time to remember this experience. To internalize and process how incredibly cool it all is. To get the chance to be a mom. To carry a tiny fetus and allow it to grow for almost a year inside of your belly and become your newest, tiniest family member. Someone you've never met, a face you've never seen. But a little person you already love so much.

I remember telling Bo not long after Lo was born that, God willing, I wanted to try to do the pregnancy thing one more time. I wanted to feel that baby wriggling inside my ribcage and do it all again, just once more. Of course, we were lucky to get pregnant the first time, let alone a second time – you can't choose or plan these things. But I felt I hadn't said 'goodbye' to child-bearing when I was preggo with Lo, and that has been in my head off and on for the past nine months. This is it, the big goodbye, and I won't be doing this again. It's almost over and I feel like I need to prepare myself for that. That probably sounds really weird and maybe you think I'm off my rocker, but I do believe women kind of go through an acceptance thing when their childbearing days are over and you move on to raise your family. You have to sort of say goodbye to the baby-making. I feel so incredibly lucky and blessed and thankful that I get to do this. Every single day. I know that it's not an easy road for everyone. I don't take it for granted. I'm so happy to have made it this far. And I'm so excited for what's ahead.

35 weeks

Week 35. This week, I multi-tasked. I went through bins in the basement, organized and purged. I took all of Lo's clothes out of her old dresser and closet and put them away in her new room. I washed all the un-washed baby clothes and put all the tiniest newborn-sized clothes into Lo's old, now empty dresser. I crossed things off lists. And made new lists.

 

I enjoyed the silence. 

I opened the official first pack of diapers, put them into the drawer and marveled at how tiny they are. And breathed in that familiar clean-diaper smell. I made cake pops to freeze and tulle puff decorations for a certain little girl's birthday party. I shopped around for the best deals on pink party supplies. I went to my weekly doc appointment and found out I had actually lost a few pounds this week. Probably from all of the shopping for pink party supplies – ha. I played drums on our mini kid-sized drum kit while Bo played guitar and Lo hula-hooped. I located all of our old 'baby's first year' books (that had been hiding in all sorts of random places in our house.) I watched 'Never Say Never,' the Justin Bieber movie, in its entirety on Netflix late one night. Mixed in with a little 'United States of Tara' and the usual 'My So-Called Life' and a Charles and Ray Eames documentary.

 

I ended up scheduling Lo's annual 5-year check-up on my actual due date with baby #2. That's how close their birthdays could be. And the nurse figured, 'Hey, you can probably just bring Lo in for her appointment and also probably do the whole newborn check-up with your new baby at the same time.' (Wow. I guess. Okay?) Anyway. I'm on a productivity streak. Let's go.

34 weeks

34 weeks. I kind of want to live in my sweatpants right now. The dude weighs about five pounds. My stomach already feels like it's stretched to the max. We ordered a few baby things we needed and shopped for the necessities ... a pack of tiny diapers, pacifiers and various Johnson & Johnson products. It feels good to get ready. I feel so round that I'm barely even hungry and the dude is such a little wiggle worm! I know I've said it a million times before, but wow – this baby moves and flips around so much. We had yet another ultrasound and doc appointment last week, and within a few days he had flipped from head-first back to breech again. I can tell when he's doing this ... it feels pretty huge. This pregnancy has been so different than when I was expecting little Lo, but at least I know he's doing alright in there. He's definitely going to be a little skater boy.

 

This week, we worked on our decorating plan of attack for both Lo's room and the little dude's room. The prints on the floor here (both from Society6) are finding their way onto the kids' walls very soon. And if you know us in real life and have heard us joke about baby Cobra, the print on the left is the reason why. It says 'Lotus Cobra' and months and months ago when Bo and I first saw it, we immediately said 'that has to be his name!' It's kind of been a joke ever since, but we do really gravitate toward the odd names. So you never know.

Lo and I will be going to a 'sibling' class this weekend, where she'll learn all about her new big sister duties. She's pretty excited to go. I think she already has a lot of things figured out, and I'm really trying to make this whole thing a neat experience for her. I'm pretty proud of the responsibilities that she comes up with on her own; she already wants to teach him baby sign (she remembers a lot of them!) and read to him and give him baths. She's pretty much the sweetest. In the meantime, I'm getting ready for her fifth birthday party. Her actual birthday is quite close to my due date, which is kind of amazing. And a little scary. So we're planning the birthday festivities early, just in case. Let's hope that all works out.  ;)