Dear Kira,
I have been meaning to write down your birth story ever since you were born. During my maternity leave, I was unfortunately too busy watching Gossip Girl and cuddling with you to do much at all. Now that you and Lia are peacefully sleeping and I am not also asleep (this is a rare event) I will see how accurate my memory is.
First your due date. According my calculations, your due date was April 23rd (at the earliest.) The doctor measure you for April 20th - 3 days early. As the 20th came and went it caused a bit of anxiety on my part. I did not want you to come on your sister's birthday (the 23rd). After that, we were ready for you, but you needed a bit more time. I told the doctor's that I did not want to be induced, only to learn that instead of a 10 day late before induction policy, it was now a 7 day late before induction policy.
On the morning of the 27th I went into a check up and there was evidence of some activity. The doctor wanted to increase the chance of you come, so removed the mucous plug (I know, gross) and stripped the membranes. Had I been asked if I was ok with this, I would have said no, but they really wanted you to come out, and did not ask my opinion (so not ok).
Over the course of the day I had worse and worse stomach cramps. You daddy really wanted to check out the new pool (Westbad) and I figured it would not hurt anything, so we went. There the cramping got even worse. Then we went home, and Aunt Jane made delicious pasta. (Her secret ingredient - add cream to the tomato sauce.) We went to bed, but I had a feeling something would happen.
And sure enough, the cramps woke me up around 2 and they were INTENSE. I sat around and tried to document the frequency on the Internet. But they rapidly became to painful for even that to work. I moaned to Aunt Jane for a while and then woke up your dad. At that point it was hard to even get dressed. The contractions were coming intensely and quickly. We called the taxi, which came quickly, and I sat on a towel.
When we got to the hospital, we were pretty quickly given a room - a big nice one with that elusive birthing pool.
I lay down, and said Ahhhh every time a contraction came. The only problem was that at that point they were fast with out any significant break in between (at the longest 20 seconds.) They checked and would not tell me how much I was dilated. (I guess it wasn't much.) Then they asked if I wanted anything for the pain. I said no. When they came back 5 minutes later and I was basically delirious with pain and having no pause at all between contractions, I said ok. So they drugged me (an opiate that they said would not affect the baby at all - which I don't really believe) and I became high and . I remember pretending I was floating down a river and tried visualizing the contractions bring you to me. Then it wasn't so bad but the contractions certainly did not slow down. After a little longer, they insisted on giving me something to slow down the contractions - which did not seem to have any effect. BECAUSE after 1.5 hours in the hospital, I was completely dialated. Apparently the amniotic sack was bulging and they popped it. (Also without asking.) Then they told me maybe I should stop moaning and focus the energy into pushing. So I did! And you came out. It was incredibly fast.
You were very sweet. You cried a bit and snuggled a lot and were absolutely perfect. I was amazed that you were so skinny with no fat on your legs and bottom. I think you could have used another few days inside of me, but you were completely healthy and perfect.
I fell deeply in love with you the second I saw you and have been enjoying you ever since.
Love,
Mommy
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Back Again
Recently I have been reflecting a lot on my up coming 30th birthday, which seems quite significant. I want to put my thoughts to paper and document the transition. Maybe even include a bit of video and some pictures. In general I am not a fan of birthdays (at least my birthday) and I like to mark the day with not much fuss and a bit of self indulgence. But blogging as a way to more actively and thoughtfully reflect sounds good. Let's see if I can do it (two small children do not leave me with much time or energy for much)!
Friday, June 11, 2010
Summer is Here
After a month of mostly gray, rainy, cold weather - it is HOT. Time to break out the skirts and dresses. This is wonderful, because now, instead of just dressing myself - I have an adorable little child to dress in adorable little dresses and rompers. I didn´t think it could happen - but buying children´s clothes is even more exciting than buying clothes for myself. In fact, I think I have an AHEM - little clothes buying problem. But we all have our guilty pleasures.
With the nice weather comes eating on the balcony - great until Lia decides to eat the stones - going to the swimming pool/playground/park to relax (actually to chase Lia around, but it is still fun), eating real Italian ice cream, more trips to the city, and light until 9:30!
I only have 2 more weeks of school - 1 in the classroom - 1 week of movement week - where I will be playing wilderness games and hiking - and then 6 weeks off. I am soooooooooo ready. I just have the last hurdle of grading
2 classes worth of English tests
3 classes worth of writing assignments (blogs and book report writing activities)
3 classes of history test
In fact, this is what I should be doing during nap time, instead of surfing the Internet and writing here! Looks like I need to finish grading 3 sets of things per day.
With the nice weather comes eating on the balcony - great until Lia decides to eat the stones - going to the swimming pool/playground/park to relax (actually to chase Lia around, but it is still fun), eating real Italian ice cream, more trips to the city, and light until 9:30!
I only have 2 more weeks of school - 1 in the classroom - 1 week of movement week - where I will be playing wilderness games and hiking - and then 6 weeks off. I am soooooooooo ready. I just have the last hurdle of grading
2 classes worth of English tests
3 classes worth of writing assignments (blogs and book report writing activities)
3 classes of history test
In fact, this is what I should be doing during nap time, instead of surfing the Internet and writing here! Looks like I need to finish grading 3 sets of things per day.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Last Names
An update on this - being a teacher is a great way to find out what your name rhymes with - or even loosely rhymes with. Mine happens to rhyme with the French word for cat and with shat. Luckily, very few students make this connection. However, when 17 year old boys decide to call you Mrs. Cat - that can quickly move from innocent fun and word play to pretty blatant disrespect. Add in hissing sounds - well - I nipped that in the bud VERY quickly. The only problem is after that I got declarations of love from said chastised student. I also had a discussion with him about how that was not OK or appropriate... The things I have to deal with. Which reminds me - one of my fellow teachers - who has been struggling - said to me the other day, "What have I done in my life to deserve this treatment." Sometimes that summarizes my feelings exactly.
Now and then I think it would be very helpful to have smaller boobs and a tougher exterior image. I may have to go back to buns and glasses next year.
Now and then I think it would be very helpful to have smaller boobs and a tougher exterior image. I may have to go back to buns and glasses next year.
Visit to the Orthopedist
I visited the orthopedist because my back has been sore recently.
At the orthopedist we learned:
1. One leg is a centimeter shorter than the other (take that Mrs. Copeland, it wasn´t scoliosis, it was leg length)
2. My hip bone and socket do not fit together correctly - too big socket, and the bone isn´t correctly placed.
3. My vertebrae don´t stack up straight, they are somewhat crooked.
4. My pelvic floor isn´t what it should be.
I was chastised for not going to Ruckbuldung Gymnastic - post birth exercise class and I have to start working out. Hopefully this will end in a healthier, fitter me. But when am I going to exercise in the morning and the night! Crunches at 5am...yuck!
At the orthopedist we learned:
1. One leg is a centimeter shorter than the other (take that Mrs. Copeland, it wasn´t scoliosis, it was leg length)
2. My hip bone and socket do not fit together correctly - too big socket, and the bone isn´t correctly placed.
3. My vertebrae don´t stack up straight, they are somewhat crooked.
4. My pelvic floor isn´t what it should be.
I was chastised for not going to Ruckbuldung Gymnastic - post birth exercise class and I have to start working out. Hopefully this will end in a healthier, fitter me. But when am I going to exercise in the morning and the night! Crunches at 5am...yuck!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Lia is 1 and spring is here
Today on a sunny Saturday morning I have been reminiscing about this time last year. My tiny new born baby was spending most of her time sleeping on my chest. Now that tiny baby is a walking, hair pulling, talking!, cuddling, occaisonal tantrum throwing toddler. In the world of babies, a year is an eternity.
Lia is an incredible joy - she changes by bounds each week. Yesterday at the thermal bath she put her face into the water voluntarily and loved being thrown back and forth between mamma and dadda.
Lia points to her preferred destination, saying da or dat - (German for there, and English that). When her daddy is not paying attention to her, she yells DaDA. She knows that ducks quack. She can wave bye bye but she is most likely to do it after the other person is long gone.
We have spent hours watching our neighbors chickens, ducks, and rooster wander around the yard. Animal watching is the only time Lia sits still - otherwise she is a bundle of action and energy.
There is a box in the corner of the room that Lia has made her private island. She climbs up the box - then down. Puts a toy on the box, climbs up and throws it off. Stands on the box and claps while kneeling on the box. I tried to put the box in the basement and Lia was inconsolable. So the box stays for now.
Spring in Germany is a beautiful time. Flowers blooming, roses everywhere you turn, light and green. Of course that is interspersed with weeks of chilly rain. Lia is lucky to share her birthday with this time of renewal of life and energy.
Back to the theme of reminiscing, we have been missing Jane and Cheryl- The days we spent at an almost empty strandbad lazing around were so lovely. Strandbad is open, and hopefully more such days are ahead of us!
Lia is an incredible joy - she changes by bounds each week. Yesterday at the thermal bath she put her face into the water voluntarily and loved being thrown back and forth between mamma and dadda.
Lia points to her preferred destination, saying da or dat - (German for there, and English that). When her daddy is not paying attention to her, she yells DaDA. She knows that ducks quack. She can wave bye bye but she is most likely to do it after the other person is long gone.
We have spent hours watching our neighbors chickens, ducks, and rooster wander around the yard. Animal watching is the only time Lia sits still - otherwise she is a bundle of action and energy.
There is a box in the corner of the room that Lia has made her private island. She climbs up the box - then down. Puts a toy on the box, climbs up and throws it off. Stands on the box and claps while kneeling on the box. I tried to put the box in the basement and Lia was inconsolable. So the box stays for now.
Spring in Germany is a beautiful time. Flowers blooming, roses everywhere you turn, light and green. Of course that is interspersed with weeks of chilly rain. Lia is lucky to share her birthday with this time of renewal of life and energy.
Back to the theme of reminiscing, we have been missing Jane and Cheryl- The days we spent at an almost empty strandbad lazing around were so lovely. Strandbad is open, and hopefully more such days are ahead of us!
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