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| He actually has a grip on this little friend. |
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Popover
My parents stopped over after their fruitful trip to the apple store. (Pun intended.) Mom got an ipad and iphone. Seriously. She did.
So, Dan facetimed with her while she was still in the store. The folks at the genius bar were impressed! And she came to try out her new toys--and get a couple of snuggles, too.
So, Dan facetimed with her while she was still in the store. The folks at the genius bar were impressed! And she came to try out her new toys--and get a couple of snuggles, too.
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| Little Man is serious. So is his double chin. |
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| Grandpa got some snuggles, too. |
Auntie Heather
The third week that he needed care, Heather came to visit. She was a godsend! The two of them had long conversations (I am sure that they solved most of the problems of the world!), long walks and lots of reading time. It's only appropriate that this is the first week that Calvin started cooing. ;-)
I don't know how we could have done it without Heather. I am still overwhelmed by her generosity and her love. I am so glad to call her my friend. It was wonderful to wisk her away to happy hour on Friday. When Calvin fussed, she just picked him right up and calmed him right down. That was probably my favorite moment of the week.
(That and every day when Heather would tell me that Calvin was 'a dream.' I am so glad that she had a great week with him!) I know she wore him out!
I don't know how we could have done it without Heather. I am still overwhelmed by her generosity and her love. I am so glad to call her my friend. It was wonderful to wisk her away to happy hour on Friday. When Calvin fussed, she just picked him right up and calmed him right down. That was probably my favorite moment of the week.
(That and every day when Heather would tell me that Calvin was 'a dream.' I am so glad that she had a great week with him!) I know she wore him out!
A Day with Carol
During my first week back at work, Calvin went to daycare one day. (There was a kiddo that was gone, so he could go.) Carol sent us this photo of the motley crew:
Look how scared little Calvie looks! When I went to pick him up from daycare that day he didn't even show any signs of recognition. He looked at me, like "who are you? where am I? what am I doing here? and, who are these people??" It broke my heart. (The next day at work I cried. Actually, I cried 60% of the days...and considered it a successful week!)
I was reminded by a couple of things: he won't remember this at all AND he hasn't established object permanence so he doesn't even know what is going on at the moment. I could wrap my head around that logically, now if only I could get my heartstrings to follow.
Three weeks later, Calvin went to daycare for the first time officially. Here's the entire gang:
As you can see, they are still motley!
I was reminded by a couple of things: he won't remember this at all AND he hasn't established object permanence so he doesn't even know what is going on at the moment. I could wrap my head around that logically, now if only I could get my heartstrings to follow.
Three weeks later, Calvin went to daycare for the first time officially. Here's the entire gang:
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| The crew: Calvin, Eli, Kinley, Nolan. Kinley's wearing a head-shaping helmet because she's got a soft/flat spot on the side of her head. |
Gramma Pamma
Gramma Pamma came to hang out the second week we were back at work. They went for walks, took naps and had photo shoots. They really had a great time together.
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| Going for walks is so tiring. |
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| I can barely prop my eyes open. |
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| Ready to play now! |
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| Ready to smile! |
Mommy Rocks, so do I
August 13. The day after The Birthday Incident, Part II. (Hence the Mommy Rocks outfit! I needed a little bit of extra love!)
The Daycare Situation
Apparently, the Star Tribune did some sort of expose on home daycares which inspired the state to put its foot down on every rule in the book. No variances were to be issues. No extensions. No exceptions. Nothing.
We decided who would care for Calvin the week after we were home from the hospital. He was 12 days old when he met her and thought that we'd see her in the fall. Then, she called to say that because of the ages of the other kids, the state wasn't allowing Calvin to come to daycare on the first day of the school year. He wouldn't be able to go to daycare for three weeks. She said she'd understand if we wanted to find someone else for Calvin. We didn't. We just figured out a way to make it work.
My mom came and hung out with Calvin during teacher workshop week. They went on lots of walks, played with all the toys and read lots of books.
Here are a few pics from then:
We decided who would care for Calvin the week after we were home from the hospital. He was 12 days old when he met her and thought that we'd see her in the fall. Then, she called to say that because of the ages of the other kids, the state wasn't allowing Calvin to come to daycare on the first day of the school year. He wouldn't be able to go to daycare for three weeks. She said she'd understand if we wanted to find someone else for Calvin. We didn't. We just figured out a way to make it work.
My mom came and hung out with Calvin during teacher workshop week. They went on lots of walks, played with all the toys and read lots of books.
Here are a few pics from then:
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| Calvin was ready to play right away! |
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| Walks were tiring. |
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| All that playing was tiring, too. |
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| Cute with and without the pacifier. |
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| But C-Mo was more alert than the last time he saw Grandma Patty. |
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| They even talked about football. Calvin practiced his Heisman pose. It was a full week of fun! |
Snuggle friends
Here's an old series of pics from Calvin's first month. They've been waiting on my desktop to get posted. Now it seems so cute that he was such a little tiny bugger all swaddled up in a little cocoon next to his friend Eleanor. And it continues to be great fun that she's showing us what's around the corner. I hope there will be many more sequels to this series!
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| Psst! |
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| Hey, Eleanor! |
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| I feel so constrained...so wrapped up in my current situation. Man, what I would give for a change of scenery! |
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| Perfect Poppas. |
Home healthcare
Some facebook friends were curious about how we got a home healthcare nurse to visit our house on little Calvie's fourth day of life.
With our insurance, if you leave the hospital before your 48 hours are over, then a home healthcare nurse schedules a visit to your home.
Our home healthcare nurse called to set up an appointment. (She called and asked for Calvin and his availability!) When she arrived, she was the mother of one of my own students. She hugged me when she saw me crying. I weeped because little Calvin wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping (but was retaining fluids), and we were worried about his yellowing body.
She was an angel. Honestly, an angel.
We talked about what my body was doing. We talked about what Calvin's body was doing. (She told me that he was really a good communicator; I just didn't know what he was saying.) She taught me how to feed him so it was comfortable for all of us. We began feeding and pumping on a strict time frame in order to get Calvin's weight back. I recorded every feeding, every diaper--wet and dirty--and his weight gain for the next three weeks. She coached Dan so that he would know what to do and when to do it. And, we talked a ton about her son and how she raised him (single mom in the armed services).
She and I talked several times after that (she called me on her personal phone so that I would have it in case I needed it). She even stopped over with a scale to see how much our little Beach Boy was weighing in at a couple of weeks later. I wanted her to move in with us...I am pretty sure that I wouldn't have survived the first week without her!
With our insurance, if you leave the hospital before your 48 hours are over, then a home healthcare nurse schedules a visit to your home.
Our home healthcare nurse called to set up an appointment. (She called and asked for Calvin and his availability!) When she arrived, she was the mother of one of my own students. She hugged me when she saw me crying. I weeped because little Calvin wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping (but was retaining fluids), and we were worried about his yellowing body.
She was an angel. Honestly, an angel.
We talked about what my body was doing. We talked about what Calvin's body was doing. (She told me that he was really a good communicator; I just didn't know what he was saying.) She taught me how to feed him so it was comfortable for all of us. We began feeding and pumping on a strict time frame in order to get Calvin's weight back. I recorded every feeding, every diaper--wet and dirty--and his weight gain for the next three weeks. She coached Dan so that he would know what to do and when to do it. And, we talked a ton about her son and how she raised him (single mom in the armed services).
She and I talked several times after that (she called me on her personal phone so that I would have it in case I needed it). She even stopped over with a scale to see how much our little Beach Boy was weighing in at a couple of weeks later. I wanted her to move in with us...I am pretty sure that I wouldn't have survived the first week without her!
The Animals in Duluth
This summer I was in charge of everything involving my body. Anything that happened outside of my living room, I didn't know about. Including the night Calvin was born.
Apparently there had been a flood in Duluth that caused a lot of damage and destruction.
When I sent Dan to the hospital to get syringes to try to feed Calvin more than he was getting, he heard the story on MPR. They had interviewed a zookeeper about the loss of the animals. (You see, they were being found all over town. Many had died.) Her voice quivered as she talked; you could tell that she loved those critters.
By the time Dan got to the hospital, he had tears streaming down his face (sleep deprivation + new baby + hormonal wife + vulnerable zoo animals = cry fest). He was sure the nurses thought something bad was happening at our house; they were really helpful to him as they got whatever he wanted and sent him on his way to care for his own little critter.
Apparently there had been a flood in Duluth that caused a lot of damage and destruction.
When I sent Dan to the hospital to get syringes to try to feed Calvin more than he was getting, he heard the story on MPR. They had interviewed a zookeeper about the loss of the animals. (You see, they were being found all over town. Many had died.) Her voice quivered as she talked; you could tell that she loved those critters.
By the time Dan got to the hospital, he had tears streaming down his face (sleep deprivation + new baby + hormonal wife + vulnerable zoo animals = cry fest). He was sure the nurses thought something bad was happening at our house; they were really helpful to him as they got whatever he wanted and sent him on his way to care for his own little critter.
Drug Lord
My high-risk pregnancy offered many new experiences. One of those was being on Lovenox. Then Heparin. Then back to Lovenox. The bathroom looked like a pharmacy. SoooOOOOooo many needles.
And, something that I didn't know that would happen was that I would have a strong opinion about needles. Target changed distributors for Lovenox and I wanted to find out who would listen to my frustration and disappointment about the quality of product. When I had to start on Heparin, I was appalled by the level of wasted medical resources. (I actually had to throw away drugs after every injection--twice a day--because of how they were packaged.) and, I never did get the right gauge needle for the last month of my pregnancy. (The ones they gave me weren't great--hello cheap product--and I couldn't get a different brand without a prescription. Seriously?!)
Needless to say, I was happy to be temporarily dealing with this issue and have just a glimpse into what some people go through to get the medical supplies that they need and want. There were times when I felt powerless, frustrated and cynical. I can only imagine how it feels to deal with this long-term.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Our Birth Story
It's about time to do as promised, recant the story of Lord Calvin's birth.
Because it was a scheduled induction, we knew when to go to the hospital. 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. Father's Day.
Upon arrival, they got me settled in a birthing room (we weren't as nervous as the last time we were there!). They checked my progress: 3 cm and 70% effaced. Huh. I thought that I would have made more progress than that after all that I did around the house in the last week to get the show on the road. Not so. All of that was about to change.
They began pitocin at about 9:00. Broke my water at about 10:00. After the first rush, we had to call the nurse in to have her change the bedding because I was soaked all the way down to my ankles. (They had said I had a lot of fluid, so I wan't too alarmed.) When the nurse came in she said she thought I had probably lost five pounds. :-) We thought we were in the clear and decided to take the pitocin hanger on a walk down the hallway. I'd say we took 20 steps before I told Dan I thought we should head back. He said, "really?" We left a trail of water in the hallway on our way back to our room. And I stood just inside the doorway while a puddle formed around my feet.
We laughed. And laughed. And, when the nurse came in again, we laughed some more. It really was like the scene from the Coneheads movie. I knew my water had broken then. There was no doubt about it.
The nurse suggested lying on my left side to "get things rolling." I did, but I wasn't sure that I really wanted to do what she suggested.
At that point I had been on pitocin for three hours and remember thinking that it wasn't a big deal...what was so tough about this?? People say pitocin is like a runaway train. And, four hours in my train left the station. That's when contractions started. And stacked. They were 20 seconds apart and increasing in intensity. All I could do was hold Dan's hand and/or the hospital bed and listen to him count to four. All I had to do was count to four. To four. Four.
After 90 minutes of tunnel vision, the nurse checked me. We were dilated to 4. I knew I had to get to 10. I also knew I couldn't do what I was doing for six more hours...and then push a baby out. Not this baby. Not with its ginormous head. Time for the epidural.
The anesthesiologist came in around 2:30 and I was in the throws of contractions. She talked the whole time she was in the room. (Dan said it was as if she was talking to a normal person. Not to a woman who was only able to say 2-3 words between contractions.) I kept having Dan repeat what she said because I could tell someone was in the room and talking to me, but I could not tell what she was saying. She told me I was going to have to sit up, swing my legs over the edge bed, hug a pillow while crouching. I wasn't sure how that was going to happen, but I knew it had to. Dan held me on the left side. The nurse held me on the right side. It was uncomfortable. When I felt the tube insertion, I said "pressure, pressure, pressure." Then things changed and I said "tingle, tingle, TINGLE, TINGLE!" (Apparently just after the anesthesiologist said you have a tingling sensation. Dan and the nurse laughed.)
Then the tunnel visions disappeared. Things were funny. The sun was shining. It was glorious! I labored for five more more hours. Relaxed. Comfortable. Peaceful.
At 7, just before the nurse shift change, they checked me again. 9.75 cm. Almost there. The doc thought we'd "labor down" for an hour and then push. (Laboring down is just letting the contractions and baby work to come down as far as possible before the momma pushes.) At 7:45 the nurse checked me and decided that we were ready to push. She sent for the doctor and we did two practice pushes. Two counts of ten. I could do this. When the doc came in the nurse kept coaching me and Dan through the pushes. After each one, the nurses cheered. They cheered. For real.
I pushed for 29 minutes when the baby came out. I don't know if I saw it first or if Dan said it first, but I could hear his voice in my ear saying. "Liz, it's a boy. And he's beautiful!" He was crying. When they put him on my chest I couldn't believe it. A baby. A BABY! They whisked him away to take his vitals and clean him off.
Doc stitched me up and I told her how glad I was to have had a son on Father's Day. I believe I also told her that I thought I could have a baby every day if it would be like this! (She told me maybe I should wait until the drugs wore off! ;-)) She told me that I was a champion pusher and that I might not want to tell people that I pushed for less than 30 minutes. (I, of course, am going to tell everyone. They don't have to hear just horror stories!)
The nurse got a call saying that the waiting room guests were wondering how it was going. She said, "tell them it's going well." She proceeded to say that we should take all the time we needed. This was our time with our baby. They would wait. So they did. Both Dan and I got a little time to hold him before we swaddled him up and let the visitor brigade in. (I even drank a tall glass of fruit punch and ate a turkey sandwich!) At about 9:30, the guest poured in: grandmothers, grandfather, cousins, great godmother and aunt. There were tears and there was joy. Dad didn't respond when I asked him if he liked the name. Barb couldn't talk much at all. The nephews were thrilled and excited and intrigued as the nurse explained all the things she was doing. There was so much love in the room; it was ridiculous.
Thus began the beautiful journey of Calvin Maurice.
Because it was a scheduled induction, we knew when to go to the hospital. 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. Father's Day.
Upon arrival, they got me settled in a birthing room (we weren't as nervous as the last time we were there!). They checked my progress: 3 cm and 70% effaced. Huh. I thought that I would have made more progress than that after all that I did around the house in the last week to get the show on the road. Not so. All of that was about to change.
They began pitocin at about 9:00. Broke my water at about 10:00. After the first rush, we had to call the nurse in to have her change the bedding because I was soaked all the way down to my ankles. (They had said I had a lot of fluid, so I wan't too alarmed.) When the nurse came in she said she thought I had probably lost five pounds. :-) We thought we were in the clear and decided to take the pitocin hanger on a walk down the hallway. I'd say we took 20 steps before I told Dan I thought we should head back. He said, "really?" We left a trail of water in the hallway on our way back to our room. And I stood just inside the doorway while a puddle formed around my feet.
We laughed. And laughed. And, when the nurse came in again, we laughed some more. It really was like the scene from the Coneheads movie. I knew my water had broken then. There was no doubt about it.
The nurse suggested lying on my left side to "get things rolling." I did, but I wasn't sure that I really wanted to do what she suggested.
At that point I had been on pitocin for three hours and remember thinking that it wasn't a big deal...what was so tough about this?? People say pitocin is like a runaway train. And, four hours in my train left the station. That's when contractions started. And stacked. They were 20 seconds apart and increasing in intensity. All I could do was hold Dan's hand and/or the hospital bed and listen to him count to four. All I had to do was count to four. To four. Four.
After 90 minutes of tunnel vision, the nurse checked me. We were dilated to 4. I knew I had to get to 10. I also knew I couldn't do what I was doing for six more hours...and then push a baby out. Not this baby. Not with its ginormous head. Time for the epidural.
The anesthesiologist came in around 2:30 and I was in the throws of contractions. She talked the whole time she was in the room. (Dan said it was as if she was talking to a normal person. Not to a woman who was only able to say 2-3 words between contractions.) I kept having Dan repeat what she said because I could tell someone was in the room and talking to me, but I could not tell what she was saying. She told me I was going to have to sit up, swing my legs over the edge bed, hug a pillow while crouching. I wasn't sure how that was going to happen, but I knew it had to. Dan held me on the left side. The nurse held me on the right side. It was uncomfortable. When I felt the tube insertion, I said "pressure, pressure, pressure." Then things changed and I said "tingle, tingle, TINGLE, TINGLE!" (Apparently just after the anesthesiologist said you have a tingling sensation. Dan and the nurse laughed.)
Then the tunnel visions disappeared. Things were funny. The sun was shining. It was glorious! I labored for five more more hours. Relaxed. Comfortable. Peaceful.
At 7, just before the nurse shift change, they checked me again. 9.75 cm. Almost there. The doc thought we'd "labor down" for an hour and then push. (Laboring down is just letting the contractions and baby work to come down as far as possible before the momma pushes.) At 7:45 the nurse checked me and decided that we were ready to push. She sent for the doctor and we did two practice pushes. Two counts of ten. I could do this. When the doc came in the nurse kept coaching me and Dan through the pushes. After each one, the nurses cheered. They cheered. For real.
I pushed for 29 minutes when the baby came out. I don't know if I saw it first or if Dan said it first, but I could hear his voice in my ear saying. "Liz, it's a boy. And he's beautiful!" He was crying. When they put him on my chest I couldn't believe it. A baby. A BABY! They whisked him away to take his vitals and clean him off.
Doc stitched me up and I told her how glad I was to have had a son on Father's Day. I believe I also told her that I thought I could have a baby every day if it would be like this! (She told me maybe I should wait until the drugs wore off! ;-)) She told me that I was a champion pusher and that I might not want to tell people that I pushed for less than 30 minutes. (I, of course, am going to tell everyone. They don't have to hear just horror stories!)
The nurse got a call saying that the waiting room guests were wondering how it was going. She said, "tell them it's going well." She proceeded to say that we should take all the time we needed. This was our time with our baby. They would wait. So they did. Both Dan and I got a little time to hold him before we swaddled him up and let the visitor brigade in. (I even drank a tall glass of fruit punch and ate a turkey sandwich!) At about 9:30, the guest poured in: grandmothers, grandfather, cousins, great godmother and aunt. There were tears and there was joy. Dad didn't respond when I asked him if he liked the name. Barb couldn't talk much at all. The nephews were thrilled and excited and intrigued as the nurse explained all the things she was doing. There was so much love in the room; it was ridiculous.
Thus began the beautiful journey of Calvin Maurice.
The Bump
The progression of The Bump. (Now recorded for posterity.) :-) I had to track these photos down...that's why it took so long!
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This one is from Feb . 13. I sent this photo to my Godmother. What I remember is that I felt fat and I didn't really want to take any belly bump pics. I really didn't want this recorded for any reason...not even posterity. This is the same day I announced my condition to the online world.
This is April 3. The baby belly definitely got bigger. At this point people were begging to see pics of my profile. I wasn't yet comfortable with it, but I was willing to take beheaded pics and post them. Facebook friends really liked this one. (Probably because I was obviously pregnant at this point!) No denial here...
Here's April 7. I guess I came to terms with it when I took this pic. The caption on facebook: "This is probably a sign." The personal watermelon weighed over seven pounds. Oy-vey, I thought. At this point in the pregnancy, I was beginning to come to terms with how humorous being pregnant was. Dan and I brainstormed all sorts of pregnant belly pics people might think were funny. However, this was the only funny one we really took.
June 8. Almost there. My belly was so big, and I was carrying so high that I really wasn't very comfortable--always a butt wedged against my ribs! There really wasn't space between my boobs and my belly the week this was taken. This is the day the baby began to drop. He dropped for three days straight. It was a glorious to breathe deeply again!
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
What they didn't tell me #3
- Nighttime nursing bras are pointless.
- Breastfeeding is a good excuse to get out of going to things you don't want to go to. So are babies.
- Sleep is not overrated.
- Not all mommas sympathize. It's good to be surrounded by those who do.
- A little love goes a long way. A tiny smile goes even further.
Snaps!
Can you tell school started?!
No blog posts.
No pics.
No time for anything.
Only sleep.
And feedings.
And maybe one more thing top on the priority list.
Sadly, the blog hasn't made it to the top of the list.
Here's a pic for y'all to enjoy while you wait for me to get back to blogmania! Here's little Calvie baby on a walk with Grandma. You can see, he's sleepy, too! Sending you all extra love!
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No blog posts.
No pics.
No time for anything.
Only sleep.
And feedings.
And maybe one more thing top on the priority list.
Sadly, the blog hasn't made it to the top of the list.
Here's a pic for y'all to enjoy while you wait for me to get back to blogmania! Here's little Calvie baby on a walk with Grandma. You can see, he's sleepy, too! Sending you all extra love!
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