So far, so good :)

Well, tomorrow Owen will be 1 week old and so far things have been going pretty smoothly. The first night was pretty rough--little man only slept for about 2 hours total--but since then things have improved dramatically. He's only waking up every 3 hours now (which is right on schedule with his feedings) so Tony and I are still tired, but no longer the walking dead. Days have been good too--I can already see a schedule starting to form which is a sigh of relief for me! He feeds every 3 hours, has some "awake time" and then naps until the next feeding. Owen's first doctor's appointment is tomorrow. Our very first family outing :) Tony is off work until Thursday and has been a HUGE help with everything! So many of our sweet neighbors and friends have arranged to bring us dinner for about the next month! (SUCH A HUGE HELP!!!) and that has also helped out a great deal--we are so very blessed!!!! Here are a few pictures as promised!

Owen Michael Dichiara

Our new family!


Mama and Owen

Daddy kissing Owen :)

Owen is here!!!

Born Wednesday, March 12, 2008
1:20 a.m.
9 pounds 1 ounce
21 1/2 inches


I was going to picture, but I'm having trouble here at the hospital. We are being discharged tomorrow so more to come soon...

NEW Blog Format...

Just wanted to send everyone a heads up...

In a few weeks, I will be making my blog a "readers only" blog because I'm just not crazy about the idea pictures and stories of Owen being available to complete strangers on the internet (not that they'd really be interested in them, but for safety's sake you can never be too careful!) So, if you would like to continue to access to my blog, all you have to do is leave me a message in the comments section with your e-mail address and I will add you to the list of approved readers. Oh, and you don't have to worry about your privacy either, I have set the comments to private so your e-mail address won't be posted for all to see :) I will wait a week or so before I actually change this setting so if you have any problems or questions you can just shoot me an e-mail or give me a call!

Thanks for your understanding :)
Hannah

Update...

Didn't do a 40 week post--basically it came and went...he became officially "full term" and decided he was so comfortable he'd like to stay in there another week. No big news to report so I decided to skip the blogging over the last week and Tony and I just relaxed, slept in, and enjoyed our last bit of free time for just the 2 of us.

We are headed to the hospital tonight to get things going. I will be given one medicine over night tonight in preparation and then my doctor will induce labor tomorrow morning. So, Owen will be born at some point tomorrow and we're SO excited to meet him :) I will post an update as soon as feel up to it, but I'm not making any promises on how soon it will be...we will be very busy kissing and loving on our sweet baby!

39 Weeks & Pregnancy Pictures!

Well, Monday was my official last day of work, YAHOO! It feels so good that I have the opportunity for some time to relax, catch up on sleep, get some chores done around the house, etc. before Owen gets here! I'm technically "on vacation" for the rest of the week, with my official last day being this coming Friday, Feb 29th--so the paychecks won't stop until then which is wonderful!

I went to my doctor yesterday and everything looks good--he says, "any day now!" so it shouldn't be too much longer. Everyone keeps asking me this, but I'm really not impatient, I'm enjoying this down time right now--I have told several people that I'm in a "win-win" situation. If he comes today I'll be happy, but if he waits a little while longer, that's fine too b/c it gives me more time to rest and have some "me" time. Plus, he's easier to take care of this way so I've just told him, "I'm ready when you are little guy!" :) My doctor won't let me go over a week past my due date (which is 3/4) so regardless, the waiting period is almost over!

I just got my pictures back that my sweet friend Cori took a few weeks ago! They all turned out AWESOME! I have hung some of them in Owen's nursery and they look so great :) If anyone's looking for a great photographer with very reasonable prices, I have a GREAT recommendation for you... :)

39 Weeks--didn't feel like posting the cucumber again, you get the picture :)
Your baby's weight and height have probably increased only a little from last week (and your overstretched skin is probably grateful for that). But his brain is still developing rapidly (a pace that continues during the first three years of life), with changes you'll be able to recognize firsthand as your baby's skill-packed bag of tricks expands almost daily.

Heard that babies cry a lot? There's definitely truth to that rumor — as you'll find out soon enough (and usually during the middle of the night). However, tiny babies don't produce tiny tears when they cry, since their tear ducts aren't open for business yet. While you'll be consoling your crying baby right from the get-go, it won't be until sometime after the first month that you'll be wiping tears off those chubby cheeks.

Your baby's skin has now finally changed from pink to white (no matter how dark-skinned he will be eventually; pigmentation will occur soon following birth). That's because a thicker fat layer has been deposited over the blood vessels.

Baby Shower (hosted by Elisa, Tony's aunt) Pics

Elisa--the hostess--and me
A cute little outfit for Owen from Kelly Kelly and me
Some of the shower guests

Baby Shower (hosted by friends) Pics

My sweet hostesses minus Lauren who got sick and Katie who "hosted from afar" :)

My fellow prego friends--yea! so excited to "bump bellies" with Rachael & Sara!!!

Ash, Amanda, & me--Manic Monday friends!!!

My aunts, grandmother, mom, & me

GREAT friends :)

38 Weeks

Finished and ready, hooray! We have checked everything off of our "to do" list and now we're just waiting for little Owen to get here.

An amazing (and by amazing, I mean amazingly awkward) thing happened to me yesterday that I must share...

First, let me say that I do not have a problem with people that I know touching my belly. I do find it slightly odd that people think that a pregnant tummy is public property, but if I know you—touch away if you feel so inclined. However, it does weird me out when complete strangers try to lay their hands on my midsection. If I sense that someone that I've never met before is contemplating an unwanted gesture such as this, I casually and discretely pull one of my arms across my belly. This move has been my standard "no touch please" signal through the duration of my pregnancy, a signal that up until yesterday, had always proved itself highly effective. Well, yesterday during church was a completely different story.

I turned around to say hello to a woman during the greeting—a woman that before this moment, I had never seen in my life. Much to my dismay, I could see in her eyes that she was about to make her move. Before she could do so, my arm went up and I achieved a successful block...or so I thought. Astonishingly enough, this woman made an attempt to move my arm off of my own belly so that she could access it. Due to the shock and bewilderment of the events playing themselves out before me, I was temporarily stunned and my arm remained firmly planted across my stomach. A slight struggle, perhaps only evident to the two of us, ensued and this strange woman’s effort to remove my arm from where it laid draped across my own body proved futile. I gave a quick, uncomfortable smile, mumbled something incoherent, and quickly turned around to greet someone else. Talk about a whole new meaning for the word STRANGEr…

That has to be the weirdest thing that has happed during my pregnancy thus far.

38 Weeks: Still a Freak-sized Cucumber
Only about two more weeks before your baby makes his appearance--and what an adorable appearance that will be! Your little one isn't so little anymore — weighing in at close to 7 pounds and hitting the height charts at the 21-inch mark (or less).

As you prepare for baby's ETA, he is also getting ready, big time. Vernix and lanugo continue to shed from your baby's body into the amniotic fluid. Your baby swallows that amniotic fluid and some of it winds up in his intestines where it—along with other shed cells, bile, and other waste products—will turn into your baby's first bowel movement (meconium) and perhaps your first diaper change.

Your baby's lungs continue to mature as more and more surfactant is secreted (remember — it helps prevent the lungs from sticking to each other when your baby begins to breathe…definitely a good thing). All systems, almost go!

hmmm, "full term"?! I just don't get it...

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times--I just don't GET the numbers that are thrown out during pregnancy, they are so confusing! The latest oddity to add into the mix is that babies are considered "full term" at 37 weeks (um, yeah, that would be right now). If he's full term now, then why are there 3 more weeks until my due date? I understand the logisics of it--he's practicing getting "ready for the outside world", building up more fat for protection, yada, yada, yada...but if it's better that he stay in there until 40 weeks, then why are babies considered full term at 37? Oh the silliness that comes along with being pregnant...

All that said, I have quit trying to make sense of these tricky numbers because when it comes down to it, this baby's gonna come when he's ready no matter what my "numbers" say. Thus I arrive at a conclusion-->numbers don't mean squat. Which is pretty ironic considering that's pretty much all people focus on and ask me about these days regarding this little guy ;)

.

Oh, and one more thing, in case you're still not sure about how I arrived at my conclusion: according to my doctors, I will be 40 weeks pregnant on February 28, yet they have never "officially" changed my due date from March 4. Last time I checked, that's 5 days later--almost an entire week. When I asked my doctor about it he said, "eh, it's just an estimation anyways," which obviously I know, but still, when it's all you have to go on...

Alas, just another case in point on why numbers don't matter.

Moving right along...

The photo session with Cori went really well last weekend. I know that she got some great shots and I can't WAIT to see them :) It was a whole lot of fun and I'm so excited to see the end product once she's done putting her finishing touches on them!

My poor Tony has been sick ALL WEEK :*( He started feeling kinda run down last Sunday night during the Super Bowl, went to work on Monday, and then by Monday afternoon he was feeling pretty crummy. He's been running a fever and has had some terrible congestion--it sounds like he's on the verge of coughing up a lung any second! He's headed to the doctor today though so hopefully they'll get him feeling better soon.

I have 2 baby showers this weekend and I am SO excited! On Saturday my very sweet friends are having a baby shower brunch for me at Emilie's house. Incidences of getting the whole crew together are few and far between and I can't wait to see my girls :) I have a feeling that it's going to be a VERY FUN and EXCITING day!!! On Sunday, Elisa (Tony's aunt) is hosting a shower for me at her house. It should be a very nice time, I am looking forward to that one as well.

37 weeks: Um, a cucumber...? I've NEVER seen a 6 lb cucumber in my life, but ok, we'll go with it....

With just 3 more weeks to go and at about 6 ½ pounds, your baby is doing just fine. You can expect weight gain to be about half an ounce per day.—boys, though, are likely to be heavier at birth than girls. Since your little one is considered full-term now, if your baby was to leave the wet nest this week, he would likely thrive. That's because Mother Nature and you have done such a fine job.

So what's keeping your little one busy while waiting it out until D-day? Practice, practice, practice. Your baby is simulating breathing by inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, sucking on his thumb, blinking, and pivoting from side to side (one day you feel the tushy on the left side, another day it has swung around to the right side). All these are skills needed for his next gig — starring as newborn.

Here's an interesting fact: Your baby's head (which, by the way, is still growing) will, at birth, be the same size circumference as his hips, abdomen, and shoulders. And guess what's making an impression (literally) these days on those shoulders and hips: fat — causing little dimples in those cute elbows and knees, shoulders and hip, and creases and folds in the neck and wrists

36 Weeks--the Homestretch begins...

Good grief...speaking of stretching, my body feels stretched to the max! Yet, somehow, in the next 4 weeks it will find a way to continue to share with this ever growing baby...either that, or I'm gonna be the first woman ever to deliver a baby via a popping belly! I can definitely feel that Owen has dropped some--especially when I'm exercising. There's quite a lot of pressure that's building up on my bladder these days. ...and I thought I had to pee a lot before! I could go on with the various "joys of pregnancy", but I'm afraid I'm starting to sound like an 80 year old woman listing all her ailments ;) At no time have I ever felt like it hasn't been worth it though. I know that as soon as I hold my son in my arms that all the backaches and stuffy noses will be forgotten!

Tony and I finished most everything on our "to do list" last weekend **pause and sigh with relief**. The nursery is complete! What a great feeling to have that checked off the list and know that Owen's room is ready in waiting for the little guy to come home to! I also finished making his diaper bag, washed some of his clothes, and did some packing for the hospital. All that's left are the things that can't go into the bag until the last minute anyway (toilitries, etc.). The carseat did not get installed last weekend, but Tony does plan on tackling that this weekend.

Tomorrow my sweet & VERY talented friend, Cori, is taking some pregnancy pictures for both Brianne and me. I can't wait to see how they turn out, she's a very talented photographer and I'm super excited to get these done! I shall post some of them when I get them back for sure.

This Sunday is the Super Bowl. The neighborhood ladies are headed to our 2nd Annual Girls Night Out for cheese & chocolate at the Melting Pot and then back to watch the rest of the game with the guys! I'm looking forward to yummy fondue, my favorite! :) I am neither a Patriots fan or a Giants fan so I don't care who wins, but the commercials will be fun to watch.

Here are some pics of Owen's FINISHED Nursery, Yahoo!..

...and finally me, 9 Months Pregnant--ALMOST finished :)
36 weeks: 4 to go!
Your baby is now about 6 pounds in weight and measures slightly more than 20 inches in length. Growth will experience a slowdown now, both so your baby will be able to fit the narrow passageway to the outside and also so he can store up all the energy needed for delivery.

Your baby's skull isn't the only soft structure in his little body. Most of your baby's bones and cartilage are quite soft as well (they'll harden over the first few years of life) — allowing for an easier journey as your baby squeezes through the birth canal at delivery (and less prodding and poking for Mom along the way). The skull bones are also not fused together yet so that the head can easily maneuver through the birth canal.

By now, many of your baby's systems are pretty mature, at least in baby terms — and just about ready for life on the outside. Blood circulation, for instance, has been perfected and your baby's immune system has matured enough to protect him from infections outside the womb. Other systems, however, still need a few finishing touches. Once such notable example: digestion — which actually won't be fully mature until sometime after birth. Why's that? Inside his little gestational cocoon, your baby has relied on the umbilical cord for nutrition, meaning that the digestive system — though developed — hasn't been operational. So your baby will take the first year or two to bring that system up to speed.

35 Weeks

I'm almost over my cold now--still quite tired, but I'm breathing better now so that's good! This weekend is going to be a big "preparation weekend" for Tony & me. We plan to finish painting Owen's bookshelf and put it in his room as well as organize all of the fun gear, clothing, and other stuff we've gotten for Owen at recent showers. I've added a few new details to the nursery recently--some painted letters, a cross, and a few other things--so hopefully I'll also find some time to take some new pictures and post them next week. We're also going to pack our hospital bags and hopefully install the carseat. I also plan to finish sewing Owen's diaper bag & get some of his clothes washed. I'm sure there are a few more things I just can't think of right now that will sneak their way on the "to do list" as well :) Hopefully this list will get accomplished, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

The other night I woke up in the middle of the night for a potty break and when I came back to bed Owen was quite active--not unusual in the least, he almost always wakes up and starts moving around about 3am or so--but this time the movements felt a little bit different. It was almost like he was moving to a beat or something--then I realized, he had the hiccups! It was quite comical and I almost woke up Tony so he could feel (but then decided he probably wouldn't appreciate a 3am wake up call!) so I just layed there for a little bit feeling these rhythmic movements until he finally stopped and I went back to sleep. I'm sure he's probably had them before, but this was the first time I'd felt them and identified what they were so I was quite amused.

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35 Weeks: Only 5 left!

At about 20 inches and about 5 ½ pounds, most of your baby's growth over the next month before you meet will be in weight (with a gain of anywhere from 1 pound to several), not height--baby's pretty much reached the in utero limit in that department. Accordingly, baby’s fat continues to accumulate at a rapid pace these days. Back in the middle of your pregnancy, your baby's weight was made up of only 2% fat; now that percentage has soared to closer to 15 % and will increase to 30 % at term. Which means your baby's once skinny arms and legs are now quite plump…and irresistibly, squeezably soft.

Also continuing to grow at an amazing pace is your baby's brain power. Luckily, the part that surrounds that amazing brain — the skull — remains soft. And for good reason: A soft skull will allow your baby to squeeze more easily through the birth canal.

Silly Margo!!!

I just HAD to share this picture of my crazy dog! Last night I was doing my pregnancy yoga video and Margo curled up and laid down right next to me...she was trying to get me to scratch her belly, but it looked like she was doing leg lifts with me. I coudn't stop laughing and I called for Tony to take this photo op...

Mountain Weekend

Pictures from our Mountain Weekend in Little Switzerland, NC--January 18-21, 2008

Cabin, Sweet Cabin

Sittin' by the fire :)

Lots of reading & napping on the couch for me!

Football for Tony (of course!)

Hiking in the snow

All bundled up--it was cold!

A few pictures on the porch...Sunset in the Mountains!!!

34 Weeks

A little late with the 34 week posting (what else is new?) but here's what's been going on...

This past Wednesday, some of my mom's friends had a surprise Grandmother Shower for her and it was a lot of fun. I had never heard of this before, but it was such a cute idea. They showered her with gifts to prepare for Owen to come and visit his grandparents' house. Some of the gifts included a few bottles, bibs, toys, pacifiers, some onesies, baby lotion, etc. They also went in together and got my mom a bouncer. Here are a few pictures of the shower...

A bib for "Mum's" House

Mama checking out her new bouncer...her friend Valerie was explaining the ropes :)

Some of mama's great friends & neighbors

Nikki--the AWESOME hostess

On Friday, Tony and I headed on one last trip before baby to my aunt & uncle's cabin in Little Switzerland, NC. We had a very relaxing long weekend reading by the fire, watching movies, hiking in the snow, napping (well, I napped--Tony watched football!) and we even took a day trip to Blowing Rock for lunch and a little bit of window shopping. It was quite cold up there--6 degrees on Sunday (!) but we had a lot of fun. We just got back yesterday so I will have to upload and post pictures of our trip later this week. It was such a nice, MUCH needed getaway and we are so glad that we took the trip. I did come back with a bit of a cold or something (boo!) I'm just not feeling 100%, but it's not too bad.

34 Weeks: The Honeydew Streak Continues...

Your baby could be as tall as 20 inches right now and about 5 pounds. Baby’s senses are continuing to improve -- when light peeks in through your belly, those tiny eyelids and irises blink and dilate and, baby can now recognize and react to simple songs… time to start practicing your lullabies! This week his testicles are making their way down from his abdomen to his scrotum. Your baby's fingernails now reach the end of the fingertips and may even curl over the tip. Growth is starting to slow, and baby may start descending into your pelvis at the end of this month.