Great-grandma gets a thumbs up.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Monday, December 04, 2006
Dylan and Jack
Jack's parents (Laura and John) are good friends of ours. They are in our home fellowship group. Jack was born on November 19th - 20 days after Dylan. The boys met for the first time at church on November 26th. Here they are in their matching carriers. We took the picture on the left first and then realized they were facing away from each other and so we moved the carriers so they'd be looking at each other. :)
Thanksgiving
My parents and brother were here for Thanksgiving. Martin and I made the turkey and baked corn and my mom made all the sides and desserts. It was a great feast. And Dylan even let us all eat together.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Future updates
I don't think that I will be doing a weekly update anymore but I will periodically fill you in on what we've been up to here at home and on reports from the doctor. Mostly these will focus on eating, output, and sleeping. Here's how the eating has been going....
We took Dylan to the pediatrician the day after we got home from the hospital. He weighed 5 lbs 15 oz. then. The doctor said everything looked great. He had a little bit of jaundice but it was very low risk. On Tuesday we went back for his 2 week appointment. He weighed 6 lbs. 5.5 oz. The doctor didn't want to say "see you in two months" until his had gained his birth weight back so he asked us to come in in a week to see how much Dylan weighed. He suggested suplementing (could be breast milk) 1 oz. every other feeding. I was a little reluctant to give him a bottle at this point (I did end up trying a saringe but it didn't really work) so after much discussion with other moms and Martin I just ended up feeding him every chance I could. He didn't have any signs of dehydration and his output was good so I just couldn't see supplementing just because he wasn't up to his birth weight in two weeks (an arbitrary number if you ask me). Well, it worked. The next week he was up to 7lbs 2.5 oz. Since then he's gained another half pound (as of Monday the 27th). So he's doing great. I've been going to a breastfeeding support group every Monday so I'll try to update you on Dylan's weight every Monday. (My weight, for those of you who care, is only 7 lbs more than my pre-pregnancy weight!!! My clothes don't really fit though since the shape of my belly is different.)
We took Dylan to the pediatrician the day after we got home from the hospital. He weighed 5 lbs 15 oz. then. The doctor said everything looked great. He had a little bit of jaundice but it was very low risk. On Tuesday we went back for his 2 week appointment. He weighed 6 lbs. 5.5 oz. The doctor didn't want to say "see you in two months" until his had gained his birth weight back so he asked us to come in in a week to see how much Dylan weighed. He suggested suplementing (could be breast milk) 1 oz. every other feeding. I was a little reluctant to give him a bottle at this point (I did end up trying a saringe but it didn't really work) so after much discussion with other moms and Martin I just ended up feeding him every chance I could. He didn't have any signs of dehydration and his output was good so I just couldn't see supplementing just because he wasn't up to his birth weight in two weeks (an arbitrary number if you ask me). Well, it worked. The next week he was up to 7lbs 2.5 oz. Since then he's gained another half pound (as of Monday the 27th). So he's doing great. I've been going to a breastfeeding support group every Monday so I'll try to update you on Dylan's weight every Monday. (My weight, for those of you who care, is only 7 lbs more than my pre-pregnancy weight!!! My clothes don't really fit though since the shape of my belly is different.)
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...:)
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