http://www.tuchus.net/galleries/Week2/index.htm, edited to put pictures in post)
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Sunday, March 13, 2005
8 days a week
... or, I suppose, 9, but who's counting, right?
It's been a whirlwind of a week, as only those who have lived through the first week with a newborn can imagine. It's been everything we had heard, and more.
Most of the week has been spent in a stupor of amazement. Really, neither of us can comprehend this little being that we have brought into this world. I won't even try to put that into words.
The week has also been spent learning the ropes of tending to Molly: waiting for my milk to come in; celebrating her first poops (ooh, there was just another!); learning to live on a 2 hour sleep cycle, etc. We've been "out in the world" 3 times already - all trips back to Kaiser to have the little one checked (standard post-natal visits). For the most part these visits have determined that she's quite healthy and a champion feeder, having already gained back her birth weight (newborns are expected to lose 10% of their body weight immediately after birth and then gain it back within 2 weeks - she was down to 6 lbs on Tuesday and up to 6 lbs 8 oz on Friday!). She also developed a bit of the typical newborn jaundice - not enough for real concern, but enough for them to send us back to Kaiser for another blood test. That has already started to resolve itself with just a little sunshine.
Family has been visiting - mostly the grandmas, but uncle Seth and Grandpa Charly as well. We've put them to good use helping us deal with little things like cooking, cleaning, and taking care of Molly. It's been such a relief to me, particularly to have my mother be able to come out so quickly and take care of me. I think she gets a kick out of mothering her daughter again (and, of course grandmothering Molly). She even jumped right in and finished painting our porch (a project we started last October) and weeding our front yard (which hasn't been touched since early last fall).
We've also had some friends visit (everyone is welcome, we just ask that you call first so you don't catch me in the middle of a treasured nap, although Molly is usually game for entertaining company at any hour) which has been a nice infusion of "life on the outside" for me.
And now to wrap up, I can't speak for Zach, but there are a few thoughts that stand out for me from this first week. One is that I absolutely cannot imagine doing this without Zach. He has been amazing and there is no way that I would be a coherent human at this point without him. He is an incredible father and has done a great job figuring out this little girl. Where I have what I call the "9-month advantage" he has the patience and love to just figure things out. The other thought is how amazing a woman's body is. The things that my body has done in the last 9 months, particularly this last week and a half, are beyond my comprehension. In these last 9 days I have often felt like I am a passenger watching my body take over (that could be the lack of sleep, but we'll pretend it's not). If I ever doubted it I must now declare that I believe the maternal instinct is real.
Thanks to everyone who has sent their love and support. I haven't had time to respond individually to each of you, but it means a lot to hear from you all.
And now, back to tending the sleepy-pee-pee. (uh-oh, we've fallen into the baby talk trap!)
It's been a whirlwind of a week, as only those who have lived through the first week with a newborn can imagine. It's been everything we had heard, and more.
Most of the week has been spent in a stupor of amazement. Really, neither of us can comprehend this little being that we have brought into this world. I won't even try to put that into words.
The week has also been spent learning the ropes of tending to Molly: waiting for my milk to come in; celebrating her first poops (ooh, there was just another!); learning to live on a 2 hour sleep cycle, etc. We've been "out in the world" 3 times already - all trips back to Kaiser to have the little one checked (standard post-natal visits). For the most part these visits have determined that she's quite healthy and a champion feeder, having already gained back her birth weight (newborns are expected to lose 10% of their body weight immediately after birth and then gain it back within 2 weeks - she was down to 6 lbs on Tuesday and up to 6 lbs 8 oz on Friday!). She also developed a bit of the typical newborn jaundice - not enough for real concern, but enough for them to send us back to Kaiser for another blood test. That has already started to resolve itself with just a little sunshine.
Family has been visiting - mostly the grandmas, but uncle Seth and Grandpa Charly as well. We've put them to good use helping us deal with little things like cooking, cleaning, and taking care of Molly. It's been such a relief to me, particularly to have my mother be able to come out so quickly and take care of me. I think she gets a kick out of mothering her daughter again (and, of course grandmothering Molly). She even jumped right in and finished painting our porch (a project we started last October) and weeding our front yard (which hasn't been touched since early last fall).
We've also had some friends visit (everyone is welcome, we just ask that you call first so you don't catch me in the middle of a treasured nap, although Molly is usually game for entertaining company at any hour) which has been a nice infusion of "life on the outside" for me.
And now to wrap up, I can't speak for Zach, but there are a few thoughts that stand out for me from this first week. One is that I absolutely cannot imagine doing this without Zach. He has been amazing and there is no way that I would be a coherent human at this point without him. He is an incredible father and has done a great job figuring out this little girl. Where I have what I call the "9-month advantage" he has the patience and love to just figure things out. The other thought is how amazing a woman's body is. The things that my body has done in the last 9 months, particularly this last week and a half, are beyond my comprehension. In these last 9 days I have often felt like I am a passenger watching my body take over (that could be the lack of sleep, but we'll pretend it's not). If I ever doubted it I must now declare that I believe the maternal instinct is real.
Thanks to everyone who has sent their love and support. I haven't had time to respond individually to each of you, but it means a lot to hear from you all.
And now, back to tending the sleepy-pee-pee. (uh-oh, we've fallen into the baby talk trap!)
Thursday, March 10, 2005
More Molly Fun!
Click on the face for more Molly fun!
(previously linked to: http://www.tuchus.net/Galleries/MollyAtHome/index.htm, edited to put pictures in post)
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
More Pictures
click for pictures...
(previously linked to http://www.tuchus.net/Galleries/HelloMolly/. Edited to include photos below.)
It Happened One Night...
Well we've been home for a few days now, recovering, adjusting, and trying to sleep, and wanted to post a few details about the birth since folks had been asking. Today is actually Molly's due date, so things happened almost a week early. We had a preview when we went into a "routine" prenatal visit on March 1st and the doctor said that Sofia was already 3 cm dilated! She had no idea. By Thursday the contractions were starting to be significant, but still irregular. By evening they were getting stronger, and at 9:15 Sofia heard a "pop" and her water broke. After that it was fast and furious. Our wonderful doula Stacia Biltekoff came over and helped Sofia labor at home for a bit, but it became pretty clear we needed to go to the hospital. By the time we arrived at Kaiser Oakland, Sofia was yelling pretty loud! ;)
We got to the triage area, where she was 5 cm dilated & 90% effaced, and progressing fast. The contractions were so strong that even just doing intake and taking her vitals was hard - at one point they were struggling to take her blood pressure and Stacia had to tell the nurse to stop, because they were cutting off her circulation and her hand was turning blue! (Kaiser was a bit chaotic and had some bureaucratic confusions, but generally the care was good and professional and we had everything we needed.) After about 45 minutes of trying to do intake as Sofia shouted and shook, they realized she was now at 7 cm and needed to go to a delivery room quickly or she would give birth right there. There were a few more problems now with getting the room, which still needed to be cleaned from a previous birth (lotsa babies tonight!). There was another room open but the heating system had gone haywire in that one and it was a bit of a sauna. No thanks!
Finally they get Sofia into a room and set up with everything, and she's now 9 1/2 cm dilated and 100% effaced! The challenge now is to hold back from pushing until that last 1/2 cm dilates, which was no small feat given how hard Molly was coming and how low she was. The concern was that it could get swollen and block passage of the baby, a potentially major problem. Finally the doctor decided to reach in and push that last 1/2 cm "lip" behind Molly's head, and had Sofia push Molly forward to hold it into place. It worked! After that Sofia let out an amazing gutteral scream, and with one massive push, all of a sudden there was the top of a head! Quickly out came the rest of Molly, the cord was untangled from around her and cut by dad, and she brought right up to Mom for introductions, a quick cleanup, and a first breastfeeding.
From water break to delivery it was just 3 hours 15 minutes! No pain meds or anything ended up being needed; while this was Sofia's preference from the get-go, there was never time for them anyhow. Certainly this quick delivery was a blessing, although what it lacked in duration it made up for in intensity. I am truly in awe for how she handled it all. All in all an amazing experience.
We got to the triage area, where she was 5 cm dilated & 90% effaced, and progressing fast. The contractions were so strong that even just doing intake and taking her vitals was hard - at one point they were struggling to take her blood pressure and Stacia had to tell the nurse to stop, because they were cutting off her circulation and her hand was turning blue! (Kaiser was a bit chaotic and had some bureaucratic confusions, but generally the care was good and professional and we had everything we needed.) After about 45 minutes of trying to do intake as Sofia shouted and shook, they realized she was now at 7 cm and needed to go to a delivery room quickly or she would give birth right there. There were a few more problems now with getting the room, which still needed to be cleaned from a previous birth (lotsa babies tonight!). There was another room open but the heating system had gone haywire in that one and it was a bit of a sauna. No thanks!
Finally they get Sofia into a room and set up with everything, and she's now 9 1/2 cm dilated and 100% effaced! The challenge now is to hold back from pushing until that last 1/2 cm dilates, which was no small feat given how hard Molly was coming and how low she was. The concern was that it could get swollen and block passage of the baby, a potentially major problem. Finally the doctor decided to reach in and push that last 1/2 cm "lip" behind Molly's head, and had Sofia push Molly forward to hold it into place. It worked! After that Sofia let out an amazing gutteral scream, and with one massive push, all of a sudden there was the top of a head! Quickly out came the rest of Molly, the cord was untangled from around her and cut by dad, and she brought right up to Mom for introductions, a quick cleanup, and a first breastfeeding.
From water break to delivery it was just 3 hours 15 minutes! No pain meds or anything ended up being needed; while this was Sofia's preference from the get-go, there was never time for them anyhow. Certainly this quick delivery was a blessing, although what it lacked in duration it made up for in intensity. I am truly in awe for how she handled it all. All in all an amazing experience.
Friday, March 04, 2005
Molly Zander Franklin
Molly Zander Franklin was born on March 4th, 2005 at 12:35 am. She weighed 6 pounds 7.5 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. She happens to be delicious.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
no more teachers, no more books ...
Yesterday was my first day on Maternity Leave. (School's out!)
I had planned on working through this week, but after getting sick (again!) last week, and just generally slowing down a whole lot, we decided it was a good time to make a break. Plus, I wasn't working on projects any more (somehow, folks don't like putting 8-month pregnant ladies on projects. Go figure).
So far (does one day count as very far?) it's been nice. I can take it slow, but there's enough to do around the house that I'm keeping busy. Aside from not making money, my only fear is that this baby will push the limits of the due date and I'll be sitting here three weeks from now going stir-crazy.
Well, happy March to everyone & I welcome any positive birth thoughts you can send my way (c'mon little one! come out and play! we all want to meet you!).
I had planned on working through this week, but after getting sick (again!) last week, and just generally slowing down a whole lot, we decided it was a good time to make a break. Plus, I wasn't working on projects any more (somehow, folks don't like putting 8-month pregnant ladies on projects. Go figure).
So far (does one day count as very far?) it's been nice. I can take it slow, but there's enough to do around the house that I'm keeping busy. Aside from not making money, my only fear is that this baby will push the limits of the due date and I'll be sitting here three weeks from now going stir-crazy.
Well, happy March to everyone & I welcome any positive birth thoughts you can send my way (c'mon little one! come out and play! we all want to meet you!).
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