Today I was discharged from the hospital and I'm home. It feels really weird to be home after everything that happened this week. It feels like the last time I was home was at least a year ago. And yet, the groceries that I bought on Sunday are still in the fridge and the cooling racks from the cupcakes I made for Easter dinner were still on the counter. It almost seems like everything that happened this week was a dream. It has dream-like qualities. At some point, I should post the story of Annie's birth because it is actually quite unbelievable.
We could not bring Annie home from the hospital yet. She is still on oxygen and needs to get the hang of feeding. They took her off the IV this morning.
It was really hard to leave the hospital without Annie. I didn't like leaving her there, even though the people taking care of her are wonderful and are so good at what they do. I've been carrying Annie around for 8 months and I miss her. It was comforting to feel her kick.
Some things about the hospital: I think Mass General is the best hospital ever. They were great in so many ways. The nurses and doctors were always available, never condescending. I have learned so much about breastfeeding and baby care in general over the last week, all thanks to everyone's willingness to teach and give expert advice. I'm still learning. If there is a positive side to Annie staying in the hospital a bit longer, it's that I can continue going there and learning from the nurses in the Special Care Nursery. They are amazing.
And that's all I have to say today. I now have a date with a breast pump.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Annika
We welcome Annika Wendy! 5 lbs,5 oz,18 inches.We love her. Photos to follow. I can't believe she's really here already.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Easter morning
Here I am, it is 6:15am and I have been awake since 4:30. Same as yesterday. I really don't know why I'm awake. The baby doesn't tend to kick very much at night and I'm not more stressed-out than usual. I tend to just sit awake and ruminate about things going on at work, or I try to organize the upcoming day in my head, or sometimes I'm just awake and not thinking of much of anything.
Then again, when I was kid, it was completely normal to be awake early on Easter morning, because my sister and I would have to find our Easter baskets. We would normally go to Cleveland for Easter and would be so excited to see what the Easter Bunny brought us (and where the baskets were hidden this year) that we would be awake very early. Right about now, actually. We would try to be very quiet as we got up to find our Easter baskets, but we'd always manage to wake everyone up anyway. Grandma would usually be the first to get up. She would tell us to be quiet so everyone else could sleep, but we were too excited. One year, we couldn't find Laurie's basket, so she went upstairs and woke up poor Dad, who suggested that she look in the stove or something.
But why am I awake this morning? Maybe my body is preparing me for the sleep interruptions that will come soon. But logically, wouldn't it make more sense to let me sleep now so I won't be nearly as tired when the baby comes? Everyone says that now is the time to rest, but I can't, and what's worse, I worry that I'm also interrupting Jim's sleep. Now is the time for him to rest too.
Today's weather already looks better than yesterday, although I shouldn't complain too much about yesterday. My new seeds got a really nice shower yesterday, and they like the cool temperatures. But a little sun would be nice. The plan for today is to hopefully get all those things accomplished that I listed yesterday, and then go over to our friend's house for Easter dinner tonight.
Then again, when I was kid, it was completely normal to be awake early on Easter morning, because my sister and I would have to find our Easter baskets. We would normally go to Cleveland for Easter and would be so excited to see what the Easter Bunny brought us (and where the baskets were hidden this year) that we would be awake very early. Right about now, actually. We would try to be very quiet as we got up to find our Easter baskets, but we'd always manage to wake everyone up anyway. Grandma would usually be the first to get up. She would tell us to be quiet so everyone else could sleep, but we were too excited. One year, we couldn't find Laurie's basket, so she went upstairs and woke up poor Dad, who suggested that she look in the stove or something.
But why am I awake this morning? Maybe my body is preparing me for the sleep interruptions that will come soon. But logically, wouldn't it make more sense to let me sleep now so I won't be nearly as tired when the baby comes? Everyone says that now is the time to rest, but I can't, and what's worse, I worry that I'm also interrupting Jim's sleep. Now is the time for him to rest too.
Today's weather already looks better than yesterday, although I shouldn't complain too much about yesterday. My new seeds got a really nice shower yesterday, and they like the cool temperatures. But a little sun would be nice. The plan for today is to hopefully get all those things accomplished that I listed yesterday, and then go over to our friend's house for Easter dinner tonight.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
High aspirations, little accomplished
I expected to do a lot today. Baby class in the morning, followed by purchasing a crib, followed by getting our dresser out of storage and organizing all the shower gifts.
In reality, we managed to attend the baby class, which was on breastfeeding. And that's all we accomplished.
It wasn't for lack of trying. After the class, which was in Needham, we had a really delicious lunch at Panera Bread. I am not normally a big fan of Panera Bread, mostly because they seem to put these funky-tasting peppers in all of their vegetarian dishes. But lately, absolutely any food tastes phenomenally delicious to me, and plus, there were none of those peppers in the sandwich and salad I got.
Afterwards, we went to the following stores to try to find a crib: Jordan's, Ikea, Bassett, BJ's, and Babies R Us. Jordan's is a local furniture store that markets itself by emphasizing that it has "underprices." (I think that catches people's attention because it sounds like "underwear"!). They had 4 cribs, all basically the same except for the color. They were all convertible models (we don't need a convertible crib) and they were all almost $700. That wasn't happening. Next, we went to Ikea, and found a great crib. Except that the only colors it came in were Pepto-Bismol pink and Cookie-Monster blue. The other cribs looked pretty flimsy, like portable cribs. Next.
So then we went to Bassett, which is a brand new store. Before, if you wanted Bassett furniture, you had to find it at a more general furniture store. So, when Jim's mom bought us a coffee table a few years ago, she ordered it in Buffalo at the Bassett store, but we picked it up at a general furniture store in Quincy. Anyway, the Bassett store we went into today didn't carry cribs. I've heard that Babies R Us carries Bassett cribs now.
Next, it was BJ's. They also didn't carry cribs, or any furniture except one dresser with very bent drawers. You can buy cribs on-line from BJ's, but not at their store. And by the way, going into BJ's was quite an experience. I hadn't been in one of those wholesale-type stores since college and forgot how Walmart-esq they were. Jim was fascinated with their large blocks of cheese. We bought one of those in college and I think we had it for the whole semester. Just had to scrape off the mold before eating towards the end of the semester. :)
Finally, we caved and went to Babies R Us. I really don't like Babies R Us. We have had quite a fiasco with the crib that we registered for, which I think I've already blogged about. Anyway, we decided to look at other cribs, but really couldn't find anything that we liked in our price range. Plus, the saleswoman said that her computer seemed to indicate that our first-choice crib might be in stock soon. She said it looked like a shipment might be outside the warehouse, waiting to be categorized and stocked. I don't know how she would know this from her computer. Maybe she was making it up. (I wouldn't put it past BRU customer service). But at this point, we were both exhausted and discouraged and decided to get ice cream and go home. Which is what we did. We'll try again next weekend, I guess. They're supposed to call us if the crib is stocked.
We didn't end up getting our dresser out of storage because it is pouring rain/snow and miserable here today. We're going to try to do that tomorrow.
Jim is almost finished with the cradle - he just has to put 2 more coats of polyurethane on the bottom (the part that the mattress will sit on). It looks amazing. I'm really glad we have a cradle lined up because we may not have a crib when the baby comes on the scene.
Still on the agenda for the weekend: grocery shopping, laundry, getting the dresser out, organizing everything.
In reality, we managed to attend the baby class, which was on breastfeeding. And that's all we accomplished.
It wasn't for lack of trying. After the class, which was in Needham, we had a really delicious lunch at Panera Bread. I am not normally a big fan of Panera Bread, mostly because they seem to put these funky-tasting peppers in all of their vegetarian dishes. But lately, absolutely any food tastes phenomenally delicious to me, and plus, there were none of those peppers in the sandwich and salad I got.
Afterwards, we went to the following stores to try to find a crib: Jordan's, Ikea, Bassett, BJ's, and Babies R Us. Jordan's is a local furniture store that markets itself by emphasizing that it has "underprices." (I think that catches people's attention because it sounds like "underwear"!). They had 4 cribs, all basically the same except for the color. They were all convertible models (we don't need a convertible crib) and they were all almost $700. That wasn't happening. Next, we went to Ikea, and found a great crib. Except that the only colors it came in were Pepto-Bismol pink and Cookie-Monster blue. The other cribs looked pretty flimsy, like portable cribs. Next.
So then we went to Bassett, which is a brand new store. Before, if you wanted Bassett furniture, you had to find it at a more general furniture store. So, when Jim's mom bought us a coffee table a few years ago, she ordered it in Buffalo at the Bassett store, but we picked it up at a general furniture store in Quincy. Anyway, the Bassett store we went into today didn't carry cribs. I've heard that Babies R Us carries Bassett cribs now.
Next, it was BJ's. They also didn't carry cribs, or any furniture except one dresser with very bent drawers. You can buy cribs on-line from BJ's, but not at their store. And by the way, going into BJ's was quite an experience. I hadn't been in one of those wholesale-type stores since college and forgot how Walmart-esq they were. Jim was fascinated with their large blocks of cheese. We bought one of those in college and I think we had it for the whole semester. Just had to scrape off the mold before eating towards the end of the semester. :)
Finally, we caved and went to Babies R Us. I really don't like Babies R Us. We have had quite a fiasco with the crib that we registered for, which I think I've already blogged about. Anyway, we decided to look at other cribs, but really couldn't find anything that we liked in our price range. Plus, the saleswoman said that her computer seemed to indicate that our first-choice crib might be in stock soon. She said it looked like a shipment might be outside the warehouse, waiting to be categorized and stocked. I don't know how she would know this from her computer. Maybe she was making it up. (I wouldn't put it past BRU customer service). But at this point, we were both exhausted and discouraged and decided to get ice cream and go home. Which is what we did. We'll try again next weekend, I guess. They're supposed to call us if the crib is stocked.
We didn't end up getting our dresser out of storage because it is pouring rain/snow and miserable here today. We're going to try to do that tomorrow.
Jim is almost finished with the cradle - he just has to put 2 more coats of polyurethane on the bottom (the part that the mattress will sit on). It looks amazing. I'm really glad we have a cradle lined up because we may not have a crib when the baby comes on the scene.
Still on the agenda for the weekend: grocery shopping, laundry, getting the dresser out, organizing everything.
Friday, April 10, 2009
It's gardening time!
Finally! It is time to start gardening. I love it. The magnolia trees are starting to open up, the forsythia is in bloom, and my crocuses are well past peak. My daffodils will be open in a week probably.
Jim worked manure/compost into the garden last weekend, so it was time for me to plant my cold weather veggies. Normally I would do it on the weekend, but it's supposed to rain tomorrow and be cold on Sunday. And thanks to daylight savings, it was still light when I got home from work (in fact, it still is now too). And it was 63 degrees. Time to do a little gardening before dinner. So I planted my radishes, snowpeas, garlic, and Asian spicy greens (fancy lettuce). Jim stayed late at work tonight to play poker with some of his co-workers.
You might ask how my back is doing. The answer is that it felt pretty crappy right afterward, but it's pretty much OK now. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought to put the seeds in the ground, and it felt really nice to actually be outside.
While I was out there, I met the new neighbors that moved into the red house behind our house last fall. (This is the house with the door that goes to nowhere, if you remember. They actually got rid of the door and put up siding where it was. This happened in the fall, I think). I'm embarrassed to say that I don't remember their names. But they were very friendly. I think they're Irish. They were carrying a small black and white cat, who they said didn't go outside normally.
It is supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow, so it was a good opportunity to plant the seeds. Our hoses aren't hooked up yet so I didn't water the seeds tonight. I figure they'll get enough water soon.
Jim worked manure/compost into the garden last weekend, so it was time for me to plant my cold weather veggies. Normally I would do it on the weekend, but it's supposed to rain tomorrow and be cold on Sunday. And thanks to daylight savings, it was still light when I got home from work (in fact, it still is now too). And it was 63 degrees. Time to do a little gardening before dinner. So I planted my radishes, snowpeas, garlic, and Asian spicy greens (fancy lettuce). Jim stayed late at work tonight to play poker with some of his co-workers.
You might ask how my back is doing. The answer is that it felt pretty crappy right afterward, but it's pretty much OK now. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought to put the seeds in the ground, and it felt really nice to actually be outside.
While I was out there, I met the new neighbors that moved into the red house behind our house last fall. (This is the house with the door that goes to nowhere, if you remember. They actually got rid of the door and put up siding where it was. This happened in the fall, I think). I'm embarrassed to say that I don't remember their names. But they were very friendly. I think they're Irish. They were carrying a small black and white cat, who they said didn't go outside normally.
It is supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow, so it was a good opportunity to plant the seeds. Our hoses aren't hooked up yet so I didn't water the seeds tonight. I figure they'll get enough water soon.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Weekend Summary
Yes, it may be Tuesday, but we just got back from Buffalo, so for us, it feels like the weekend just ended. (What a luxury). Here are the highlights from this very busy weekend:
1) Getting to see lots of family and friends this weekend, particularly on Sunday at the baby shower. I just wish I had more time to actually visit with everyone.
2) Excellent food! Santasiero's (or whatever it's called) and their fabulous cheese ravioli on Saturday night, great shower food on Sunday, a wonderfully low-key lunch at Koglers' on Monday, and Ming's for dinner on Monday night.
3) Sunny weather on Sunday for the shower.
4) Getting an extra day, Monday, to relax after the shower festivities and catch up with people.
5) Not bad weather on the way back to Boston. We hit some snow around Buffalo and Rochester, but the rest of the trip was clear. It was partly sunny and in the 50's here in Quincy when we got back.
6) Getting close to finishing the cradle (see post below about that).
7) Being home at the end. But still missing everyone in Buffalo and Cleveland.
Now that we're back, we're in the final stretch before Baby K. arrives. A million things to do to get ready. We have baby classes to take (breastfeeding and infant CPR); a cradle to finish; a crib to find; and many, many things to organize. We need to find a pediatrician and a day care center. I need to continue with the job search and get my current cases in order for my maternity leave. The next weeks will be busy, but exciting too.
1) Getting to see lots of family and friends this weekend, particularly on Sunday at the baby shower. I just wish I had more time to actually visit with everyone.
2) Excellent food! Santasiero's (or whatever it's called) and their fabulous cheese ravioli on Saturday night, great shower food on Sunday, a wonderfully low-key lunch at Koglers' on Monday, and Ming's for dinner on Monday night.
3) Sunny weather on Sunday for the shower.
4) Getting an extra day, Monday, to relax after the shower festivities and catch up with people.
5) Not bad weather on the way back to Boston. We hit some snow around Buffalo and Rochester, but the rest of the trip was clear. It was partly sunny and in the 50's here in Quincy when we got back.
6) Getting close to finishing the cradle (see post below about that).
7) Being home at the end. But still missing everyone in Buffalo and Cleveland.
Now that we're back, we're in the final stretch before Baby K. arrives. A million things to do to get ready. We have baby classes to take (breastfeeding and infant CPR); a cradle to finish; a crib to find; and many, many things to organize. We need to find a pediatrician and a day care center. I need to continue with the job search and get my current cases in order for my maternity leave. The next weeks will be busy, but exciting too.
Cradle base and rockers
It's now time to finish the cradle's base and rockers. Today, Jim attached the rockers to the base and the base to the top. Then he sanded it:
Then we signed it:
And now he's applying polyurethane to the bottom. Originally, he was going to finish the base and rockers separately from the rest of the cradle, but now he thinks that finishing them while attached will seal them better to the top of the cradle.
The cradle should be completely done in a few days!! It's really exciting.
Then we signed it:
And now he's applying polyurethane to the bottom. Originally, he was going to finish the base and rockers separately from the rest of the cradle, but now he thinks that finishing them while attached will seal them better to the top of the cradle.
The cradle should be completely done in a few days!! It's really exciting.
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