Mousetraps

Before somebody questions whether or not Will and I are fit to be parents, I should probably clarify the deal with the mousetraps.  Joyce, you are right, they are intended to keep Lucy off the furniture.  They are not set, however, as Lucy once was startled by a set mousetrap that she discovered and now steers clear of all mousetraps, set or not.  Also, these have never been used other than on the furniture.  We learned this trick from my parents, who used to care if our dogs got on the furniture, though now their dog seems to rule the couch!  Anyway you set some traps on whatever you don't want the dog on and then put newspaper over the traps so the dog doesn't get hurt, but just gets a big surprise.  We used the newspaper once then decided that since Lucy has a healthy respect for mousetraps that we would just toss them on the furniture before we leave the house.  So, don't worry about the dog or the baby or the mother-in-law sitting dangerously close to the mousetrap with the baby in that last post! 

Where have all the pacifiers gone?

When Will and I were getting ready to buy bottles and pacifiers I thought we would be just fine with two pacifiers.  Then both of my sisters suggested that we might want 4 because they have a way of disappearing.  Somehow we ended up with 6 and right now I only know where 2 of them are and of the two, I only know where this one is because I was weak and bought this cool, but overpriced pacifier thing.  I'm thinking I might have to make a couple more of these once we find the other pacifiers.  Anyway, Anders is sleeping in the moving swing which is why the picture is off-center. 

Will bought Anders his first non-hand-me-down Iowa gear when he (Will) was down in Iowa for the Iowa-Iowa State game.  Here is he is showing his team spirit last Saturday, unfortunately it didn't help the team.  He looks pretty good in black though.

Here he is getting loved up (as Clare of Sawbill used to call it) by one of his grandmas.  

Here is my dad saying goodbye to Anders.  My parents left today.  It was very sad for me to have them leave, especially because I don't know for sure when they will see Anders again.  It will be a few months though.  They did tons to help out around here.  My dad stained all the woodwork that we stripped last year and it is beautiful.  The picture rail in our living room and dining room that was painted copper looks 1000 times better stained - it is oak.  I haven't taken a picture yet, but even if I do, I don't think it will do the work justice.  My mom was super, super supportive with Anders, even when I was a stressed out new mom.    Thanks to both of my parents for all their help and patience with me.  Also thanks for the chocolate cake (we celebrated my birthday a few days early).  

Anders has entered this stage of having to be held to fall asleep.  He is very sweet, but this makes things tricky.  Yesterday I was in the shower at 6 am, but mistakenly got dressed in "lounge around the house" clothes to start my day and was extremely frustrated to still be in those clothes at 11 am, when my parents and Anders and I were supposed to be heading out the door at 11:30.  He just didn't want to be set down and for the most part wanted to be held by me.  Other than that he is good.  He needs a bath though, but we keep going to bed by 9 pm.  

On the Lucy front:  other than the mast cell tumor, she is great.  She is extremely perky and energetic and today we walked down to the coffee shop and she hung out waiting for us while we ate breakfast without even barking at us to hurry up.  She is loving going for walks and she was just naughty and tricked Will into letting her outside so that she could have a treat by coming back in, yet she had no other reason to go outside.  So, we are investigating our options for treating her.  We have two treatment options - radiation at the U of M or chemotherapy via our vet.  Both options are intended to shrink the tumor in order to try to remove it.  The one thing we both know for sure is that we want to limit the trauma that the dog goes through.

Anders and I had our first meeting with my new mama (and babies) group on Monday and am so thrilled that I decided to do it.  It is great to chat with 7 other women and a midwife and find out that some of the stuff I am feeling is normal.  Anders is the second youngest baby there.  Today we visited the lab and I was happy to see that things are going well there.   Anders also met his great-grandpa yesterday.  We went to the nursing home to see him.  My parents took a 4 generations picture, but I don't have it yet.  Everyone loves a baby - even the residents of the nursing home, who in many cases seemed to be zoning out perked up when they saw the baby. Babies have quite an effect on people.  The picture above is Anders after his busy day of keeping me from getting dressed, going to Panera (after dropping Grandpa off at White Castle), going to a cool baby store and then going to the nursing home. 

Two Weeks Old

Yesterday Anders turned 2 weeks old.  And to celebrate, he lost his umbilical cord scab some time between a 4 am diaper change and a 5:15 am diaper change.   It is very exciting and mysterious - where did the scab go?  I looked in the diaper and it wasn't there and it isn't in the bassinet, not that I was planning on keeping it.   He seems to have a half outie right now - perhaps to make up for my belly button not popping out.  

We've been hanging out this week trying to figure each other's schedule out.  I'm still bad at napping and now Anders is starting to be awake more, which is more fun.  He has spent a lot of time awake today, so I'm hoping for a better night's sleep tonight.  We will see.  I'm definitely sleep deprived.  I sometimes get kind of frustrated that I can successfully run a business, but feel pretty out of control these days.  This is a new thing for me.    My parents are still here helping out tons.  My dad is staining all the woodwork in the living room and dining room - this is all the woodwork I stripped at this time last year.  It looks really beautiful with the stain on it.   And my mom is cooking and cleaning and trying to keep me sane.   Will is making progress in the bathroom, but the toilet isn't in yet.  He is close though - today he started grouting the floor so the end is in sight.  

He also got to meet his Grandma Jean who is here for a few days helping out and visiting her newest grandson.   Somehow she got stuck cleaning our windows today, but she also got to babysit while I got my hair cut.  

And he got to try hanging out in a sling and doing some laundry with me.  At first he hated it, but then settled down and seemed to enjoy it.  Unfortunately, shortly after this picture was taken Anders dozed off and I had to leave to get my haircut.  Tomorrow we are going to the coffee shop for waffles and the first annual art fair on the parkway, so maybe we will try the sling out again.  It seems like a good invention.  

 
We also got some sad news this week.  It turns out that Lucy has cancer.  She has this growth on her back hip and it started bleeding a lot the other day so we took her back to the vet to have them look at it.  They extracted some cells from it and checked them out under the microscope and found them to be cancerous.  They sent them to outside lab as well and we are waiting to hear back from them, but the vet is concerned that the growth is pretty deep and will be difficult to remove without removing a bunch of muscle.  It is very upsetting and makes me cry when I think of it.   Once the lab results are back we will have more info on which to decide what to do next.  In the meantime, Lucy and I have started going for 6 am walks again, just me and her.  The thing on her hip is bugging her a bit - it seems to itch or something and we have to keep her from licking it, but otherwise she is perky and doesn't appear to be in any pain.   Here she is having a perky moment up at the lake - she likes to torment the red squirrels and chipmunks up there for long stretches of time.  

Finally, the new 35W bridge opened yesterday - it opened early and the construction company got something like $25 million extra for finishing it early.  We have not driven across it yet nor have we gone to see it, but it is the big news up here these days.  

Sweaty Mama and Other Happenings

Yesterday my parents arrived from Colorado.  Just like Anders' other grandparents, they were anxious to meet their newest grandson.  Here is Grandma Ruth showing Anders a new way to be held, he seemed to really like it so Will and I need to try it out.  Grandma and Grandpa stopped in Iowa to see my sister Sarah, her husband Mike, and Zach and Drew.  My sisters sent a huge bag of clothes for Anders - I think he might have more clothes than Will and I do.  One thing my mom is going to have to help me with is getting my head around organizing all of this stuff so that we can easily find something that fits Anders each morning.  My parents also refinished the changing table I bought in Colorado - we are very excited to have it.  I will take a picture of it later this week as we get Anders' room put together.  

 

Here is Anders working on his baby model poses.  He thinks he looks pretty good here. 

 

Here he is making shadow figures to entertain himself.   He is very talented - this is his Saguaro cactus shadow figure. 

Lucy and I broke out the running gear today while Grandma Ruth fed Anders a bottle and Dad and Grandpa Dick went to the flea market.  The run was short - only 2 miles, but I figured that since I hadn't run since January, 2 miles was a good start.  It is also about the max distance Lucy can do comfortably any more (hard to believe that she used to go on 12 mile runs with me a few years ago).  It was a great run and I'm excited to go again, hopefully with Anders soon.  Here we are full of happy energy after the run.  I also seem to have a lovely halo.  

Grandpa Bill and Grandma Kathie arrived today from Wisconsin as well.   Unfortunately they arrived just in time for Anders and I to crash - we took a 2 hour nap!  I guess the last couple of days have caught up with me.  Actually, Anders slept for 5 hours, allowing me to eat the delicious homemade spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, bread and salad dinner Will made.  The only thing we didn't grow was the lettuce (we ate all of that already), carrots, and a few of the tomatoes (we had to supplement as our tomatoes are running out).  

Finally, it was also an exciting football weekend.  Rumor has it that Grandpa Bill was very into football on Saturday - that is what Saturdays are for, right?  Iowa beat Iowa State, though I believe Will wasn't thrilled with Iowa's performance.  And my dad had to go to a sports bar for a while to watch the big Bronco game - another exciting game with bad plays, interceptions, and nail-biting moments.  But the Broncos beat the Chargers which has my dad in a really great mood.  

Here is Anders entertaining everyone with various facial expressions.  Each day Anders seems to spend more time awake, though the 5 hour nap would seem to contradict that today, except that when my parents and I snuck out of the house to run a couple of errands Anders decided that he needed to be awake and held so that Will couldn't work on the bathroom floor.  He also seems to be less crabby about diaper changes, which is really nice.  It is really hard to change his diapers when he is crabby and pulling his legs up to his chest! 

Rainy day

Today I was up from 3:30 to 4:30 am with Anders and it was pouring out.  Our 3 rain barrels, which were frequently dry this summer, are overflowing.  As a side note, Anders slept from 10:30 last night until 3:30 - this is great, but made me nervous so Will got up at 3:00 to check his breathing.  

The rain continued off and on all day, so here is what some residents of the house did, for most of the day.

I started the search for my non-maternity clothes, many of which were stashed away in a random fashion.  It is kind of fun to get my other clothes out, but I really would have loved to get some use out of my summer clothes.  Oh well, next year.  

I finally gave in and took a nap this afternoon.  I woke up about an hour later and the sun was out, so I quick threw in a load laundry and grabbed Anders for some more Vitamin D treatment.  He didn't even wake up, but soaked up some rays.  And now it is pouring again so I cannot hang out the clothes.  Tricky.  

Will continues to work hard on the bathroom floor.  The goal is to have the toilet in before he leaves for the football game tomorrow.  And before anybody freaks out, I've told Will for months that he could go to the big game if the baby was born before the game.  I have no issues with this, I think Will is more conflicted about it than I am.  I personally don't envy him - the game would be fun to go to, but he is going to spend a lot of time in the car for such a short visit.  Hopefully the game will be a good one. 

Some Firsts

Here are some of the firsts Anders has had in his first week of life (in a few hours he will be 1 week old).His first walk in his fancy jogging stroller.  We went a little over a mile Monday and Tuesday.  Lucy wasn't happy either day, I think mostly because she likes early morning walks not mid afternoon walks.  I still hope we can work our way up to morning walks.

He slept through his first walk.  He woke up on his second walk and got crabby.  He isn't a big fan of his car seat.

His first night of sleeping with Lucy, who decided she should be on the bed.  She changed her mind a few minutes later.  He also got his lick on the head from her today, it was a small lick, but acknowledgement nonetheless.

His first bottle.  This only went marginally well.  He had about half of it and then I gave in and nursed him.  We will have to try again.

Anders also had his first appointment with the doctor today - it was just a one week follow up appointment.  The doctor, who is also my doctor and the one who delivered him, was very impressed with his strength.  She was also pleased to see that he now weighs 7 pounds 9 ounces.  I think we maybe have mentioned that this kid likes to eat.  Anyway, he is good shape and doesn't have to go back until my 6 week appointment.  She also said I can start running now and doing yoga and sit-ups any time I want.  Very cool, now if I can just find the time...

Lastly, the doctor noticed how much Anders looks like Will.  It is true - at this point I don't see anything that resembles me other than his fingernails - I should maybe take a picture of those.  Here is an interesting picture of Will with his dad, I swear this could be now.  If you go to Bill and Kathie's blog there are some more comparisons.  There is a link over to the right of this page.  

And his name is...

 

Last night was another one of those learning experiences.  We decided to have me stay in the room to feed him.  That was ok, but very disruptive to Will's sleep, so here he is working at home today.  So I think on future weeknights, I need to make sure I venture out into the living room or somewhere for those late night feedings.  We both felt pretty tired when we got up at 6 something today.  

We had a home visit from a nurse this morning and she was super happy with the baby's health.  She gave him an A+ score, even though he is a tiny bit jaundiced.  She was especially pleased that he is already back to his birth weight as she said they really don't look for that until 2 weeks old.  I am also in good shape, but she didn't give me a grade.  Instead she tried really hard to make me continue to take ibuprofen even though I told her I don't feel like I'm in enough pain to do so.  Some people just don't get it when others don't want unnecessary medications.  Oh well.  

We've received many lovely flowers from family and friends - I think we have personally thanked everyone, but if not, again thank you all.  They are really pretty and gave Will some photo opportunities with the baby.  Also, my friend Beth who has her own 3 month old was kind enough to bring us some manicotti which we will undoubtedly appreciate tonight.  That was so sweet.   Thanks to everyone for all the support through this major change.

 

We've already had a big morning - a couple of meals, a visit from the nurse, and some Vitamin D treatment.  It was really nice of Dad to stay home and take some pics of the day in between work calls and emails.  Also, it will give me a chance to run out to the co-op quickly later.  

And here he is, celebrating his new name.  It took us a long time to figure this out and I mean literally figure it out.  We really wanted his name to have some family significance to it and that meant looking back over family records of names of our ancestors.  We could have gone super super ethnic with Oluf or Johann or we could have gone with more recently and frequently used names like Robert or John.  The fact that we were considering at least 4 different family trees made it even more tricky.  Then you had the fact that we both had our favorite names which the other didn't like as much.  By this morning we had narrowed our list to: Anders Robert D. (rest of name omitted for privacy purposes), Anders Wilson D., Robert Anders/Anderson D., and Wilson Anders D.   

And we've now called the birth certificate office at the hospital and his name officially is....

drumroll....

horns....

 

Anders Wilson D.  

Anders for my paternal grandma's maiden name - she was Pearl Mildred Anderson.  Wilson for two reasons - Will's mom's paternal grandpa's middle name - he was Frederick Wilson Payne.  Also, at least in looking back through the Scandinavian family trees, all of the middle names in the 1800s were the father's first name + son or daughter depending on the gender of the child.  So we have a "modern" version of that naming convention going on.  Finally, though D. seems like an obvious last name, in this day and age it doesn't have to be the baby's last name, but this is the first baby born in this generation of children to be able to carry on the D. family name and we thought it appropriate to keep it that way.   

More pictures and fun times

Here is the baby working on his gang signs.  Unfortunately we didn't have the camera with us when we was pumping his fist in the air during a nap in the swing.  The swing, which we borrowed from Rob and Carrie, I have to admit has been great (both Will and I were reluctant to borrow it as we felt a big swing would make our house seem even smaller, but it is worth it). 

Here is he on his first night home.  This bassinet has been in my family for 3 generations now, starting with my Uncle John who was the first baby to sleep in it in 1940.  Both my mom and dad slept in the bassinet too, as my grandparents on both sides were good friends and my mom's parents loaned the bassinet to my dad's parents before he was born.  Several of my cousins, my sisters and I and several of my cousins kids, as well as my sister's kids have slept in this bassinet.  Everyone's name and date of birth is on the bottom of the basket and eventually this baby's name will join them.  Hopefully today.  

 

Here he is being cute. 

Since his poops are no longer black tar, we have started to use his cloth diapers.  These are the one size diapers and are set at the smallest size.  He is quite small.  One good thing about the size of these diapers is that it helps all the onesies that are way too big for him fit better.  I did go buy some infant onesies yesterday for him and those are bit better.  

He looked like a Weeble once we got his onesie on.  It was very funny. 

Another first for today - the baby slept in his crib for a while.  

Will is making good progress on the bathroom floor.  He has the border all figured out and installed on two sides.  From my perspective, getting the border just right seemed to be the hardest thing so far, I assume because the bathroom isn't a uniform square, but it looks really cool so far and I  know when he is done the bathroom will be fabulous.  

So, we are making progress on things.  Because we weren't expecting the baby to be here until next week, we have a lot of unfinished stuff in progress - like the nursery.  We are also adjusting pretty well, I think, to our new life.  Tomorrow will be the first big test as Will goes back to work and I officially start maternity leave.  My plans for tomorrow are to take Lucy (who ignores the baby) and the baby out for a walk in the baby jogger.  I also really would like to go to the co-op, but might save that for Tuesday.  We also have a nurse stopping by tomorrow to check on us.  I am doing great.  My tailbone still hurts a bit when I sit, but I can walk pretty normally now.  I weighed myself yesterday and was pleased to discover I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight, though I felt that I was 10 lbs overweight then so I have some work to do.  Not to mention the fact that I have probably lost some muscle tone.  

The lack of sleep either hasn't hit me or isn't as bad as it could have been.  Our first two nights home have been interesting - the first night was good.  I was up with him for about 2 hours and then got up with him around 2 or 3 am and brought him to bed with us where we all slept until 6:30.  Last night was a bit different.  We all went to bed at 10 pm and I got up at 1:30 surprised that it was the first I was getting up.  I fed the baby, changed his diaper and was ready to put him down (asleep) around 2:15, when the phone rang!  It was a wrong number.  This seemed to wake him up but he also got super fussy and wouldn't settle down.  I had to pee badly so I handed him off to Will who discovered he had a very messy diaper - I never heard it happen so it was a surprise to me too.  So Will was dealing with that and then all of a sudden Lucy decided to throw up in our bedroom!  We finally all got into bed at 3:15 or so and slept through until 6:30 again.  Hopefully tonight will be less eventful.  

Ok, we have to have a name by tomorrow before Will goes to work, so expect an update soon.  I have no idea how we will make the update - calls, emails or blog.  As soon as we know, we will let you know his name.

New Vid

I thought I'd better get something new on here today.

So here's a video of him in the hospital yesterday.  He doesn't really do a lot so if you're not entertained by facial gymnastics you might want to check back in six months.

There is still no name to report but all parties feel that progress has been made.  There has been movement toward a decision making framework and both sides are hopeful that an agreement in principal can be arrived at before the end of the day on September 7.

And lastly I'd like to point out to all you complainers that September 7 was his due date.  I don't think we should be held to an earlier deadline than we had originally been given.  If we don't have something by the end of the 7th then you can complain about him not having a name.

He doesn't talk about it much so it's a little hard to tell for sure, but I really don't get the feeling that he cares if he has a name or not.

More pictures while we wait for the name.

OK, so we're all home now.  Originally we were going to stay at the hospital until we settled on the name but it became clear that that would mean staying there all day.  So we bagged that and came home.  

Whatsisname has been a good sleeper today, hopefully that won't mean a restless night, we could really use a good night's sleep.

He doesn't seem especially impressed with the house, he might think we're kind of slobs.  I don't think he probably cares that the toilet is in the back yard since he mostly goes in his pants like his uncle Rob.  But I'd still like to get it reinstalled before we start getting lots of visitors.

So whatshisname has interesting feet right now the skin has an interesting texture.  It reminds me of elephant skin, but I'm guessing it's a lot softer.  I've never touched an elephant.  I'd recommend clicking the picture to make it bigger so you can see the detail.  If you're not into feet just go on to the next one.

This picture makes me think of the word "pensive" but it also looks like he's doing that vogue thing Madonna used to do.  I hope he doesn't turn out to be a big Madonna fan.

This next one isn't especially interesting but it gives a good idea of relative size.

He's very small.

No name yet.  We're working feverishly on that.

This picture is from the top of his head (facing the right.)  There's a big bruise on the back top of his head (left in photo.)  That's the very first part of his head that emerged, it took a long time to progress past that little bruised area.  When he first came out his head was very egg shaped and that bruise was at the most pointed part.  It seems like his head is much more head shaped now which is a good thing.

Here he is sleeping.  He's very twitchy when he sleeps.

Baby D.

9/4/08   01:40AM

7 lbs 5oz  

20"

She's having a baby

So the baby is on the way.  The birthday will be 9/3 or 9/4/08.  We're hoping for 9/3.

We've been at the hospital since about 10am (it's now 8:45pm.)

There was a long period of contractions with little to show for it, Sandy seemed to be stuck at 4cm dilation.  

Around 6 she got an epidural and has been feeling much better since then.  She's continuing to have strong contractions but remains comfortable.  They're going to check the dilation again around 9.  Hopefully we'll get a better idea of timing after that.

The baby appears to be doing fine based on it's heart rate.  And it's in position as soon as the path is clear.

And so it begins...

This morning when I woke up I could tell something was different.  Maybe part of what clued me in was the fact that I got up at 11 pm, midnight, 1 am, and 2 am exactly last night.  I'm pretty sure there was at least one more trip to the bathroom, but it wasn't on the hour and consecutive to these other hours so it doesn't stand out.  

Anyway, I went to the doctor again today and she confirmed that things are progressing!  I am now dilated (only 1 cm) and the baby has definitely dropped.  This was my old doctor who tore her ACL - she is back and will be here for the duration.  She was surprised that I didn't look any different and looked back at my chart and discovered I have only gained 10 pounds.  She didn't seem concerned about this and suspects the baby only weighs around 6 pounds or so, which also might be why it has taken until now for any type progress on the labor and delivery front - meaning my body and the baby are working to give the baby a little more time to grow.  At the same time, my stomach muscles are extremely tight and not giving the baby a lot of room.  Anyway, I have another appointment on Sept 9th and if I haven't progressed any further we will induce on Sept 16th.  She doesn't think we will have to induce - keep your fingers crossed because my goal is to do this with no epidural and I believe that will be hard if I am induced. Now I just to get through this week at work as I the ball is rolling to expand into the space next door and I have another Silliker VP, an architect and a general contractor coming on Friday to help with that process.  If I can get through Friday and maybe the weekend and then go into labor Monday that would nice. 

In the meantime, I am supposed to keep up activities like this:

Yesterday in desperation to get this baby born (and to give Will time to work on the bathroom floor) I cut the grass.  Maybe that did the trick.  Not a very pretty picture.  

On Saturday we went for a 3 mile walk, complete with Dairy Queen and I continue to walk the dog in the morning.  I thought I might be having some contractions on the walk to and from DQ, but who knows.  Either my uterus was tightening up or the baby figured out a way to move in all directions at once.  Either way it was not painful.  My doctor wants me to keep that stuff up too as it will really help the delivery.  She says to stay home as long as reasonably possible when labor really starts -  walking on the parkway and whatnot, since we live so close to the hospital and because they won't let me outside to walk once we get to the hospital.  

Other things we did this weekend: Will got the fish tank upstairs in the baby's room.  We went round and round about the location, but I gave in.  It was always going to be right next to the crib, but exactly where was the subject of the debate.  I'm not posting a picture now because it only has water in it, but Will got the fish on Friday and I must say, they are fun and colorful.  He also set up a way to pump the water and air from the basement all the way upstairs so that the baby doesn't have to listen to the pumps, but instead just hears the bubbles.  He is a genius.

The bathroom floor is really not very far along.  Will has the border design laid out, but we forgot to purchase adhesive for the tile - oops.  So he went and did that this weekend.   Watching the Iowa game and getting the baby's room ready is more interesting than doing the floor, though I have to admit some frustrations there too.  For instance, we have a perfect spot for one of the Betsy Bowen prints we have and when I hung it on the hook the previous owners had installed, the picture was too high.  Why can't anything be easy?  It seems that each little thing we do leads to another project.  

We did get the car seat base in my car, got the car seat cover and the Baby Bjorn washed, got the bassinet in our bedroom and got the bag for the hospital packed.   I also made a whole bunch of vegetable soup base with some vegetables that were past their prime, so now I can make my favorites soups this winter.  We ate a delicious fish dinner with a Lake Trout Will had caught at the lake the last time we were there - the meal reminded me of the Angry Trout meals.  And I tried a new eggplant dish, which I liked ok, but not enough to make again.  Oh and Will made some of the best bread he has ever made.  So we were busy.  I will admit to taking one nap this weekend.  We also got HD Directv installed, but for some reason the receiver doesn't work and we can only get the HD channels.  Strange.  

So, there is the latest.  Will and I will be in touch as things change.  Hopefully we will get a few more things done here before the big day and will have some pictures to post of the baby's room, the fun fish and soon the baby.