Bathtime with Daddy

Lily's first doctor's visit

Thanksgiving Dinner with the Fam

Grandma Meyer with Baby Lily

Life with Lily

First, I want to send a huge thank you to my mom who stayed with us for a week and a half after Lily was born. We were able to focus all of our attention on Lily while my mom took over the entire household - cooking fabulous meals, doing the laundry, dishes, grocery shopping....and the list goes on and on. It truly helped us to ease into our new life with the baby. So, thank you, thank you, thank you, mom!!

We were also fortunate enough to have my sister, Angela, come to visit over the Thanksgiving holiday. It was so nice to celebrate the day with family, especially since we cannot travel with little bits quite yet. Also, thanks to Ang for helping us put up the Christmas tree - a task that certainly would have been a lot harder without help.

In fact many things that seemed easy before are a lot more...well, involved. Going to the store, working on my projects, or just eating or showering all have become things that require some strategic planning if they are actually going to happen. This of course was expected but like many things, you can't fully appreciate it until you live it.

We are extremely fortunate that Lily is a very easygoing baby. For the most part, she only cries when she is hungry. Otherwise, she is very content and very alert. Within one week, we fell into a sleeping/eating rhythm, and she only gets up twice during the night to feed. This will most likely change as she goes through growth spurts and other things, but we are thankful for the current situation while it lasts.

My favorite experience with Lily thus far occurred just last night. Lily woke up and made her normal nighttime sounds - not crying, just noises of discontent. When I picked her up and held her, she looked into my eyes and fell back asleep within 60 seconds. No rocking, feeding, etc was required. It made me feel so good because I felt the power of being "the mom", being able to calm and comfort just by my presence. By far, the coolest thing ever.

The biggest challenge thus far (no surprise) is breastfeeding. This is a mentally and physically challenging task that should elevate breastfeeding moms everywhere to sainthood status. I have had a great support system to get me through the grueling first weeks - a big thank you to my friend Gretchen for the advise and inspiration to persevere. I think the worst is behind us and soon Lily and I will be old pros.

Having lived through the first couple of weeks with a newborn, I must also mention my undying devotion to a few things that have made my life infinitely more pleasant. In order, they are...
1. Epidural
2. Nipple shields (for breastfeeding)
3. Swaddling blanket
I was/am a much more sane person because of these things.

Lily had her first doctor's visit yesterday, and she is gaining weight beautifully. She is now 8 lbs. 8 oz. She did not have to get any shots, but they did a heal prick. For the first time, I saw real tears, but like the trooper she is, she calmed down quickly and even fell asleep by the time we went downstairs to visit my work/her daycare. (Her pediatrician's office is located on the second floor of the same building as The Young School - how cool is that?)

So, all in all, life is great. As my father would say, "It just doesn't get any better than this".

Pictures of Lily

What's In a Name?

As many of you know, the name for our little Calabasa was under discussion and debate for quite some time. The following are the reasons that Lillian Meyer Deetz came to be:

First and foremost, Lillian Meyer is the name of my grandmother (my dad's mother). My grandmother cared for me until she passed away when I was three years old. Even though we did not have a long time together, I have memories of her and know that we had a special bond during that time.

Secondly, Lily is symbolic of innocence, purity, and beauty. Kathleen means "pure one" and so we thought it fitting that as mother and daughter, our names share a common meaning.

When I was married to Carl, I took my maiden name, Meyer, as my middle name. So now Lily and I also share the same middle name.

Lastly, lilies happen to be my favorite flowers. Last year we planted lilies in our garden, and each one came up perfectly this year. As this does not happen consistently with the flowers that I plant (or attempt to plant), it must be a good sign.

Simply Amazing

Lillian (Lily) Meyer Deetz arrived on Wednesday, November 16th at 6:09 pm.

She weighed 8 pounds and was 20 3/4 inches long.

Ready or Not, Here She Comes!

Today we had (hopefully) our final doctor's appointment with some mixed news. My blood pressure was very high (160/100 - my highest reading yet) but then went down with just a few minutes of laying down (118/80). The worst part of the exam was that my cervix has not changed at all!! I could not believe that NO dilation and NO effacement has taken place (the doctor's technical term for this - "a stubborn cervix"). We also received the results from the sonogram last week. At 40 weeks, 2 days the baby weighed 8 lbs. 13 oz. We are now at 41 weeks, 1 day which likely means that she is currently in the 9 lb. range.

The doctor was reluctant to induce this week because he did not want to increase the likelihood of a c-section any more than it already is (currently about a 50% chance). However, my mom, Carl, and I persuaded him to induce tomorrow based on the fact that my mom never went into labor without an induction with 4 children and my sister's first and only baby thus far was also an induction. Even though Suzanne's baby, Mary, was 9 lbs. 6 oz., she did not have to have a c-section so I have some hope of a natural delivery, small though it may be.

Although the scheduled induction takes some of the surprise away, it does work out nicely for planning purposes. This way, we can take Terra to her boarding/daycare facility in a more calm and relaxed manner before going to the hospital.

So, the plan is to check into the hospital tomorrow at 7:30 pm. We will likely welcome the baby into the world one way or another on Wednesday, the 16th. We will call everyone on Wednesday with any news!!!

Although we had another ultrasound yesterday, we didn't find out much. The technician said that they have to run the results through their computer program before they can accurately determine things like weight. Even then she said the margin of error is about 1 pound which seems like a pretty large margin of error to me. But, we did confirm that she is in fact a girl, and it was fun to see her again in a more fully developed form on the screen, even if we can't see her in person yet.

The new game in our household is to try every old wives' tale (within reason and that does not have negative side effects) in order to get the cervix ready and induce labor. When I went to a water aerobics class yesterday, like usual, everyone asked when I am due. When I tell them that I was 40 weeks last Sunday, they typically act surprised, laugh, and then the advise comes. Some of the funnier ones that have been suggested are as follows:

Eating Eggplant Parmesan
Eating bean sprouts
Eating spicy food
Blowing up balloons
Mall walking
Taking a bumpy car ride
Swinging
And the list goes on...

Currently, I am drinking Red Raspberry Leaf Tea, and I'm going to try Evening Primrose Oil which are both supposed to help get the cervix ready. As we go on, we are narrowing the possibilities for a birth date and now we know for sure that she will be born on a double digit day in November. I know, I'm reaching for certainties here but it's all I can do to keep on going. As one woman in our Ethical Society meeting said on Sunday, "I never knew a baby that didn't come out". So, one way or another, I know it will happen. I guess having absolutely no control over how or when is the most difficult part.

40 Weeks and Frustrated

Unfortunately, I have nothing exciting to report after our doctor's visit today. My blood pressure was lower today than it has been for the entire pregnancy. Go figure since I basically disregarded the bedrest recommendation. The baby has dropped a bit but still NO progress has been made with dilation/effacement. We asked about possibly inducing next week but he said that something would have to happen with the cervix in order for him to induce so as to not increase the risk of a c-section.

We have a sonogram scheduled for tomorrow because he wants to get a better sense of just how big she is right now. He is estimating that she is currently around 8 pounds. Since babies put on about 1/2 pound per week at this stage in the pregnancy, we have to watch her weight to make sure that she doesn't get too big - another c-section risk.

I entirely counted on the fact that the baby would be late and that we would have to be induced in order to start the labor process. I did not count on not even being able to get to the point where we can safely induce with a reasonable expectation for a natural delivery. Such is life I suppose. I am allowing myself this day for a little frustration and self-pity, and then tomorrow it's time to get over it and move on.

Waiting and More Waiting

I just thought that I would write a quick note to let everyone know that we are still here waiting. No baby yet! Carl has been taking my blood pressure several times per day, and I seem to be doing okay. (Sometimes it comes in handy to be married to a med student.) Yesterday I actually had a reading of 125/6o so I took myself off of bedrest for the day. I limited my activities but I really needed to get up and move around, and it seemed to work out well. I was, of course, under the supervision of Carl who does not let me get away with much. I'm now finished with my embroidery and announcements so tomorrow I will be moving on to some handmade Christmas gifts. I am very anxiously awaiting our appointment on Monday, and I will update with any news at that time. Also, I want to congratulate my niece, Courtney, for making the honor roll. Way to go!!