Epidural vs. A Popsicle

Here is Claire Savannah at 34 weeks. Dr. Biter estimated her current weight at about 4 pounds. Dr. Biter said she is measuring normal and healthy, although I'm excited/nervous about giving birth to an 8 or 9 pound baby!

Today's doctor visit went extremely well. We didn't have to wait as long to see Dr. Biter (being that we were his first patients of the day). He said that if I were to go into labor in about 1 week, he wouldn't do anything to stop it. Which means 1) our baby is healthy 2) the big day is just around the corner. I asked Dr. Biter about receiving an epidural. He is very flexible about giving epidurals at any point during labor, except when the baby is half way out ;o)...by then he said, "it just won't happen." He said the choice is completely up to me, but then told me a story of one of his patients who was determined to have a natural birth. Into her labor she decided she wanted an epidural, no doubt about it. Dr. Biter kept asking her if she was positive. During the pain, the patient said she wanted an epidural, but Dr. Biter knew how badly she wanted a natural birth. He decided to give her an epidural, but first stopped by the cafeteria and got her a popsicle. He brought the popsicle back to the patient and she was grateful and apparently that popsicle took the place of the epidural and she had a natural birth. The patient was extremely grateful that she did not receive an epidural, but instead had a popsicle. I told Dr. Biter I hadn't made up my mind about receiving an epidural yet and he said, "That's okay, whatever you decide you want, we will do. Epidural or a popsicle, it's up to you." Stu and I could not stop laughing. I never thought of an epidural and a popsicle as being the same thing.

By the way, we LOVE Dr. Biter!

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Love-Stuart and Cassandra





Stu "dressed up" by his fellow Marines at the 3/5 Batallion Christmas party. It was a contest and Stu's company won!

Worth the wait

Stuart and I had an appointment with my doctor yesterday. First let me say Dr. Robert Biter is AMAZING!!! I couldn't have asked for a more genuine, caring and warm-hearted doctor to handle my care. For those of you who don't know, Dr. Biter is my third (yes, third) OB/Gyn. I've posted links to some articles about him, or you can Google him yourself. Well, although he is very well-known in this area and very attentive to his patients (he delivers all of his patients babies-which means no one is ever on-call for him), he is an extremely busy man to say the least. While we were waiting to be called back to see him, he left twice to deliver two different babies. Long story short, we waited about 3 1/2 hours. Apparently this is normal and patients will wait just as long to see him. Stuart and I were getting extremely restless and let me tell you, it was not pretty! When we finally got to see the doctor, it was well worth the wait as he did a 4-D ultrasound so we can see our sweet little girl (who by the way looks like she's grown a tremendous amount). If you look closely on the video, you can see she has her eyes open, kicks herself several times in the head with her own foot and as the doctor says, "has incredibly long eyelashes." After seeing that video, we didn't even care we waited that long.

Dr. Robert M. Biter
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/10/06/entertainment/theater/10505115717.txt
http://www.10news.com/leadershipaward/8868721/detail.html

A few words

How can I sum up our quick Thanksgiving trip to Friendswood? Here's a few things that come to mind:

* Turkey
* Pies, pies and more pies
* Football
* A cake made of diapers
* And "Oh it's a baby! And her name is Ca-ware. I want to see the baby."

Stu and I had so much fun in Texas. Our nieces Catherine and Elizabeth are too funny. After so many days of sweet little 2 yr. old Catherine hearing there was a baby in my belly, she finally had enough and wanted to see the baby, so she tried lifting up my shirt. I guess that would be confusing for any little 2 yr. old.


Pictured is the awesome cake Gigi made and Chuck Miller with Stu.

Thanksgiving 2008

What I am Thankful for in 2008.

I am thankful:

...for Stuart. God couldn't have chosen a better man to be my life long partner.

...our Marine is home safe from Iraq and able to spend the holidays in the U.S.

...that we are able to spend time with our family and friends despite the many miles that separate us.

...for the air I breathe, the home we share and the life I live.

...most of all I am thankful for the precious life growing inside of me. Stuart and I feel so blessed to be parents. Stuart often tells me how excited he is that he is going to be a father, or as he would say, "It's pretty awesome!" It continues to overwhelm me with such pride and happiness that Stuart and I have created a sweet child. I cannot wait until we can officially welcome her into the world.