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The Front Fell Off


How the Blonde Thing Got Started

You will "enjoy" this.

I posted the birth story but it's before the last post cause Blogger is dumb. So there.

It's been a while since I posted. Now that Ophelia is awake and active more and more, there isn't as much time for messin' around on the computer. Plus, school starts next week, and I've had orientations and events for the last two weeks. I also felt too guilty to post until I had finished writing a manuscript I was working on and reviewing another for a journal. But I'm done now, so I can blog away...

Ophelia had her 1 month checkup and she was 10 lbs 6 oz (!) and is in the 90th percentile for length (geez!) and 80th for weight. I think she'll be taking after the taller Meyers than the short Eddens family. My mom said she was pretty sure no grandchild of hers had ever been more than the 50th percentile for length, much less 90th! The next milestone I'm waiting for is for her to smile. She smiles when she sneezes, sleeps, or poops (and why not, those things all feel so good...:) ) but hasn't socially smiled yet, despite my acting the fool to try to make it happen.

The first time I left O to go to an orientation at school I cried a little. But it's not so bad. We went to Bruce Springsteen Saturday night, and it was the first time I left her for 7 hours, but I gotta be honest, it was kinda like we were just a childless married couple again. We stood for 5 hours, but it was totally worth it. If I have Bruce's energy when I'm in my 60s, I'll be a lucky woman. It was an awesomely amazing concert, which totally makes up for the less than stellar shows we've seen lately (Raconteurs, Tom Waits...take some lessons from the E Street Band, my friends). The band definitely had more energy than the crowd by the end. There were great covers (Devil with the Blue Dress, Twist and Shout, Then She Kissed Me) along with all the classics, which they save for the encore. I was stoked that they played Adam Raised a Cain, Because the Night, and She's the One, some of my favorites outside the obvious Born to Run and Thunder Road. The songs from Magic were good, but I think much of the crowd didn't know them. He pulled kids up on stage multiple times, which was really heartwarming, and played crowd requests, which is apparently something they've started since the last time I saw them in '02(ish). Tracks from The Rising still brought tears to my eyes, even 7 years after September 11th. So did Thunder Road, just because it does. I haven't the slightest idea why. I had a smile on my face the first hour or so that wasn't coming off. So did Sam, who was a Springsteen virgin, and was totally impressed. What a show. If you want to see the set list from Saturday night, click here. Tony LaRussa was there, and even men of the cloth are fans (Chris?)...Read about the minister who preaches the gospel of Bruce Springsteen, buy his book, or listen to the Weekend Edition interview.

Anyhoo...People have been asking me about the birth story, so I'm planning on posting that next.

But first, more pictures, which is what people care about anyway, right? Not my ramblings...

Sam's first time feeding O

Just a cute outfit on a cute girl

Playing drums like daddy

Now who's the lazy family?

Everyone's tired after Springsteen

Sleepy...
Sleepier...
Sleepier still...
Sleepiest.

And a montage of Ophelia dancing in her playard:

I've been asked to post about my birth story, to inspire and instill fear in all those future mothers, and to compare with the other new moms, of course. Not that you really care, once you've had yours. You just want to hear everyone else's story first so you can create the worst nightmare and the easy dream birth in your head.

My mom reads this, and said to me this morning, "Don't post your birth story." And I promised her I would stick to the generalities and not report any gory details. The fact that family members and colleagues read this blog really takes the fun out of posting. :)

So I went in to see the doc the Monday before the big day, and I still hadn't dilated past where I had been the prior three weeks, despite having contractions all the time. The doc didn't think I was going to dilate on my own, in part due to some scar tissue I have on my cervix from prior surgeries for pre-cervical cancer (that may fall under gory details. sorry, mom...). And, he told me that nothing good happens after 38 weeks except that babies get bigger and moms get more unhappy. So we decided to induce. Now I like doing things naturally, I belong to a produce co-op and cloth diaper and recycle and all that jazz, but at 39 weeks pregnant I was READY TO GO. So I quickly accepted the offer to induce. I figured, ehh...the baby won't mind. She's ready, she just doesn't know it yet. She doesn't know anything yet. She's a BABY.

So Tuesday night I went in to the hospital so they could give me something to make me soften up. That's leaving out details. We brought 6 DVDs with us, even though I thought there was no way we'd watch them all. I had some serious cramps, and my contractions were getting stronger. At some point in the middle of the night, the nurse asked me why I was still awake and then promptly gave me Stadol and "something to make me sleep." I felt more comfortable, but didn't sleep much. That night we watched Vantage Point, which I was pretty much awake for, and the Onion Movie, which had hilarious parts, but I had drugs by then and really don't remember watching it all. Hmm, come to think of it, it may have been hilarious because of the drugs...Nah, it's the Onion.

Around 9 am on Wednesday morning, they hung the Oxytocin to induce labor. I started having regular, strong contractions pretty much right away. Around 10ish the doc broke my water and around 10:30 I was in pain and ready for the epidural. Oh, getting the epidural was hilarious, but again, I'm leaving out the details. I was dilated to 4 at that point. After the epidural I was able to sleep, and I slept for about 4 hours. Sam, meanwhile, watched 10,000 BC and at least part of Into the Wild. He was making the most of being off work, clearly.

Around 3ish the nurse came in and I was dilated to 7 cm. 30 minutes later she came in and I told her I had the urge to push. She checked me again and I was at 10. I think she was pretty surprised, so she called the doctor and told him to head over. He said not to let me push. He was there in about 15 minutes. Around 10 minutes to 4 I started to push. I had 5 contractions that I pushed through, and at 4pm Ophelia was here. I said, "Is it a boy or a girl?" and the doc just turned her bum towards us and Sam went "Oh my god, it's a girl!" I looked at Sam and he looked shocked! I kinda knew in my heart she would be, but it was still quite a surprise. The nurse lied her on my stomach and I just cried. She was very quiet and didn't cry for a while. I was astounded, and felt awesome. We just watched her and touched her and held her for a bit, and I tried nursing her right away. She took to it pretty quickly. Then they took her and did their testing and weighing and footprinting thing, while Sam looked on, a huge smile you couldn't wipe off his face.

The rest of the hospital stay was full of visitors, and not much sleeping, and total adrenaline. Sam watched The Other Boleyn Girl, the rest of Into the Wild, and at least one other movie I can't remember. I watched bits and pieces, but mostly drifted in and out of sleep and held Ophelia.

All in all, the labor and delivery were really easy, I have to say. 6 hours of labor and 10 minutes of delivery, mostly painless, is about as good as it gets. For me the hard part came the 48 hours after, when my hormones were raging, and I felt joyous, terrified, inadequate, sleep-deprived, insecure, protective, and was very very tearful. I scared a few nurses enough that my doctor came in waving around a prescription for anti-depressants. But I'm here to tell you that it all went away after I got home, got comfortable, and got a little more sleep. As much as you don't want to let go of your little one in the hospital, LET THEM TAKE THE BABY TO THE NURSERY AT LEAST ONCE. Even if you can get 3 or 4 hours of sleep without the baby in the room, it will help. I felt horribly guilty calling the nursery and asking them to take her, but as soon as the nursery nurse came in and I wept as they wheeled her out, I knew I had done the right thing. I wasn't taking care of myself at all, and how could I take care of her if I wasn't okay?

It's just scary, and you don't know what to do at first. Sam could sleep through being firebombed, so I was scared that he would never wake up to her crying and I would have to do everything at night. You know what? I was right, but that's okay. It really isn't that bad, and what point would there be in Sam getting up? He can't feed her. And he has to go to work. I am 24 hour, full-time mama. Now it's different, and I can leave her with Mom and Sam will start watching her himself next week. But those first few days are terrifying. It's all worth it, and the learning curve, while steep, goes downhill quick. You are rewarded exponentially with the amazingness of this little creature you created, who will soon look at you, and goo at you, and (someday) smile at you. You feel her need you, and it's worth every tear and minute of sleep lost.

So, I hope I've inspired rather than instilled fear. And know that no matter what, this is the awesomest thing you'll ever do. I told my mom that at risk of having my feminist membership card revoked, I totally get now how woman were absolutely and totally created to bear children. The things your body and mind do to immediately make you "mother" are incredible. It is true that the instincts just kick in. My body was built for this very job. And now I'm clocked in. Forever.

This weekend, as the rain brought milder weather, we went on our first extended outing. Sam's sister Erin is in town from Arizona, so the family had a softball game on Sunday morning. Ophelia and I tagged along, and visited with her grandparents, cousins, aunt, and extended family. We compared babies with Ophelia's 4 week older cousin, who is huge in comparison! I can't believe they grow so quickly. I nursed her in public for the first time, with the help of my Hooter Hider . After that, we had lunch with Casey, Lana and Raleigh. It was the first time I ate out since Ophelia was born. I was totally excited to have a cheeseburger, tater tots, and a cupcake. Later, we continued to take advantage of the weather and went for a walk. I showed off the baby at MoKaBe's, and we stopped for snacks at Jay's.

These last few days we haven't left the house. It's just too hot.

Next week I have an orientation at school. The following week I have two more orientations, and the week after that, school starts. I don't want to go back. Although the idea of not having a baby attached to me for a few hours is appealing, I cannot imagine going somewhere and leaving my little sweet pea. We're gonna try pumping and giving her a bottle for the first time tomorrow.

Oh the excitement of mothering a newborn...

More pictures!!

Visiting with Aunt Erin

Ophelia sleeping on her kitchen

More sleepin'...