A Christmas Weekend Update

What a great Christmas weekend, it seems so long since we left California, yet time has gone so fast here. The most memorable moments has been:
Sleep records
- Of course more sleep is the most important thing we can wish for. A true gift. If you haven't had a baby yourself, you fortunately do not know the significance of this. Lucia broke records sleeping continuously for 8 hours the first night and then 11 hours the following night. We can only guess why this could happen since she was only sleeping 4 hours at most at home:
Here we are sleeping in the basement there's less sounds, less light and much colder than normal. Then two nights ago she woke up again after 4 hours. So whats going on?
My theory now is that she needs more food at night if she is going to sleep through the night, especially since she is only having formula, but there is probably more to it than that.

The bonfire
This tradition requred some more involved work than previous years. Due to some unfortunate winds this fall, one of the big trees had fallen over and been cut to pieces by Dick. Using his lawn mower and trailer we hauled the wood up to the bonfire. This was quite fun. The picture shows my brother racing the little mower around.

The next door neighbors had a party at the same time as we had the bonfire. They live in this house:They had invited over 60 people, and then all of a sudden the fireworks going off in much the same fasion as their house is decorated - over the top:
Washington DC
A day trip to DC was planned and we made the following stops:
The White House, The Washington Monument, The Mall, The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, and Capitol Hill. Thats a long walk but we hardly felt tired or hungry until the very end as there was so much to see. A great day and I took a great deal of pictures too.

Longwood Gardens
The last day of the year was spent at Longwood Gardens. We nearly froze to death walking from the parking lot to the greenhouse, but had a wonderful time once we got inside.
Longwood Gardens is decent mix of victorian-era estate/greenhouse/Christmas decorations/ 500.ooo lights, and this year gangrene-inducing frost attack. Highly memorable!

And that's it for 2008.

Welcome Bestemor og Bestefar

Pete's parents and brother arrived and we immediately handed over the baby. See the suitcases in the background? We didn't even let them get in the door!

Merry Christmas!

Have a wonderful wonderful holiday!

Curious. Those things keep moving!

Tricky Parenting

So we've learned that Lucia is very very smart, and if she suspects you're trying to do something she is not a fan of, she will protest at the merest hint. Take breastfeeding for example: even putting her on her side to get into a position to even try makes her start crying. Until yesterday, when we just kept doing it over and over and over again to desensitize her. (We're making great progress in that department!).

Or if you put her in a cradling position and try to get her to go to sleep, forget it! She's onto you, man. She wakes right up and cranes her neck to see if she missed anything. However, you could bounce her in a near catatonic state and she'll fall asleep sitting up. She did it the other night while out to eat; I had to eat my dinner left handed as I bounced her. Tonight she fell asleep THREE times and I put her down in the swing so she could get to sleep, and I could get some chores done. Nope. Not having it. As soon as she got in the swing, she was awake and ready to go. Eventually I propped her up on the couch, nearly sitting up, so she could see me and watch me eat dinner (Pete went to the city tonight to see friends). What does she do? Falls right asleep.

Methinks we're going to have to use these kinds of tricks alot when raising Lucia. She's crafty.

Santa Lucia

We went to San Francisco yesterday for the Young Scandinavians Club Santa Lucia celebration. Apparently it is the official kickoff of the Scandinavian Holiday season. I like the countries that don't kick them off the day after Halloween.

Anyway, it took us 90 minutes to get up to the city; 50 minutes of driving and oh, 40 minutes of delays in the form of lack of cash, lack of gas (for the car) and a stop at Day One for a nursing cover so I could pump breastmilk in the car in privacy.

So we finally got there. Pete dropped us off at the door thankfully, then had to park a million miles away and walk in the rain. Ughhh. Little Miss was in her Santa suit. I actually wore makeup and EARRINGS (contain your shock!) and new shoes (which turned out to be a mistake -- OW). We visited with friends and many many babies. It was great to see everyone, and it's universally agreed that Lucia is adorable. Even when she was fussy.

For the celebration, one woman is designated as the Lucia and she wears a crown of candles on her head. All of the women and girls (and men) in the procession wear white robes with rope belts, kinda like in church. They process down the center aisle of the hall or church, singing the Santa Lucia song, and they come up on stage and sing holiday songs. The little kids are the CUTEST. There was glogg yesterday, which is like mulled wine, but we didn't have any.

Pictures to come.

PS She must have been super tired from yesterday cause she's been in her swing since 6 a.m.!

I Got It From Here, Ma

No thanks, I don't need help with my bottle.

Such a Cute Outfit, for a Limited Time

Lucia looked extremely cute yesterday. I took her with me to my breastfeeding support group and people raved over the hat. I informed them that Nina, my mother in law, was available for hire. Hope that's ok Nina! You and Mormor should start a little business. :)

Anyway. Here's how she looked when I took her to the group.



Then I got home and put her in the swing and heard squirt, squirt SQUIIIIRRRRRRRRRRTTTTT. I was pumping milk, so I asked Pete to check her diaper. Little did I know he'd find this:



This must be her lucky outfit, cause I swear everytime she wears this she poops with such ferocity and vigor. It's amazing it hasn't disintegrated from the amount of stain remover we've had to use on it. She's laying in the bathtub in this picture -- that's how bad it was -- proceed directly to the tub. Do not pass go. Just directly into the tub.

Hands Found

Warning: This video is entirely too long and not very exciting, unless you're a grandparent. :)

Lucia found her hands and feet this week, which is pretty funny to watch. She can't get her hands in her mouth enough -- even when we're trying to feed her a bottle. We sat her in the crib the other day for the photo shoot below and she stared at her feet and watched them kick for like, 20 minutes. It was as if she was thinking, wow, look at those things go!

Well Hi There!

My Favorite Outfit

We bought this outfit for her on April 22, the day we found out she was a girl. It's my favorite and I'll be sad when she outgrows it (likely in the next few weeks).

Chubby Cheeks and Blurry Picture...

Our Brave Little Soldier

Lucia received two vaccinations today -- one shot and one in vanilla-flavored liquid. I was a nervous, nervous wreck before the appointment, partly because we had chosen to delay some vaccines a few weeks so she didn't get four at a time, and I anticipated the doctor giving us a hard time. But I was also super nervous because everything I've ever heard was that the babies have a MAJOR meltdown when they get these shots and it's hard for the mom to watch.

So we told Dr. HK about our delayed vaccine schedule and she said absolutely no problem. Phew. Then we went to get the two for today and Lucia didn't even flinch when the needle went in. I held her and she didn't cry at all. It didn't seem to phase her at all. How about that? Our brave little girl.

In other pediatric news, Lucia weighs 10 lbs, 10 oz, or 4.8 kg. She's 22 inches long or 55 cm. She's growing like a little weed!! We weighed her the other day and she was 11 lbs, but she must have had a wet diaper or heavy clothes on.

The great news from the doc is that I can start phasing dairy, coffee in moderate amounts and CHOCOLATE back into my diet. Hallelujah!!! Hooray!!

New Feature!

We've created a new feature on the right called We Recommend. These are things that we cannot live without. A little note about each of them:

Dunstan Baby Language: this woman in Australia has a photographic memory for sounds. She had a baby and classified his cries into 5 sounds. She teaches you what to listen for and how to respond (the most DUH part being if you're baby is hungry, feed her). But we did learn some new burping techniques and have since started burping Lucia throughout the day instead of just after feedings. This has helped tremendously with the evening fussiness -- which I liked that the video called the "5 o'clock grizzlies."

Happiest Baby on the Block DVD: we learned how to swaddle, which is KEY for Lucia going to sleep.

The Baby Tracker is essential for tracking how much she's eating, how much milk I'm producing and what time she got her Zantac. We cannot live without this book!

The swing is ESSENTIAL for um, sanity. We can put her in her when she's sleepy and she zonks right out. We got it on Craigslist, but we would have paid full price.

Ergo Baby Carrier: well worth the money. I've only gotten a chance to wear it a few times (damn incision!) but Pete really likes it and my mom was proud as a peacock to wear it while she was visiting.

Muslin blankets: PERFECT weight and size for swaddling. We typically put Lucia in a nightgown or a sleeper for bedtime, and these blankets are just perfect.

How Long Do I Have to Sit Like This?

Two Months Old!!

Lucia is two months old today!! She's changed so much in the past month!

Developmental milestones we've seen:

• Holding her head up more and more
• Clinging onto us like a monkey with her little hands
• SMILING!! (This is the best)
• Cooing. She's most talkative while having her diaper changed. She's very chatty up there.
  
• More eye contact and she's able to follow us across the room. This is both endearing and can be scary if we're trying to not wake her up and she suddenly pops her eyes open. Like a wild animal, we try not to look her in the eye during those times.
  
• More alertness before and after eating

It's been a great month. We're getting into a better rhythmn, with me going to bed around 11 or 12, then Pete getting up during the night, and me getting up at 6 or 7. He then goes back to bed. Sometimes it feels like we're two ships passing in the night, but I always try to make time for us to connect during the day and spend a few minutes doing something non-baby.

Breastfeeding is still difficult, but I'm finding that my perspective and attitude towards it makes a big difference. If I dwell on the negatives, then it's sheer hell. If I focus on the positives, it's manageable. With the recent news about melamine being found in infant formulas here in the US, I'm really trying to get my milk supply up so she doesn't have to have any formula.

She still is very very wiggly. I say to her every morning, "How's my Wiggle?" She's not thrilled with tummy time, but she sure does like being on her tummy for the occasional supervised nap. Her little legs and arms start going crazy -- kinda like a dog in water -- whenever she's about to fuss. It's the warning wiggle if you will.

I've taken to dressing her up in cute outfits then posing her in her crib. She's still sleeps in the bassinet, which we're so thankful to have been able to borrow it from my friend Sara.

We're very thankful in general for Lucia. She's pretty cute, and most days it feels like we might be getting the hang of this.

At Least She's Cute

She's definitely got the cuteness factor going for her... she's wearing her viking hat hand-knit by her Farmor (Pete's mom).

Lucia has Colic

Nuff said, right? We're going out of our minds over here. It's a nonstop screaming fest.

Those Pampers People Know What They're Doing

In an effort to be environmentally conscious, we were using Seventh Generation diapers. They have no chlorine, and chlorine is bad because it produced dioxins, which are very very bad. They're also supposed to be able to break down easier in the landfill. However, the 7thG diapers leak like hell. I didn't realize this wasn't a normal diaper experience until I was sitting in the breastfeeding support group amongst a circle of women and of course of course Lucia has a massive poop-out. A poop-out, for those of you not familiar, is when she poops and it leaks from the diaper all over her clothes and up her back, etc. So she has a massive poop-out and the mother next to me says, "Are those Seventh Generation? They leak really bad."

SO much of being a mother, so far, has been fumbling along for me, not having any sense of what's normal and what's not. It's like being lost and not being able to find your bearings. I don't know what I don't know. 

So I mention the poop out to Mary, who says to switch to Pampers, that they don't leak. I was reluctant, as we have about a million packages of Seventh Generation diapers. But tonight's poop-out was the icing on the cake. And by icing, I mean pumpkin-soup consistency absolutely all over her and having to change her in the trunk of the car and having to strip her down naked when it's 50 degrees out, resulting in her making the most horrific cries and subsequently ripping my heart out. It was a real delight. We bought pampers on the way home, and we'll be using these from here on out. I'm returning the 7thG diapers to Whole Foods and hoping for a store credit. 

While I feel a slight tinge of guilt over the environmental implications of us using Pampers, I can't handle poo everywhere. I'm drinking a beer to calm my very frayed nerves. Thank god my mom was with me to help me clean Lucia up and get her calmed down. Gawd. 

Hardware update: Carpet cleaner

Heather asked me to find a good steam cleaner so that we didn't need to use soaps and chemicals to clean our carpet when the dog makes a mess. You can read about that here.
I have used steam cleaners before and I think they are great, but when I finally brought one home it wasn't really what Heather thought she wanted, she wanted a carpet cleaner, one that also sucks like a vacuum.

The new carpet cleaner works by using hot tap water and soap which it heat some more before it shoots out a fine spray near the nozzle before being scrubbed into the carpet and sucked right back into the machine. Thats how it works.
The dirty water tank contains very dark water after a while so it must be working.
The nozzle is not very big so it is perfect for small jobs, but doing the whole apartment would take several days.

Big Girl Seat

We now have the big girl seat on the stroller. The bassinet, while lovely for many reasons, wasn't that great for some other reasons, like Lucia has to be kept sitting up after she eats or she'll spit up for sure. The big girl seat, with the Snuzzler (which is the greatest product name EVER), is perfect. She can look around and see things (mostly me making faces at her or saying HI over and over again to try to get her to smile), and she's kept upright. It has three positions, so if she falls asleep we can also recline it so she's *almost* laying down. We've ordered another Snuzzler so we don't have to keep transferring this one in and out of the car seat.

So Tired

Gummy Grins A Go-Go

Getting Some Love from Uncle Josh

Cutie Pie

Whadja Say?

Warmer Temperatures = Cute Outfits

Really she has cute warm outfits too, but we've been waiting to wear this one. It's from her Aunt Kate!

The Where's Waldo Outfit

To My Momma

"Can your mom come back?" the nurse who dressed my wound asked today. Since my incision isn't healing properly, I'm having to drive to the hospital's wound care clinic to have it properly changed three times a week. "I wish," I answered. "I'd love to have her back. She was a god-send."

And she was. My mom arrived when Lucia was just 10 days old and a scrawny little 6 lbs. We picked her up from the airport and one of the first things she said was "She's so tiny!" The next few days we spent trying to get Lucia on a schedule (something ahem, Mom I could still use help with!). I couldn't drive because of the pain medication I was taking, so Mom had to drive me around -- a small feat given that she hates driving and had never driven a Prius. She drove me everywhere; to the store, to the doctor, to the lactation consultant. She made me take naps. She got up with me at 3 a.m. to feed Lucia while I pumped breastmilk. She helped us coordinate medication timings. She helped us figure out dinner. She did bucketloads of laundry. In essence, she helped on all the things I couldn't do. 

People told me that after I had the baby my relationship with my mom would change. And it did. I remember calling her right after Lucia was born and saying, I had no idea you loved me like this. My mom and I have always been close, and while neither of us are perfect, I think having Lucia has indeed changed my perspective of my mom. Thank you for all that you do. 

PS My stepdad, who came for a week, was also tremendously helpful. Grilling up chicken to perfection, taking my car for an oil change and for the estimate for the oopsy fender bashing, etc. Thanks to him too! 

Last Night's Events

We're not ordinarily the type to post political stuff here, but last night's events were and are too historic to not comment upon.

For the first time in eight years, I'm so excited about where this country is going. I cried and cried as the results came in, stunned and disbelieving my eyes. Could it be that we as a country saw past Obama's race and believed him and his message of Hope and Change? How far we have come. How utterly proud I am of the progress we've made in this country, and that hope for a brighter future -- one where America takes care of its own, perseveres, welcomes diversity, and embraces, nurtures and encourages the opportunity of each and every person to become whatever they want. It's a new day in America, and it began last night.

My vote for Obama was much more than just a vote for a man: it was a vote for change, for hope, for optimism. For America to return to it's international status and respect and honor. For America to turn around and fix its domestic problems. It was a vote for the future. The fact that he is African-American didn't matter to me. His message of hope and change did. I'm thrilled beoynd belief and feel so very proud to be an American.

Wanna Sleep? Nah.

Someone was too wound up to go to sleep tonight. The swing finally worked. Phew.

Tummy Time!

Little Miss has a gorgeous new blanket from our friend Linnea to use for Tummy Time. And use it we are. Look how strong her neck is getting!

Ooofff

Let's just say both of us needed an adult beverage this evening to calm our frayed nerves.

Happy Halloween!

Daddy's little monkey.

Yesterday was "one of those days"

Yesterday was Mrs. Baylee's day to shine. The previous night she had the privilege of getting some delicious roasted chicken skins and pieces and yesterday she paid us back by pooping and puking wherever she could. This was runny-butt and smelly-brown-gravy-galore like I have never seen before. Obviously she tried to hide the fact by eating her own poop, but I think that made things worse because she puked that right back up shortly after. So now I had a lot of pukey-slimey to deal with as well, and this stuff was like right out of an Aliens movie, nearly impossible to scoop up, and a stink I cannot begin describe. I kept running around on my knees cleaning up spots only to discover new spots behind my back. It was never ending. Baylee was then sent outside until she was emptied out at both ends and only given water the rest of the day. Super effective biological cleaner "Anti-icky-poo" was liberally applied and a trip to Cosco to buy a carpet steamer will happen in the near future.

The Days FLY By!

I can't believe tomorrow is Friday already!

We've had a rough week, sleep-wise, thus the lack of posts. We're trying to learn how to put Lucia down to sleep BEFORE she falls asleep on us. Pete's better at this, admittedly. She's so warm and cuddly, but if I let her fall asleep on me, I'm trapped until she wakes us, because if I put her down afterwards, she wakes up and gets all upset. The early part of the week was rough, with every day getting a little better.

So anyway, there's that. It's going well. Dr. Hello Kitty told us to do it this way, so it helps to have her endorsement. We saw her on Wednesday about the rash that Little Miss has; it's dry skin + baby acne. They tested it for staph just to make sure, since my c-section incision is infected (still!). Dr. HK said she'd call me if it was staph, but she was pretty sure it wasn't.

We bought a new baby carrier that I LOVE (see above - note her bunny feet) but unfortunately I overdid it yesterday with it by taking a walk with her. She was fussy and stopped fussing when I kept walking, so I kept walking. Big mistake: last night I was so sore in my back and abdomen from the pressure on the incision. It's very hard for me to take it easy; I'm high-energy and having to limit my activities has and continues to be tough. This is NOT how I wanted to spend my maternity leave.

Tomorrow I'm going to have lunch with a friend who works at Google; it's Halloween so everyone is going to be dressed up. Little Miss is going as a monkey. Afterwards, we're going to a Halloween party at Day One, the awesome center we've gone to for lactation support and general sanity. We'll be sure to take pictures!

One Month Old!

Wow, it's gone really, really fast in some ways. In other ways, it feels like we've always had her -- and I can't imagine not knowing her, what she looks like and everything. Not that we know her just yet -- we're still getting used to each other, as Pete wrote below.

I've been surprised by a few things the past month, like how little sleep I can get by without. I've been surprised that Pete is such an amazing caregiver (both of me and her) and knows instinctively what to do (without reading any of the baby books, imagine that!). I've been surprised by how quickly the days go by. I've been surprised by how difficult breastfeeding has been, and how really experiencing it for yourself changes your perspective on everything.

Everywhere I look now, if I see a baby or parents pushing a stroller, I think, they went through this too. They went through the roller coaster of emotions, the day-to-day mundaneness, the newfound closeness between the parents, the hope and possibility you dream of for your child. They all went through it. And somehow survived. :)

We've developed a pretty good working rhythm: we're up until 1 or 2 a.m. for the last feeding, then Pete gets up in the middle of the night to feed her. I get up around 7 or 8 to feed her, and he gets up shortly after to start his work day. It's kept the sleeplessness at a minimum -- hooray! We're so thankful we have a baby that likes to sleep.

She's been on an eating tear lately -- she's a bottomless pit. I can't keep up with breastmilk production, so we've had to supplement with formula. It has its pros and cons -- the cons being the cost and the fact that it smells horrible. The pros being it's really easy to mix up -- no need to heat up a bottle.

We're excited for the next months and years. It still feels like we're in bootcamp on some days (today's one of them -- she's been fussy all day) and other days feel so close to normal there are split-seconds that I forget we have a baby. I'm a little weepy writing this, thinking that she'll never be so young again. This feels like a very tender and precious time.

Pictures of the little miss today are HERE. Don't be alarmed by her rash, we've already talked to the pediatrician about it -- she's fine.

Publish Post

One month ago today

Lucia was born one month ago today and we are still learning. She cant be reasoned with, she feels no remorse, but she is completely honest: her feelings can be read in her face, her opinions can be heard. Our problem is that she seem to have only one or two sounds for all her issues, dirty diaper, over tired, hungry, gassy stomach; she makes the same sounds. The solution ususally is to test for each of those issues and act accordingly.
Not much has changed on Lucia since day one, she is still pretty mellow, her appetite is strong and we keep adding milk to her bottles. If I were to eat as much as her, relative to her size, I would be having 4 cartons of milk every 3 hours. No wonder she is complaining about gas.

Four weeks old!

Lucia is four weeks old today! How quickly it's gone! We're doing well; experimenting with taking things out of my diet that upset her belly. The latest offender is citrus -- even very small amounts upset her stomach. And chocolate (sadly). Otherwise, she's very happy and content.

We watched The Happiest Baby on the Block DVD this week and both agreed it was life-saving. Literally. It teaches you how to soothe a crying baby, and man does it work! The shushing especially -- apparently it mimics the sound of blood rushing through the placenta. She goes from melting down to instant calm in seconds. Seriously. It's pretty amazing.

Today I'm going to the park with Josh to take the dogs for a walk (and the baby, oh and us too). I'm feeling better every day, though still prone to overdoing it, so I'm headed down for a nap now.

We'll post more pictures on Sunday, her official one-month birthday. Until then...

Thank YOU Kate!

This is a long overdue post to thank Kate, my stepsister, for flying out to spend the weekend with us and basically keep us glued together. She arrived Oct. 3, when Lucia was still in the NICU, I was still out of commission and in need of assistance to do basic things like oh I dunno, take out the trash and make breakfast.

She arrived and stepped right in to help out; taking care of Lucia and helping us shuttle over to the NICU to see Lucia, running errands to get more baby supplies, and helping us assemble a kickass thank-you platter of muffins, scones and goodies for the NICU staff.

On Lucia's first night home, as you might remember, both Pete and I had to go to the ER for separate ailments. (HUGE thanks to Josh for taking Pete to the ER and then coming back over to hang out with Kate). Kate not only took care of Lucia, but was three steps ahead in terms of troubleshooting. She was generally a lifesaver. We really couldn't have made it without her. Thank you so much Kate!

Hi there!

So maybe not on the colic -- she's just been uncharacteristically fussy, but was much better last night. We're trying everything we can to keep the fussing to a minimum and to keep our girl happy. Here's a picture of her last night hanging out with Pete. Look at that belly!

She Might Have Colic

Miss Lucia might have colic. We've entered a fussy few days of existence, where it seems like her belly is hurting. We're researching as much as we can, trying not to blame ourselves, and trying most of all not to lose our minds when she screams continuously and can't be consoled. Oy.

New Pictures of Little Miss Hansen

Enjoy!!

We Are Sorry!

We likely owe you an email, call back or thank you card. We are sorry. We're a little overwhelmed.

Bath Time is Fun Time!

Doctor's Visit!

Today Lucia had her first doctor's appointment with Dr. Hello Kitty. We actually really liked Dr. Hello Kitty a lot, she was extremely, extremely thorough and explained everything that we might be experiencing or seeing with Lucia's behavior and physical appearance.

The greatest news is that she weighs almost 7 lbs -- up HALF a pound since THURSDAY! Woo-woo! She's an eating champ! We're really excited. She's developing the slightest start at a Buddha belly, which is adorable.

We're heading to the doctor for me to have my incision checked tomorrow, then to the lactation consultant for (hopefully) some great help on breastfeeding. Lucia's still refusing the breast, but eating from the bottle obviously...

Practicing Neck Control

So Veddy Sleepy

How cute is this outfit?

No it's not a life raft, she's holding on to the nursing pillow we have. We let her sleep on her stomach (while watching her) in the afternoons. She's a big fan.

Update!

Where'd the week go? Here's the update!

We went to the Newborn Club Monday and Thursday. It was a bit frustrating to receive conflicting breastfeeding advice, but the good news was that BOTH times Lucia's weight was up and she's doing great.

We learned some lessons this week on running errands: 1. learn how to collapse stroller and *practice* LOTS before an outing. 2. always bring a change of clothes for Lucia, plus a bottle, plus several clean diapers, and multiple pacifiers. 3. Do not plan on trying to do several errands, as my energy is still a 4 out of 10, and diminishes quickly after stressful outings.

We also learned some lessons on sleeping and eating. Last night Lucia went a whole four hours between feedings, which felt absolutely amazing. We credit the NICU for training her to do this -- they had her on three-hour feedings, we just added on a bit.

My incision is healing nicely, thanks to Pete's re-dressing of it twice a day. When we vowed to love each other through sickness and health, we really really meant it. I never thought the love of my life wouldn't bat an eye at cleaning out an incision of mine.

I really can't believe she's 2 weeks old already. The past two weeks have been such a blur.

Experimenting with Eating and Sleeping

So we've tried to extend the time Lucia eats as much as possible; the general rule is every 2-3 hours, but Lucia is a snoozer, and rather than wake her up and force feed her at exactly 2 hours, we're experimenting with seeing how and when she wakes up on her own (about 3 hours).

We've also experimented with feeding her as much as she wants, which has been a bit problematic twice as when she eats around 4 oz, she spits up some. 2 oz = restless baby in 2 hours. 3 oz = just about right.

So the experiments continue. Here's a funny picture of her in her bouncy seat. She does her Houdini magic act and unravels her hands from her swaddle in record-time, and MUST have her hands free for feedings. She's a character already!

Pictures of the Day, and Some from Other Days Too

Kate's excellent suggestion on Sunday was to take baby for a walk, just down to the pool and back (read: a very short walk) and sit outside for a few minutes.


Here's a shot of me with my mom today:



Lastly, here's a video of Lucia just staring at the camera. Enjoy!

Sorry for the Delay!

Yes, I know we're behind on pictures and blogging. We are sorry! Here's one of my mom, who arrived yesterday. She's sharing overnight feedings with Pete (thank god) and being a general god-send. Hooray!

More pictures to come soon, I swear.

A big thank you

We would like to send a big thank you to Jennifer Arton for helping us taking care of Mrs. Baylee, she went above and beyond to clean up around the house which was a big pleasant surprise.
We are also tremendously thankful for all the help we have received from our family members who came 3000 miles to be with us. We could not have made it without them.

First Night Home, Definitely Eventful

I debated blogging about all of this, cause frankly it's just more drama and we really, really can't believe it all went down like it did, but here goes:

Kate made us a fantastic dinner. Pete got choked. For a long time. Could not get the food out of his throat. Josh took him to the ER. About three hours later, they got home. The food finally moved down and the problem was resolved.

While he was gone, I noticed my incision was seeping liquid. Really creepy liquid. So I say to Kate, um, look at this and should I be concerned. We call the advice nurses at Kaiser. They review all of the medications I'm taking and basically freak out that I'm taking Tylenol and Vicodin. I was told to take Tylenol instead of Motrin because Motrin does a number on my stomach. The nurse on the phone freaks and calls Poison Control, then says I need to come into the ER right away for an accidental overdose. And maybe I should get that incision checked.

So Pete literally walks in the door from the ER, and I say, can you take me the ER? We get there, and THANK GOD KATE WAS HERE, cause she took Lucia and called pediatrics to make sure my breastmilk wasn't toxic, and then called my brother to have him come back over because Pete has the car with the car seat, and if they have to take HER to the ER, then they'll need a way to get there.

So they do some weight calculations (thank god I'm still retaining tons of water) and talk to Poison Control, and decide that I'm fine. The amount I had taken -- even if I took it over ONE dose -- it still wouldn't be toxic. However, upon inspecting the incision, they decide that it's definitely infected and they debate admitting me. But I plead my case, that I've got a newborn fresh home from the NICU and I promise to take the course of antibiotics and Pete is given detailed instructions on how to re-dress the wound. They draw a giant area around the redness with a permanent marker and tell Pete that if the redness moves past that area, then we have to come back in.

We got home at 5:30 a.m., just in time to freaking pump milk, make something to eat, and feed Lucia before heading to bed for a few hours. Pete's fine, I'm on the mend, and we're SINCERELY hoping for a ho-hum normal few days of having a newborn. You know, sleeplessness, forgetfulness, etc.

Kate leaves in the morning and my mom arrives tomorrow. We go to the doctor at 9 a.m. to check her weight and visit with the lactation consultant. I'm hoping they're more helpful than the lady last week.

She's Home, We're Exhausted

THANK GOD FOR FAMILY. Let me just say it again. Kate has been a superstar, taking fussy Lucia and feeding her after a (another) failed breastfeeding attempt and meltdown, and letting me nap for THREE HOURS. God love her. My brother Josh came over tonight too, and has been a great help.

It was great to bring her home. Really great. She's sleeping in the bassinet now and I'm so thankful I don't have to go back to the NICU to see her anymore. We brought the NICU staff a huge platter of muffins and scones to thank them for everything. They rule.

Baby is coming home !!!

More good good news from California, baby is scheduled to come home tomorrow and we are going in at 10:30 am to pick her up.

She is finally eating her full meal of 60ml from the bottle and is also practicing breast feeding with great success.
Aunt Kate arrived today and will be of great help when we finally bring Lucia home.

Update!

They're increasing the amount of breastmilk she's getting each feeding, instead of every other feeding. She'll be up to 60 mL tomorrow, which is about 2 oz. We're so excited that things are going well. We saw her tonight and she's eating like a champ. Hooray!

Relieved, but Exhaustion Hit Today

This was the only picture we took today. Sure, she did lots of cute things, but darnit, we're too tired to take any pictures.

Lucia has kept down all of her feedings. They're increasing them by 5 mL every other feeding, and simultaneously decreasing the amount of IV nutrition she gets. Currently she's hooked up to three IV bags, 1 is like baby gatorade, full of electrolytes, another is fats (soybean oil, we found out), and the other is just for basic hydration. As soon as they can take her off the IV, we can bring her home (possibly this weekend -- we're excited but are trying not to get too excited just in case). We're going to try to feed her at the breast tomorrow; cross your fingers for us. The other times we tried this Lucia basically threw a fit. We have a strategy for tomorrow though.

Since I haven't been able to feed her from the breast, I've become a PRO at pumping breastmilk on the go; the NICU has a breastfeeding room and I quietly slip in there just before Lucia's feedings so I can give her fresh breastmilk. I can see why some women don't breastfeed; it's hard to get up every 3 hours to pump or feed. At least with Lucia she's cute; the breastpump = notsomuch. Then again, the breast pump makes for 15 minute sessions, no question. Lucia tends to dawdle a bit when we're feeding her on the bottle. But washing the pump parts at 3 a.m.? I won't miss that.

I've finally learned to keep ahead of the pain with the pain medication. If I don't, it basically steam rolls right over me. I was taking the minimum dosage at the maximum time span, and was basically miserable. I think I have it figured out now though.

My stepsister Kate arrives tomorrow; we can't wait to see her. I asked Pete if he was thankful we had help coming in, he said yes definitely. He has been a CHAMP; driving me everywhere, taking care of absolutely everything without me asking and basically being a super hero. I know he's ready for a break.

EVEN MORE Great news!

She kept down all of her feedings overnight! So that's 6 feedings now. She only threw up half of one of the feedings, and that was before the Zantac was started at 6 p.m. last night.

I am thrilled beyond belief. Pete is asleep (I got up to pump), but I'm tempted to wake him up to tell him. Hopefully our little girl will be coming home very soon.

Thank you SO much for all your prayers, thoughts and well wishes. They seemed to have worked!

Fantastic News!!

Lucia has kept down 2.5 of her 3 feedings today of breastmilk. We are out of our heads excited. The doctor started her on Zantac last night (ironically, I started on a prescription-strength Pepcid myself yesterday for wicked, wicked heartburn). The doc thinks she has acid reflux, and while it's not normally seen in newborns, it's likely what she has.

Our fingers are crossed that our Little Girl will be home with us soon. HOORAY!!!

Wednesday update

I think Heather really appreciated sleeping in her own bed, she told me several times it felt good.
We arrived at the hospital this morning to see how Lucia was doing and hear if the doctors had any diagnosis and how they would treat her stomach issues.
We were informed that they would give her a 15ml of breast milk every 3 hours and that they would take her off the antibiotics and give her something that will make her stomach less upset instead.

We bottle fed her the 15ml and was happy to see she kept it all down and was wide awake. We could tell she was searching for more food so she got quite upset when we tried to lie her down in her little aquarium.

They are taking so good care of her at the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) that I don't think we really have to go back there until they kick her out.

Good news Tuesday

So all the x-rays and blood samples came back fine, there's nothing wrong. She is also not losing any weight. Since the doctors don't have any conclusions or diagnosis for why she continues to throw up, I have my own: Stress. She's had the feeding tube inserted for several days and I think that caused irritation - possibly also induced gaging.

The doctor was of the same opinion and they will not feed her until tomorrow morning, just giving her fluids and nutrition intravenously, then start with a small amount of milk.
We hope a day and a half is enough rest and she stops throwing up so she may be able to come home before the weekend.

Tuesday Update

She threw up the soy too. :(They took her off any food and are feeding her with the IV until 3 p.m. today. I'm going down at 9:30 to talk to the doctors about their next plan of action. I spent more than 90 minutes with her this morning and was so blissed out I wanted time to stop. We did some kangaroo care, which means bare chest to bare chest. It was going great, until she smelled breastmilk and then acted like a crazed maniac frantically trying to find it. I would have loved to try to nurse, but obviously couldn't cause no food is allowed. :(

Pictures of this morning are HERE.

Videos are below. Enjoy.

PS Thank you so much for all of your kind emails, prayers and well wishes. We really appreciate them.

Addendum to the Update

She threw up again. :( They're going to try soy formula at the next feeding, and if she can't keep that down, they'll feed her with the IV in the a.m. and re-evaluate the action plan tomorrow.

Poor thing.

Promising News!

We had a bit of a roller coaster day. Here are the updates:

• We tried to nurse from 9 a.m.- 10 p.m. with no absolute success, but Lucia got closer to getting it than she ever has. After that, the nurse fed her my colostrum and formula through the feeding tube. I can't remember if she threw it up or not.
  
• We came back at noon with my very proud 2 oz of pumped breastmilk, and Lucia received it through the feeding tube.
  
• Unfortunately she threw it all back up.
• At 3:45, we saw the pediatrician on duty and she said that Lucia is a very healthy, happy, playful baby and that medically they couldn't find a reason why she was continually throwing up her food. She also said they have ruled out sepsis (phew). This made us very happy.
  
• The doc decided that the feeding tube itself may be making her gag, so they took it out. Then Pete fed Lucia a small amount of breastmilk from a bottle and SUCCESS! She didn't throw it up.
  
• Pete went back down with more milk at 6 to feed her a bit more and unfortunately, she threw some of that up. The nurses asked him to feed her half of the prescribed amount, then burp her, then feed her the other half. The burping was the culprit, I suspect.
• The only thing that's preventing her from being allowed to go home is the feeding problems, or specifically, the throwing up problems.
• I ate something at lunch that didn't agree with me, so I'm feeling ill and not going back down to the NICU tonight, unfortunately.
  
• We'll see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully not more vomit!
  

PS!

Lucia is 19 inches, not 20 or 21. Why the numbers were so off is beyond me. But they measured and re-measured since I saw it on several places as being different, and they said it's 19. For a while there I thought we were gonna have a 6 ft. child!

Good News/Bad News Update O Da Day

So here's the update for the day. I'll start with the bad news so we end things optimistically.

Bad news: Lucia's bloodwork today came back looking worse than yesterday's bloodwork. It supposed to be trending down, today hers trended up. They're looking at whether she has sepsis.
Good news: if she does have it, they're ready to treat it and she won't have any long-term issues.

Bad news: Lucia hasn't figured out that sucking = key to getting breastmilk.
Good news: she's trying really hard to figure it out, and all signs are there that she'll get it sometime soon. We're just going to keep trying.

Bad news: She threw up all of her food today.
Good news: They're not going to force feed formula anymore to her (through the feeding tube). She's being fed through the IV to give her GI system a break.

Bad news: She won't be coming over to our room anytime soon. The docs want to make sure she's got the feeding issues down, and with her constantly vomiting everything right back up, that's an issue.
Good news: I won't be discharged until Tuesday, and hopefully she'll be able to come home with me. I will be sad if she can't, but I want her to have the best care and be in a great place health-wise when she comes home.

Bad news: She's a little dehydrated.
Good news: They are hydrating her through the IV and hope that she's more interested in breastfeeding when she's feeling better.


She's still absolutely adorable and we're amazed by her. We're hoping she's feeling better soon.

Videos! Very short videos!

Update to the Update

Wow. Recovery is um, hard from surgery. I'm exhausted, and for whatever reason, whenever I get down to the NICU, I'm practically falling asleep. I think I may be extending too much energy. I'm trying really hard to take it easy. This is hard for me.

Lucia is having some eating issues. She's having a lot of reflux, meaning she's spitting up a lot. We are trying to get her interested in breastfeeding, but so far it's been very challenging. She's not really interested. They are feeding her formula and when I can give some extra colostrum they give her that too, but they are not bottle feeding her. We're meeting with the lactation consultant tomorrow. We tried for today, but she was booked.

So since they can't get the eating thing cleared up, they want to keep her in the NICU another night. I'm bummed, but also so exhausted and partially relieved that she'll continue to get some nutrients.

Saturday Update!!

Good morning everyone! I apologize if this post is a bit circuitous and rambly; I suspect it's the medication still wearing off. My brain feels a bit cloudy.

Thanks so much for your kind thoughts and well wishes. Lucia is doing great in the NICU --they are slowly tapering her off the oxygen and hope that today's check of her lungs is clear -- yesterday's was a bit cloudy and they couldn't be sure if it was a sign of fluid or possible pneumonia. The pediatricians are very hopeful that she'll get to come down to our room today, so we are excited.

I'm recovering OK. I have to say that surgery = not that fun. As go-go-go as I am, it's been hard to be immobilized. Pete has been a wonderful caregiver. I know labor was exhausting for him too; seeing someone you love in pain for that long must have been hard. He went home to sleep last night, since we didn't have the baby in the room, and I had all the help I needed from the nurses. I got some sleep and felt much better; I plan on getting a lot more today.

We can't believe how long Lucia is -- she's got her dad's grasshopper-like legs. I'm headed over to see her as soon the doc comes to check me out. I can't wait to see her again. We spent some time with her last night, I was able to hold her and love on her. It was pretty amazing -- I'm just in awe of her. I'm hoping to take a video today of her.

We tried breastfeeding last night and we're both going to need some coaching from the pros on it. She still has a feeding tube in, so they're giving her some formula and I'm sending all the colostrum I can get from the breast pump down to the NICU for the nurses to give her.

Lucia Lauryn Hansen is here!

Lucia was born earlier this morning at 8:54 am and we are all tired and relieved.
What happened was Heather stalled at 7 cm even with Pitocin and when the baby seemed to be a little uncomfortable (heart rate dipping periodically) the decision was made to use C-section.

Within an hour Lucia was delivered. They noticed she had a little difficulty screaming/breathing so they took her to the ICU to help her out. She is going to stay there for a few more days while they do some tests.

As you can see from the pictures the doctors habitual poking of tubes in all openings applies to Lucia as well.