| Max | Jorie | |
| Weight: | 4 lbs 2 oz | 3 lbs 13 oz |
| Length: | 17.25 inches | 17.5 inches |
| Time: | 7:17 AM | 7:51 AM |
Showing posts with label pregnancy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pregnancy. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Happy Birthday Kapallen Twins
After 34 weeks of gestation, Max David and Jorie Grace Van Allen joined us this morning just short of 8 am.
Amanda was strong through a very difficult labor. Considering the circumstances, mother and babies are doing well.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!
The Kapallen’s have had a fast 2009 . . .
Jude is 22 months old and is continuing to grow fast. As we browse pictures from earlier this year, we’re reminded that he’s no longer our baby, but is becoming our little boy. He loves Elmo, our dog and cat, his friends, and his family. He is snuggly after naps, strong-willed, and smart (of course). We love the time we get to spend with him and feel deeply blessed by our little guy.
Dave has been quite busy this year. He continues to work at the local insurance companies' corporate headquarters. We are thankful for his secure job in the current weak economy.
Outside of his 9-5 . . .back in July -- and thanks to lots of help from many friends -- he started working on his dream garage. He demolished our existing two-stall and – with a trip to the emergency room and 4 stitches later – we ended up with a beautiful three-stall garage. He now can make all the furniture for our house in his new wood shop. ;)
Next on our list was finishing the basement. We weren’t sure when it would get done, but with hopes of having more children, knew it was a top priority. The time came in mid-November when my brother John (a plumber by trade) came up over a few days and roughed in the plumbing and relocated our basement laundry. It’s virtually finished now. We should have some pictures to share on next month’s blog post.
Dave has acquired lots of knowledge and skills in the last five years of living in a 100-year old home. Amidst all of this, Dave also manages to maintain a semi-regular running routine. Jude loves to go along in the stroller. Pacey, our three-year-old Vizsla, doesn’t miss a run. That is, until she got hit by a car in mid-November. The good news is that it could have been much worse. She's getting better day by day and should be ready to go full steam come spring time.
Beginning in the 2009-10 school year, I started a part-time teaching position at Bloomington High School. This transition from full to part-time has been such an answer to prayer. I have always loved teaching, but felt very torn about the time missed during the day with Jude. This new arrangement works out perfectly for our family. I feel very blessed to have more time at home.
We continued to travel this year. The New Year found us visiting Dave’s family in the DC area. Over my spring break, we joined our friends, the Jeffrey’s, in Jamaica for a week on the beach. The first week of August is always reserved for my side of the family's annual vacation. This year it was spent in South Haven, Michigan. And in October, we visited Dave’s high school friend, John and his family in Orlando. We also made fairly regular monthly visits to Edwardsville to visit my family.
The biggest news of 2009 is . . .we are expecting twins in May. We’re so excited about adding more children to our family! At the same time, we are quite nervous about the challenges that come with multiples. There's lots more to say about that . . .not sure where to begin!
On a final note, Jude's quickly approaching the terrible two's. His favorite word seems to be "No," and we’ve been trying to teach him the virtue of sharing. “People are more important than things,” Dave tells him often. Isn’t it funny how God re-teaches us these simple lessons through our children?!
If we haven’t told you lately, we want take the opportunity to say that we truly value you. Thank you for your continued friendship over the years; for being our partners in life. Our hope is that you, too, had a great 2009 and that 2010 is our best year yet!
Love,
Amanda & Dave
Jude is 22 months old and is continuing to grow fast. As we browse pictures from earlier this year, we’re reminded that he’s no longer our baby, but is becoming our little boy. He loves Elmo, our dog and cat, his friends, and his family. He is snuggly after naps, strong-willed, and smart (of course). We love the time we get to spend with him and feel deeply blessed by our little guy.
Dave has been quite busy this year. He continues to work at the local insurance companies' corporate headquarters. We are thankful for his secure job in the current weak economy.
Outside of his 9-5 . . .back in July -- and thanks to lots of help from many friends -- he started working on his dream garage. He demolished our existing two-stall and – with a trip to the emergency room and 4 stitches later – we ended up with a beautiful three-stall garage. He now can make all the furniture for our house in his new wood shop. ;)
Next on our list was finishing the basement. We weren’t sure when it would get done, but with hopes of having more children, knew it was a top priority. The time came in mid-November when my brother John (a plumber by trade) came up over a few days and roughed in the plumbing and relocated our basement laundry. It’s virtually finished now. We should have some pictures to share on next month’s blog post.
Dave has acquired lots of knowledge and skills in the last five years of living in a 100-year old home. Amidst all of this, Dave also manages to maintain a semi-regular running routine. Jude loves to go along in the stroller. Pacey, our three-year-old Vizsla, doesn’t miss a run. That is, until she got hit by a car in mid-November. The good news is that it could have been much worse. She's getting better day by day and should be ready to go full steam come spring time.
Beginning in the 2009-10 school year, I started a part-time teaching position at Bloomington High School. This transition from full to part-time has been such an answer to prayer. I have always loved teaching, but felt very torn about the time missed during the day with Jude. This new arrangement works out perfectly for our family. I feel very blessed to have more time at home.
We continued to travel this year. The New Year found us visiting Dave’s family in the DC area. Over my spring break, we joined our friends, the Jeffrey’s, in Jamaica for a week on the beach. The first week of August is always reserved for my side of the family's annual vacation. This year it was spent in South Haven, Michigan. And in October, we visited Dave’s high school friend, John and his family in Orlando. We also made fairly regular monthly visits to Edwardsville to visit my family.
The biggest news of 2009 is . . .we are expecting twins in May. We’re so excited about adding more children to our family! At the same time, we are quite nervous about the challenges that come with multiples. There's lots more to say about that . . .not sure where to begin!
On a final note, Jude's quickly approaching the terrible two's. His favorite word seems to be "No," and we’ve been trying to teach him the virtue of sharing. “People are more important than things,” Dave tells him often. Isn’t it funny how God re-teaches us these simple lessons through our children?!
If we haven’t told you lately, we want take the opportunity to say that we truly value you. Thank you for your continued friendship over the years; for being our partners in life. Our hope is that you, too, had a great 2009 and that 2010 is our best year yet!
Love,
Amanda & Dave
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Thanks for blessing us!
Over the past few years, Amanda and I have been humbled by friends and family who have supported us to bring Jude to be with us. Words of encouragement, prayers, gifts, meals, etc.
Thank you for being such a blessing to us! We truly appreciate all you have done to bless our family. Words can't express our gratitude . . .when the time comes, please let us know how we can return the favor!
Thank you for being such a blessing to us! We truly appreciate all you have done to bless our family. Words can't express our gratitude . . .when the time comes, please let us know how we can return the favor!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Our BabyPlus story
On their company website, the founder of the BabyPlus company boldly declares:
BabyPlus children have an intellectual, developmental, creative, and emotional advantage from the time they are born.
The site goes on to name several benefits of using BabyPlus:
- More readily nurse
- Display an increased ability to self soothe
- Are more interactive & responsive
- Are better relaxed and alert at birth
We used BabyPlus after our fertility doctor recommended it. Since he shares the same last name as the BabyPlus founder and president, there's a chance his endorsement may have been coerced.
That fact aside, we have noticed that Jude has been thus far the picture of a perfect baby. He's had no problems nursing, has been alert and awake during the day and sleeps well at night. Really, his biggest challenges to date have been with training his parents how to recognize a dirty diaper, how to swaddle tightly and in general how to recognize what he's trying to communicate to his rookie parents!
We've joked that we're not going to use BabyPlus on our second child so we can test to see if it really works! Kidding aside, it wasn't very difficult to add to Amanda's routine and I would think we'll probably use it again for child #2.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Welcome Jude Mark!
Please join us in welcoming Jude Mark to the kapallen clan!
Born: February 23
Time: 6:33 p.m.
Weight: 7 lbs. 0 oz.
Length: 19 inches
When we get home, we'll post some of the details about the labor and delivery process. Amanda was such a champ, laboring 8 hours at home and 18 in the hospital! After just 45 minutes of pushing, out came the first and only of the next generation of the Van Allen family namesake!
Born: February 23
Time: 6:33 p.m.
Weight: 7 lbs. 0 oz.
Length: 19 inches
When we get home, we'll post some of the details about the labor and delivery process. Amanda was such a champ, laboring 8 hours at home and 18 in the hospital! After just 45 minutes of pushing, out came the first and only of the next generation of the Van Allen family namesake!
"Easy" does it
Amanda started pushing at 5:45, just when her dad arrived at the hospital. We had been in communication with family all day long. Mark finished his shift at 3 and immediately got on the road. After a long 2 hour drive, he was with us on the Labor and Delivery floor. Another nurse came in and said, "Amanda, your dad is here." We just looked at each other and thought, "What do we do?"
Our nurse had instructed us how to push. She wanted us to do 3 sets of counts to 10 seconds during each contraction with rest in between. We were in our second 10-count when I asked if we could stop and talk to her dad. That was a special moment!
After a quick connection with her dad, we were back on task. Pushing was hard at first because of the epidural. Her face would get real read because she wasn't pushing quite right. The epidural had partially worn off by now, but not so much that it was painful -- just enough to get a feel for when she was pushing.
With a little help from what looked kind of like a wardrobe mirror, Jude was born just 45 minutes later. I think the most exciting part of the whole experience for me was to see him exit the birth canal. Here's this little baby with his shoulders pushed together and neck and legs tucked tight. He came out of the birth canal like a transformers toy, shoulders, back and legs all straightening out as he explored the newfound space of the expansiveness around him.
Because of how he sat in the birth canal, his head had a big purple knot on it for the first few hours. By Sunday morning, it had reduced to the appearance of a light hickey-bruise.
Around 7 pm, Amanda's mom called to say that her train was almost in town. Amanda hadn't eaten now for almost 24 hours and was starving by now, so Mark and I left to pick some dinner up on the way to picking Linda up. Amanda's first post-birth meal: a PotBelly's Turkey & Swiss on white with a chocolate milkshake.
As we sat and talked about her labor, Amanda told us, "If I had to do this again next week, I could do it." While there's nothing easy about labor, after her painful first trimester, she had been gifted a wonderful delivery experience.
To that I say, "Bring on #2!"
Our nurse had instructed us how to push. She wanted us to do 3 sets of counts to 10 seconds during each contraction with rest in between. We were in our second 10-count when I asked if we could stop and talk to her dad. That was a special moment!
After a quick connection with her dad, we were back on task. Pushing was hard at first because of the epidural. Her face would get real read because she wasn't pushing quite right. The epidural had partially worn off by now, but not so much that it was painful -- just enough to get a feel for when she was pushing.
With a little help from what looked kind of like a wardrobe mirror, Jude was born just 45 minutes later. I think the most exciting part of the whole experience for me was to see him exit the birth canal. Here's this little baby with his shoulders pushed together and neck and legs tucked tight. He came out of the birth canal like a transformers toy, shoulders, back and legs all straightening out as he explored the newfound space of the expansiveness around him.
Because of how he sat in the birth canal, his head had a big purple knot on it for the first few hours. By Sunday morning, it had reduced to the appearance of a light hickey-bruise.
Around 7 pm, Amanda's mom called to say that her train was almost in town. Amanda hadn't eaten now for almost 24 hours and was starving by now, so Mark and I left to pick some dinner up on the way to picking Linda up. Amanda's first post-birth meal: a PotBelly's Turkey & Swiss on white with a chocolate milkshake.
As we sat and talked about her labor, Amanda told us, "If I had to do this again next week, I could do it." While there's nothing easy about labor, after her painful first trimester, she had been gifted a wonderful delivery experience.
To that I say, "Bring on #2!"
The ninth inning!
We're down to the wire now. Amanda hit 8 cm around 3:30 pm and by 5:30 was 10 cm and fetal station +2. At this point, we thought about having Amanda's epidural topped off, but it was too late. We're ready to start pushing!
If I get a chance to, I'll add a video to this post later. Amanda gave me very specific instructions on how to count. "You have to count steady, don't slow down. 1, 2, 3. Hold my head up. You should have watched 'A Baby Story' with me this week, you would have gotten it all." How funny!
Amanda had DVR'ed like 10 episodes at the neighbor's house (Tom & Sue's) while they were on vacation in Florida and watched most of them during her two off days this week.
The eighth inning
When I got back from the cafeteria, I arrived and was surprised to see Amanda wearing an oxygen mask and a heart monitor probe attached to the baby's head! The nurse said that the heart monitor inside the elastic band around Amanda's waist wasn't picking up a signal and that the probe was a necessary step. Giving her oxygen was just a precautionary measure.
Amanda, you'll love that I've chronicled this for history! After arriving back and catching up on her progress -- she was now dilated to 6 cm -- I decided to kick back and relax with Amanda. By now, the epidural was in full effect and she wasn't feeling a thing. I had the reclining chair pulled out so I could face Amanda and was in a full horizontal stretch when she asked me, "What smells like Cheetos?" I couldn't smell it, but she sure could. Turns out the reason I couldn't smell it was because the smell was exactly 6 feet from my nose (it was my feet!).
Amanda, you'll love that I've chronicled this for history! After arriving back and catching up on her progress -- she was now dilated to 6 cm -- I decided to kick back and relax with Amanda. By now, the epidural was in full effect and she wasn't feeling a thing. I had the reclining chair pulled out so I could face Amanda and was in a full horizontal stretch when she asked me, "What smells like Cheetos?" I couldn't smell it, but she sure could. Turns out the reason I couldn't smell it was because the smell was exactly 6 feet from my nose (it was my feet!).The seventh inning stretch
The doctor came in to check on Amanda around 1 pm. Since she was at 5 cm the doctor decided to break her water. They told us that things should start to move a little more quickly now. As if they could go any slower!
Knowing this might be my last chance, I decided to head down to snack on some chili before the going gets rough!
Knowing this might be my last chance, I decided to head down to snack on some chili before the going gets rough!
The sixth inning
Now dilated to 4 cm, Amanda was given her pitocin around 11:40 am. About 20 minutes later, the anesthesiologist came in and administered the epidural. How much do you think that changed her outlook? (See below for the answer.)
The administration of the epidural was a little stressful though. As the anesthesiologist was looking for the space between the vertebrae in her back, he told her that he would need to slightly adjust the position of the needle if she started to tingle. It wasn't painful at all for her, but was stressful for me to watch!
The administration of the epidural was a little stressful though. As the anesthesiologist was looking for the space between the vertebrae in her back, he told her that he would need to slightly adjust the position of the needle if she started to tingle. It wasn't painful at all for her, but was stressful for me to watch!The fifth inning
It's morning now, and we've made it through the night. Amanda's now dilated to 3 cm and is 100% effaced. She's lost her mucus plug, but her water hasn't broken yet.
Once they gave Amanda the nubain narcotic medicine, they told us she wasn't allowed to have anything but ice chips. What fun is that?! Like a good husband, I sneaked her some ice water and Gatorade on occasion.
Things so far really have been going our way. Who am I to say -- I'm sure Amanda would have hoped to be more advanced than she was when we got to the hospital, and to experience a little less back labor -- but, all in all, it's been pretty good so far. Our next move was to try out the birthing tub.
We had the nurses filling up the tub earlier this morning. As they were filling it up, I caught them reading the instruction manual. Apparently it doesn't get much use! They filled it up half way and the temperature was reading over the maximum recommended 100°F, so they made us wait for it to cool down. (The whole time I'm thinking, why can't we just add some cold water to it?!)
Well, after an hour of waiting -- and listening to the screaming woman across the hall deliver a baby without an epidural -- Amanda finally got her bath. It really did seem cozy -- soft music, soft lights, a good book and a nice big tub filled with warm water.
At this point, I was starting to get hungry and had two alternatives to choose from: make a 10 minute walk for some cafeteria food or walk down 2 flights of stairs and drive the 7 blocks home. Bacon and eggs were sounding pretty good, so I made my way home.
Not a bad choice at all -- I made it home and back to the hospital in just 40 minutes. When I got there, Amanda was practically asleep in the tub! I excused myself to the delivery room where she joined me 20 minutes later . . .
Once they gave Amanda the nubain narcotic medicine, they told us she wasn't allowed to have anything but ice chips. What fun is that?! Like a good husband, I sneaked her some ice water and Gatorade on occasion.
Things so far really have been going our way. Who am I to say -- I'm sure Amanda would have hoped to be more advanced than she was when we got to the hospital, and to experience a little less back labor -- but, all in all, it's been pretty good so far. Our next move was to try out the birthing tub.
We had the nurses filling up the tub earlier this morning. As they were filling it up, I caught them reading the instruction manual. Apparently it doesn't get much use! They filled it up half way and the temperature was reading over the maximum recommended 100°F, so they made us wait for it to cool down. (The whole time I'm thinking, why can't we just add some cold water to it?!)
Well, after an hour of waiting -- and listening to the screaming woman across the hall deliver a baby without an epidural -- Amanda finally got her bath. It really did seem cozy -- soft music, soft lights, a good book and a nice big tub filled with warm water.
At this point, I was starting to get hungry and had two alternatives to choose from: make a 10 minute walk for some cafeteria food or walk down 2 flights of stairs and drive the 7 blocks home. Bacon and eggs were sounding pretty good, so I made my way home.
Not a bad choice at all -- I made it home and back to the hospital in just 40 minutes. When I got there, Amanda was practically asleep in the tub! I excused myself to the delivery room where she joined me 20 minutes later . . .
Needling butterflies
The nurse told us that she was going to administer nubain to help with the back labor. She thought the baby might have been twisted or in an awkward position. In order to do this, she had to hook up an IV. Dave and I both told her that my veins were very hard to find, and the best thing to do is use a butterfly from the start.The first nurse tried a few times and poked around. They never believe Dave or me when we say that I have difficult veins. Each new nurse thinks they are super nurse and take my veins as a personal challenge to overcome at the cost of my bruised arms.
The second nurse was finally able to tap a vein in my forearm. Once the nubain was working, I started to believe that medication was the way to go!
The third inning
Pre-registered, checked-in and now situated in our room, we decided to walk the halls for what seemed to be hours. Well, I guess it did last a few hours! Amanda and I began walking the halls off an on around 1:30 am. By 2 am, she was still just 2 cm dilated, but was 90% effaced.
Earlier this week on Tuesday, Amanda went to the doctor's who told her that she was 70-80% effaced. All that time had passed -- including laboring at home -- and we only gained that?!
We walked the halls until 3:30 am or so. She was experiencing some good back labor and, by then, it was getting to the point where walking around wasn't helping any more. Time for some medication!
Earlier this week on Tuesday, Amanda went to the doctor's who told her that she was 70-80% effaced. All that time had passed -- including laboring at home -- and we only gained that?!
We walked the halls until 3:30 am or so. She was experiencing some good back labor and, by then, it was getting to the point where walking around wasn't helping any more. Time for some medication!
Final preparations
With all of our preparations made, I thought it would be a good idea to try and get some sleep. That was easy enough for Dave!
I, on the other hand, was busy nesting in high gear . . . I took a bath (couldn't have hairy legs for the big event!). Cleaned the bathroom. Organized more baby stuff. Prepared the guest room for my parents. Tried to fall asleep (hoping I would be one of those lucky ones that could sleep during labor), but that did not work. So I tried reading to pass some time. But when I found myself unable to finish a paragraph due to the sharp pain in my abdomen, I figured it was time to wake Dave and get on the road to the hospital.
I woke Dave up shortly after midnight. He packed the car and we drove off with Pacey chasing us down the street. JC and Zsuzsanna offered to watch Pacey when the time came, and sure enough, the time was here. Dave walked Pacey up to their door and, surprisingly, JC was still awake. Keslie sure was happy see Pacey.
With all of our preparations complete, we made the 7-block drive to the hospital. We arrived at the emergency room entrance around 12:30 am and, after filling out some quick paperwork, wheeled up to the labor and delivery area (note: pre-registering ahead of time saved us time when quickness counted.) They put us in room 4, the same room we had for our practice run.
I, on the other hand, was busy nesting in high gear . . . I took a bath (couldn't have hairy legs for the big event!). Cleaned the bathroom. Organized more baby stuff. Prepared the guest room for my parents. Tried to fall asleep (hoping I would be one of those lucky ones that could sleep during labor), but that did not work. So I tried reading to pass some time. But when I found myself unable to finish a paragraph due to the sharp pain in my abdomen, I figured it was time to wake Dave and get on the road to the hospital.
I woke Dave up shortly after midnight. He packed the car and we drove off with Pacey chasing us down the street. JC and Zsuzsanna offered to watch Pacey when the time came, and sure enough, the time was here. Dave walked Pacey up to their door and, surprisingly, JC was still awake. Keslie sure was happy see Pacey.
With all of our preparations complete, we made the 7-block drive to the hospital. We arrived at the emergency room entrance around 12:30 am and, after filling out some quick paperwork, wheeled up to the labor and delivery area (note: pre-registering ahead of time saved us time when quickness counted.) They put us in room 4, the same room we had for our practice run.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Wrapping things up @ home
With the movie over, we went home and made final preparations.
Task #1: I packed my overnight bag and moved our bags to the front door. Of course, Amanda has had her bag packed for a month or so already.
Task#2: Molly, our neighbor's dog, was still under our care. We knew that wasn't going to work out for the next few days, so I walked across the street to Dave and Cathy's hoping that they would be able to help out. Cathy was out of town, but Dave was home chilling out. Amanda was having contractions that were about 5 minutes apart at this point, and when I told him that, his eyes got pretty big! I said that if I called him between 6 am and 8 am, we would probably be at the hospital, and if I called after 8 am, we were probably sleeping in!Thankfully, David was more than gracious and offered to watch Molly until Tom and Sue came home.
Our last DINK date!
This may be a bit of reversionist history, as I'm actually writing this on 3/8, but it's all for a good cause. Jude's been around for 2 weeks now, but I'd like to write some of this down so we don't forget. For Jude's sake, let's hope I can remember everything.
Amanda started feeling her contractions around 4 pm today. They were just different enough for her to know that they weren't the same as she had been feeling over the past few weeks. These were more regular in timing, coming about 12 minutes apart.
We had been talking about going out for dinner and a movie and, by this time, were fairly certain it would be our last date without a sitter. We made it over to Steak-and-Shake around 5:30 pm for their $2.99 double steakburger and fries deal. I had 2.
Afterwards, we caught the 6:50 pm showing of Juno at the new movie theater in town. Juno is a story about a high school girl who gets pregnant and has to decide between abortion and giving her baby up for adoption. What a great movie . . .great topic targeted at the right age group -- and super funny! My favorite quote was when Juno found out that she was pregnant. After buying her third pregnancy test, the drugstore clerk says to her, "That ain't no etch-a-sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, homeskillet."
At the end of the movie, she delivers the baby. There's nothing like watching a movie about a pregnant teenager to get you in the mood to give birth. I highly recommend this route. For Amanda, all throughout the movie she was timing her contractions by looking at the clock on my cell phone. Three to 4 minutes apart. Yikes!
Amanda started feeling her contractions around 4 pm today. They were just different enough for her to know that they weren't the same as she had been feeling over the past few weeks. These were more regular in timing, coming about 12 minutes apart.
We had been talking about going out for dinner and a movie and, by this time, were fairly certain it would be our last date without a sitter. We made it over to Steak-and-Shake around 5:30 pm for their $2.99 double steakburger and fries deal. I had 2.Afterwards, we caught the 6:50 pm showing of Juno at the new movie theater in town. Juno is a story about a high school girl who gets pregnant and has to decide between abortion and giving her baby up for adoption. What a great movie . . .great topic targeted at the right age group -- and super funny! My favorite quote was when Juno found out that she was pregnant. After buying her third pregnancy test, the drugstore clerk says to her, "That ain't no etch-a-sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, homeskillet."
At the end of the movie, she delivers the baby. There's nothing like watching a movie about a pregnant teenager to get you in the mood to give birth. I highly recommend this route. For Amanda, all throughout the movie she was timing her contractions by looking at the clock on my cell phone. Three to 4 minutes apart. Yikes!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Baby name sites
There are probably a billion baby name web sites out there. I started with the Social Security Administration's site and then Googled around for some other ones.
There were 2 that I missed that a friend of ours (Summer) told me about today. Scott, you'll love these sites:
There were 2 that I missed that a friend of ours (Summer) told me about today. Scott, you'll love these sites:
- Nymbler is a site that allows you to start with up to 6 names ("inspirations")and then explore names they consider similar. From there, you can add names to a favorites list or block them. I have a feeling that the block feature really scores with the soon-to-be-parent teacher crowd.
- The Baby Name Voyager brings alive the SSA's database list of popular names. They graph names in a java application that allows you to see the popularity of a baby name over time starting in the 1880s. Very cool.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Our practice run!
We don't know what labor looks like. What first-time couple would? We had been saying all along that we'd like to labor at home until Amanda gets into active labor. After our experience Wednesday morning, I almost thought we missed our shot!
Amanda woke me up at like 12:30 am with a strong contraction that had been lasting for an hour and counting. I hadn't really gone to sleep yet. (With her not getting good sleep at night, she's been going to bed early and I've been staying up late.)
So around 1 am, she called the Ask-A-Nurse hotline to find out if what she was experiencing was anything to be concerned with. In today's world of liability-conscious companies, they wouldn't give out any real answers. Instead, they transferred her twice, made her call back and -- when she got a hold of someone that was ready to do their job, we were told that we should go to the hospital . . .so there we stayed all night long. Well, sort of.
We got there and, after hooking her up to a bunch of machines, they told us that she might be in early labor. Amanda's strong/long contraction had subsided by this time, and we both had the feeling that we might be going through the motions of false labor. Her contractions were at irregular intervals between 3 and 6 minutes apart. The nurse told us that we could go into active labor and have this baby today, or that it might be another 2 weeks.
The nurse put a call into our doctor, who advised that we should probably stay over until morning (around 7 am). We only live 7 blocks from the hospital, and with only a recliner available, I thought it'd be easier to get some sleep at home.
They told us she'd be there until at least 7 am, but my phone rang at 5 am with Amanda on the other end saying she was being released and was ready to come home (there went my sleep!). So I drove the 3 minute commute and picked her up. Needless to say, neither of us went to work yesterday!
On a happy note, at least we were able to get a practice run in. Now, we know what the routine is. Amanda's vowed not to go to the hospital until she's in active labor! They wouldn't let her have anything but crackers and water -- and she probably would have been limited to ice chips if she had been any further along (water breaking, etc.)!
Amanda woke me up at like 12:30 am with a strong contraction that had been lasting for an hour and counting. I hadn't really gone to sleep yet. (With her not getting good sleep at night, she's been going to bed early and I've been staying up late.)
So around 1 am, she called the Ask-A-Nurse hotline to find out if what she was experiencing was anything to be concerned with. In today's world of liability-conscious companies, they wouldn't give out any real answers. Instead, they transferred her twice, made her call back and -- when she got a hold of someone that was ready to do their job, we were told that we should go to the hospital . . .so there we stayed all night long. Well, sort of.
We got there and, after hooking her up to a bunch of machines, they told us that she might be in early labor. Amanda's strong/long contraction had subsided by this time, and we both had the feeling that we might be going through the motions of false labor. Her contractions were at irregular intervals between 3 and 6 minutes apart. The nurse told us that we could go into active labor and have this baby today, or that it might be another 2 weeks.
The nurse put a call into our doctor, who advised that we should probably stay over until morning (around 7 am). We only live 7 blocks from the hospital, and with only a recliner available, I thought it'd be easier to get some sleep at home.
They told us she'd be there until at least 7 am, but my phone rang at 5 am with Amanda on the other end saying she was being released and was ready to come home (there went my sleep!). So I drove the 3 minute commute and picked her up. Needless to say, neither of us went to work yesterday!
On a happy note, at least we were able to get a practice run in. Now, we know what the routine is. Amanda's vowed not to go to the hospital until she's in active labor! They wouldn't let her have anything but crackers and water -- and she probably would have been limited to ice chips if she had been any further along (water breaking, etc.)!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Full moon babies
So we took our tour today at the hospital, and the delivery room nurses said that they get busy when there's a full moon out. The next full moon is Thursday the 21st of February.
We're due on the 25th, so I guess we'll see what happens! Is there truth in the statement that mothers go into labor more when there's a full moon? Maybe we'll be a few days early . . .
We're due on the 25th, so I guess we'll see what happens! Is there truth in the statement that mothers go into labor more when there's a full moon? Maybe we'll be a few days early . . .
Friday, February 1, 2008
Our baby has hazel eyes!
OK, it might not be 100% certain, but according to the science guys at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, they think our baby has a 30% chance of having blue eyes and a 70% chance for green (hazel) eyes. (That is assuming I've remembered correctly the color of my mother-in-law's eyes!)
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