Luca sleeps in his victory pose:
Halloween and birthday party
6 years ago
Monday, March 22, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
New, Great, Pictures!!!
The lovely Judith Fernstrom has come through yet again to take another great set of photos for us!!!
You can check out a sneak peek here, and also see her very optimistic, positive spin on the fact that she had to deal with an uncharacteristically fussy Nico in two photo shoots!!
http://fernstromphotography.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/03/its-because-he-likes-me-so-much.html
BTW, she is also running a contest on Facebook-- you should become a fan! and vote for our other friends, photo #4 on the contest!! Scroll down to the next entry in her blog for details.
Thanks, Judith, for being the best documenter of all of our family miracles, we love having you be our informal historian.
You can check out a sneak peek here, and also see her very optimistic, positive spin on the fact that she had to deal with an uncharacteristically fussy Nico in two photo shoots!!
http://fernstromphotography.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/03/its-because-he-likes-me-so-much.html
BTW, she is also running a contest on Facebook-- you should become a fan! and vote for our other friends, photo #4 on the contest!! Scroll down to the next entry in her blog for details.
Thanks, Judith, for being the best documenter of all of our family miracles, we love having you be our informal historian.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Pictures from Grandma's Camera
First picture of a family of four...have a feeling mom's tired look will not go away soon.
Nico has the cutest dimples!
What a good big brother!!
The whole tired family!
Chloe shows Luca how to be a good big sibling
Nico has the cutest dimples!
What a good big brother!!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Birth Story
Hi All:
I know what you want is more pictures but right now posting from laptop in my bed with baby on chest is what I can manage....so more pictures will come later when I can figure out a time to get downstairs to the desktop to download pictures!
So instead you get my account of the birth story before I forget all the details...
I woke up on Thursday morning at around 1 am with contractions. The contractions were quite irregular and this was an experience that I had been having for more than 4 weeks, so I really didn't think much about it (Btw I was 9 days past due date). I dozed and watched TV until about 4 am (Agnish was sleeping downstairs in the guestroom since I've been very tossy and turny in bed in the last few weeks). By about 4 am, I started to wonder if I was actually in labor as the contractions started to take on a more regular pattern. At 5 am, the contractions were 5 minutes apart but not super painful. So I called Labor & Delivery and consulted the nurse who said I should stay home for 1-2 hours since I could still talk through the contractions. I finished packing our hospital bag and hopped in the shower at about 5:30 am. By this time, the contractions were painful enough that I was doubling over in the shower. So, after the shower, I decided I should wake Agnish up. I also called over to my mom to ask her to come over and watch Luca. At 5:45, Agnish and I had a very calm, sane conversation where we decided that my mom would take me to the hospital and get me checked in, and that he would stay home to be there when Luca awoke (usually around 7 or 7:30 am) and then come in and meet me at the hospital after Joanne arrived.
In no less than 5 minutes after that conversation, things got much worse, very quickly. My contractions began to get very strong, accompanied by the worrying need to push, and were very close together. I also began to get very anxious and said to Agnish that he should drive me to the hospital instead of my mom (mostly because I was afraid that my mom would freak out and drive off a bridge since she doesn't exactly deal well with seeing me in pain). My mom showed up at around 6 and we were off to the hospital. The drive to the hospital was a blur as I was in a lot of pain, but I do remember feeling like I was on a bobsled (obviously affected by watching Winter Olympics). We arrived at the hospital at exactly 6:38 am. (A funny detail is that I called from the car to Labor and Delivery to tell them we were on our way, and asked if I could order an epidural over the phone to have it waiting for me).
The rest of the story is like a scene from the movies: As I walked into the hospital, i was already asking for the drugs. The nurse was walking me to our room, and told me that there was a really nice room at the end of the hall, but there was also a crappy room open a few steps away. I think she was testing to see if I was really serious but I "passed" her test and said we needed to get into the close room. There was a frustrating period of time where I continued to ask for drugs and the admitting nurses would not tell me whether I could have them or not, and I was screaming at everyone in pain (again, just like the movies). The doctor was called in quickly and it seemed that I was already 8-9 cm dialated...within a moment, I was screaming even louder, and finally one brave nurse grabbed me and said to me "You are going to have this baby very soon, and it is too late--YOU ARE NOT GETTING ANY DRUGS!" This, oddly, had a calming effect on me, and Agnish gave me a very serious pep talk where he told me he knew I could do it. So, I only pushed two times and baby Nico flew right out and was crying on my chest before I knew it! The post delivery was much more difficult than with Luca (where I had an epidural) as I didn't have any medication as they delivered the placenta and stitched up my tears (ouch!).
So, I had very opposite birth experiences from baby 1 (60 hours of labor, but relatively painless) to baby 2 (I'd say perhaps 2 hours of 'serious' labor but very painful)---but ultimately I'm happy that we all survived it okay!
I know what you want is more pictures but right now posting from laptop in my bed with baby on chest is what I can manage....so more pictures will come later when I can figure out a time to get downstairs to the desktop to download pictures!
So instead you get my account of the birth story before I forget all the details...
I woke up on Thursday morning at around 1 am with contractions. The contractions were quite irregular and this was an experience that I had been having for more than 4 weeks, so I really didn't think much about it (Btw I was 9 days past due date). I dozed and watched TV until about 4 am (Agnish was sleeping downstairs in the guestroom since I've been very tossy and turny in bed in the last few weeks). By about 4 am, I started to wonder if I was actually in labor as the contractions started to take on a more regular pattern. At 5 am, the contractions were 5 minutes apart but not super painful. So I called Labor & Delivery and consulted the nurse who said I should stay home for 1-2 hours since I could still talk through the contractions. I finished packing our hospital bag and hopped in the shower at about 5:30 am. By this time, the contractions were painful enough that I was doubling over in the shower. So, after the shower, I decided I should wake Agnish up. I also called over to my mom to ask her to come over and watch Luca. At 5:45, Agnish and I had a very calm, sane conversation where we decided that my mom would take me to the hospital and get me checked in, and that he would stay home to be there when Luca awoke (usually around 7 or 7:30 am) and then come in and meet me at the hospital after Joanne arrived.
In no less than 5 minutes after that conversation, things got much worse, very quickly. My contractions began to get very strong, accompanied by the worrying need to push, and were very close together. I also began to get very anxious and said to Agnish that he should drive me to the hospital instead of my mom (mostly because I was afraid that my mom would freak out and drive off a bridge since she doesn't exactly deal well with seeing me in pain). My mom showed up at around 6 and we were off to the hospital. The drive to the hospital was a blur as I was in a lot of pain, but I do remember feeling like I was on a bobsled (obviously affected by watching Winter Olympics). We arrived at the hospital at exactly 6:38 am. (A funny detail is that I called from the car to Labor and Delivery to tell them we were on our way, and asked if I could order an epidural over the phone to have it waiting for me).
The rest of the story is like a scene from the movies: As I walked into the hospital, i was already asking for the drugs. The nurse was walking me to our room, and told me that there was a really nice room at the end of the hall, but there was also a crappy room open a few steps away. I think she was testing to see if I was really serious but I "passed" her test and said we needed to get into the close room. There was a frustrating period of time where I continued to ask for drugs and the admitting nurses would not tell me whether I could have them or not, and I was screaming at everyone in pain (again, just like the movies). The doctor was called in quickly and it seemed that I was already 8-9 cm dialated...within a moment, I was screaming even louder, and finally one brave nurse grabbed me and said to me "You are going to have this baby very soon, and it is too late--YOU ARE NOT GETTING ANY DRUGS!" This, oddly, had a calming effect on me, and Agnish gave me a very serious pep talk where he told me he knew I could do it. So, I only pushed two times and baby Nico flew right out and was crying on my chest before I knew it! The post delivery was much more difficult than with Luca (where I had an epidural) as I didn't have any medication as they delivered the placenta and stitched up my tears (ouch!).
So, I had very opposite birth experiences from baby 1 (60 hours of labor, but relatively painless) to baby 2 (I'd say perhaps 2 hours of 'serious' labor but very painful)---but ultimately I'm happy that we all survived it okay!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Baby Nico is Here!
Well, if you haven't heard, Baby Nico made his arrival last Thursday morning. After a slightly hectic scramble to get to this hospital, Nico was born at 7:06am, weighing 8lbs 2oz, and was 20 inches long - about the same measurements as his brother Luca.
The past week has been a blur and could have been a bit smoother, though not really due to Baby Nico. Sadly, just 72 hours after giving birth and with little sleep since then, Mom had to deal with a nasty combination of a GI bug and a case of mastitis from breastfeeding just to add to the usual post-delivery pleasures...I'm sure her war story will come soon, once she has a little bit of sleep and free time to get back to blogging. Poor big brother Luca came down with the same GI bug and has spent most of this week dealing with vomitting, diarrhea, and feeling tired/listless.
So, not the best possible beginning to Nico's life at home, but fortunately things are getting better and we are just so happy to have two healthy boys at home with us!
So, on to the pictures:
Baby Nico feeling tired just after entering the world:
Sitting with Chloe Je-Je
Snuggling with Mommy
Home at last....
Fighting the swaddle...Nico so far does not seem to enjoy swaddling very much. He really likes to have his hands free and sleeps much better that way. Sleeping and eating has been a positive so far. He enjoys eating frequently and eating a lot (this is the cause of Mom's pains from breastfeeding) and likes to take pretty long naps after meals. I'm sure this will end now that I've written it down, but we'll enjoy it as long as it continues.
A close up...we think he is starting to look more like Luca did when Luca was around this age. We'll have to take some more pictures in the same outfits Luca wore and show them side-by-side. Nico also has lots of hair, though it is a bit more spiky than Luca's was. Nico has been a bit rash-y and his skin has been peeling a bit (all normal for this age) but it is starting to clear up.
Getting ready to go out.
Tummy time in the gymini...not a fan of tummy time so far.
A few more tidbits from Nico's first week:
- He loves sleeping on Mom and Dad's chest - he likes to fall asleep there and is actually pretty easy to move onto the bed for a nap.
- He seems to sleep anywhere and can sleep through most noises. This is one of those second kid vs first kid cliches, but it is really true in our case. With Luca, we would dim the lights throughout the house and make it as quiet as a museum in preparation for a nap...blankets and bassinets would be warmed with a heating pad, Luca would be rocked and jiggled for 3o minutes, and then he would be delicately placed into the bassinet while his parents laid stiff as mummies in the bed, daring only to breath quietly once every few minutes. He would be immediately snatched up at even the hint of a cry, with the entire process starting again. Nico, on the other hand, is haphazardly wrapped in the nearest piece of cloth (could be a blanket, towel, semi-dry dishrag, Dad's shirt that he had yet to put into the hamper) and then simply dropped onto the nearest horizontal surface (bed, couch, bassinet, kitchen counter-top). Then, he gets to contend with his parents quickly cleaning up the house around him, his brother driving a remote controlled car in his vicinity, and everyone eating meals/showering etc with little regard for how much noise they are making.
- The Luca-Nico relationship is still developing, but it is definitely getting better. We initially thought that Luca was more freaked-out than he really was, and only after the vomiting spell did we realize that his sad mood and clinginess was in large part due to his illness. As his health has improved he has started to actually show a little interest in Nico and at least doesn't seem too upset about having to share his mommy with his brother. Still, he is definitely more clingy with Daddy and we are picking our moments for getting them to interact. He does give his little brother a kiss each morning and night...he "helped" Daddy burp his brother by patting him on his back, which was fun, and has yet to show any aggressive tendencies, though that will probably not last. Unfortunately, our best Luca-Nico pictures are on Po-Po's camera, and may not see the light of the internet for some time. We'll take some more this weekend and try to get Uncle Kevin to free the pictures from the digital camera prison.
- We also just want to say thanks to all the family and friends that have made this first week much happier and easier than it could have been. Christina's parents and Chloe were very sweet and helpful, spending an entire month helping us to get ready and then helping with the transition from hospital to home. Our friends have been incredible - thanks to all of the wonderful people who sent notes of congratulations, food and treats. Our PEPS parents group is amazing - they created a food delivery schedule for us and are bringing dinner every night for the next 2 weeks as a welcome home present for Nico. We feel so lucky to have had the chance to meet them and become friends over the past two years and Nico is lucky to have a big set of big brothers/sisters to play with as he gets older. And we are so luck to have Ayi, who is both helping with Nico and also making sure Luca feels extra-loved this week.
- The first week home with a new baby and two boys was definitely tiring but Christina and I feel so incredibly blessed. A friend of ours just endured the worst week that a parent could ever imagine - they lost their 4 year old son last week in a terrible accident and seeing what they have gone through has been heart-breaking. We are so appreciative of what we've been given and can only hope for continued good fortune for ourselves and our family and friends.
So, that's it for now, we'll try to keep up better with posting in the coming weeks.
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