Lydia Violet Ekzarkhov

7 lbs 13 oz
2:57pm

...still sleeping.

An artistic photograph.

Nap Time

Epideral is in. Pain is down to 0 out of 10. Dima is eating an early lunch.

Dima & Groggy Jen

6:03am. Moved into our labor & delivery room. Waiting.

What is Grizzarkhov?

What is Grizzarkhov? Literally? It's an amalgamation of my last name and my husband's. (Now both names are my new last name. No hyphen please.) Figuratively, it's the world we live in. Our 30-something life. The family, the brand new baby girl, the efforts to green ourselves, the house and all its projects, the hobbies, the friends, the food, the cat... all of it. The Land of Grizzarkhov.

Baby E's Monitor & Jen

Last OB Appointment

T minus 20 hours.

testing the belly

This is so cool. I just sent this picture of my belly to the blog from my phone. Oh yes. We are sooooooo blogging from labor and delivery! Don't be afraid. Nothing that we wouldn't want the whole world to see or read will be posted.

last day at work

The day has come. I finished up my last day at work today... and actually on time. No major last minute panics. At least not work related. But when I was finally done and Jen and Barbara were seeing me to the elevator I had a little internal freak out.

Up until then work was the one thing keeping the baby at bay. I had certain things that had to get done before any birthing could occur. Now, it's really happening. Work is done. The baby is coming.

Now of course I'm looking forward to the baby's arrival. Don't be mistaken. But once the baby is here, there's no turning back. Catch my drift? Life is forever different. Different in wonderful ways yes, but different. Never the same. It's a scary and exciting prospect all at once.

FYI, the freak out only lasted about 30 seconds. No need in getting all worked up about the inevitable. So I calmed down and got on the Metro.

When Dima picked me up on the other end he was having his own freak out. We have a deal, see? Only one of us is allowed to freak at the same time. So now it's his turn. When we got home he paced a little and made some weird noises. "We're having a baby, Jen. Eeeeehhhhhhhhrrrrrr..." and then some more "Eeeeehhhhhhhhrrrrrr..." Then that was it. We went to our last birthing class and learned about drugs and c-sections and now he's at the movies with his sister.

Everything is going to be fine. We're having a baby.

last minute purchases

Our gdiapers [What's a gdiaper? Read g... what a cool idea] starter kit arrived this week. Just in time. We probably won't use them the first week or so, one, to allow the baby's belly button to heal and, two, to allow Dima to get used to changing a diaper.

We're still waiting for our Dunstan Baby Language kit to arrive. Supposedly this will tell us exactly what all Baby E's cries mean. People either love it or hate it apparently. I hope we love it. It would be awesome to have an accurate translation kit when we're in the midst of severe sleep deprivation. When I'm exhausted and at my wit's end I want to know that that particular cry means "I'm hungry" vs. "I've got a big surprise for you in my diaper."

In our final acts of shopping for our impending delivery we also got:

• our car kits, complete with sun shades and mirrors,
• a set of blocks that make a Russian church, with minarets and everything, and
• our biggest splurge yet, a new camera, which Dima quickly fell in love with. It's an Olympus E500. It's lovely and will help us capture all those precious moments.

getting down to it

I'm being induced on Friday, 5:30 am. Tomorrow is my last day in the office. Yikes! I can't believe this time is really upon us. But we feel as ready as we can, I guess.

I'm still trying desperately to finish my thank you notes before I'm running on no sleep. We'll see if I make it. I think I can.

Our Internet has been down since Saturday and is up again but not fully functional. Just one computer. Our washing machine broke down on Sunday and we had to go to Sears and replace it. It's being delivered and installed Thursday.

Lots of stuff to finish really. But if it doesn't get done at this point, so be it. (Although the washing machine is pretty important.) Soon we'll have a much more important task to be focused on... parenthood.

Today we went to the fire station and had the car seat checked out by the pros and we had our two last birthing classes crammed into a one hour session at the doctors' office. Talk about test taking anxiety.

Anyway, we've got almost everyone on the distribution email list. I think the first mode of information will be the blog though. We can post to it from our cell phones. Who knows when we can get to a computer to send an email. The doctor thinks the baby will be here around dinner time on Friday. Can you believe it!?

6 days...

and counting. Only 3 days left in the office. Whew.

Contractions abound... mostly Braxton Hicks. Except the one I'm having right now. I made Dima promise I could take at least one nap each day this weekend. So far so good.

Our internet is down (so annoying), so we're at Dima's parents checking email and bloggin'.

finally finished

A few months ago I had an funny experience in the Metro. I threw up. (I'm sure you're skeptical. How can puke be funny?) Anyway, it's taken me forever to finish my blog post about it and I finally just did. If you've got a problem with puke don't read it. But if you need to hear an uplifting story about Metro employees please do. What a Way to Start Your Day...

I've been meaning to write a letter to the Washington Post or something. It's so rare that you hear nice things about the Metro.

green and yellow saturation

I just finished a load of Baby E's laundry. I can't take it anymore. No more pastel green. No more pastel yellow. Give me vibrant red, blue, orange, purple. Even brown! Even bright green and yellow. No more pastels. Give me bright colors. Please!

baby e's room

In response to popular demand and by virtue of the fact that we finally finished decorating and organizing.... photos of the baby's room.

The crib, from Christina and Mike and my
framed glass scraffito tiles.

I made these tiles in my intermediate
fusing class at Weisser Glass Studio.

The changing table from the Bobos, Baby E's
going home outfit and a soft and lovey lion
for snuggling.

Shelves. Glorious Ikea shelves.

The Poang Ikea chair.

The West Elm mobile put to use.
Love this. It casts really cool
reflections on the walls as it spins.

My old wardrobe is now Baby E's.
I wrapped lengths of ribbon around
the door and attached shower cards
with tiny clothes pins. On top, two
lengths of fairy lights with chinese
globes. The whole string is on a
switch. It works great as a nightlight.
See below.

last minute shopping

Yesterday I ordered our gdiapers starter kit and the Dunstan Baby Language DVD. I'm sure I'll have all sorts of things to say about how they both work... once we're actually using them.

gender determination

I was pouring my cereal this morning and thinking of all the different methods of gender determination I've heard from people since we started telling people we weren't going to find out the sex of Baby E.

1. Of course "how you carry." But no one can seem to agree on which station of carrying means what. Are you low, all around, straight out, high, etc. The doctor says how you carry is hereditary and has nothing to do with your baby's gender.
2. "The ol' wedding ring and hair trick." In this method you tie a piece of hair to a wedding ring and swing it over the mother's belly. Depending on how it swings—round and round or back and forth, or is it clockwise and counter clockwise—determines the sex of the baby. We didn't do this but apparently it's supposed to be pretty accurate. I will point out that our local practitioner, Fr. V's wife, Matushka, tried it on her own daughter's pregnant belly and it was wrong.
3. "How intense is your morning sickness?" Researchers found that 56 percent of women who have severe morning sickness had a girl. I had horrible "morning" sickness (as in all day) well past my first trimester (though I never actually threw up... except for one random morning in the Metro). I also had the good fortune of having it return in the last few weeks. So what does that mean?
   
4. "The intensity of the linea nigra (dark line)." This was a new one for me. Apparently if the line that runs along your belly in late pregnancy is light, it's a girl and dark it's a boy. My line is very light. I guess we'll see.
5. "The heart rate." This one probably has the most scientific validity behind it. According to our sonographer, it's true, girls' heart rates tend to be higher, boys' lower. Right now Baby E's heart rate tends toward the lower side. However, I will note that the kid sleeps ALL the time! When you wake her/him up with say... a buzzer to Mama's belly, the heart rate gets way up there. So really, who knows?
   
6. "Where you carry your weight." If your pregnancy weight is in your butt, it's a girl. Not sure where you carry your weight if it's a boy. Or maybe that's it. You don't gain weight if it's a boy. Our friend Kathy was all baby and she just had a boy. Hmmmm...
7. "What does your gut tell you?" Absolutely nothing. I've flip-flopped so much on this there's no telling what we're having. The sonographer's report says "Normal."
   
8. Finally, and my favorite so far... "Tending to eat more meat or vegetables." Our favorite little breakfast place, Kay's Diner II, is run by two Korean sisters and one of their husbands. Since we eat there at least 2 weekends of every month, they've gradually seen me get more and more pregnant over the last 9 months. Last weekend one of the sisters finally asked when the baby was due. We told her 2 weeks and she asked if we knew the gender yet. After learning that, no, we didn't, she asked "Do you eat more vegetables or meat?" Now really, to make an accurate call on this is nearly impossible. I've been trying to eat a balance diet. At the beginning all I could eat was Potbelly sandwiches. Now I've tended more vegetarian. I eat meat when it's put in front of me but given the chance to make my own meal I tend to go meatless. So who knows? After hearing that I've been eating both she declared the baby a boy.

At this point I'm happy with the gender determination "Normal." And I'm looking forward to being utterly surprised when the doctor puts Baby E on my chest and says, "Congratulations, it's a __________!"

just thinking

We actually have to cram our last two birthing classes with our instructor since they'll be held after the baby is already born. I keep looking at my belly and thinking it's going to be "empty" in a week and a half. I think I might miss it a bit, the belly. But I'm really excited to meet the 3rd member of our family. Is it a girl? Is it boy? What the baby's personality? He/she's a big sleeper right now. Will he/she be the same in the outside world? So exciting.

inducement

We have scheduled my inducement. Sorry, this news is late in coming to the blog. Now that the baby is fully baked, my doctor is too. I mean... the doctor is ready for the fully baked baby to be born. Because of the protein deficiency that they discovered earlier on in the pregnancy they say it's best just to get the baby out after the 37th week.

So, drum roll... Baby E. is scheduled to come into the world around dinner time next Friday! Friday, July 13th! First of all, holy moly! Second of all, wow!

Our doctor's schedule determined the date. And she did ask us if we were superstitious. But neither of us is worried about the connotations associated with Friday the 13th. You make your own luck. And the kid will always have a story to tell about his/her birthday. That is of course if I make it to next Friday. I'm already 75 percent effaced and about 1/2 centimeter dilated.

biophsyicals

We started our weekly countdown at the OB two weeks ago. This weekend was the beginning of my 37 week. Baby E. is officially, fully baked.

We've been having weekly biophysicals to watch the progress of Baby E. and to keep close tabs on his/her physical state. So every Friday we get a sonogram and a pelvic. (Yippee to the second.) Baby follows directions excellently and is gaining a half a pound a week. At last check he/she was 6 lbs. 13 oz. They don't officially check length but I have a feeling this kid is LONG. His/her rump is squashed right up under my right breast, so I've got an unsightly bump on the right side of the belly. Not to mention the difficulty breathing when the kid decides to stretch. So there can't be much room left in there anymore.

They also put me on a fetal monitor every time I go in. Baby E. is supposed to have periods of elevated activity 3 times in 20 minutes. This he/she is not so good at. He/she is VERY good at sleeping though. So last Friday after some half-assed efforts at elevating his/her heartbeat through poking and talking, a nurse was sent in with a buzzer to buzz my belly and essentially scare the crap out of the baby. After two buzzes the baby was surely awake and gave them what they wanted. Poor thing. Still, after all that though he/she promptly fell back asleep. A kid after my own heart. Unfortunately though, Dr. B. said this habit will most likely not transfer to outside of the womb behavior. Darn!