2 Mommies and a Baby

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Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Andrew's girlfriend


emmaan~1
Originally uploaded by hollykr1976.
Lois’ pregnancy buddy had a baby girl yesterday!!

After 36+ hours of labor, Emma Leona was born at 4:24 pm on Monday, February 26, 2007 at 7 lbs 14 oz and 21 inches long.

Congratulations to the new Mommy and Daddy!

As for Andrew, he is very excited about his girlfriend.

There is already talk that this could be the first picture in their wedding album some day!
posted by Holly at 5:33 PM 5 comments

Monday, February 26, 2007

shower help

Ok blog friends, we need some help from the gifted and creative out there!

We never had our baby shower, but have decided (due to some urging by friends) that we need to do SOMETHING and will have a meet and greet style baby shower at the end of March so everyone can meet little Andrew.

It will be not overly formal, but friends of ours really want to do it for us and are being pains about not letting us pay for any invitations and decorations. It’s annoying.

We are doing a book wishing well by putting little cards in the invitations with this poem:

I want to be a bright child
As smart as I can be.
That is why I’m hoping
My mommies will read to me.
If you plan to bring a card
Please take another look,
I would like to learn my ABC’s
From your favorite storybook.
Please sign your name
As your personal touch.
Baby Andrew thanks you
Beary, beary much.



I am also putting on the invitations that we are registered at Babies R Us and www.cordblood.com, but, I don’t want people to feel overly obligated to bring gifts.

Here’s the deal:

Since Lois was on bed rest, we cancelled our baby shower in December. We were going to have 2 showers, but never got to scheduling the 2nd one. Now, we are doing our own thing, Lois’ mother will have a pool party for their family when summer gets here.

Some people have sent us things off our registry or outfits and some have brought gifts or other stuff when they’ve visited Andrew in the past 2 weeks.

Plus, since Kaden is now 10 months old, we are getting essentially ALL of his hand-me-downs and we are in pretty good shape for clothes.

I know people will not show up empty handed and I hate being presumptuous by even putting where we are registered on the invites – but I know we have to.

Is there some cute way of letting people know that...
1. we really don’t need more clothes ?
2. don’t bring something if you have already given us a present ?
3. is it really tacky to tell people where we would like gift cards if they really felt obligated to give us something (like amazon.com, Target, etc.) ?

Any ideas out there?
posted by Holly at 12:10 PM 5 comments

Sunday, February 25, 2007

the first real bath

We had our first bath today!

Don’t worry, we have given him some sponge baths, but his cord only fell off last Monday and Lois wanted us to both be around to do the bath together.

Plus, we had to buy a space heater so the bathroom was about 100 degrees so our little guy didn’t freeze.

Not that it mattered, he wasn’t the happiest of campers anyway.

Beware, there are some naked baby pictures below – he will hate me for showing this to the world someday.


First bath 2-25 pic 1
Originally uploaded by hollykr1976.
Ahhhh, warm bath water!



fist bath screaming
Originally uploaded by hollykr1976.
I am not having fun at all! Why are my mommies laughing!!?!?!?



first bath 2-25 pic 2
Originally uploaded by hollykr1976.
Are we done yet?



first bath 2-25 pic3
Originally uploaded by hollykr1976.
Phew, that was exhausting.



fist bath 2-25 finally
Originally uploaded by hollykr1976.
Here’s Andrew recovering from the traumatic bath experience that his horrible mommies put him through.
posted by Holly at 7:07 PM 10 comments

Thursday, February 22, 2007

pretty good kid

So, things are going pretty well. I've been back at work and crazy busy, so my extra time is a little limited.

We're trying to figure everything out with our little guy.

He's pretty good at letting us know when he's hungry - the sucking on the fist is a big clue.

He screams bloody murder when we are changing his diaper and a few times for no reason at all. It's tough when we live in a condo with thin walls and don't want our neighbors to think we're beating him.

The sleep thing is going fairly well so far. He's good for 4-5 hours at a shot, it's finding the secret that puts him to sleep that eludes us now and again.

I like the book The Happiest Baby on the Block. A friend at work also gave me the Baby Whisperer today, but who's got time to read??!?!?

Right now, we're trying the Pachelbel Canon in D as a possible fall asleep song.

I'm sure it will put me to sleep first.
posted by Holly at 9:59 PM 6 comments

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Babies! Babies!

She's here!
The TADPOLE is here.

Congrats to the Frog and the Frog Princess!
posted by Holly at 10:04 PM 1 comments

Monday, February 19, 2007

Week 2

We’ve been busy!!!

Sorry for not posting sooner. And I am going to be lazy again and just put the slideshow at the bottom of the post.

We’ve had a bunch of visitors in the past week and a half. And we’ve now been on a bunch of outings!

Lois took Baby Drew to the grocery store on Thursday.

On Friday, we took him to my former place of employment. After an hour car ride each way and about 2 hours of being the center of attention, he was exhausted.

On Saturday, Baby Drew (or Baby Andy as cousin Elliott calls him) got to meet his cousins Elliott and Ben and Uncle Chad and Aunt Nicole.

On Sunday, we went to Suz’ and Kaden’s and saw the Fedigans, and a bunch of people and kids, and hung out with Harold and Kaden. It was so much fun!!!

His jaundice is almost completely gone and he’s still eating and gaining like a champ.

More to come later…



posted by Holly at 7:05 PM 9 comments

Thursday, February 15, 2007

more pics

Baby Drew is doing wonderfully! Thank you everyone for your well wishes and thoughts!!!

He had some jaundice, but the levels are low enough that photo therapy is not required. In some pictures, you can tell how yellow he is.

He's also a big eater. Some babies are picky about binkies, nipples and bottles. Andrew is content with anything. Lois feels like she spends all day either feeding him or pumping. And she finds both quite boring.

Due to his insatiable appetite, the little monster is almost back to his birth weight (which should take 2-4 weeks). He weighed just over 7 lbs at birth on Thursday. On Saturday, was discharged from the hospital at 6 lbs, 5 ounces. Sunday, at the pediatrician, he was 6 lbs, 9 ounces. By Tuesday, the pediatrician weighed him at 6 lbs, 14 ounces. What a little porker!

We think he is the most beautiful baby ever - I think he looks a lot like Lois.

We are having a ball. We had a small breakdown at the hospital where family and hormones came crashing together. Lois' mother showed her true colors and needless to say, after crying for a few days, we settled on using Lois' last name for little Andrew, even though we had all along planned on using mine. We are getting over it and at least we can change it in the future when we are ready to deal with the b.s. We are not going to let any of that take away from the joys of our little boy! As for me, I have not been in a room with my MIL since then and it will just take a little time.

As requested, here are some more pictures of the little guy! No clothes fit him! We discovered that some brands make a Newborn size which is 5-8 lbs instead of the 0-3 months which is usually 8-12 lbs. It doesn't matter, he's swimming in the newborn clothes. The way he's eating, though, he'll be in 0-3 months in less than a week.

posted by Holly at 8:29 AM 15 comments

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

She's Here!!!

Riley Elizabeth has arrived!!!

Andrew's bio half sister is here!

Congrats Stacey and Angele!!!
posted by Holly at 2:30 PM 3 comments

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
posted by Holly at 2:29 PM 12 comments

Monday, February 12, 2007

Our birth story

Sorry, but it's a little lengthy!

Many of our friends and family members have told us about how long you have when the labor starts. It’s not like in the movies when your water breaks and you rush to the hospital, taking corners on 2 wheels.

Many women have time, packing bags and watching TV while timing contractions for hours before leaving for the hospital.

Our story seemed a little more like one of those movie scenes.

I guess I had about 8-10 signals at work on Wednesday that he was coming.

Two lawyers I work with made comments about how busy we were and how the baby has to wait a little while to come. Lois’ mother had a dream about her dead father and commented about the meaning of an impending birth.

For 10 weeks, I left work every night with my laptop and everything I would need for a few days, left my To Do list with the status of every file on my desk for my secretary and all of the files put neatly away.

Wednesday night, I was late for dinner with Salina and Ben so, for the first time in 10 weeks, I left completely disorganized. On my walk to the car, another lawyer and I were talking about how I felt bad leaving the office not prepared for the first time and how that probably meant that he would come that night. She laughed and said she was one week early, and like us, had no signs that he was ready to come. Her water just broke and her son was born shortly after.

It was a little prophetic.

When I got in the car at 6 pm, I called Lois, apologizing profusely for running late.

“Hey, it’s probably no big deal,” she said, “but I think I leaked a little fluid today.”

“You think? When? How much?” I asked all of a sudden feeling like this was going to be the night.

“Not much. It might just be urine, I did drink a lot of water.”

“Call the doctor.”

“I don’t want to be an alarmist. It’s probably nothing.”

“Call the doctor, let her tell you if you are being an alarmist.”

“I’ll just wait for you to get home.”

When I got home, Lois announced that we were making it to dinner, she wanted a burger.

We called the doctor from the car and told the answering service that Lois was leaking some fluid. That was at 6:50 pm.

At 7:00 pm, we got out of the car at the Sycamore and I walked around the car to the passenger side to meet Lois as Salina and Ben walked up. Lois was standing outside the car leaning over and holding onto the car door handle.

As I got close, she said to Salina “you know what we were so afraid of happening??? Well, it’s happening!!!”

She turned to me and said “I’m wet down to my ankles!”

We jumped in the car, but not before we told Salina and Ben to order us two onion burgers and some onions rings and meet us at our house.

Yes, even after Lois’ water broke, I guess we thought we still had all of the time in the world.

We headed home because Lois “absolutely had to put something dry on.”

As we got home, she changed and she started using my golf towels as pads.

It was 7:15 pm.

We called the doctor again and told the answering service that Lois’ water broke.

At 7:30, Salina and Ben arrived and we inhaled our burgers, fries and onion rings (not the meal that the midwife had in mind when she suggested Lois eat something before leaving to the hospital).

All of a sudden, Lois’ face changed. The contractions had started.

They were 35 seconds long and less than 4 minutes apart.

We jumped up and got Lois into the car. I put towels all over the front seat of the Lexus and Salina jumped in the back seat.

We called the doctor from the car and said we were on our way to the hospital.

As I decided I had the best excuse ever if I got pulled over, I flew down the highway at 85 mph with Ben having a ball keeping up with me, as Salina timed the contractions from the back seat.

They were about 2.5 minutes apart and 45 seconds each.

We got to the hospital after 8 pm and were in the delivery room by 8:30 (I think).

The nurses didn’t seem to think anything would happen soon and I made some phone calls.

Lois’ labor was all back labor. I felt so bad. Every time she had a contraction, she would roll to her side and I would push into her back. The midwife from our office was teaching a birthing class in the hospital, so she came up and calmed Lois down a little.

The doctor came in around 9:30??? – my time frame is so screwed up.

She couldn’t tell how dilated Lois was due to the scar tissue.

Somewhere around 10 pm, she went in with some long instrument and broke through the scar tissue, breaking what was left of the water.

Shortly thereafter, she announced that Lois was 5 cm dilated.

The contractions and back labor continued. The nurses were so fabulous, one of them actually went to high school with Lois and she came in to help.

During all of this, as we entered the hospital and announced to every doctor, nurse and security guard we met along the way, that Lois wanted drugs, whatever drugs she could have.

Apparently the anesthesiologist was in an appendectomy. Since Lois usually gets through pain by blurting out humorous things, she yelled things like “where the hell is that epidural? Did anyone miss that I wanted an epidural? An appendectomy???? That’s not major surgery! I need the epidural!”

She never got the epidural.

A little before 11 pm, we convinced Lois to get up to use the bathroom and try out their spa shower. She leaned against the wall as she was contracting and the hot jets hit her back.

The contractions were getting harder and quicker. When she was on the machine, they were going up to the high 80s (whatever that means).

The doctor poked her head in the shower and asked Lois if she felt like she could push.

“YES!” was the quick response.

As she continued her diatribe about how where the hell was the anesthesiologist behind the big steel spa shower door, I looked at the doctor and asked “she’s not getting the epidural, is she?”

She shook her head.

“You tell her!” I told her.

She got out of the shower and she was 10 cm. It was just about 11 pm.

At 11:15 pm, she started pushing!

She did wonderful. There was a lot of yelling and F-bombs, but she did so great.

At 12:07 am, Andrew arrived into the world.

It was the most amazing moment of my entire life!!!

I watched him come out and got to cut the cord. I held him for a long time while Lois was getting stitched up.

He is amazing. In every way.

Lois is amazing for bringing him into the world!
posted by Holly at 8:58 PM 20 comments

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Love is....

Andrew Michael

posted by Holly at 3:39 PM 33 comments

We had burgers....to go.

Lois and Holly are the proud new parents of a baby boy!

Andrew (middle name undecided)

Born: February 8th 2007 at 12:07AM
7lb. 1/2 oz. 19 1/4 inches!!


Both Mommies are doing great, and Andrew is beautiful and resting comfortably... although he is the loudest kid in the nursery....


PS. Lois's water broke as we were ready to walk in and have a burger, we left but our friends Salina and Ben brought us burgers to go!!

birth story to follow, when Holly finds time, don't hold your breath!

Posted by guest,
Suzanne and Kaden
posted by Holly at 10:15 AM 27 comments

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

another wednesday


sycamore
Originally uploaded by hollykr1976.
For the past few weeks (since Lois was off bed rest), we have met Salina and Ben for dinner on Wednesday night.

Each time we leave, we make plans for the following Wednesday.

Between Lois (who thinks she will deliver any minute) and Salina (who probably will deliver any minute), we joke that we will inevitably not make it to the following Wednesday dinner and will most likely one couple will be visiting the other in the hospital.

We've made it, yet again, to another Wednesday.

Today, we are 39 weeks (how crazy is that?) and Salina will be 38 weeks on Friday. I don't think anyone would have thought that we would be going out to dinner, child free, at this point.

So, why not go big and greasy!!!

The Sycamore is probably the best burgers in the area. Tied for a close second are Red Rooster and Super Duper Weenie.

If we make it to next Wednesday, Valentine's Day and our due date, we will probably do dinner closer to Salina and Ben's house so at least we will only be 5 minutes from the hospital!
posted by Holly at 10:50 AM 3 comments

Lily is here!

Congrats to B. and Red - Lily is here!!!

And she's beautiful!!
posted by Holly at 9:16 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

working hard

It doesn't seem like Andrew is in any rush to come into the world.

However, Lois is taking the midwife's advice to get things going to heart. I guess that since our little boy is sunny side up, the midwife in our office suggested working with a therapy ball (again, which we don't have because Lois got rid of it) and that she should clean the floor on her hands and knees.

Lois is so determined to do her nesting while trying to get something moving, she's been very active around the house.

Before I go any further, I can say this with all of the love in the world.

Lois is incredibly stubborn and doesn't always listen to restrictions on what she can do - albeit she did do very well on bed rest.

Today, she moved the 2 couches to clean underneath them and...and....she also went up the pull down stairs to get into the attic.

Let me say that again.

She went up the pull down stairs into the attic.

Stubborn ass is lucky she didn't get hurt.

(She went up there because she picked up Kaden from day care and forgot to grab his diaper bags. He had a stinky dinky and all of the non-newborn diapers are in the attic).
posted by Holly at 8:46 PM 2 comments

Monday, February 05, 2007

small hospitals and stuff


swing
Originally uploaded by hollykr1976.
Andrew has his swing!!

Lois' aunt came by yesterday morning and brought the swing and the baby monitors. We don't get to see them as often as we'd like, so it was a great, albeit short, visit.

We put it together right away and Lois was excited about something we've gotten for really the first time. This was the only thing on the registry that she picked out. (Not because I am a controlling bitch, but because she was completely indifferent to anything).

- - -

We made it through the Super Bowl without having a baby.

I don't think I would have cared too much if I was torn away from the TV. Other than the very first play of the game, it was very lackluster.

I still enjoy a good football game, even if my team isn't in it, but for some reason, neither the game nor the commercials were all that terribly exciting.

I guess, Congrats to Peyton and the Colts. I rooted for the Bears only because every single sports commentator, journalist, and office pool had the Colts taking it with a good sized spread.

- - -

We tried to get into the hospital yesterday before the game to do a quick tour of labor and delivery.

Our OB said to call around 3 pm after the shift change and if it's not busy, they'll show us around.

Lois called and they said they were too busy to do a hospital tour.

"There's a woman laboring right now," the nurse told her.

Lo hung up the phone and looked at me deadpan.

"They are way too busy for us to have a tour, there is ONE woman laboring right now."

We know it's a small hospital, and we don't really need a tour, I'm sure we'll find where we need to go.

But I am a little concerned that the staff is only able to handle one laboring patient and nothing else at all.

We haven't had Bradley or childbirth classes, no hospital tour...we're so unprepared for that part. Well I'm sure we'd forget anything we learned anyway.
posted by Holly at 9:37 AM 10 comments

Saturday, February 03, 2007

90% effaced

We had an appointment yesterday and the midwife said that Lois is 90% effaced.

This might mean something to other 38 week pregnant women, but to be honest, Lois might have been 90% effaced for the past 11 weeks.

She's not dialated and the midwife couldn't do the scraping to get things started because of the scar tissue (from the LEEP procedures 12 years ago).

The cervix appears to be stuck together. They might actually have to pry it open prior to delivery.

Isn't that a twist from the "OH MY GOD, YOUR CERVIX WILL FAIL AND HE WILL FALL OUT" scare of the past 2.5 months!?!?!?

It also appears that despite all of his movement, he is still sunny side up. She suggested some thera-ball exercises. I used to have a great thera-ball but someone made me get rid of it when we moved. Hmmm. figures.
posted by Holly at 9:35 AM 6 comments

Friday, February 02, 2007

groundhog's day

First of all, for those of you who may know very little about Molly Ivins, please read this.

She was a truly amazing woman. I hope that people continue reading her work and that many torches will be picked up in her honor. And it doesn’t matter what your political beliefs are, everyone can learn something from this woman’s life!

- - -

Secondly, I realize that today is Groundhog’s Day (my father’s birthday and apparently, Mrs. Fedigan’s favorite holiday), but I am not as ecstatic about Punxsutawney Phil not seeing his shadow this morning.

We’ll have an early Spring. Whoop de freakin’ doo.

We haven’t had a winter for crying out loud!

I woke up this morning ready to go out and clear off my car from the remnants of the Nor-Easter that they had warned us about earlier in the week. I peeked outside, wiped my eyes in disbelief, then peeked outside again.

Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

I live in Connecticut. I am a downhill skier. I like snow.

Okay, so I like snow a little more when (a) I am skiing in it or (b) when I am watching it fall from my living room window on a Sunday morning when I have no where to go, but don’t like it as much when I am trying to get my little self home from work safe and sound in my little Hyundai (which is pretty much like driving a giant sled with airbags.)

I do enjoy driving in the snow sometimes, because I think I am very good at it. We will usually be 2 of 10 people at the mall during a snow storm because we get cabin fever and like being adventurous.

However, I digress.

This winter has downright sucked. We are in New England, I live here because I like the 4 seasons.

We have had 2 or 3 dustings this winter. A dusting consists of a light white look to the grass and no need to wipe off your car. (10 minutes of defrost is plenty).

I know my local friends will be mad at me for wanting snow. I’m sure that anyone who lives in Denver is thinking, “Screw you!” And I know that fate will probably come back and bite me in the ass – such as Lois going into labor during a 2 foot pummeling of snow, but BRING IT ON!

Since I can’t go skiing this year, I still need my snow fix.

So, I do hope a little that Punxsutawney Phil is wrong. I think Punxsutawney Phil’s forecasting has only a 39% success rate. Then again, why we base our beliefs of future weather conditions on a groundhog, I have no idea.
posted by Holly at 11:15 AM 9 comments

Thursday, February 01, 2007

the ugly side

It’s February.

That means he is going to be born THIS MONTH!

Today, I wanted to share with my readers a TMI entry – it’s about the dark and ugly side of pregnancy. If you are slight of heart or weak of stomach, please turn away and move on to a lighter and more uplifting blog.

You see, pregnancy is a beautiful, amazing, wonderful, magical thing. But, to be perfectly honest, it is not all sunshine and roses and sweet smelling moments!

Pregnancy is feeling bloated and fat, burping, farting, hiccupping, heartburn, gagging, puking, gasping*, snoring, hacking**, runny nose, sneezing, discomfort, moaning, whining and, I saved the best for last, “inking.”

What is inking, you ask?

Remember the line "awww, you made me ink!" from the little octopus in Finding Nemo?***

Yes, Inking.

Inking happens when you sneeze, throw up, gag, or just for no reason whatsoever.

It is for this reason that pregnant women must still use pads. Got the picture? It’s not pretty.

A night of preparing for bed might entail a few "hacks", a gasp or two, some moans, then a bigger hack and a frantic roll off the bed, run to the bathroom followed by some expletives and a need for new undies.

"Did you ink?" I usually ask.

You body is no longer your own when you are pregnant. Your body is under the control of this being inside of you that starts kicking your ass when it’s smaller than the nail on your pinky finger.

You are subjected to swift kicks in the gut, ribs, bladder, etc. You will be awakened at 2, 4, 7 am from hiccups deep within your belly. You will have heartburn 4 hours after you have eated a seemingly harmless piece of bread.

But, this is all worth it. (I can say that with ease, because I am not the pregnant one)

I still think Loey is the most beautiful woman ever!

When this little boy comes, he will take over the burping, farting, whining, gasping, throwing up, etc. for Mommy Loey.

And we will think it’s the cutest thing ever!


*the gasping, we discovered, may be sleep apnea. Lois gasps for air when she’s sleeping. It’s slightly disconcerting, but we’re getting used to it

**hacking, to me, is that noise we make that’s the beginning of the throw up – but in this case no throw up happens. I don’t know how Lois is so sure that there’s no puke behind the hack when she does it. She does it a lot, sometimes while making dinner. Weird?!?

***for the slower members of the class, it’s when you pee a little
posted by Holly at 9:50 AM 7 comments