Enlarge Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy holds Dexter in a wrap. She says she has to go back to classes and work soon while her husband, Aaron, is a stay-at-home dad — and she admits she's jealous.

Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy holds Dexter in a wrap. She says she has to go back to classes and work soon while her husband, Aaron, is a stay-at-home dad — and she admits she's jealous.

It feels as though I've been in baby limbo for the past month or so. I'm slowly pulling myself out of it, though unfortunately, I can't stay here forever.

Our plans for the future are coming together. I know I wrote earlier about not being able to see past August in my plans; well, August is over this week. Time to face reality. I'm starting classes again on Sept. 7. Two days a week for five hours each day, then some outside work experience starts in October. Add a part-time job to that, and I am going to be one busy mama.

Aaron, a freelance writer, is prepared to be the stay-at-home dad and take care of Dexter. I'm a little jealous. OK, I'm a lot jealous. But hopefully only a few more months of classes, and then I can move on. I'm going to miss my baby so much. I'm not holding him as I write this, and I feel guilty. How am I going to leave him for five hours at a time?

Enlarge Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy had some trouble with breast-feeding early on, but Dexter has since improved his "latch skills." She's grateful that her husband, Aaron, has also been able to feed him from a bottle.

Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy had some trouble with breast-feeding early on, but Dexter has since improved his "latch skills." She's grateful that her husband, Aaron, has also been able to feed him from a bottle.

I'm writing this as Dexter sleeps on the Boppy wrapped around my midsection. He's become a mama's boy in the past few days. I love it.

Being home alone with our baby for the past few weeks has been ... well ... trippy. The days all run together — sometimes I shower, most times I don't. Sometimes I get a nap in the afternoon, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I get a solid four hours of sleep at night, most nights I don't. My days mostly consist of feeding, snuggling and changing our little dude. I don't want it to end.

Aaron has been wonderful. So helpful and loving. Our relationship has only grown stronger over these weeks. He's a great dad. Dexter is going to be a daddy's boy before I know it, so I'll savor these days while I can.

Enlarge Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy with her husband Aaron and her son, Dexter.

Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy with her husband Aaron and her son, Dexter.

Last week, Lucy Peck wrote the first part of her birth story. Her son, Dexter Aaron Peck, was born on July 29 and weighed in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce. Lucy had previously written about her plan for a natural, drug-free delivery. Did she make it? Here is the second part of her story.

I'm still reeling. My thoughts are all over the place. Randomly I'll remember details from that night: Asking Aaron to turn up Billy Joel's "Piano Man" playing from the speakers in the corner of the room. The specific size and shape of the arrow around the speaker on the hospital bed rails. The deep purple of the grape juice they offered me after. Seeing Dexter's face for the first time before he was completely out.

I was delirious at times, and completely lucid at others. I felt like I was literally losing my mind and myself, and the only things keeping me whole were Aaron's hands in mine. He never left my side for longer than it took to get to the other side of the bed when I turned.

Last Friday, Lucy gave birth to her first child, Dexter Aaron Peck, who weighed in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce. A couple of weeks earlier, she wrote about her plan for a natural, drug-free delivery, which involved laboring at home for as long as possible before heading to the hospital, and no monitors unless absolutely necessary. Did things go as planned? Here's the first part of her birth story.

Enlarge Courtesy of Lucy Peck

This is the last photo taken of Lucy Peck while she was pregnant.

Courtesy of Lucy Peck

This is the last photo taken of Lucy Peck while she was pregnant.

It's nearly been a week, and I'm still processing everything that happened last Friday. I'll start at the beginning:

Early Friday morning, I woke up to go to the bathroom. When I stood up, I was a little surprised at myself, but then I realized I still had to go to the bathroom — I hadn't peed my pants. Once I was sure that my water had broken, I woke Aaron up. We were both really excited, but still kind of unsure of what was going to happen next. I wasn't feeling any contractions and wanted to know for sure if my water had actually broken, so we decided to go to the hospital, just to be sure.

Today I got a text message from Lucy Peck announcing the birth of her son Dexter Aaron Peck. He was born on July 29, at 11:45 p.m., and weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce. She said, "No epidural!"

Earlier this week, Lucy wrote about getting her membranes stripped in the hopes of speeding up labor. Although that procedure didn't work in the 24-48 hour window that it usually does, she was fairly certain that her water broke early Friday morning, so she and her husband Aaron headed to the hospital.

We'll keep you updated with photos and her birth story as we hear more.

Congrats to the new family!

Enlarge Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy and Aaron Peck decorated Dexter's room with an aquarium theme. They are planning to hang handmade "fish" on the wall above the crib.

Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy and Aaron Peck decorated Dexter's room with an aquarium theme. They are planning to hang handmade "fish" on the wall above the crib.

We worked on Dexter's room over the weekend. It turned out just as I had imagined from the beginning. I love it. I hope he does, too.

You might notice the big blank wall over the crib. I know we're not supposed to hang anything there, but it's a BIG blank wall. Bo-ring. So we came up with an idea for how to make it not so boring.

Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy and Aaron made construction paper "fish" to hang above Dexter's crib. They plan to ask all their friends to make one, to help decorate the nursery.

Everyone who comes to visit Dexter in those first few days will get to make a fish for him using construction paper, glue sticks, and markers. Then we'll laminate them all and stick them on the wall above so he has his very own, personalized, aquarium. Then, when he gets older, or when we move, I'll put the fish into a photo album next to a picture of who made it for him. I'm really excited about it. Aaron and I made our contributions last night ...

And congratulations to Ashley! Congratulations to ALL you new mommies! I'm so jealous. I just KNOW I'm going to be the last one to have my baby. Sigh.

Lucy also sent this update, and will keep us posted on how things progress.

At our appointment on Friday, we learned that my doctor will be out of town from July 29 through Aug. 7. Although my original due date was Aug. 7, it was changed, by my doctor, at our first ultrasound appointment. However, the change apparently wasn't noted everywhere it should have been.

Because there is the chance that she won't be around if I miss my (new) due date this weekend, we decided to have her strip my membranes yesterday to see if we can't get things started a little sooner. I'm in my 40th week, so I feel pretty comfortable doing this. Also, it's the most natural way to have a doctor induce labor.

She told us it works about 30 percent of the time, but everything I'm reading online says it works about 50 percent of the time. *Sigh* I'm really hoping to have my baby with my doctor present. My sister even changed her plans and flew in last night. Keep your fingers crossed that this procedure works!

Enlarge Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy Peck is less than two weeks away from her due date, but says the waiting feels like it's taking forever.

Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy Peck is less than two weeks away from her due date, but says the waiting feels like it's taking forever.

Thank you to everyone for the great advice given in the comments on my last post. Your support is much appreciated. And I've added several of your suggestions to my packing list!

Aaron and I are continuing to practice the relaxation techniques we have learned. I'm trying to have lots of different techniques ready to go, because we don't know what will work best for me.

According to our due date, we have less than two weeks to go. It feels like we've been sentenced to spend the next two weeks in limbo. Sure, we have a doctor's appointment every week now, and slowly but surely we are getting closer to the birth, but it feels like it's taking f...o...r...e...v...e...r.

Enlarge Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Aaron Peck is looking forward to being a father in a few weeks to his son, Dexter. He's already planning to teach him a father-son handshake — right after learning how to change a diaper.

Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Aaron Peck is looking forward to being a father in a few weeks to his son, Dexter. He's already planning to teach him a father-son handshake — right after learning how to change a diaper.

Aaron Peck is the husband of Baby Project mom Lucy Peck, and the father of soon-to-be-born Dexter. He shares his thoughts on impending fatherhood.

What does a father-to-be do to ready himself for impending doom fatherhood? This isn't where I come up with some poignant answer — I'm truly asking. What in the bleeding blazes do I do?

My head is swimming with all sorts of jumbled information. Pictures of car seats, pacifiers and diapers roll around in my noggin like an alcohol-addled dream. Obviously, I try to dwell on the important stuff first, like: How am I going to groom my little guy into the best basketball player ever? What naughty words will he inadvertently learn from me, but that I'll in turn blame on the unruly kids at school? And most importantly, the creation of our own unique father-son handshake.

These seem like good places to start. Well, as good a place as any, since when it comes to fatherhood, I may as well be flailing about in darkness trying to change a diaper.

Enlarge Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy Peck is seen this past weekend at an aquarium-themed baby shower hosted by her mom, aunt and sister-in-law. Lucy is planning a drug-free birth at a hospital with the support of her husband and sister.

Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy Peck is seen this past weekend at an aquarium-themed baby shower hosted by her mom, aunt and sister-in-law. Lucy is planning a drug-free birth at a hospital with the support of her husband and sister.

Three weeks and counting to our due date! For some reason, though, I feel like we will be parents sooner than July 31. Wishful thinking or intuition, no idea. But I think this means I had better get serious about preparing our birth plan. Or at least pack a bag to take to the hospital.

I've tried to keep it open and flexible, with just a few things set in stone. For instance, unless my life or the baby's depends on it, I do not want any pitocin. I want my labor and contractions to progress naturally. Also, I don't want to be tied down to the bed by monitors any sooner than I have to. I want the freedom to move around.

Everything else, I've tried to keep flexible since I've heard that it doesn't always go the way you've planned. I don't want to be worried that "The Plan" isn't going the way it should.

On March 17 this year, we found out we are having a little boy. This was great news. I wanted a boy first. In fact, I'd be thrilled with a family full of boys. Can't say why, exactly, I just think it would be awesome. I'd be thrilled with girls, too, don't get me wrong, but the idea of raising a bunch of boys to all be best friends with each other sounds like so much fun.

As we get closer to the impending labor, delivery and arrival of our little dude, however, one question persistently pops up: To circumcise or not?

I used to work at a boutique in our local mall that pierced ears. We had all kinds come in — little girls, teenagers (boys and girls), grandmothers, old men. But the worst were the baby girls — infants — brought in by loving parents wanting to make their little girls so pretty.

Enlarge Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy Peck in front of the Utah Public Radio building in Logan, Utah. She and her husband Aaron were interviewed by host Tom Williams on July 5.

Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy Peck in front of the Utah Public Radio building in Logan, Utah. She and her husband Aaron were interviewed by host Tom Williams on July 5.

Yesterday, I was interviewed on Utah Public Radio along with Baby Project parents Lucy and Aaron Peck. We talked about the project, as well as the All Things Considered series Beginnings.

Check out the interview here - The Baby Project segment starts at 40:46 in the mp3 file.

Lucy and Aaron also talked about how they chose the name "Dexter" for their child, why they chose to participate in the blog (Lucy is a huge NPR fan), and how it felt to be part of a national project.

Last week, Lucy Peck wrote about being grateful for the Medicaid program that's providing insurance for her and her baby, during and after pregnancy. We asked her to talk more about the process and the program.

Enlarge Courtesy of Luck Peck

Lucy Peck is thankful to have qualified for Medicaid to help pay for the cost of having her baby.

Courtesy of Luck Peck

Lucy Peck is thankful to have qualified for Medicaid to help pay for the cost of having her baby.

We applied for Medicaid after we found out we were pregnant last December. Aaron had been laid off June of that year, and we didn't (and still don't) have insurance. We knew it was the only way we were going to afford the baby.

Getting into the Medicaid program wasn't the nightmare that so many people warned us about. We were told it could take up to 60 days, and we'd be calling the office every day and would be on hold for over an hour each time. I filled out an application online, and within a week received a letter outlining all the documents we would need to provide to complete it.

We had a few hiccups along the way, but each was solved with a phone call (I never waited more than 15 minutes to talk to someone) and a fax.

We started our application in mid-December and received our first Medicaid cards in the mail by the end of January. They are still arriving the last week of each month.

Enlarge Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy Peck on her third wedding anniversary at 6 1/2 months pregnant. She and her husband, Aaron, were grateful to be approved for Medicaid.

Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy Peck on her third wedding anniversary at 6 1/2 months pregnant. She and her husband, Aaron, were grateful to be approved for Medicaid.

With only about five more weeks to go, I'm finding this situation all the more real. From the beginning it was easy to say, oh, sure we'll have a baby in six months. We have lots of time to prepare! But now, with doctors' appointments every week, we're really getting to it. A third person is about to become part of our lives FOREVER. And I have no idea how we're going to do it.

My biggest worry at this point is our finances. I'm working, but not for much longer. My husband is a freelance writer and movie critic, which, while totally as awesome as it sounds, doesn't pay much. We won't be able to make it on his income alone. The only reason we can even afford to have this baby right now is Medicaid. I'm not ashamed to partake of this government program, I'm grateful it is available to people like us who want to start a family.

Our Medicaid application went through relatively smoothly; every time I needed a warm body on the other side of the phone, I got one. When the first few months' cards showed up in the mail, I cried. Blame it on the hormones, whatever. I still get choked up when I think about it. We really needed this program. A lot of people do. I'm grateful for it.

Enlarge Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy Peck at five months pregnant. She was excited to buy maternity clothes, calling it "the best day ever."

Courtesy of Lucy Peck

Lucy Peck at five months pregnant. She was excited to buy maternity clothes, calling it "the best day ever."

Ever heard of the workout program P90X? It's a pretty aggressive workout/diet program. In December 2010, my husband and I had just committed to 90 days of grueling workouts and a brand new diet plan. We set our start date for Dec. 6. On Dec. 3, I realized I still hadn't had a period for November. Not to worry, though, right? I'd been off the pill for a few months, my body was still probably trying to get on track without it.

Over the next two days, though, I had a growing suspicion. On Sunday, Dec. 5, as we were getting ready for bed, I tried to prepare my husband for the possibility of pregnancy.

Me: So, um, I think I might be pregnant.

Him: (eyes wide): .... OK ...

Me: I'm not sure, I haven't taken a test or anything yet, but it's been a while and I still haven't started my period. I'll wait a few more days, and if it hasn't started by Thursday, I'll go get a test and we'll see, OK?

Him: (all blood drained from his face): ... OK ... You really think you might be? Maybe you just miscounted ...

About Lucy

Lucy Peck, 27, of Logan, Utah, became a first-time mom on July 29, when she and her husband, Aaron, welcomed Dexter Aaron Peck into their lives.

• Lucy's Full Bio
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Me: It's entirely possible. That's why I want to wait until Thursday. You OK with that plan? We can still start P90X tomorrow.

My plan was to wait, but Aaron was just too impatient. On Monday, I bought a digital pregnancy test. I didn't want to have to interpret any kind of line, or plus or minus sign — I wanted to know for sure.

I got home from work, went upstairs and took the test. I didn't even have my belt buckled before the little digital display lit up with "Pregnant."

I can't begin to describe all the thoughts that went through my head at that moment. I was all over the place — from, "I'm going to be a MOTHER"; to, "There is something growing INSIDE ME RIGHT NOW"; to, "I still have to make dinner." My hands shook as I sanitized the test and buckled up. I tried to keep my face impassive as I handed Aaron the test. He took one look at it and his eyes widened, bigger than I've ever seen them.