New cool digital network channel

With the upcoming transition to digital network TV, NBC has added a new digital channel called Universal Sports (network channel 17.2 here in Chapel Hill). It's really cool because they've been showing a lot of sports that don't often get a lot of primetime airtime, like diving, speed skating, running, and various snow sports. The only downside is that right now, they've been showing a lot of repeat performances. For example, the Boston Marathon was only a little over a week ago, but I think they've had it on like 3 times already, and while I definitely enjoy distance running, it's not exactly the most action-packed thing to watch. But the snowboard cross is way cool to watch because it's fast and people fall alot. Hopefully with the upcoming Winter Olympics they'll be showing some of the more exciting competitions, like National and World Championships and Olympic Trials.

Guest room transformed

What used to be our guest room/office/room we dump all our junk in has now become the guest room/nursery. We do still have some random items stashed in the corners, like camp chairs and a guitar, but we figure that Ally won't care for now. The only thing missing is a baby!

BTW, the plastic elephant thing on the dresser is a humidifier. You fill it up with water and a cool mist comes out the trunk. It is super fun!

Last Prenatal Appointment

This morning we had our final prenatal doctor's appointment. I am still around 50% effaced and maybe a bit more than 2 cm dilated. So things are continuing to move in the right direction, and if I do end up getting induced on Sunday, at least I'll be starting from something instead of nothing.

So I'm sure that everyone has heard of various old wives tales about things you can do to get labor started, like eating spicy food, going for a walk, etc. I heard a new one from our friend Gil from St. Thomas More. He said that his daughter was born after a change in atmospheric pressure, like a thunderstorm. We are supposed to be having some weather changes towards the end of the week so we'll see what happens!

Updated Belly Progression-40 weeks

Well, here we are on Ally's official due date. As you can see, she is still in the oven, and probably won't be born today, unless something major happens within the next 12 hours, which I'm feeling is not going to be the case. So it looks like she is going to do what about 50% of babies do (according to What to Expect When You're Expecting) and come past her due date. So since May 1st is Friday, my big question is: will she be an April baby or a May baby??? I do know for sure that she won't share her Aunt Megan's May 8th birthday because our induction date (should we need it) is May 3rd, so at the latest, her birthday will be May 4th, which is a week from today.

Now that I'm done with school obligations, I am chilling at home. I'll probably do some laundry today, not because I'm having a nesting instinct (I'm not), but because Ben and I might be running out of clean underwear (the driving factor for when laundry gets done in our house). I might even find something fun to cook or bake. I could also practice piano (something that has gotten really really sporadic this year) and start reading "Mama, PhD", a book that my friend Michelle lent me. In any case, hopefully something exciting will happen in the next few days!

One year finished

Yesterday morning, I completed my last school obligation for the year, which was to take my biostatistics final. Therefore, I have successfully made it through the semester before giving birth, and I have also completed the first year of my PhD program with about 3 years to go. Or if you combine the masters and the PhD programs together, it would total about 6 years, so in that case, I'm halfway done. Normally I would work during the summer, either teaching summer school or doing research with my advisor, but this summer will be my maternity leave. I do still have research work that I can do, but luckily it's mostly things like editing manuscripts and writing IRB documents, and that's something I can do from home.

Now that school is finished, Ally is welcome to come whenever she likes.

New nephew is here!

Simon DiGiulio Evans was born today by C-section, checking in at around 7.3 lbs and 21 inches. Hopefully Andy and Anne will send us some pictures soon!

Ally is still in the oven. We had a doctor's appointment today, and I am about 2 cm dilated and about 50% effaced, so things are moving in the right direction. We did go ahead and schedule an induction for May 3rd, which is 1 week past my due date, just in case she does not come on her own. Ben and I are hoping that labor will start on it's own though, so that we can spend some of the time at home before heading to the hospital. Plus, I have heard that Pitocin-induced contractions can be stronger than regularly-occurring ones. Oh well, I guess we'll know soon enough!

An new playmate for waiting for Ally's arrival?

Our friends Andy and Michelle gave birth to their baby early this morning at the Duke University hospital-a baby girl named Miriam. We are super-excited for them and can't wait to meet Miriam. She will be joining an already large family of farm animal siblings, including Linus the Beagle, 3 cats, a flock of chickens, several rabbits, and a flock of sheep.

We are also eagerly anticipating the arrival of a new nephew, who may make his appearance on Wednesday or Thursday of this week, depending on if my sister-in-law gets induced. With all these new births happening, I hope that Ally can be patient for just a little while longer and stay in the oven, at least until Friday after I take my biostatistics final. After that, we can negotiate.

Shrinking brain?

I get daily pregnancy e-updated from whattoexpect.com, and I am pretty sure one of the more recent ones said that your brain tends to shrink during 3rd trimester (it's supposed to go back to normal after delivery). Or something like that (case in point).

And coincidentally, final exams are approaching. Luckily, everything is open-book this semester. Especially physiology and biostatistics. Otherwise, I might have been turning in mush. Kind of like my brain.

Sleepless in Chapel Hill

Do you know what I was doing this morning at 4am? I was working on my epidemiology final. No, I was not pulling an all-nighter, and yes, I know that it is the weekend. However, I woke up last night around 2am, and couldn't go back to sleep, so I figured that there was no use stewing about it in bed. So I got up, went downstairs, surfed the net, worked on my final, and wrote some emails. Finally around 5:30am or so, I decided to venture back upstairs to try to get some more sleep. Luckily it worked.

I guess in this last bit of pregnancy, it has been harder to get comfortable and stay comfortable all night. That, coupled with middle-of-the-night trips to the bathroom, does not make for great sleep. I know that this is only the beginning of many sleep-deprived nights and days to come for many months. Sigh.

We are the Champions!

Our boys did it! UNC is the 2009 NCAA Champion! This is the 2nd time in 5 years that we've won too. GO HEELS!

I passed through Student Stores today, and it was packed! People were buying up all kinds of championship memorabilia (t-shirts and the like). I did not buy anything when we won in 2005, but I think I might have to get something this time, in case we don't win for a while. For Ben's birthday, I got him a UNC coffee mug that he can use at work. It was a good buy because a lot of his students are Duke fans (poor kids), so I'll bet that today when he went to class, he had his coffee mug in hand and took drinks from it often, Haha!

Pokey is Gone

In the process of getting ready for Ally's impending arrival, we have been organizing, and in some cases, getting rid of the stuff we've accumulated over the past several years. The largest and maybe most sentimental thing we got rid of is Ben's old car-a 1990 Honda Civic named Pokey. Okay, Pokey did not go to the junkyard-we donated her. Our public TV station has a program where you can donate old cars and boats and they put them to good use. It was a good move; she's basically sat in our visitor's lot for the past year or so with a dead battery and other such ailments, and since we are essentially a one-car family (I take the bus to UNC while Ben drives to Elon), we really didn't have a need to keep her. So anyway, they came and took her away a couple days ago. It was a little bit sad, but hopefully she will go to someone who can get some use out of her. Bye Pokey, we'll miss you!