the first few days

So far, things are going pretty well here. Nate's adjusting well, it seems, although he's definitely been crankier and using grunts instead of words to communicate. He's also been very sweet with Anja (for instance, when she cries he goes to check on her!) and he's also been taking very good care of his baby doll, cleverly named Baby Doll. He has been "feeding her with his nipples" and putting her in our misc baby containment contraptions - chairs, cribs, cradles - to rest. We did find Nate excavating Anja with his new trucks, so we'll have to go over some of the ground rules again soon.

Thad and I both feel like things are going better with our new baby transition than we did with Nate, although it seems a little early to declare success. We've survived two nights so far, but just barely. I'm having the most trouble with the nights because I really, really value my sleep and am not very happy to be awoken every two hours, even if it is for my kids. I think I just need to get into the routine - I'll check back in with a sleep (or no-sleep) update soon. Anja also seems to be nocturnal, which is common in babies, so after she feeds at night she's not interested in going to sleep. And she's not interested in being quiet so we can sleep. Today I will be consulting my unnecessarily large library of baby sleep books to see how long that fun stage should last.

I had something else to report, but my brain has stopped functioning and it is completely blank. I will write more whenever my synapses resume firing.

nate's first report card

Nate had his first school progress report! We were scheduled for a parent-teacher conference yesterday (Monday) but clearly that didn't work well into our new schedule, since we were in the hospital (technically, we could have made it since we were released at noon and our meeting was at 2). Turns out Nate's teachers were free this afternoon too, so we decided we'd have our meeting today instead of in a week or two when we are even more sleep deprived.

He got an enthusiastic thumbs up from both of his teachers, which was good to hear. Here are a few highlights from the written report:

"Nate is an active and curious child..."
"He can often be found driving the trucks around the rug..." [no big surprise there!]
"He is an active participant who smiles and giggles through the entire class."
"When appropriately channeled, Nate's curious nature and infectious personality are a positive influence in the classroom."

Hooray, Nate!

there's no place like home

We've been released from the hospital and are all home and reunited (or just united?) into our new four-person household.

The delivery and hospital stay were relatively uneventful, which is a good thing. As they say (whoever they are) the second labor was much faster than the first. Unlike with Nate, where I didn't know I was in labor, this time I realized, probably around 8 or 9pm on Friday, that it had started but was just in denial for a couple of hours. We arrived at the hospital around 1 or 1:30 am, and Anja was born a few minutes before 6. With the exception of a few blood pressure drops that made me almost faint, the delivery was pretty much by the book with nothing particularly exciting to report (except for some gross stuff, of which I will spare you the details!)

Both Anja and my recoveries went well too, with no major issues. I had tested positive for Strep B so I was on an antibiotic drip during the delivery. Annoyingly, we were four minutes short of the full dose when Anja was born, so she received a 48-hour dose of antibiotics at the hospital, just to ensure she didn't pick up any infections during the birth. This happened with Nate too, but in his case they kept him in the nursery for the entire hospital stay; this time they let Anja stay in our room and took her out just when she needed to receive the medication. Turns out she was germ-free so we were both released this morning.

The only negative to our experience was that, due to the H1N1 flu and its risk to infants, nobody under 18 was allowed into the maternity ward, including siblings. So we weren't able to have Nate visit, which was really hard for me. Hard for him too, I think. He did meet up with Thad and I in the hospital cafeteria a couple of times, but he didn't meet Anja until we arrived home. I'm glad to be all together again and settling back into our lives.

the wait is over

Another hijack post brought to you by Neva's personal masseuse.

After much debate and flip-flopping (especially on my part) we have finally settled on a name: Anja Belfiore Carlson. We picked it in honor her Great Grandmothers.

Here are a few pictures to tide you over until Neva is back to blogging in full force.

it's a...

It's (still) a girl! We're excited to introduce TBA Baby Girl Carlson, born this morning, December 5, at 5:56 am. She weighs 7 lbs 4 oz (or, to be precise, 7 lbs, 3.9 oz) and is 19-inches long. Her head is 33, which we assume must be centimeters. Name to follow shortly.

pop that popcorn!

It's show time.

This blog has been hijacked. Neva can't come to the computer right now. Something about an i.v. and some involuntary contractions...

It looks like there won't be much sleep for us tonight, and very little for the coming months. Despite this we are excited to finally move on to something new. We'll keep you posted as things progress.

Thad

doctors

Baby #2 is definitely less active than In Utero Nate (which felt like I was carrying around a soccer team), and she also doesn't seem to be in a rush to join us any time soon. Nate was a couple of weeks early, so even though my due date is still a week off, it feels like she's late. I'm trying to enjoy the last baby-free days, but I can't help the rising impatience.

I'm on the weekly OB appointment schedule now (and have been for a while) so our mealtime conversations occasionally revolve around the progress, or lack thereof, of my cervix. This morning Nate asked if the baby was going to fall out in the car, so I probably need to be more careful about my choice of wording from here on out. Nate has also taken it upon himself to give me checkups at home with his doctor's kit. Here are the stats from my most recent appointment with Dr. Carlson:

temperature - six pointy eight
reflexes - good, there's no monkey in there
eye sight - good
vaccinations - I received my "reflex shot" in the sholder
medicine - Nate gave me something, but wouldn't tell me what, except that now I'm "all better!"

So, now that we are certain I'm in good health, it's time to get the show on the road! Come on, baby!