This is a picture of Sam that typifies all his responses to our attempts to feed him anything solid on a spoon - utter confusion.
That is, until yesterday, when a light went off somewhere inside that little head and he devoured nearly an entire jar of sweet potatoes.
Something tells me he'll be a good eater.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
6 Months
Happy 6 month birthday, my love. It's been the best time of my life!
May you have hundreds more half years filled with happiness, love, joy, good health, peace and prosperity.
You are such a good baby, very easy to read.
You babble nonstop, just started making 'mum mum' noises and what sounds like 'hai'.
You can sit up, sort of, and are infinitely curious about your surroundings. You love to watch people and look out the window.
You love music! All kinds, anything we play gets your little legs kicking.
You love to sleep. Last night you slept from 9pm to 6am and woke up smiling!
You love to eat, but thus far have yet to swallow a bite of solid food. We keep trying!
You are very cuddly, which is great for your dad and me as we are too. We both love you more than we ever imagined possible and can't fathom this world without you here.
You HATE the nasal aspirator, and also hate to be left alone. As long as someone is nearby you are fine.
It's so much fun watching you grow up, Sam, and we are so very lucky to be your parents.
May you have hundreds more half years filled with happiness, love, joy, good health, peace and prosperity.
You are such a good baby, very easy to read.
You babble nonstop, just started making 'mum mum' noises and what sounds like 'hai'.
You can sit up, sort of, and are infinitely curious about your surroundings. You love to watch people and look out the window.
You love music! All kinds, anything we play gets your little legs kicking.
You love to sleep. Last night you slept from 9pm to 6am and woke up smiling!
You love to eat, but thus far have yet to swallow a bite of solid food. We keep trying!
You are very cuddly, which is great for your dad and me as we are too. We both love you more than we ever imagined possible and can't fathom this world without you here.
You HATE the nasal aspirator, and also hate to be left alone. As long as someone is nearby you are fine.
It's so much fun watching you grow up, Sam, and we are so very lucky to be your parents.
Monday, February 21, 2011
How We Made A Baby, Part I
I got pregnant in December of 2009. Steven and I were sort of trying, not sure if we were a breeding pair or not, vaguely certain that we wanted to be parents but frightened that we might not be great ones. I'd had my Mirena IUD removed the previous November, with fantastic faraway notions of 'someday! baby!'. We'd been flying free for most of 2009.
We spent a week in New Orleans eating and drinking with abandon right before Christmas and right after, it turns out, the deed had been done. More debauchery followed at Christmas and New Year's before, in early January, a missed period (I am like clockwork) prompted a home pregnancy test. It was positive.
I said nothing and did the 2nd test of the 2-pack a couple days later. Again, positive.
Then I told the baby daddy, who'd had some idea all along. Does a sixth sense arise when your sperm has been successful at its rightful job?
We were scared more than anything at that point, mostly due to the weeks of holiday imbibing I'd done, but we decided to go with it. We were also deeply excited as neither one of us ever expected to be parents. We met each other after the failure of respective long term relationships that took up our 20's, what I thought of as prime baby making years. We'd both done damage to ourselves over the years. I did not embody the ideal of what I thought of as a fertile female. But lo, there I was! You can't argue with the double pink lines.
January was spent doing a lot of Googling. It was at this time that I discovered that there is a huge 'fear culture' out there relating to pregnancy, at least in this country. It really bothered me. I thought that this was supposed to be a natural thing - heck, it's been happening since the beginning of time - so why do we have to fear every morsel that crosses our lips and freak out over every little ass ache? The worry alone can't be good.
I was, however, trying to do all the right things. I started taking a prenatal vitamin, extra folic acid, and the very refined fish oil that I'd been taking all along. I became much more aware about what I ate, trying to optimize my nutrition and fortify my own body, which wasn't exactly robust at that time. I was so very tired all the time, and I did experience morning sickness every day right before lunch, which thankfully went away as soon as I ate.
We had a vacation planned at a resort in Cozumel for the first week of February, and the couple we went with (Steven's college buddy and his wife) were shocked that I wasn't drinking more than a sip here and there. I guess I had made an impression as quite the lush in the past. I drank a lot of tea. My husband's friend remarked that my breasts were outstanding. I suppose they were at that point, thank you very much.
It still wasn't real to me; I hadn't seen the little bugger yet.
I saw my ob/gyn for the first time the second week of February, and the ultrasound showed a normal fetus (embryo?). I was so amazed that this little creature was formed and going at it, dancing a jig it seemed, inside of my body. It seemed like such a miracle. From that point on I was hit with the gravity of it all. I also had an immediate feeling it was a boy. The due date was September 15, 2010.
I was the most paranoid person when it came to talking about it. I only told a long-distance friend and my husband until I was 3 months along. Then I only told a few close friends and family. Everyone was really, really surprised.
I bought some maternity clothes which I started to need toward the end of March. The metamorphosis is amazing. I started to really show in April.
The fatigue started to fade at the end of my first trimester (but came back with a vengeance in the 3rd), and the nausea disappeared. I felt really great for my second trimester. The only thing that was an issue was that I kept having protein in my urine, and my doctor was freaking out about it. I was having no other symptoms and it wasn't in the nephrotic range, but medicine likes closure on these issues. I was aggravated to have to do a 24 hr urine, but I did it. And I was told it was within normal limits for pregnancy. But it remained a red flag throughout for my ob/gyn (and finally toward the end it went away). It was annoying to me to have to talk about it all the time when I felt fine, though.
I was sent to a 'specialist' for the proteinuria thing. That whole episode really pissed me off, because she wasn't a nephrologist even. She was an infectious diseases physician who was doing some time in this women's medicine clinic. It felt like a circle jerk, or at best a waste of time. What was I going to do differently if the protein was still there? Not a thing. No other symptoms, not preeclampsia.
I was lucky; I had a really easy pregnancy. I never had hypertension, gestational diabetes, or edema. My mom had had 2 easy pregnancies so honestly I wasn't that worried. Except I was worried, all the time.
(We got married right after Easter, on April 7th. Though we'd been together for almost 6 years with no sense of urgency, suddenly Steven was against the idea of having a little bastard. Easy peasy. Got the marriage license, dropped by a judge's office, then bought rings at the mall. All within 3 hours.)
Since I was over 35, I was scheduled for a level II (more sensitive) ultrasound at 20 weeks. That too was fine. It was really amazing to watch with my husband - to see all the structures, so perfectly formed. It was at this time, in mid-April, that we found out it was a boy, and named him Sam. Not Samuel, just Sam.
Things became rather uncomfortable toward the end, in the heat of the summer months with almost 30 extra pounds on my frame, but my husband was wonderful, and thank goodness for a/c.
I never stopped eating sushi. I never stopped going to the gym, though I did slow down. I still drank a cup of regular coffee each morning. I had an occassional glass of white wine.
I had a feeling Sam would emerge before the end of Leo. I didn't think he would want to be a Virgo. (I'm not that into astrology, but Steven and I are both fire signs, and I thought Sam would be too...I'm a little wacko like that.)
I didn't really want a baby shower, but my family kind of insisted. I'm very much a loner by nature, and certainly hate being the center of attention. Opening gifts in front of everyone, being 'on' when all I want to do is lie down - just not my idea of how to spend a Sunday. But I acquiesed. It was to be my father's first grandchild, and he wanted to show me off. I did insist that men be invited, however.
The family wanted to schedule it for late August, but I said that would be too late. I had a feeling. So the shower was August 8th.
Steven had to travel the next weekend for work, and the following Friday, August 20th, our hot water heater broke. (Obvious foreshadowing.)
Luckily we caught the water heater before it flooded, and arranged to have it replaced (for a pretty penny) the following day, Saturday, August 21st.
The hot water heater install took much of the morning, then Steven and I went to Not Just Snacks for a late lunch. It was really hot, and I got chicken vindaloo. Then we went to 7 Stars for bread and granola.
We came home, took looong showers, and sat in the a/c until we got hungry again.
I remember this day so vividly, the events leading up to the inevitable conclusion. Looking back, it seems like it's all in slow motion.
(This was the end of the week that I thought I had a feeling would see the arrival of Sam. I had given up on my hunches; I thought I was wrong, but I was mistaken.)
I called Pizza Pie-er and placed an order. We were sitting on the couch watching tv. The pizza guy arrived, and as I stood up, my water broke. I knew what was happening and what we had to do, but I was in a bit of denial. It kept leaking, but I went to get the pizza anyway, and I really wanted to eat it right then.
No worries, I thought. I'll call my doctor after we eat!
But Steven, being a physician himself, would have none of it. I didn't even have a bag packed. We scrambled around after I called my doctor and was told by the doctor on call to get my butt to the hospital.
It was kind of awesome - I was so excited and filled with the biggest adrenaline rush! We were going to meet our new little guy. I just had to get through labor first...
We had one more day left for him to emerge a Leo...
We spent a week in New Orleans eating and drinking with abandon right before Christmas and right after, it turns out, the deed had been done. More debauchery followed at Christmas and New Year's before, in early January, a missed period (I am like clockwork) prompted a home pregnancy test. It was positive.
I said nothing and did the 2nd test of the 2-pack a couple days later. Again, positive.
Then I told the baby daddy, who'd had some idea all along. Does a sixth sense arise when your sperm has been successful at its rightful job?
We were scared more than anything at that point, mostly due to the weeks of holiday imbibing I'd done, but we decided to go with it. We were also deeply excited as neither one of us ever expected to be parents. We met each other after the failure of respective long term relationships that took up our 20's, what I thought of as prime baby making years. We'd both done damage to ourselves over the years. I did not embody the ideal of what I thought of as a fertile female. But lo, there I was! You can't argue with the double pink lines.
January was spent doing a lot of Googling. It was at this time that I discovered that there is a huge 'fear culture' out there relating to pregnancy, at least in this country. It really bothered me. I thought that this was supposed to be a natural thing - heck, it's been happening since the beginning of time - so why do we have to fear every morsel that crosses our lips and freak out over every little ass ache? The worry alone can't be good.
I was, however, trying to do all the right things. I started taking a prenatal vitamin, extra folic acid, and the very refined fish oil that I'd been taking all along. I became much more aware about what I ate, trying to optimize my nutrition and fortify my own body, which wasn't exactly robust at that time. I was so very tired all the time, and I did experience morning sickness every day right before lunch, which thankfully went away as soon as I ate.
We had a vacation planned at a resort in Cozumel for the first week of February, and the couple we went with (Steven's college buddy and his wife) were shocked that I wasn't drinking more than a sip here and there. I guess I had made an impression as quite the lush in the past. I drank a lot of tea. My husband's friend remarked that my breasts were outstanding. I suppose they were at that point, thank you very much.
It still wasn't real to me; I hadn't seen the little bugger yet.
I saw my ob/gyn for the first time the second week of February, and the ultrasound showed a normal fetus (embryo?). I was so amazed that this little creature was formed and going at it, dancing a jig it seemed, inside of my body. It seemed like such a miracle. From that point on I was hit with the gravity of it all. I also had an immediate feeling it was a boy. The due date was September 15, 2010.
I was the most paranoid person when it came to talking about it. I only told a long-distance friend and my husband until I was 3 months along. Then I only told a few close friends and family. Everyone was really, really surprised.
I bought some maternity clothes which I started to need toward the end of March. The metamorphosis is amazing. I started to really show in April.
The fatigue started to fade at the end of my first trimester (but came back with a vengeance in the 3rd), and the nausea disappeared. I felt really great for my second trimester. The only thing that was an issue was that I kept having protein in my urine, and my doctor was freaking out about it. I was having no other symptoms and it wasn't in the nephrotic range, but medicine likes closure on these issues. I was aggravated to have to do a 24 hr urine, but I did it. And I was told it was within normal limits for pregnancy. But it remained a red flag throughout for my ob/gyn (and finally toward the end it went away). It was annoying to me to have to talk about it all the time when I felt fine, though.
I was sent to a 'specialist' for the proteinuria thing. That whole episode really pissed me off, because she wasn't a nephrologist even. She was an infectious diseases physician who was doing some time in this women's medicine clinic. It felt like a circle jerk, or at best a waste of time. What was I going to do differently if the protein was still there? Not a thing. No other symptoms, not preeclampsia.
I was lucky; I had a really easy pregnancy. I never had hypertension, gestational diabetes, or edema. My mom had had 2 easy pregnancies so honestly I wasn't that worried. Except I was worried, all the time.
(We got married right after Easter, on April 7th. Though we'd been together for almost 6 years with no sense of urgency, suddenly Steven was against the idea of having a little bastard. Easy peasy. Got the marriage license, dropped by a judge's office, then bought rings at the mall. All within 3 hours.)
Since I was over 35, I was scheduled for a level II (more sensitive) ultrasound at 20 weeks. That too was fine. It was really amazing to watch with my husband - to see all the structures, so perfectly formed. It was at this time, in mid-April, that we found out it was a boy, and named him Sam. Not Samuel, just Sam.
Things became rather uncomfortable toward the end, in the heat of the summer months with almost 30 extra pounds on my frame, but my husband was wonderful, and thank goodness for a/c.
I never stopped eating sushi. I never stopped going to the gym, though I did slow down. I still drank a cup of regular coffee each morning. I had an occassional glass of white wine.
I had a feeling Sam would emerge before the end of Leo. I didn't think he would want to be a Virgo. (I'm not that into astrology, but Steven and I are both fire signs, and I thought Sam would be too...I'm a little wacko like that.)
I didn't really want a baby shower, but my family kind of insisted. I'm very much a loner by nature, and certainly hate being the center of attention. Opening gifts in front of everyone, being 'on' when all I want to do is lie down - just not my idea of how to spend a Sunday. But I acquiesed. It was to be my father's first grandchild, and he wanted to show me off. I did insist that men be invited, however.
The family wanted to schedule it for late August, but I said that would be too late. I had a feeling. So the shower was August 8th.
Steven had to travel the next weekend for work, and the following Friday, August 20th, our hot water heater broke. (Obvious foreshadowing.)
Luckily we caught the water heater before it flooded, and arranged to have it replaced (for a pretty penny) the following day, Saturday, August 21st.
The hot water heater install took much of the morning, then Steven and I went to Not Just Snacks for a late lunch. It was really hot, and I got chicken vindaloo. Then we went to 7 Stars for bread and granola.
We came home, took looong showers, and sat in the a/c until we got hungry again.
I remember this day so vividly, the events leading up to the inevitable conclusion. Looking back, it seems like it's all in slow motion.
(This was the end of the week that I thought I had a feeling would see the arrival of Sam. I had given up on my hunches; I thought I was wrong, but I was mistaken.)
I called Pizza Pie-er and placed an order. We were sitting on the couch watching tv. The pizza guy arrived, and as I stood up, my water broke. I knew what was happening and what we had to do, but I was in a bit of denial. It kept leaking, but I went to get the pizza anyway, and I really wanted to eat it right then.
No worries, I thought. I'll call my doctor after we eat!
But Steven, being a physician himself, would have none of it. I didn't even have a bag packed. We scrambled around after I called my doctor and was told by the doctor on call to get my butt to the hospital.
It was kind of awesome - I was so excited and filled with the biggest adrenaline rush! We were going to meet our new little guy. I just had to get through labor first...
We had one more day left for him to emerge a Leo...
Friday, October 29, 2010
Baby's Got Back!
That may be so, but what I mean to say is that I'm back, back with a baby.
Sam was born on August 22nd, but the last bits of the experience didn't come out until yesterday. TMI? Go read someone else's blog, filled with fluffy padding.
This is me, baby. And baby's back!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Red Snapper!
Even though today's much-hyped snowstorm seems more like a 'faux' storm, and even though I missed my kitchen and my bed, part of me wishes I were still on that boat - if only to relive feasting on that gorgeous snapper.
Sigh.
Sigh.
Friday, January 15, 2010
My Heart Bleeds for Haiti
Just taking a moment to call attention to the situation in Haiti, which is horrifying and very sad.
While it certainly is heartening to see how the entire world has jumped to attention in efforts to help, the tragic devastation of the island nation is of grand proportions - something that will likely take years and years to turn around.
Though I'd never been to Haiti, I have a friend who spent 3 years there in the Peace Corp and loves to regale any audience with stories. Those years have been fondly remembered - he learned Creole and came to love the people.
Even if you have no money to give, a good thought or a prayer can help too.
I'm sure there are many ways to give; this is just one and likely old news by now: by texting 90999 to Haiti you can donate $10 to the Red Cross for Haiti Relief Fund. It adds up! Last time I checked the fund had reached $4 million.
While it certainly is heartening to see how the entire world has jumped to attention in efforts to help, the tragic devastation of the island nation is of grand proportions - something that will likely take years and years to turn around.
Though I'd never been to Haiti, I have a friend who spent 3 years there in the Peace Corp and loves to regale any audience with stories. Those years have been fondly remembered - he learned Creole and came to love the people.
Even if you have no money to give, a good thought or a prayer can help too.
I'm sure there are many ways to give; this is just one and likely old news by now: by texting 90999 to Haiti you can donate $10 to the Red Cross for Haiti Relief Fund. It adds up! Last time I checked the fund had reached $4 million.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wickenden Street Bridge Demolition 01.14.10
Here's your daily dose of demolition.
This is the view today, after 4 full nights of action.
I thought I'd be more upset at the noise and inconvenience, living essentially across the street from all this, but I'm really not. I'm grateful. I look at it like a huge neighborhood landscaping project that I don't have to pay for (yeah, taxes, so what) or worry about.
Where will all the displaced pigeons go?
Click on the picture to view more.
This is the view today, after 4 full nights of action.
I thought I'd be more upset at the noise and inconvenience, living essentially across the street from all this, but I'm really not. I'm grateful. I look at it like a huge neighborhood landscaping project that I don't have to pay for (yeah, taxes, so what) or worry about.
Where will all the displaced pigeons go?
Click on the picture to view more.
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