Happy Belly Button Day!

Tonight at 10:20 p.m., E's creepy umbilical stump fell off, leaving what I'm sure will end up being a very cute belly button. Yay for nothing on my baby being creepy!!!!

One Week at Home.....

So, one week out of the hospital, I’d like to say that I’m pretty alright at this parenting thing. Hubby is amazing. E is a champ, and we’re all working together to make this thing work.

She is feeding, sleeping and pooping exactly as she should. I never thought I’d care so much about another human’s feces, but there you have it. The day it turned colors like it was supposed to, it was a cause for celebration. It’s also a great sign that I am not yet a failure at the whole breastfeeding thing. For anyone thinking about attempting this feat- think about how far you made it in labor before begging for the epidural. If you made it halfway, or had the epi turned off prior to birth, then you can attempt it. If you rolled into the hospital at 1 cm and mild contractions and begging for the drugs, you may want to think again. Next to labor, this pain is the most mind-numbing and toe-curling I’ve ever experienced. However, it’s best for the Pup and that’s good enough for me. You also have to be prepared for your baby to make this horrible face when offered a boob.

Other than that, we’re settling into a rhythm, and really enjoying being a family. We did the first sponge bath, mostly to fix up her totally hot hair. We've finally gotten everything organized. And I've already lost 19 of the 26 lbs. I gained. If this keeps up, by the time I quit feeding E, I'll be at my goal weight rather than my prepregnancy weight. Yahoo!

I’m going to be so depressed when Hubby goes back to work. Why can’t we be independently wealthy so he can stay home for a long, long time? To make myself feel better about this issue- that’s not going to be an issue for at least another week… I went on a bit of a retail binge this evening- spending the gift cards we had left. That’s always fun. Pottery Barn kids has lots of cute holiday décor- I got a little something for Halloween, a little something for Thanksgiving, and a little something for Christmas. Emma is the perfect excuse to go crazy for every holiday

She's so teeny and amazing.

Life is so good....

I'm feeling better, my baby is better, we're going home, and I get to spend the rest of my life loving this.

Not Going Home Yet....

Thought we'd be going home this a.m., but unfortunately, baby E was a little early, has a severe cae of jaundice, and needs to finish toasting up in her little EasyBake Oven. Doesn't she look fetching in her goggles. The good news is that I was finally moved to a private room.

I'm very intimidated by this whole motherhood thing. I want so badly to take good care of E. She's already too smart for her own good, and has learned to remove her little goggles and roll off of her glo-blanket. Recovery is still pretty tough.

The bad news is that I had a major meltdown at the nurses station at 3 a.m. last night. Just so tires, and feeling like I wasn't giving E what she needed, and to top it all off - she invented a new cry.... high pitched, and hoarse, and almost inaudible. It completely breaks my heart.

Emma's Birth Story- the Unabridged Volume

Sept. 19, 2007, 2:30 a.m. - Woke up with what I assumed were gas cramps. Except they were happening pretty regularly - at first 1/2 an hour, then 15 min. I also started feeling very "leaky"- never quite making it to the bathroom, which I thought couple have been my waters breaking. By 4 a.m., I was not able to get comfortable between the cramps, and was pacing the living room reading as many versions as I could find of the differences between false and real labor. When Hubby's alarm went off at 6, I interrupted his tooth brushing to tell him that he was not going to work, but taking me to the hospital.... as soon as possible. The pain, by this point was so bad and close together (Between 5 and 7 minutes and lasting over a minute each) that I didn't care if they told me I was just consipated and incontinent. I just wanted to be seen by a doctor.

When we arrived at the hospital, the security guard who approached to let us know that we had to use the new, far away entrance took one look at me and jogged off for a wheelchair. We then spent 15 minutes in registration, despite being preregistered, before FINALLY getting to Labor and Delivery and strapped into the monitors. Contractions were coming at 4 minutes (photo is of me mid-contraction). Luckily, Dr. Hannah answered her page quickly and arrived shortly thereafter to check me for dialation and membrane rupture. She attempted to break my water, since I wasn't sure. Let me tell you, this isn't a gentle or delicate procedure. YOW! She also determined that I was at 4 cm dialated. She couldn't remember the last time a patient made it to 4 cm at home and told me that I was super-tough. I promptly requested my epidural. The anesthesiologist was AWESOME, and within 10 minutes, I wouldn't have been able to tell I was in labor, were it not for the fact that I was strapped down to a bed by an IV, heart rate monitor, fetal heart rate monitor, contraction monitor, amniotic fluid re-filler, catheter, epidural.... and possibly another few gadgets... I stopped counting. The nurse checked me a short while later and I had progressed to 6 cm. She estimated at that point, that we'd be having a baby shortly after the lunch hour.

It then became a game of hurry up and wait- until it was time to push. Unfortunately, this good time was cut short by the fact that Baby Girl's heartrate began to drop. They started pushing more fluids into the uterus, to help float her off her cord if that was the problem, and moving me from side to side. They also put me on oxygen. When that wasn't working as well as they'd like, they paged the doc again. Minutes later Dr. Robert - my primary ob, and Dr. Hannah's Hubby, arrived and said that since I was progressing so fast, we should try to push out the baby rather than go for major surgery. Still, he had the nurses check for an OR. I was at 8 cm, at this point so he didn't think it would be long. 20 minutes and a couple of heartrate dips later, I was at 10 cm, and he nonchalantly put on his scrubs and told Hubby to grab a leg. We were both taken aback at how quickly the moment had arrived. At this point, they also turned off the epidural, so I could feel things better, and push her out more quickly.

Pushing wasn't exactly fun, and got more an more painful at all times, but Baby Girl was headed for trouble, so I had to get her out quick. At 45 minutes of pushing, I hit the was and didn't think I was going to be able to do it. It hurt so badly, and I was so tired. Thank goodness for nurses. One of my nurses talked me through the pain, let me cry a little and got me ready for the next push. Not long after, out popped our baby girl. All three of us cried. As she emerged- which looked like the doctor trying to a salmon at Pike Place Market, I was overwhelmed by that parenting instinct to count the little pink toes (all I could see). Due to her technical prematurity (she was born at exactly 36 weeks), she had to be whisked away by the NICU staff to be checked for breathing. I could only hear her cry and listen to everyone tell me how gorgeous she was while the doctor fixed me up. They put her on my chest soon enough, though, and despite a seriously gnarly looking head, being covered in womb-cheese, and medical eye goop, she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

Emma is here!

Emma Kate
September 19, 2007
1:12 PM
6 lbs, 8 oz, 18.75 in


More details to come, when mom gets some sleep!

Muggleblog- At Long Last

Hubby has finally finished reading Deathly Hallows, and I've had time to digest my feelings on the book, so I think it's time to post a blog entry on the subject. There are some spoilers here, so if you haven't finished it, or don't want to know, skip this blog entry.

Let me start by saying that I love the Harry Potter series. I love the universe that J.K. Rowling has created, and all in all, I loved this book. I had big problems with it, but it was mostly a very appropriate ending for a great story.

Now the bad: I had a big problem with the deaths of Lupin and Tonks. I understand the choice to kill off their characters, particularly after they had just found love, and had a child. That is the cruelty of war. It's a paralell to Harry's own character. However, to do it so unceremoniously, was tragic. I felt they deserved better. Hubby and I both also feel that Rowling gave herself a few too many outs. This book suffered from what some of the other had, which is a lack of action (not a lack of story, or richness, or information, but simply a lack of action) in most of the book, leaving 200 pages at the end to pack in all the most important action. For this book, it left many many horcruxes to be destroyed in a short amount of time. In order to do that, things became a little too convenient for our heroes. Wanna destroy a locket, the sword will just show up. We gotta get rid of the diadem, let's create FiendFire. That'll do it. That bothered us both, along with the first 500 pages of camping in different locations while not finding or destroying anything.

Now that I have that out of my system, I loved, LOVED the richness that the characters developed in this book, particularly the characters of Snape and Dumbledore. Until this point, most of the characters in the series had either been good or bad, plain and simply, with the notable exception of Snape.... With him, we could never tell.

Having a shadow of doubt cast on Dumbledore was great for me. It made him fallable. Human. Real. While this is a magical universe, the ties to reality are wonderful. He was still a great man. But having been tried by the bad in his life is probably what made him that way.

As for Snape, the end of his story really choked me up. He was still a nasty piece of work. He never cared for Harry. Not one bit. However, the love he once felt, tied him to the good in the world. He was lonely, and power hungry, and willing to do almost anything to get what he wanted- just like Voldy, but he had the ability to love, even if unrequited. And it was the love for that woman that made him the second biggest hero of the books in my opinion. I heart Severus Snape. And I can't WAIT to see what Alan Rickman does with it in the next two films.

Viva Harry Potter! I can't wait until baby girl is old enough to start reading the books.

59th Annual Emmy Awards

Ummmm.... I thought they sucked. Ryan Seacrest was not the right host for this type of event, and was wearing what appeared to be a patent leather tie. I really disliked the "Theater in the Round" feel- everyone looked uncomfortable. The writing was TERRIBLE, and all in all the fashion was boring. Most everyone looked good, although, Vanessa Williams needs to learn that Green Feathers are almost always the wrong answer. My good friends Say and TK didn't have much to say. Maybe Oscar night will be more exciting this year...

Quote of the Day/Pregnancy Update Weeks 33 and 34

Made me laugh so hard I might have peed my pants a little. Says Hubby while gazing upon my 84 months pregnant visage... complete with unzipped maternity pants and a t-shirt that creeping up to my chest.....

"Jesus. Your navel looks like a bullet wound."

He's very concerned that the stretch marks hurt. They don't. They're just scary looking. All in all though, I'm really not that huge. She's a little overwhelming from the side, but I haven't gained a lot of width, and in all truth, the safe money was on my ass expanding to about four times it's size. That didn't happen.

As for the last two weeks of the pregnancy, they've been interesting. Week 33 was a good one, with only 1 dose of medicine. Then, last Friday, it hit. Our friend K was in town, and my shower was the next morning. I woke up at midnight in a state of hurtin. I then proceeded to puke violently every 1/2 an hour until 9 a.m., with one last round at 11:45 (5 minutes before I had to leave for my baby shower). The doc said as long as I could keep some liquid down and the baby was moving that I'd be fine. Unfortunately, I wasn't the most energetic at my baby shower, but still had a great time. The Cuz made it a beautiful party, and I've got some great group of friends that spoiled me rotten. I slept from the moment I got home til about noon the next morning- only rousing when Hubby made me drink an ounce or two of Gatorade or sip some soup. I had pretty much recovered by Monday a.m., in time to be left alone for another week of 90210 reruns, crossword puzzles, and general staring at the walls.

Since that time, I've had one more day where I needed a dose of meds, and had to skip childbirth class. Then, the Grandma decided she had something better to do, and half the family got the black lung, so my family shower, scheduled for tomorrow, was cancelled. No biggie. Instead, Hubby and I are staging a siege. Babies R Us won't know what hit 'em. Every day that goes by, I realize that Baby Girl could be here at any moment. After an incredibly generous gift basket arrived from Hubby's office, we have more than half the credit we need to get all our gear. Hubby stopped today to get the final linens for the Nursery, and to order my superhot diaperbag. By Sunday evening, we will be ready gear and room-wise for her arrival. I'm sure I'll post about the siege, the set-up, and all the fun we're going to have doing it.

Can we prepare mentally or emotionally? I really think not.

The coolest new TV show....

Okay, so I'm a year late. However, when Heroes came out on DVD, Hubby Netflixed the first disc to see if I would get into it. By the next morning, we were at Best Buy, buying the season. This is the greatest show since Grey's Anatomy. I'm equally thrilled - to have something that Hubby and I are both so into. He gets so excited when I get into anything even remotely Sci-Fi- and horrified - because I need another television appointment like I need a fat hole in my head. Still. The stories are great, the characters are great, and I CANNOT wait for the premiere in 2 weeks. It gets 4 out of 4 Spuds in my TV Reviewing Pantheon. Here's hoping that Season 2 can live up to it.

Pregnancy Update- Week 32

Week 32 was a heckuva lot better than week 31. I'm still on bedrest- and so is Ted. I haven't had to take meds for my contractions in a week, I'm feeling great, and every day that goes by is a day closer to the "safety zone" for little girl being born. As you can see. Romeo is also doing his best to make the little one feel cozy in the belly-house for at least a couple more weeks!

Nesting is still in full-swing. Hubby has been very good at taking instructions and putting together the baby's room. We have the mattress now, so it'll be improving day by day. I can't wait for our big shower next weekend, as I'm anticipating getting some of the gear we need to really feel prepared for her big entrance. I'm also finding myself nesting in ways that don't involve physical labor for myself.... including calling the management of our complex to see if we can upgrade our flooring mid-lease. The idea of having laminate downstairs is VERY appealing.

Upcoming this week.... not a whole lot. I'm getting a haircut and a facial in a couple of days, which will hopefully make me feel a little bit more like a human, as opposed to the bump on a log feel I've got most days.

I Wanna Be a Foodie Review II- Kitchen Confidential

Okay, so I'm on bedrest, and I can't actually go out for great food, but I can read about it, right? I just finished Anthony Bourdain's book Kitchen Confidential. Let me start by saying that this guy is one messed up bastard. He's a foul-mouthed, chain-smoking, decorum-lacking, frigging genius. The stories he tells are of the "I can't believe he lived to tell it"variety. And I am totally fascinated by the man. I mean, this is a guy whose website features a video clip of him eating the still-beating heart of a cobra. He has a natural inclination toward storytelling, though, and the book was highly, highly enjoyable.

I've seen his show on the travel channel a few times, and have really enjoyed his guest blogs on the Top Chef website. A few months ago, I found a blog where he railed on every Food Network chef. It was entertainment of the highest and snarkiest form.

I don't feel it's right to share any of the details of the book, because it would ruin the fun of reading the book. If you loved the TV show, Kitchen Confidential you will love this book as well, and hopefully, like me, you'll end up putting Brasserie Les Halles on your top ten Must Eat restaurants.

Pregnancy Update Week 31

This has been an exciting one, folks. At my doc's appointment a week ago, we determined that my Braxton Hicks contractions were too close together for comfort. So, Dr. G pulled me out of work, which was a bit of a shock, but not too disappointing. Doc said to put my feet up most of the day, and to call in a couple of days if they didn't slow down. Well, they didn't. So, on Saturday, I called the on-call guy, who told me to come into the hospital to see him. I was strapped to monitors for 3 hours, given two shots of a drug to calm the contractions, then sent home with a prescription.

Don't jump to conclusions, now. I'm not in real labor. Women have Braxton Hicks contractions all the time. This is just "threatened labor."

At my doc's appointment today, Dr. G said that he'd say there's less than a 50% chance that this little girl is coming early, and that I'll start feeling better a week or so from now, when I realize that how I am feeling is the norm for me, and that every practice contraction isn't the real thing.

So, in the meantime, I'm bonding with my Tivo and my Netflix, doing a bit of reading, and doing my darndest not to go stir crazy. As long as things remain calm, hopefully, I'll have more time for the blogging.

An LA Landmark Gets Another Chance

So, the Queen Mary has been bought by a group of investors that are planning to add more hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues to the area, making it more of a "destination." The article didn't mention any refurbishment to the ship itself, but I have to hope that such work is included in the plans.

Hubby and I went to visit the ship last year, and were disappointed to find it mostly rundown, with horrible gift shops, etc. It looks like they haven't done any refurbishment, let alone maintenance in the 40 years the ship has been docked in Long Beach. I'm sure it was dazzling in its day, but now needs work. No customer is going to be willing to pay over $100 a night for a musty, small stateroom with peeling paint. The touring exhibit of artifacts recovered from the Titanic, however, was absolutely amazing. If it comes near your town, I highly recommend going. But I digress. It'll be great for the City if they can do some refurbishment and start bringing in some dollars to this gre

at piece of history again.

My parents spent their wedding night on the Queen Mary, and someday I'd love to stay onboard too – preferably when it doesn't so closely resemble a roach motel. And as long as they never make me go in the propeller room again. That place has some serious bad juju. It is the place on Earth that I am most frightened of. I didn't have a bad experience in there or anything, it just felt so wrong. Bad, bad juju. Karma don't lie, people. Look at this creepy picture!

A Sweet Treat in an Unfriendly Land

Bakersfield may not be the greatest place on Earth. There's not a lot there. But one thing that IS there is Dewar' s. This confectioner makes the best taffy chews ever. Because my mom and her sibs grew up out there, we generally have a few boxes around at the holidays. Here at work, one of the bigwigs makes an annual trip and brings each department a box. I think I destroyed our department's box in 72 hours. I especially like the peanut butter and almond flavors. Peppermint is good, as is the caramel. The chocolate caramel, I can take or leave. Y'all should really try this stuff.

Pregnancy Update- Week 30

And friggin falling apart..... Pardon me while I bitch and moan for a few minutes. I honestly had my first moments of "GET THIS THING OUT OF ME!" this week. Sleeping on my side has caused me to throw out my neck so that I get a searing pain if I turn it wrong, or particularly if I laugh. And I like to laugh. I've been sleeping on my back to try to relieve this, which has left me waking up totally out of breath each morning, because the baby is resting on my lungs.

I've also started to experience calf cramps the likes of which I didn't think existed. Yesterday, I was nearly screaming while trying to work it out.

For these ills, I have gotten a membership at Massage Envy, and taken advantage of my first massage. It was nice, but didn't do the trick. Tomorrow, I try the accupuncturist. Yes, me, the girl afraid of needles. Should be interesting to say the least.

My vision is also going downhill. Everything seems to be blurry these days. I'm getting that taken care of this week.

Braxton Hicks contractions are getting more frequent, some days nearly constant (2 an hour), and others just in reaction to doing too much or getting stressed out. We'll see what the doc has to say about that on Thursday. I can't say I'd be disappointed if he put me on medical leave. I'd just rather not be on total bedrest.

There were good parts to these last couple weeks as well. As hard as it is to get around now, I love my big belly, and love the connection I have with the little girl in it. I'm getting so excited about the things we're going to get to share with her- particularly books. Today I ordered her the Beatrix Potter anthology. Oh how I love Beatrix Potter. Oh, that reminds me.... I need to put Ms. Potter on my Netflix queue. But I digress, I can really feel Baby Girl each time she moves, Hubby has felt her a few more times now, we think there may be a name.... maybe.... and I started a Theater Glut that will last for the next 4 weeks. I saw Wicked with a friend on Thursday, we have tickets for next Sunday, and will be seeing Jersey Boys next Sunday, and have tickets for Avenue Q in early September. I figured we won't be getting out to the theater terribly often after the little one arrives, so find cheap tickets and do it now. Lucky for me, Hubby agrees. I just hope I keep this level of mobility. At least for a while.

The nesting instinct has also kicked in with a vengence. I spent yesterday out with Mom and got just about everything I need to create a baby's room. Art is on order, and linens will wait until after the showers (I'm certainly not going to spend the money if someone's going to buy it for me!) . Other than that, we'll start putting the room together this week. To the left is a picture of the empty crib.... it's about all she's got going on in her room for now. More pictures to come as I do some decoratin'.

Busy week coming up that will hopefully solve some of these issues. Like I said, Monday, I'll be going to the accupuncturist, Tuesday is the eye doc, Wednesday I meet the Pediatrician I've been referred to, Thursday I go see Dr. G for my 31 week appointment, and Saturday Hubby and I go for our Hospital Orientation. Lots of fun, but all things that will make me feel more in control of this whole situation.

P.S. On another happy note, Hubby just helped me figure out how to show my line breaks in my entries. This should make it easier for those of you out there that read this. All three or four of you.

I Wanna Be a Foodie Review I - craft

I don't know what happened to Hubby and I recently- maybe it's the hours of watching Food Network, Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen and Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. Maybe it was the amazing gourmet meal we had in Hawaii. Maybe I'm just appreciating food more now that I'm "eating for two." Whatever it was, we've decided that we have a passion for simple, well cooked food. Food can be better than what you find at Friday's. And should be.

So, to celebrate our anniversary, Hubby and I took a drive down to Century City to visit craft , the newly opened Tom Colicchio restaurant. If you aren't familiar with this guy, he's a judge on Top Chef, and certainly not bad to look at. Bald-by-Choice is a brave look for a white dude. The location of this restaurant isn't ideal, at least not for those of us who don't work in the buildings immediately surrounding the restaurant. However, we were going on a busy Friday lunch hour, so I can't give it points off for that. The décor is simple and elegant, from what I could see. It was an ideal SoCal day, and we were seated out on the patio, so I didn't get a great view of the dining area. I can tell you, as a pregnant woman, that the restroom is lovely, and the stalls are spacious. A nice change from having to waddle in and straddle the bowl to get the door closed, as you have to in most public restrooms.

The menu looks to be changed often to incorporate fresh ingredients. Everything is ordered a la carte and is meant to be shared. I like that. A lot. Here's the rundown of our meal:

Hubby started with the Heirloom Tomato and Basil Seed salad, which he really enjoyed. We're both struggling a little to get over the "picky eater" syndrome of our childhood, and it did not escape our notice that the basil seeds were periwinkle blue and a little slimy, and that there was a small cube of clear jello-like something in the middle. Hubby said both were pretty tasteless, and that the flavor of the tomatoes was the real gem.

For the main course, Hubby had seared diver scallops that were like CANDY. Simply but perfectly, cooked in butter, they just peeled apart and were unbelievable. I had braised beef shortribs with root veggies. So tender, so flavorful. Probably would have tasted a little bit better had it been a cool, rainy day rather than 80 degrees and sunny, but that's not really important. We also shared a side of roasted assorted mushrooms. YUMM-AY. The dishes, served in individual sized cast iron pots, were just the right size to fill one person, and offer a taste to another. Two entrees and a side was more than enough for us, and I ended up taking home a little bit of the beef, and enjoyed it on a sandwich the next day. One small complaint- the food could have been a little warmer. We're assuming the heat level of our food was an anomaly.

Biggest downside for craft at lunch was the crowd. "Power players" from the surrounding offices peopled the joint, and we were unable to escape their inane chatter about how they just landed this huge deal. Coupled with the name dropping, it wore on our nerves, and perhaps caused us to rush, just ever so slightly through our Salty Chocolate Tart with Vanilla-something (nutty, coffee taste) Ice cream. Which was delish, by the way. Maybe the tart filling was a little too close to tasting like cake batter, but the juxtaposition with the salt was really interesting and yummy. Leave it to me to try the chocolate dessert. I couldn't bring myself to order the Olive Oil gelato. Yes. Olive Oil. I'm not that much of a foodie, yet. I would have ordered a glass of wine and two or three of the artisan cheeses on the menu if I weren't in such a delicate position. I've come this far, I can't cheat now….

All in all, I give craft high, but not ideal marks. I'm sure we'll be trying the food there again.

Going here is my next goal. Oh, and I want to try Sprinkles bakery. And go back to Enterprise Fish Co. for some amazing lobster bisque. And Lares for the best Mexican food in LA. Mmmm. Food.

Baby Einstein.... or Window Licker? (Hubby's Expression, not Mine, but funny just the same)

Hubby and I have already decided that TV is not going to be something that our baby will be exposed to all that often. Sure, it may be on to give mom something to do while feeding, cleaning, etc., but she's never going to be plopped in front of it as a babysitter. Turns out this instinct is right on.

A study by the University of Washington came out today saying that for every hour per day that babies (8 - 16 mo.) were shown "educational" videos, they knew 6 to 8 fewer words than their peers. Yowch. We're going to read to our baby. All the time. Reading is good. Books are to be worshiped/respected. TV, not so much. It's amazing. This same group had a study last year that showed that by 3 months old, 40% of babies are regular TV watchers and that by age 2, 90% of babies were watching TV 2-3 hours per day. 2-3 hours! This is appalling. When the TV is on in our house, it's only going to be Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers and Reading Rainbow, but it certainly won't be for 2 or 3 hours.

Will we resort to Baby Einstein or Baby TV every once in a while? Probably. I'm certainly not a Saint. It's not going to be a daily thing, though. No way!

In Case 8 Wasn't Enough... Try 9 More... And Counting!

Yes, it's true. Michelle Duggar, of Discovery Channel fame, has been pregnant for over 10 years of her life. She has a reprieve for now, having just given birth to her 17^th child. I just don't get it. Sure children are a gift, but if you want so many, why don't you spread the wealth and adopt a few from the 3^rd world. I think that an opinion writer for the San Francisco Chronicle put it best in a column written after the birth of the 16 ^th Duggar child: If God wanted you to have a massive pile of children, she'd have given your uterus a hydraulic pump and a revolving door. Stop it now.