This blog is not dead

It's just been hibernating for a while. Here's what we've been doing since we posted last:

Katie was born
Our daughter arrived October 9th after a long pregnancy (not longer than anyone elses, just long for me). I gained 50 pounds, a shoe size and lost feeling in my fingers from swelling-induced carpal tunnel. Needless to say, I was very happy when I went into labor that morning. The anesthesiologist, who announced his arrival as the "drink cart", made me very happy with an epidural. I can't sing its praises enough. Labor was a breeze. But, they broke my water and somewhere in the process, I developed an infection and a 103 fever. By the time the day was over, I had lost a fifth of my blood and had an emergency C section due to the fever causing high blood pressure. Katie arrived at 8 lbs, 11 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. They took her to the neonatal ICU overnight due to the fever. It was an exhausting night for everyone. We all went home, healthy but exhausted, a few days later.

Here I am at 9 months. I wasn't about to have anyone take my picture, so this is one in front of a mirror about a week before Katie arrived.


Here's Katie the day after she was born. I don't even recognize her (or remember her looking like this) -- the only reason I know she's the same girl is you can see the bump on the left side of her chin.


Nana holding Katie when she was just a few days old.


Katie at 1 week old

Maternity leave
My folks stayed for 2.5 weeks which was so helpful. At the end of their time here, I still could barely move from the surgery, so my mom stayed an extra 9 days. I had the baby blues, cried daily for two weeks and needed a step stool to get into/out of bed for about 4 weeks. It was harder than I thought. After my mom left, Ken took 2 weeks off which was nice as we figured out to handle this thing that was our daughter. We got into a routine and developed a game plan, which was nice. She woke every 3 hours to eat. It was exhausting. I missed work. I thought maternity leave would be a breeze but it's been a lot more work than I expected. I miss feeling accomplished at the end of the day. Some days, all I can show for myself is some drool marks, oily hair and maybe the dishwasher is half unloaded. Other days are much, much better. Either way, I've learned that planning is out the window. I'll do my best and be happy with that. I've become more flexible and realistic in my expectations.

Ken learning Katie's routine and that Portland's rain doesn't cause all of the "wet" days.


Me and Katie around 5 weeks. The numbness in my hands is gone and my feet have shrunk a half size. I'm losing weight but it isn't all gone yet. That will take a while.

Ken preparing to tie a leg of lamb for dinner -- or prepping Katie for her first bath.


Ken giving Katie her first bath at ~4 weeks


Hughes and Kinley discover Katie
The animals are getting adjusted to Katie. Kinley was very protective in the beginning and would go to my mom's room to lick her hand at night when he heard Katie cry since I was having trouble getting out of bed. It was very sweet. He has now realized Katie is not leaving. He's ok with this now, but it took a little bit. Early excitement went to sadness and then acceptance.

Watching her on the activity mat (~5 weeks)

Ken, Katie and Kinley around 9 weeks

Hughes discovered Katie for the first time around 8 weeks. He doesn't seem to mind her. He likes the nighttime feedings because it means someone will turn on the water briefly for him in the tub (Hughes' favorite). Here he is when he jumped on the couch for the first time to see her:


Katie's Snowshoeing
Ken, the gadget fiend, scouted craigslist for a Chariot (closed stroller of sorts that connects to the back of our bike). He got that -- and the cross country ski attachment. We took Katie snowshoeing for the first time around 7-8 weeks. She was bundled up where her arms and legs were perfectly outstretched. She cried when we put her in and then fell asleep immediately for the entire trip.

Here's Katie bundled up and placed in the infant sling of the Chariot.


Ken, Kinley and Katie head off trail in the Chariot on Mt Hood


Snowshoeing is a family affair. It was my first time walking 2+ miles since pregnancy. I can feel it in my hips, which ache.


Katie sound asleep on the trail. This picture was taken through the window of the Chariot. She was zonked.



Katie's Surgery
In early December, Katie went in for surgery for a bump she had on her chin since birth. They didn't know what it was and we knew we wanted it removed before she started dating, so they decided to take it off so they could biopsy it (rather than biopsy it when it was on her face and cause her undue pain). She needed general anesthesia. I cried. I spent 9 months + 2 months getting attached to this child, only to lose it due to an unnecessary surgery. Needless to say, she came through fine -- the bump was a hemangioma, a benign accumulation of blood vessels that was different than the doctors had seen before. I told them maybe they could get a case study paper out of it. The doctor chuckled. I would be very proud if my daughter had a publication before the age of 1. :)

View of Katie's bump on her chin before surgery (~8 weeks)

Scar from Katie's surgery (11 weeks). It's just below her chin.


Sleeping through the Night
It happened for the first time the night before Thanksgiving. We were very thankful. She now sleeps somewhere between 4-8 hours at a stretch each night. Sometimes she'll make it all the way through, sometimes not. Again, I've learned not to plan for it. She falls asleep to the "ocean sound" of a sound machine. I can't sing the praises of white noise enough.

Sleepy Katie. She has Ken's furrowed brow and my love for sleep (per Chuck)



Eating Rice Cereal
My folks came out for Christmas so we decided since she was already eating 5+ ounces every 3 hours that we could try rice cereal with her. We did it for the first time last week on December 22nd. She made a mess and we laughed. She's eaten it once a day since. We still laugh.

Here's the first rice cereal feeding. We took Rob & Jana's advice and got an adjustable "high" chair. Fits onto any chair and can recline so we can feed her now or when she's 2.

She's not so sure about rice cereal.


These are a Few of her Favorite Things
Katie loves looking at lights. Sunlight, contrast, etc. She loves playing under an activity mat where she can stare and bat at things. She just started reaching for things in the past two weeks (especially plastic rings -- though she gets surprised when she actually touches them). It's not an "I want this, I'm going to grab for it" thing. It's more of a "let me flail my arms and see what I can touch". She also loves sitting up and watching people/things. Also, she seems to enjoy when people read to her. This last part is just starting up.

Katie loved sitting in the plants and looking at the lights and contrast through the leaves. Here's one around 6 weeks, which is also the wallpaper of my phone (this was the turning point when I realized I was a mom because I had a picture of my kid as my phone's wallpaper).


Nana reading to Katie (10 weeks). She seems to love Goodnight Moon, Jamboree and Goodnight Gorilla best so far. Here's Goodnight Moon.

Katie (11 weeks) exploring under the activity mat. Those plastic linking rings are a huge hit since she can grab them which make her smile. I never thought I'd have this type of thing in our house -- let alone in our living room.


Katie loves sitting up and watching what is going on. Ken framed this picture of her at 11 weeks for my office. I love it.


Going back to Work and Daycare
Daycare, what a racket. We signed up in April before I was showing. Each would take your deposit and say they "may" have a space for you. Suffice it to say, no place did. And they don't call you to tell you that either. Starting in November, we started scrambling again. It turns out we found a place through our county's child services department -- all certified daycares have to be certified/registered with the state. We got a list for all within a 2 mile radius of our house. We found two places with openings and are going with the french immersion one since we liked their philosophy and how they deal with kids best. It's run out of someone's house. We also looked into nanny's but they were 2.5x the price and if they were sick/on vacation/etc, we'd be SOL and need to take time off of work. I go back to work next monday. I'm looking forward to it but still feel guilty. Hormones suck and are pretty powerful in creating a bond for your child. For example, I'll put her to sleep and then look at pictures on my phone in the next room minutes later because I miss her. Ridiculous. I try to be tough and not admit that I care so much for her, but I do. She's wonderful and I love her.

Heading into 2010
I'm optimistic. She's starting to do so much more and get a personality. It makes taking her places more fun. She's becoming more of our family. I like that a lot. I'm looking forward to gardening with her. And go camping. Ken can't wait to get her outside more. He's already done a google search for "baby and whitewater rafting". Um, yeah, there's a reason there aren't any hits for that. Growing up with both of them should be interesting.

Stay tuned for more updates. I'm hoping to be better about all this. Just need a blogger app for the iPhone and I'll be all set. (The iPhone has been the only thing keeping me in touch with the world in the last 3 months).

Happy holidays!