March 2006 Old Blog Posts
February 21
Lose a Baby, Gain a Baby
Lose a baby, gain a baby...that's how I'm feeling tonight. A little bit sniffly, if you know what I mean. I just put Josiah to bed after a particularly bad crying fit. I've never seen him cry so hard, it broke my heart. I couldn't do anything to make him feel better. Hans and I are trying so hard to make sure that his routine stays fairly normal and that he doesn't feel left out or put aside, but obviously, he's still feeling the new addition very sorely.
Lose a baby, gain a baby. Hans and I keep talking about how big Josiah seems now that we have brought Annika home. He doesn't seem like a baby anymore, which would make sense, since he's not. He's a toddler. But up until a week ago, he seemed so little to me, so delicate and helpless. His clothes and diapers and dimpled, chubby legs seemed so baby-like. Now, since Annika has arrived in all her newborn-ness, Josiah seems enormous, sturdy, very un-babylike. And I'm mourning the loss of my first baby while I rejoice over my new baby. Ugh. This parenting thing is so hard. Why didn't any of you tell me how hard it is?
We're doing good though. Josiah really is interested in Annika. Violently in love with her, let's just say. There has been much unintentional poking of eyes and some pretty stiff "petting" of her head and face. Poor girl. She takes it all in stride and most of the time doesn't even wake up from her nap! Josiah keeps trying to crawl into her little chair with her. We have to be on guard 24-7 whenever those two are in the same room. He just doesn't understand that she's not a toy, but at least he shows interest in her. He calls her "little baby".
Mom and Dad's visit seems to be going fine. We have gotten them out of the house a little bit. Yesterday, Hans and Dad went to see the battleship MIKASA in Yokosuka, used during the Russo-Japanese War. We all went to the Daiei on Monday to take Josiah to the balloon room and do a little shopping. Today, Annika had her first doctor's checkup--she now weighs 8 lbs 3 oz and looks very healthy. She is eating like a horse--Hans and I figured around 30 oz of formula a day. Every hour on the hour during the day, seems like. She had about 6 oz in a 1-1/2 hour period yesterday. That's a lot for a newborn, but the doctor said she's fine as long as she's outputting too. She has a little case of thrush in her mouth, but nothing serious. She's doing great, changing already. I'm going to upload a couple of new pictures.
Gotta go check on my babies. Past and present.
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February 17
Annika Eliese De For!
Wouldn't you just know it? As soon as my "official" due date had rolled by (and me, as exasperated as could be) and the induction was scheduled for February 21st, Annika finally decided to make her appearance!
And of course, her birth was nothing like I expected it to be. After being disappointed at our appointment on Tuesday, I went home fully expecting to wait for the induction. Hans has been on leave since Monday afternoon, so we spent the rest of Tuesday around the house. Wednesday was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. We didn't do too much, except that at about 3:30 p.m. Josiah and I headed down to meet Mariska and Alexis at the park. It was so nice and unseasonably warm that we stayed at the park letting the kids tear around until 5:00 p.m.
Then, we all parted ways, I went home, had some dinner and had just laid down on the couch for a rest when my water broke. This didn't happen with Josiah, so it was a bit of a surprise. Of course, being my mother's child, I immediately and instinctively rolled off the couch, thus avoiding messing up the upholstery. The contractions started immediately and almost immediately were around four minutes apart, and down to around a minute apart by the time we made it to Yokosuka. Kudos to my husband, who kept his wits driving under pressure in Japan!
So, I'll spare everyone the gory details, but basically, labor started at 6:20 p.m. and we had Annika at 7:39 p.m. There was no time for any pain medication, so yes, that's right: not only did I give birth in a crazy small amount of time, but without pain medication. So now I get to be one of those self-righteous "no painkiller" mommies. Though I was screaming for painkiller up until the last minute...there just wasn't time.
Anyway. Annika is here and she's great. Very awake and aware and eating like a horse. She weighed 7 lbs 15 oz and is 20". I say "weighed" because she's already gained weight! We came home from the hospital this morning and so far, so good. Josiah seems to be truly delighted by his sister. We just have to work on not poking her eyes!
Sorry if this is a bit scarce. Of course, I'm tired and needing to pay attention to six things...I'll update more later. Enjoy the pictures. Annika looks a lot like Josiah, except for all her dark hair! I'm still not certain where that came from. Well, I'm willing to bet she'll look very different even in a couple of weeks.
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February 01
The Long Walk
The long, lonnnnnngggg walk. Went to the doctor today. My doctor is awesome by the way--not only is he easy to look at, he takes time to listen to my concerns, no matter how ridiculous they might seem, and he's very gentle. Which is very important in an OB/GYN, right ladies? Hans got to meet Dr. B today for the first time, and of course, the minute Dr. B walked out, Hans giggled like a teenager and said "He is cute". Remind me never to find another man attractive.
Anyway, Dr. B checked everything out. I'm dilated a little bit more. I was hoping it would be a little bit more than a little bit more, like maybe 8 cm or something. Then, they would have to admit me and give me glorious pitocin or a similar drug to speed the process up. We're just a little more than 4, but progress is being made and since I'm not in any pain just yet (except pain of the mental sort), I'm not going to whine.
Dr. B did say that the chances of it happening soon are very good and recommended that we walk for 2-3 hours and see if we got any good contractions started. So Hans and I headed for our new gym onbase and walked on the track around the basketball courts for two hours. Sure enough, we got lots of contractions, but nothing regular and nothing painful, so we decided to call it quits and I headed home. Sigh. Well, at least I got some really great exercise today. That's a plus. It was a little embarassing being the only enormously pregnant woman at the gym. The guys playing basketball gave us some strange looks until they got used to the fact that we (well, I) were going to be waddling around and around for awhile.
May I say though that I'm not sure if my husband has ever done something so gallant as to walk around in circles with me for two hours? Men think they have to buy you diamonds or bring you flowers to earn your love and respect. Not true. Those two hours were much more meaningful to me than any gift. Thanks, Kit. You rock.
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Lose a Baby, Gain a Baby
Lose a baby, gain a baby...that's how I'm feeling tonight. A little bit sniffly, if you know what I mean. I just put Josiah to bed after a particularly bad crying fit. I've never seen him cry so hard, it broke my heart. I couldn't do anything to make him feel better. Hans and I are trying so hard to make sure that his routine stays fairly normal and that he doesn't feel left out or put aside, but obviously, he's still feeling the new addition very sorely.
Lose a baby, gain a baby. Hans and I keep talking about how big Josiah seems now that we have brought Annika home. He doesn't seem like a baby anymore, which would make sense, since he's not. He's a toddler. But up until a week ago, he seemed so little to me, so delicate and helpless. His clothes and diapers and dimpled, chubby legs seemed so baby-like. Now, since Annika has arrived in all her newborn-ness, Josiah seems enormous, sturdy, very un-babylike. And I'm mourning the loss of my first baby while I rejoice over my new baby. Ugh. This parenting thing is so hard. Why didn't any of you tell me how hard it is?
We're doing good though. Josiah really is interested in Annika. Violently in love with her, let's just say. There has been much unintentional poking of eyes and some pretty stiff "petting" of her head and face. Poor girl. She takes it all in stride and most of the time doesn't even wake up from her nap! Josiah keeps trying to crawl into her little chair with her. We have to be on guard 24-7 whenever those two are in the same room. He just doesn't understand that she's not a toy, but at least he shows interest in her. He calls her "little baby".
Mom and Dad's visit seems to be going fine. We have gotten them out of the house a little bit. Yesterday, Hans and Dad went to see the battleship MIKASA in Yokosuka, used during the Russo-Japanese War. We all went to the Daiei on Monday to take Josiah to the balloon room and do a little shopping. Today, Annika had her first doctor's checkup--she now weighs 8 lbs 3 oz and looks very healthy. She is eating like a horse--Hans and I figured around 30 oz of formula a day. Every hour on the hour during the day, seems like. She had about 6 oz in a 1-1/2 hour period yesterday. That's a lot for a newborn, but the doctor said she's fine as long as she's outputting too. She has a little case of thrush in her mouth, but nothing serious. She's doing great, changing already. I'm going to upload a couple of new pictures.
Gotta go check on my babies. Past and present.
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February 17
Annika Eliese De For!
Wouldn't you just know it? As soon as my "official" due date had rolled by (and me, as exasperated as could be) and the induction was scheduled for February 21st, Annika finally decided to make her appearance!
And of course, her birth was nothing like I expected it to be. After being disappointed at our appointment on Tuesday, I went home fully expecting to wait for the induction. Hans has been on leave since Monday afternoon, so we spent the rest of Tuesday around the house. Wednesday was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. We didn't do too much, except that at about 3:30 p.m. Josiah and I headed down to meet Mariska and Alexis at the park. It was so nice and unseasonably warm that we stayed at the park letting the kids tear around until 5:00 p.m.
Then, we all parted ways, I went home, had some dinner and had just laid down on the couch for a rest when my water broke. This didn't happen with Josiah, so it was a bit of a surprise. Of course, being my mother's child, I immediately and instinctively rolled off the couch, thus avoiding messing up the upholstery. The contractions started immediately and almost immediately were around four minutes apart, and down to around a minute apart by the time we made it to Yokosuka. Kudos to my husband, who kept his wits driving under pressure in Japan!
So, I'll spare everyone the gory details, but basically, labor started at 6:20 p.m. and we had Annika at 7:39 p.m. There was no time for any pain medication, so yes, that's right: not only did I give birth in a crazy small amount of time, but without pain medication. So now I get to be one of those self-righteous "no painkiller" mommies. Though I was screaming for painkiller up until the last minute...there just wasn't time.
Anyway. Annika is here and she's great. Very awake and aware and eating like a horse. She weighed 7 lbs 15 oz and is 20". I say "weighed" because she's already gained weight! We came home from the hospital this morning and so far, so good. Josiah seems to be truly delighted by his sister. We just have to work on not poking her eyes!
Sorry if this is a bit scarce. Of course, I'm tired and needing to pay attention to six things...I'll update more later. Enjoy the pictures. Annika looks a lot like Josiah, except for all her dark hair! I'm still not certain where that came from. Well, I'm willing to bet she'll look very different even in a couple of weeks.
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February 01
The Long Walk
The long, lonnnnnngggg walk. Went to the doctor today. My doctor is awesome by the way--not only is he easy to look at, he takes time to listen to my concerns, no matter how ridiculous they might seem, and he's very gentle. Which is very important in an OB/GYN, right ladies? Hans got to meet Dr. B today for the first time, and of course, the minute Dr. B walked out, Hans giggled like a teenager and said "He is cute". Remind me never to find another man attractive.
Anyway, Dr. B checked everything out. I'm dilated a little bit more. I was hoping it would be a little bit more than a little bit more, like maybe 8 cm or something. Then, they would have to admit me and give me glorious pitocin or a similar drug to speed the process up. We're just a little more than 4, but progress is being made and since I'm not in any pain just yet (except pain of the mental sort), I'm not going to whine.
Dr. B did say that the chances of it happening soon are very good and recommended that we walk for 2-3 hours and see if we got any good contractions started. So Hans and I headed for our new gym onbase and walked on the track around the basketball courts for two hours. Sure enough, we got lots of contractions, but nothing regular and nothing painful, so we decided to call it quits and I headed home. Sigh. Well, at least I got some really great exercise today. That's a plus. It was a little embarassing being the only enormously pregnant woman at the gym. The guys playing basketball gave us some strange looks until they got used to the fact that we (well, I) were going to be waddling around and around for awhile.
May I say though that I'm not sure if my husband has ever done something so gallant as to walk around in circles with me for two hours? Men think they have to buy you diamonds or bring you flowers to earn your love and respect. Not true. Those two hours were much more meaningful to me than any gift. Thanks, Kit. You rock.
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