life with a new baby
Holidays and Special Occasions
The Sneezing Marathon
Nov 30th
This year, it took us three days to get the Christmas tree decorated and all our Christmas decorations laid out.
Last year, when I was six months pregnant, it took six hours. This year, we have a nine-month old little guy who insists on having our undivided attention. That means that nothing is worthy of stealing Nathan’s thunder.
Christmas tree included.
We started putting the tree up on Thanksgiving evening. Paul hauled the Christmas tree and all the decorations in from the shed. We started pulling out the limbs for assembly when we noticed something peculiar.
Something was awry with the limbs of our Christmas tree.
For once, it had nothing to do with baby poop. But it was something else that was equally disturbing.
Something that had left clumps of insulation throughout a handful of limbs.
A MOUSE NEST.
Yes, a mouse had built a little home for itself in the bowels of our Christmas tree limbs.
Expensive Christmas tree limbs. This is the kind of tree you can’t just throw away because of some mouse. Not that our tree is some grand, magnificent sight… but for three people living off of one income, it’s magnificent enough to not just throw away.
Fortunately, the little home was abandoned. There was no mouse to be seen. Just tufts of insulation embedded in the limbs of the tree, a grim reminder of the MOUSE THAT ONCE WAS. The mouse that lived (and I’m sure died) in our shed.
Remnants of a happy life once lived.
So we spent the entire Thanksgiving evening with bottles of Lysol and paper towels, sanitizing the shit out of each and every Christmas tree limb, peeling off wisps of mouse nest from in between the fake plastic pine needles.
But then there is my allergies. Apparently, I am allergic to Fake Christmas Tree Dust and Abandoned Mouse Houses and I had a pretty severe allergy attack. My rapid-fire sneezing has been non-stop since Thanksgiving. Every time I walk into the living room, my eyes start to swell, my nose starts itching, and my chest starts that familiar I’m-going-to-suffocate-you burn.
It feels like my body is TRYING TO KILL ME.
Because apparently, when we were hauling fake plastic Christmas tree limbs out from their temporary coffin, we let loose a cloud of Danger Dust. The kind of dust that accumulates on things outside, even things that are in a shed… a dust composed primarily of leaves, pollen, and mouse-house allergens.
So I’ve resigned myself to deep cleaning the entire house. The dust has gotta go.
I banish it.
Fortunately, it doesn’t seem as if Nathan has my allergies. Thankfully. The kid isn’t even phased. He likes looking at the twinkling lights on the tree, reaching out for the ornaments, and laughing at Mommy’s multiple sneeze marathons.
His Awesome Cuteness
Nov 27th
Paul has taken a four-day weekend in celebration of Thanksgiving. Yesterday we stuffed ourselves so full of turkey that I’m surprised we didn’t start GOBBLING.
Now, we’re going to relax, watch a movie, and enjoy each other’s company. But not before I share some pictures of Nathan on Thanksgiving!
Like I mentioned yesterday, he didn’t take his nap so he was a bit moody. I had to take some pictures of him to cheer him up because he’s a rare breed and actually loves having his picture taken. So I got out the camera, and a huge smile brightened his face.
I thought taking just a picture or two would do the trick, so I put the camera away after a handful of pictures.
He started pouting.
So I turned the camera back on, but he wasn’t quite ready to forgive me for my transgression. He looked at me with Pouty Eyes that didn’t understand why I would put the camera away when we were having so much fun.
So after taking a few more pictures, his pout disappeared and he was grinning like a champ again. He looked lovingly into my eyes as if to say thank you, Mommy. Thank you for reading my mind and taking more pictures of my awesome self.
After a few more clicks, he actually started posing. Like a miniature model. Hand behind the head and all. He’s learning all the tricks on how to keep me taking pictures of his Awesome Cuteness.
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying your holiday weekend!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Nov 26th
We had a marvelous day, chowing down on delicious, and I do mean DELICIOUS food and taking a million pictures of Nathan on his very first Thanksgiving at Paul’s grandmother’s house (Nathan’s great-grandmother.)
I even gave him a bite of banana pudding.
He loved it. He moved it slowly around in his mouth, chewing the soft graham-cracker pieces and making delightful “Mmmmmm” noises.
After we ate, I sat with Nathan on the couch and took this video:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ce6_xWRuO0
I think he wanted to tell me just how delicious that banana pudding tasted. It was good a taste of heaven.
All in all, Nathan had a wonderful day, even though he didn’t take his nap. Not only did he really enjoy that bite of banana pudding, but he even thrilled himself by running his hands along the couch’s upholstery, feeling the texture. But when his exhaustion with all the excitement started getting to him, all I had to do was whip out the camera.
HE STOPS CRYING.
He really loves having his picture/video taken. He’ll even cry when I put the camera away. So to keep him pacified, I alternated between taking his picture and recording videos.
Hey, whatever works, right?
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_OiwDISUEc
A Harrowing Experience Called…. Childbirth
Aug 19th
7 lbs 13 oz, 21" long
It shouldn’t be. Seriously. Childbirth is a natural thing… women have been birthing for thousands, if not millions, of years. The medical field of today agrees with a roaring “that’s right, folks!” but their actions say otherwise.
They strap you down to a bed via blood-pressure machines, IV lines, and fetal monitoring devices, rendering you immobile and in the worst possible position for childbirth- your back! For someone with back labor, the pain is so overwhelming that you’re susceptible to the little devil’s advice on your left shoulder as he whispers sweet nothings into your pain-clouded mind. Something about epidurals and how they can make the pain vanish… it’s only a little needle in the back, he says. You want it. You know you do, he says enticingly. You find yourself agreeing begging for the epidural in a language you never knew existed before that last contraction. The anesthesiologist comes in and gives you the drugs.
Ah, sweet relief.
The nurses wait until they see your face relax and your lips curve into the beginnings of a relaxed smile and then WHAM! They start scrambling around and talking in acronyms, causing your pulse to skyrocket because the air has suddenly been filled with EMERGENCY-MODE electricity. They are exuding massive amounts of tension, like a malevolent fog masking a pond. They say your blood pressure dropped due to the epidural, so they shoot you up with epinephrine. They sneak Pitocin on you without your consent, then they squeal that the contractions are so intense that the baby’s pulse has become irregular. The doctor rushes in, speaking in acronyms so, of course, you don’t know what they’re talking about… there is a neon yellow DANGER sign flashing in your head, perspiration dots your brow, and your eyes dart around with fear. Then they haul out the vacuum and proceed to suck your tiny little human out like he’s a mere bug, all the while murmuring about how they must hurry up and get him out because his pulse is irregular and the cord is around his neck.
His pulse more than likely would have been fine had they not snuck the Pitocin in, thereby ramping up the contractions, causing fetal distress.
One intervention (epidural) leads to other interventions… all the while leaving the mother scared out of her mind.
I wasn’t able to calm down until my little bundle of angry joy was screaming mercilessly in my quivering arms… after 40 minutes of not being able to hold him because the nurses thought it was more important to check his vitals and do his screenings than bond with his mother. What a fiasco- but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
I had my little guy and some crazy memories to share with him when he grows up. However, if there is ever a next time, I will probably give a birthing center a call instead. Although the hospital said they treat childbirth as a natural occurrence and not an emergency, their actions spoke otherwise, rendering the experience harrowing and not something I’m jumping to repeat any time in the near future.
I will miss that epidural, though.
It was wonderful.
On the other hand, I’m sure my husband wouldn’t mind learning a whole new language…
He was the best thing during my labor. He kept my forehead covered with a cool cloth, kept ice-chips in my dehydrated mouth, kissed my parched and cracking lips, and even nodded sympathetically at each new curse word I invented.
What a perfect man! He still loves me after seeing me akin to a demonic possession.
The doula my husband hired was great as well.
Before heading to the hospital, she came over to our house and helped me with breathing techniques, relaxation, and attempted to get me mentally prepared for it all… but it was all moot once the doctor broke my water in the hospital.
I swear I grew three swivelling heads, each complete with a pair of fangs.
She helped my husband to help me, never once chastising me for my atrocities. I probably would have eaten her and everyone else in my room had she have done so. Alas, it all worked out for the best; I have some not-so-fond memories… but believe it or not, time is turning those memories into more of a rosy color. It gives my husband and I something to laugh maniacally about when the effects of sleep deprivation kick in…
Recent Comments
Aww thanks, Tina, it was good to see you too! I wish I could have talked to you more... I ...
I'm sorry you all had a rough go yesterday, but it was good to see you both :) I have ...
Thank you, I appreciate that. It's so cool to hear people say that we look alike... I've been told there ...
Awww... what really nice photos! You two look so alike, especially with the way you smile.