That's my shameless request for comments...:)Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
November 10th Picture
A few years ago, I was sitting at work and realized that the two pictures of Martin and I that I had at my desk were both taken on November 10th. Ever since then, we've taken a picture on every November 10th. That day is also our friend Christine's birthday. (I even thought Dylan might be born on that day.) The first three years, the pics were taken in three different countries. The first year we were in NJ/NY. The second year we were in Tiajuana, Mexico, and the third year we were in Aruba. Last year we just took the picture at home. This year the picture (of me anyway) is pretty bad, but it had to be taken. So here it is.....
Monday, November 20, 2006
Dylan with friends
Mike has been over to visit Dylan twice and brought us enough enchiladas for 5 meals (of our sized portions!) Mike is Martin's former roommate and was a groomsman in our wedding.
Nancy came to visit with her youngest daughter Violet. Nancy and I have know each other for almost 10 years! We worked together at camp. Nancy read Scripture at our wedding.
How we came up with the name
Since Dylan's name was such a secret, I haven't gotten the chance to tell most of you how we came up with the name. It's not a terribly interesting story but for those of you who are curious here it is. Basically we just liked the name. We looked through a lot of books, websites, and our church directory and wrote down the names we liked. Then we evaluated if they fit the "rules" and if they sounded good with our last name. We had two other names that were the front runners for a while before we saw the name Dylan. Martin liked Dylan a lot right away. It took me some convincing but I like it a lot now. Martin had another middle name that he liked but since he picked the first name I picked the middle. Graham was also on the list of names we liked but we didn't use it for a first name since it only has one syllable. Both names have some personal significance since Martin is a Bob Dylan fan and my paternal grandmother's maiden name is Graham.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Thoughts on labor and hospital stay
The night that Dylan was born, I thought a lot about the whole labor experience that I had just gone through. I know most women would just want to forget it but after having done so much preparation, I had to analyze. If you're pregant, you might not want to read this so stop now. I couldn't get over how bad the pain was. Granted, the really bad stuff only lasted for maybe 45 minutes but oh my goodness. How do women decide to have more than one? I even started to think about that myself that night. Could I really do this again? I guess it gets easier but still. Now that I know what's ahead, I think it may be harder to go into it. Maybe next time I'll get an epidural. I'm really glad I didn't this time. My main concern was that it would prolong labor and maybe lead to a C section. But second labors are usually shorter and now my body knows what it's doing. I'm glad I was able to do it without pain medicine (and the awful needle in the back) and experience the full extent of labor but now that I've been there done that maybe next time will be different. We'll see.
I'm really glad the way things went with Dylan's birth. I'm glad they broke my water. That made things go so much quicker. I'm glad I was able to walk around since I had all that back labor. I liked the way the doctor and nurse helped me and delivered Dylan. And I didn't even have a birth plan!
I thought I would enjoy the hospital stay more than I did. I thought, man, why would I want to go home when I have someone doing everything for me and all these resources to help right there. Well, and maybe this was just because we were rooming in and Martin stayed both nights, but the nurses pretty much left us to fend for ourselves. I thought someone was going to come in and make sure I was feeding Dylan every so many hours. Nope. I thought they'd be doing some of the diaper changing. Nope. But they made us record any time I fed or changed Dylan so that they were keeping some track. I thought they would help hand me the baby so I wouldn't have to get out of bed. Nope. And I had to press the call button like a mad woman the one time I really needed them to help me go to the bathroom (they wanted to be present the first two times I went to the bathroom after delivering). Maybe all this was a good thing, it just wasn't what I expected.
Two other things that bugged me - when we got to the post partum room where I would be staying, the nurse gave me all these instructions for caring for myself and Dylan in a two minute speech where she was talking as fast as the wind. I don't know how I absorbed anything. The same thing happened at our "discharge class." This woman talked sooo fast and gave us so much information at once, I don't know how we were supposed to get anything out of it. The other thing that bugged me was the day after Dylan was born, they have people coming into your room literally every 5 minutes to do something - tests, pictures, birth certificate, and the one that really got me - survey for the food service. It was really overwhelming more me and Dylan - he didn't sleep well that night.
There were a lot of good things about the hospital stay. The food was good and you could order what you wanted and as much of it as you wanted. Also, the breastfeeding class and counsultants were very helpful. And most of the nurses were really nice. And I can't forget that I had a private room and bathroom.
I'm really glad the way things went with Dylan's birth. I'm glad they broke my water. That made things go so much quicker. I'm glad I was able to walk around since I had all that back labor. I liked the way the doctor and nurse helped me and delivered Dylan. And I didn't even have a birth plan!
I thought I would enjoy the hospital stay more than I did. I thought, man, why would I want to go home when I have someone doing everything for me and all these resources to help right there. Well, and maybe this was just because we were rooming in and Martin stayed both nights, but the nurses pretty much left us to fend for ourselves. I thought someone was going to come in and make sure I was feeding Dylan every so many hours. Nope. I thought they'd be doing some of the diaper changing. Nope. But they made us record any time I fed or changed Dylan so that they were keeping some track. I thought they would help hand me the baby so I wouldn't have to get out of bed. Nope. And I had to press the call button like a mad woman the one time I really needed them to help me go to the bathroom (they wanted to be present the first two times I went to the bathroom after delivering). Maybe all this was a good thing, it just wasn't what I expected.
Two other things that bugged me - when we got to the post partum room where I would be staying, the nurse gave me all these instructions for caring for myself and Dylan in a two minute speech where she was talking as fast as the wind. I don't know how I absorbed anything. The same thing happened at our "discharge class." This woman talked sooo fast and gave us so much information at once, I don't know how we were supposed to get anything out of it. The other thing that bugged me was the day after Dylan was born, they have people coming into your room literally every 5 minutes to do something - tests, pictures, birth certificate, and the one that really got me - survey for the food service. It was really overwhelming more me and Dylan - he didn't sleep well that night.
There were a lot of good things about the hospital stay. The food was good and you could order what you wanted and as much of it as you wanted. Also, the breastfeeding class and counsultants were very helpful. And most of the nurses were really nice. And I can't forget that I had a private room and bathroom.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Final Pregnancy Update and Birth Story
Felt like I needed to tie up a few loose ends from my last update. A lot of this shows how perfect God's timing is. So here goes:
* The guy did come and finish our bathroom. He finished the job the Friday before Dylan was born and we got the bathroom back to working order shortly thereafter.
* I was able to get the massage two days before Dylan was born. Some say it might have helped to induce labor. Or it could have been the Jambalaya I ate for lunch right before the contractions started.
* Also, two days before Dylan was born, Martin and I went on the PALS field trip. It was great, especially for Martin. The boy that Martin tutored last year was there and he was so excited to see Mr. Martin. He was his buddy the whole trip. We did quite a bit of walking that day. I was slow going but I made it. Maybe I wouldn't have went if I knew I was going to give birth in two days. Or maybe that was another thing that helped induce labor.
* I finished up the thank you notes from my shower when I (as I later realized) was in labor on Sunday.
* The few things left on my to do list (finish organizing boxes of stuff I haven't touched since we moved, order more diapers, learn to use my breast pump, finish reading some books) were able to wait until later. I have made progress on them but things are a lot more slower going now that Dylan is here. I had most of the things packed but I did still have to pack some things as we were heading to the hospital. But I a bad packer. The things I ended up needing (like shampoo and conditioner) I forgot but then brought a whole bunch of things I didn't end up using or needing (extra clothes, CD player).
* I'm so glad I planned on not going back into the office after the 27th. I was able to tie up most loose ends and the things I didn't were able to wait. It was hard trying to finish up as much as possible but still leave stuff to do if I didn't have the baby for a while. I'm glad I didn't have to telework for two weeks. I still had to do all the paperwork for teleworking since I will be teleworking some when I go back so that was not lost.
* Scroll down to read my birth story (it's out of order since I started it on an earlier date). Martin actually wrote it for me after hearing me tell the story a few times. (Martin and I share the job of historian in our family - he journals about significant events (our engagement, vacations, etc.) and I organize the pictures. So Martin had already started the log of Dylan's birth and just wrote it as if he were me for the blog.) I fully endorse all he wrote as accurate...:)
* The guy did come and finish our bathroom. He finished the job the Friday before Dylan was born and we got the bathroom back to working order shortly thereafter.
* I was able to get the massage two days before Dylan was born. Some say it might have helped to induce labor. Or it could have been the Jambalaya I ate for lunch right before the contractions started.
* Also, two days before Dylan was born, Martin and I went on the PALS field trip. It was great, especially for Martin. The boy that Martin tutored last year was there and he was so excited to see Mr. Martin. He was his buddy the whole trip. We did quite a bit of walking that day. I was slow going but I made it. Maybe I wouldn't have went if I knew I was going to give birth in two days. Or maybe that was another thing that helped induce labor.
* I finished up the thank you notes from my shower when I (as I later realized) was in labor on Sunday.
* The few things left on my to do list (finish organizing boxes of stuff I haven't touched since we moved, order more diapers, learn to use my breast pump, finish reading some books) were able to wait until later. I have made progress on them but things are a lot more slower going now that Dylan is here. I had most of the things packed but I did still have to pack some things as we were heading to the hospital. But I a bad packer. The things I ended up needing (like shampoo and conditioner) I forgot but then brought a whole bunch of things I didn't end up using or needing (extra clothes, CD player).
* I'm so glad I planned on not going back into the office after the 27th. I was able to tie up most loose ends and the things I didn't were able to wait. It was hard trying to finish up as much as possible but still leave stuff to do if I didn't have the baby for a while. I'm glad I didn't have to telework for two weeks. I still had to do all the paperwork for teleworking since I will be teleworking some when I go back so that was not lost.
* Scroll down to read my birth story (it's out of order since I started it on an earlier date). Martin actually wrote it for me after hearing me tell the story a few times. (Martin and I share the job of historian in our family - he journals about significant events (our engagement, vacations, etc.) and I organize the pictures. So Martin had already started the log of Dylan's birth and just wrote it as if he were me for the blog.) I fully endorse all he wrote as accurate...:)
The Sixth of November
For those of you new to my blog, I started the blog a year ago (Happy Birthday blog) around the time of Martin's and my first anniversary; hence, the name - the sixth of november. Last year this time, I was reflecting on a year of marriage and thinking about what was next for my career and family goals. Usually folks will give you a year of being married before they start asking about kids. But after that most bets are off so I was starting to prepare for the questions. Little did I know or foresee that within a year's time our first child would be born.
As I mentioned in earlier posts, Martin and I tried to do some anniverary celebrating before Dylan arrived. We had our baby moon which was like an anniversary get-away and we went out to dinner for our dating anniversary in case we couldn't go out to dinner on our anniversary - which ended up being the case. This year on the sixth of november we got to spend just about the whole day together which was cool, since Martin was still on leave from work. I went to a breastfeeding support group in the morning for an hour or two which allowed Martin some time to seek out and get me roses (his tradition for special occasions). I was so thrilled by the flowers. We didn't go out to eat but we had a friend bring over a meal and we ate it by candlelight - see picture. (No picture of us since we really didn't look good enough for a picture.) We also had the sparkling cider that we had planned to drink on two previous occasions but forgot. So it was a special day even though we stayed in.
As I mentioned in earlier posts, Martin and I tried to do some anniverary celebrating before Dylan arrived. We had our baby moon which was like an anniversary get-away and we went out to dinner for our dating anniversary in case we couldn't go out to dinner on our anniversary - which ended up being the case. This year on the sixth of november we got to spend just about the whole day together which was cool, since Martin was still on leave from work. I went to a breastfeeding support group in the morning for an hour or two which allowed Martin some time to seek out and get me roses (his tradition for special occasions). I was so thrilled by the flowers. We didn't go out to eat but we had a friend bring over a meal and we ate it by candlelight - see picture. (No picture of us since we really didn't look good enough for a picture.) We also had the sparkling cider that we had planned to drink on two previous occasions but forgot. So it was a special day even though we stayed in.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Poll: So who does he look like?
Here are some more pictures of Dylan. Maybe you all can help us figure out if he looks like either me or Martin. I don't know how to do polls so leave your vote in the comments. Thanks!
Friday, November 03, 2006
My Birth Experience
Our son, Dylan Graham, was born at 3:45 PM on a beautiful fall Monday. While this seems so matter of fact, the events leading up to it were full of pain, tears, joy, apprehension, and excitement.
After church we hosted our friends Bill and Jill for lunch and fellowship. Since they had recently moved back to the area, it was a good time to catch up. During lunch, I begun to feel small contractions. Small contractions a few weeks before delivery is normal, so I paid little attention to them. However they continued into the night. We went to bed at 9:30 since the contractions seemed to lessen then. Since the due date was still 11 days off and I had no previous signs of a nearing labor, I assumed they would go away.
But the contractions resumed with varying intensity at a continued through the night. With little hope of sleep, I took a bath and tried to read. Finally around 6:30 the next morning with the contractions not ceasing, I decided to call the doctor. The doctor said to go to the hospital and get checked out. If the progress was not much, the hospital would send me home.
We quickly assembled the remaining items to be packed and ate breakfast (see picture of me eating Wheaties). The toilet overflowed right before we left and Martin had to quickly clean it up. We made the trip to the hospital expecting to be sent home in the rush hour traffic.
After a few unnecessary laps around the hospital (we missed Registration on the way to Labor & Delivery) the triage nurse removed the idea of heading home. I was already 3 cm dilated and fully effaced.
Soon thereafter (around 9am) we found ourselves in Labor & Delivery Rm 13. Fearing this was some sort of omen, my pain continued, mostly in my back. Fetal monitors were attached and the back pain was excaberated by having to lay in bed. Dr. Anderson came in around 10am and suggested breaking the water to speed things along. I decided that the time wasn't right and decided to evaluate later. Plus, I really didn't believe it would work. I just thought it would make my labor more difficult and not any shorter.
I had gone in with hopes of not having an epidural unless I really couldn't deal with the pain. Fortunately, this allowed me freedom to move around since the monitors were only necessary 15 minutes out of every hour. Martin helped me walk around the ward. The best position during the contractions was to lean on something (almost anything and everything was used), sway back and forth, and have Martin massage my lower back.
Contractions seemed to come in groups. This, along with the back labor, was indicative that the baby was facing forward instead of backward. After little progress I decided to have my water broken around 2:00pm. Shortly after, the contractions became more frequent (the end of one and beginning of another were indistinguishable at time) and at a higher intensity. (My contractions never were regular during the whole labor. So the whole wait to go to the hospital until your contractions are 5 minutes apart and last for a minute and continue for an hour would not have worked for me.)
The nurse kept me the monitors on longer and the pain became more and more unbearable. Finally around 3:00pm I decided to have the epidural. As the anestioligist was prepping, I began to feel the urge to push. When I announced this, he quickly backed away and got the nurse. The baby was coming and there was little time for an epidural.
The moment became incredibly emotional and passed so fast. A flood of people were in the room performing some function unbeknowst to Martin or myself. I bore down three times on each contraction. Martin and the nurse each held up a leg as I pushed. This was something I didn't feel prepared for. I didn't know that you weren't supposed to breath out during the pushing (unlike how you do when exercising). It's more forceful if you hold your breath. Then the labor nurse asked me if I learned in my childbirth class to count during the pushing or just push as I felt led. If we went over that i didn't remember. I found counting to ten helped me to push longer so I went with that. The doctor and labor nurse said I was a good pusher and they were impressed with how much he moved during the pushing. It didn't seem to me that he was moving. Dylan was low to begin with so it was more him (and all the prayers for a quick delivery) and not so much me (despite the Wheaties I ate that morning) that got him out so fast. After pushing for three contractions, the doctor rushed to put on another gown and there was a lot of preparations that now as I look back on it, meant that he was coming real soon. After the fourth contraction, Dylan came out the right way (with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck though he never showed any signs of distress). I couldn't believe it had happened so quickly after I said I was ready to push. I remember knowing that his head was out and thinking the worst was over. After that, Dylan was quickly delivered onto my stomach and Martin cut the cord. The time was 3:45pm.
Dylan was given a number of tests (he got 8 & 9 on his Apgars), weighed (6lbs 8oz) and measured (19.5" long, 12 3/4" head, 12 3/4" chest). He warmed under the incubator and given Vitamin K ointment. After a while we were left alone to enjoy our first few moments together. He was so beautiful and so fragile. Until now, he had been abstract, not something we had seen. We've known that we loved him even before we saw him. But know we can see him and touch him. He is so precious to us.
After church we hosted our friends Bill and Jill for lunch and fellowship. Since they had recently moved back to the area, it was a good time to catch up. During lunch, I begun to feel small contractions. Small contractions a few weeks before delivery is normal, so I paid little attention to them. However they continued into the night. We went to bed at 9:30 since the contractions seemed to lessen then. Since the due date was still 11 days off and I had no previous signs of a nearing labor, I assumed they would go away.
But the contractions resumed with varying intensity at a continued through the night. With little hope of sleep, I took a bath and tried to read. Finally around 6:30 the next morning with the contractions not ceasing, I decided to call the doctor. The doctor said to go to the hospital and get checked out. If the progress was not much, the hospital would send me home.
We quickly assembled the remaining items to be packed and ate breakfast (see picture of me eating Wheaties). The toilet overflowed right before we left and Martin had to quickly clean it up. We made the trip to the hospital expecting to be sent home in the rush hour traffic.
After a few unnecessary laps around the hospital (we missed Registration on the way to Labor & Delivery) the triage nurse removed the idea of heading home. I was already 3 cm dilated and fully effaced.
Soon thereafter (around 9am) we found ourselves in Labor & Delivery Rm 13. Fearing this was some sort of omen, my pain continued, mostly in my back. Fetal monitors were attached and the back pain was excaberated by having to lay in bed. Dr. Anderson came in around 10am and suggested breaking the water to speed things along. I decided that the time wasn't right and decided to evaluate later. Plus, I really didn't believe it would work. I just thought it would make my labor more difficult and not any shorter.
I had gone in with hopes of not having an epidural unless I really couldn't deal with the pain. Fortunately, this allowed me freedom to move around since the monitors were only necessary 15 minutes out of every hour. Martin helped me walk around the ward. The best position during the contractions was to lean on something (almost anything and everything was used), sway back and forth, and have Martin massage my lower back.
Contractions seemed to come in groups. This, along with the back labor, was indicative that the baby was facing forward instead of backward. After little progress I decided to have my water broken around 2:00pm. Shortly after, the contractions became more frequent (the end of one and beginning of another were indistinguishable at time) and at a higher intensity. (My contractions never were regular during the whole labor. So the whole wait to go to the hospital until your contractions are 5 minutes apart and last for a minute and continue for an hour would not have worked for me.)
The nurse kept me the monitors on longer and the pain became more and more unbearable. Finally around 3:00pm I decided to have the epidural. As the anestioligist was prepping, I began to feel the urge to push. When I announced this, he quickly backed away and got the nurse. The baby was coming and there was little time for an epidural.
The moment became incredibly emotional and passed so fast. A flood of people were in the room performing some function unbeknowst to Martin or myself. I bore down three times on each contraction. Martin and the nurse each held up a leg as I pushed. This was something I didn't feel prepared for. I didn't know that you weren't supposed to breath out during the pushing (unlike how you do when exercising). It's more forceful if you hold your breath. Then the labor nurse asked me if I learned in my childbirth class to count during the pushing or just push as I felt led. If we went over that i didn't remember. I found counting to ten helped me to push longer so I went with that. The doctor and labor nurse said I was a good pusher and they were impressed with how much he moved during the pushing. It didn't seem to me that he was moving. Dylan was low to begin with so it was more him (and all the prayers for a quick delivery) and not so much me (despite the Wheaties I ate that morning) that got him out so fast. After pushing for three contractions, the doctor rushed to put on another gown and there was a lot of preparations that now as I look back on it, meant that he was coming real soon. After the fourth contraction, Dylan came out the right way (with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck though he never showed any signs of distress). I couldn't believe it had happened so quickly after I said I was ready to push. I remember knowing that his head was out and thinking the worst was over. After that, Dylan was quickly delivered onto my stomach and Martin cut the cord. The time was 3:45pm.
Dylan was given a number of tests (he got 8 & 9 on his Apgars), weighed (6lbs 8oz) and measured (19.5" long, 12 3/4" head, 12 3/4" chest). He warmed under the incubator and given Vitamin K ointment. After a while we were left alone to enjoy our first few moments together. He was so beautiful and so fragile. Until now, he had been abstract, not something we had seen. We've known that we loved him even before we saw him. But know we can see him and touch him. He is so precious to us.
Sweet October
"The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17
As most of you know from Martin's email, our son came into the world a little earlier than expected. Dylan Graham was born on October 30th at 3:45 PM. He weighed 6 lbs 8 oz and is 19.5 inches long.
The passage above was the sermon text at our church on Sunday a few hours before I began to have contractions. This had already been a very special passage to me when thinking about Dylan coming into the world and how the Lord delights over him. One Sunday a few weeks ago we were sing the praise song that uses this passage for lyrics While singing I glanced down at my belly and started weeping for joy. It was a very appropriate that we heard a sermon on this text the day before Dylan was born. The words are also very true for Dylan and comforting for his parents - the Lord truly does rejoice and delights in him.
Thank you all for rejoicing in the blessing that Dylan is to us. We thought it would be a Sweet November, but October turned out to be pretty sweet as well.
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