Things!

Things here are really good.

Lauren's getting back in shape really fast.  The hardest part for her right now is trying not to do too much, even though she feels mostly fine.  She's looking forward to the day when she can pick Ella up, go play at the park, and do all that normal stuff.


Ziggy's great!
Somehow he's already ten days old!  (I know.  We can't believe it either.)

Here's some things he can do:

Nurse (he had no trouble right from the start)
Poop and pee (in a diaper and elsewhere)
Sleep and sleep (he sleeps probably 18 hours a day!)
Get the Wild Bill Hiccups (which he tends to have for 3 of his 6 waking hours)

Ella's great!
She's adjusting really quickly and really well.  Sometimes sharing mommy (and the nu-nus) is hard, but she's a really good cooperator, and never shows anything but sweetness and love to her little brother.

Some things Ella can do:

Have a favorite song (Jerry Garcia, no less.  She wants to hear this one several times a day.):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhSRBA4Q4Z8

Make up excellent words for things:
"What does my foot feel like?" she asked one day.  She had been sitting on it for some time and it was red and obviously having pins and needles.  "Why does it feel so spidery?"  And the other day she sat on a grown-up potty for a long time until her foot fell totally asleep.  "What does my foot feel like?" she asked again.  "Is it spidery?" I asked.  "No," she said pinching her toes. "Why does it feel so foamy?"  Then we got up.  "Now it feels spidery."

Make up a great Tooth-brushing song:
(sung to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb)
Fruity-tooty, here we go!
Here we go; here we go!
Fruity-tooty, here we go!
It's time to brush our teeth!

Me: What a great song, Ella.  We're going to have to make a collection of Ella's Greatest Hits.
Ella:  Yeah.  What's "tits?"
Me: (laughing uncontrollably)
Ella: (Looking at me with a big smile intently awaiting my explanation of the joke.)
Me: (With tears in eyes) "Hits," dear, "hits."

Ziggy is Alex David!

For the nine days before Ziggy was born, I was having fairly strong, though painless and irregular, on and off contractions during which I finished every possible preparation that could be done, celebrated our 18th anniversary at the Wayside Inn, went to the zoo, the Science museum, got a massage, played in the birthing tub with Ella twice a day, began reading a new novel, and just spent time with Seth and Ella. I was beginning to feel like the baby would never come--like the contractions would just come and then go again forever,  even though I knew that each contraction was going to make the labor easier.

On Sunday, the contractions seemed to be getting more consistent. At night I made Ziggy’s birthday cake and went to bed around 9:30. Around 1 or 1:30 I got up because I was having contractions and between them Ziggy was moving a lot. I knew then that the baby was coming, so I made the raspberry whipped cream for the cake and frosted it in between strong, but short contractions which I belly danced through (something we did in my prenatal yoga class!).

At 3am I got lonely and woke Seth up. At 4am we heard Ella through the baby monitor say “Can I nu-nu?” (meaning she wants to nurse) so I ran in and laid down beside her to nurse her. While I was laying down with her the contractions seemed further apart, but stronger. By the third contraction, I could no longer stay still and I had to pull away from her and sit up. She woke up and I told her that Ziggy was going to be born that day. She got up with us and went to the living room to play with Seth. That was 4:30am.

From there, the contractions became really intense--close together, maybe 4 or 5 minutes and lasting a minute or more. Seth called the midwife and my parents. At about 5:00 or so my water broke. My parents arrived just after. My dad and Seth were playing with Ella and my mom kept me company--rubbing my back during contractions.

Our primary midwife, Deborah, arrived at about 5:15. Contractions were really intense by then with basically no breaks. Seth cradled my head through them and encouraged me. Deborah asked if I wanted to get in the tub, so I did. Soon after I got in the tub, maybe after only 1 contraction, I started to push. Ella would come check on me between contractions, but I was making a lot of noise during the contractions. Laurie, our second midwife, arrived at about 5:50am.  It was so fast and so intense that I started to protest--”I can’t do it!” i think I said! And 5 minutes later, after only 4 or 5 intense pushing contractions, the head came out. Deborah told me not to push, just to breathe him out. So I breathed through one contraction and then she told me to sit back and catch him. So I squatted and reached down and breathed him out. I pulled him out of the water with Seth. He came out quiet and beautiful and healthy.

We still didn’t have any boy’s names, but Ella said “maybe we could call him Alex”—which is also Seth’s middle name—and it stuck. (Much better than her earlier suggestion: “Pantsy.”) We do still sometimes call him Ziggy, though.

Last time, as many of you know, this was the point when I hemorrhaged. This time, there was very little blood and my placenta came out with no problem. My recovery so far has been amazingly comfortable and quick. Alex is a very happy baby and sleeps a ton! We’re surprisingly well-rested and feeling great. 

Ella has been an absolutely incredible big sister. She's super gentle with him and adjusting to this huge change in our life remarkably well. We couldn't be happier.


Here are some pics from Ziggy's first day:

Just out

Ella embracing her big-sisterhood

(She wanted to hold him right away!)

(And often!)

Who's the BIG SISTER!?

Snoozin' with Mom

... and Dad

Yaaaaawwn.