Zoe Mika Palmer: Then and Now

The night before going to the hospital. 9 months pregnant!

And below is just picture overload. With no attempts at editing or picture placement. Probably not a very interesting blog for anyone other than myself :o)


Day 1 of life


Finally home from the hospital!


Our little photo shoot











2 weeks old


I've decided that at least I should chronicle a little bit of my pregnancy for Zoe to read about later in life and so that I could remember things as they went along. So, that's the "then" part of Zoe.

I first found out I was pregnant at the beginning of June with the expected missed cycle. So, I took a home pregnancy test. It came back positive, but I wasn't feeling ANYTHING at all, so I didn't really believe it. A couple days later, I took another one and the line was much lighter than the first time. And still nothing like the expected increased potty breaks or tenderness anywhere. So I took another, worried that I perhaps would be miscarrying. Still only very lightly positive. Yes, I do realize that I'm a doctor, and I tell people all the time that a line is a line regardless of how light or dark it is. But still, I took one more test, with the same results, which did not relieve my concerns. We had a cruise scheduled at the beginning of July, which could not be more awkward timing. I would be 6 weeks along at that time, which is usually when morning sickness kicks in (it did with a vengeance with Finn). That and being on a cruise ship and knowing that sometimes I get sea sick anyway were exciting things to put together. Things actually went pretty well, possibly with thanks to a seaband (no scientific evidence behind that one, but I think it actually worked for me). Our cruise was amazing and there was a ton of food around, I really only felt sick on the cruise first thing in the morning before getting food in my belly. We did all the fun things we planned, snorkeling, zip-lining, repelling, playing in the water, and exploring around town. And still no signs of real pregnancy other than feeling a little sick.

However, have no fear, those of you that experienced a lot of morning sickness, because it decided to really show up a couple weeks later and keep going and going and going. Morning sickness with Finn was textbook, starting at 6 weeks and ending at 12 weeks, and I thought that was bad. Little did I know that this time would extend beyond the 17 week mark. Annoying to say the least. But, it is always a little reassuring. My first OB appointment was at 10 weeks and that's when you can usually hear the baby's heartbeat. Most of the time on thin women you can hear that using the hand held machine. I thought I was thin enough, but when she couldn't find the heartbeat that way, I started freaking out that maybe my fears came true. So we got the other kind of ultrasound (always a girl's favorite), and there I could see my little baby with a good strong heartbeat. I was thrilled!

We decided to keep the news to ourselves for a while, and didn't end up telling anyone until we were halfway through the pregnancy. In part I suppose to make it seem shorter. I forget how long 40 weeks really is! So, if it felt like a short pregnancy to you, you're welcome. Let me reassure you that I felt the whole 40 weeks (well, actually 39).

Then came the ultrasound. Because this pregnancy was sooooooooo very different than the first, I was really hoping it was a girl. But I know they just differ regardless. It would have been a lot of fun to have 2 boys close in age and we would have been happy with either, but I was so excited to see those 3 little lines on the ultrasound image that meant she was a girl. Now I just have to learn how to do little girl hair. Any tips would be appreciated! Luckily for us, we had a friend who had a little girl and was now pregnant with twin boys, so we did a little clothes swap. And if you see our little Zoe sporting cute boy clothes, you'll know that it was such a cute little outfit I didn't want to part with it :o) Girls can get away with that! Plus James really wants to teach her to play sports.

My whole pregnancy was pretty easy. No complications. I'd say the only thing that was really annoying (besides the nausea) was the indigestion. Most women normally get heartburn during the 3rd trimester. I think I had it for a total of 2 weeks and the rest of the time I had horrible upset stomach with visits to the porcelain throne if I ate anything after the bewitching hour of 6 pm. And I couldn't for the life of me identify any patterns or foods to avoid. Needless to say, I gained 10 more pounds with Finn than I did with Zoe because of that detail. Every day I would pray for heartburn instead of the lousy indigestion!!!!!!!

Still, my favorite part of pregnancy is the feeling of little feet and hands kicking and pushing around in the belly. It really is an amazing sensation (and a little freaky at the same time). That and the fact that these beautiful little beings started out as 2 cells and then came out a perfect little person. Absolutely the most amazing miracle!

Zoe joined the world on February 21st at 1:13 pm. 8 pounds 1 oz, 21 inches long, with a head full of hair. Almost more hair than Finn has now :o) And with quite the set of lungs. The nurses in the nursery called her a drama queen because she let everyone know when she was hungry or wanted something, and now! She still can let out a good wail, but overall she's an excellent little baby. She really only cries when she's hungry or has a random gas bubble. I hope she stays this way, because it's wonderful! In the hospital she lost about a pound of weight and had to have bili lights so I was a little worried she might not be eating enough. However, today we had her 2 week well child check and I'm happy to say that she is now 8 pounds 8 oz and 70% for height as well. What a champ! Well, little newborns don't really do anything else at this point, so I'll just share some pictures now. And no, Mika (pronounced meeka) is not a family name or anything. Going into the hospital we really still hadn't made any decisions. Zoe was a name we had thrown out months ago because it was becoming too common, but it's been a name on my list for little girls for the past 8 years so we decided to use it regardless. Mika is just a cute name that we were trying to decide between so we decided to use it as a middle name.

And how is Finn doing with all this? He seems very interested in her at times. He calls her sister, tries to hold her and touch her, and will lay his head down next to her. It's very cute! It's only been a couple of times that I've really had to intervene on their interactions. Like when he tries to push her (really hard) in her little swing or brush her teeth. Hopefully they grow up to be friends. With a newborn, it's a little adjustment to me to find the one on one time with Finn to let him know he's still special, but that's part of learning to be a parent.

So, that is Zoe Mika Palmer, then and now.