Little Party Animal

Our little man is already a very social little guy. During the first 3.5 weeks of his life, he's had numerous visitors and has been averaging a party for every week of his life. How many people can say that?

His first weekend at home, while my parents were in town, Mike's family came over and we had a big cookout to celebrate Dylan's arrival. The next weekend, a coworker had an impromptu cookout and pool party that we decided to go to for a while.

Then, last weekend, Mike's cousin's wife, Jessie, had a big 30th b'day bash, which was also a birthday bash for their son, Justin. Due to our very late arrival (because all of these activities are done in between his feedings), we missed the birthday boy. After diving into his birthday cake, he had a sugar crash and was napping while we were there. However, we did think to snap a few other pictures while we were there.

The Birthday Girl with Dylan

Cousin Leah with Hoodie Dylan

Family Photo

Now, to figure out where he'll be partying this weekend.....

Low Expectations

As a gal that generally prides herself on how much she can get accomplished in one day, I am certainly in new territory! Dylan's truly an "easy" baby and, with Mike and I both able to care for him, we are feeling a little bit spoiled of having an "easy" time with this parenthood stuff.

However, the easy in quotation marks means, as all of you parents out there will understand, that caring for a newborn is still very, very time consuming. As a mother who has chosen to breastfeed, giving this child food is, literally, a full time job. Sitting down for feedings that take 30 minutes to 1 hour about 8 times a day, with diaper changes before and after and burping alongside that....well you do the math. That's a HUGE part of my day! And, it's not like those full time hours come at one time. They're spread across 24 hours so it's not like I have tons of time to get things done in between feedings. During those times though, I try to hang out with him while he's awake as much as possible, comfort him when he's upset, have tons of diaper changes and try to catch some zzz's here and there....doesn't leave a lot of "me" time. I know, I know...that's what parenthood is all about, right? Fine and dandy...I'm ok with that. It's just that, as I said, not accomplishing much during my day is new for me and a bit of an adjustment.

Thus, my daily expectations are pretty low. Here's what I try to get done on a daily basis:

1) Eat 3 meals

2) Shower

3) Take a walk

I haven't taken an inventory of how many days I've actually been able to check all of these off my to do list, but I think I'm probably hitting 50% of days where I get all three of those done. All in all, not bad for a new parent!

Oddly enough, the one of those that gets accomplished the least is fitting in the 3 meals. Nap time seems to always occur around the time when lunch would be eaten. So, more often than not, I get in two meals a day and keep lots of snacks bedside to eat while I'm up in the middle of the night, starving, feeding Dylan. I'm sure these things will come easier with time, but for now, I'm pretty proud of being able to accomplish my low expectations of myself on a semi regular basis.

First Family Portrait

My dear friend Liza came to visit us in the hospital just after Dylan was born. I've known Liza and her family for a long time. In fact, they are a big reason why I moved to Boston. They were my next door neighbors in Dallas and I spent many nights at their house babysitting for Liza's 3 oldest children. Then she had twins and 5 was a bit much for me to handle!

While I was in college, their family moved to the Boston area. I have a big place in my heart for her kids and made the trip to Boston for her 2nd oldest child, Sarah's, bat mitzfah during the summer between my junior and senior years of college. That was (one of) the summer's in Texas with ridiculously high heat - over 100 degrees EVERY day for 3 months! Not being a fan of the heat, that was enough and I decided I was going to move. I fell in love with Boston on that trip....the weather, the architecture, the city! So, that's why I packed up and moved here after college.

I've remained close to their family since moving up here, though I definitely don't see them as much as I would like. They take care of me when I need it though! Since Liza is considered family to me she of course came to meet Mr. Dylan. She also brought along her camera for the event.

Then, several days later when we got home, she brought the twins by (her youngest kids who are now 17) to meet Dylan, bring us some food AND to give us our first family portrait. Now, maybe it was just the postpartum hormones doing their thing, but I was so moved by the gesture and the wonderful family portrait she brought us that I definitely got a little teary eyed! That picture is now sitting, with pride, on our mantel. It will be treasured!

Our Family

Hospital Trip for Both of the Boys

Today was an eventful day for our little family. On the schedule was Dylan's 2 week check up. So, we woke up and all started getting ready for that outing. The whole family got clean, showers for us and a bath for Dylan, and we started working on breakfast. Dylan's the only one that got to eat.

While Mike was slicing up fruit for a smoothie, he also sliced through a good bit of his thumb. Yikes! So, while he sat at the sink with water running over the cut (also quickly losing color and starting to sweat profusely), I hurriedly finished getting Dylan ready and in the car. A quick wrap up of Mike's wound, and we headed to the hospital. Good thing I remembered how to drive...it had been several weeks since I was behind the wheel of a car.

When we got to the hospital, I dropped Mike off at the emergency room (some of his color had returned and I didn't feel as if he would collapse on the way in) and parked the car. Since I was instructed not to lift anything heavier than my baby for several weeks, Mike has been handling all of the baby gear. So, I got a crash course in figuring out how to release the baby seat, set up our stroller and get Dylan into it. We met Mike in the emergency room and made sure he was all checked in. Then, Dylan and I headed across the hospital to the office buildings for his appointment, checking in right on time!

Dylan's appointment went great! The doctor checked him all out and declared him healthy and striving. Yay! I had a long list of questions that the doctor patiently went through with me. Mike and I kept in touch via text messaging and he let me know that he was getting stitches. After Dylan's appointment, we headed back to the emergency room to see how Dad was faring. Timing was, at least, on our side for the day as Mike was "released" about a minute after we made it back to the waiting area. He had received 5 stitches and came out with a bulky bandaged thumb.

So, everyone is doing well after their planned and unplanned doctor's visits. Mike gets out of doing dishes for a while and is still feeling well enough that he's planning on playing soccer tonight. I was happy to be able to look after both of my boys....do I get a gold star for being a great wife and mother today?

Week One - Part Two

9 days. That's how old my little guy is already. It's been a whirlwind of time and so much has happened and yet nothing much all at the same time!

Obviously, everything in Dylan's life is a first for him, but they're firsts for us too. We have had a lot of fun experiencing all of these family firsts!

For our first night home from the hospital, my parents were gracious enough to be "on call" since it was really our first solo night with Dylan. Mike and I were definitely a little nervous about how it would go and if we would be able to get through it. Surprisingly, it went awesome, we didn't have to call in for back up and we passed our first big parental test with flying colors....even managing to get about 6 hours of sleep! Go us! Since then, we've had "good" nights and ones that weren't quite as good. Thanks to Dylan's grandparents, though, we've had afternoon "breaks" where we've been allowed to catch some zzz's. They left for home this morning, so it will be interesting to see how much sleep we're able to get from here on out. Only time will tell!

It's funny, even though I babysat a ton during my younger years, I have found myself nervous about all of these firsts with this little guy. Is it just because it's been so long since I've really had up close and personal "care" experience with babies (as opposed to being the fun aunt who passes them back to the parents for diaper changes, feedings, and putting them to sleep) or because of the new mom nerves? Either way, I found myself pretty nervous about the first bath too.

Dylan's not generally a fan of being naked. Anytime he gets changed (clothes or diaper), he screams. So, I was expecting a melt down during bath time. There were moments that he screamed, but also some that he didn't, so I considered it a great success.

First Bath

He Enjoyed the Scalp Massage

All Clean!

Other firsts have been first trip in the car, first visit to the pediatrician (awesome check up), first family walk (just around the block), and first shopping trip. They've all felt somewhat adventurous to me and have all gone really smoothly.

In addition to all the "firsts," we've stayed busy this last week at home with lots of visitors, LOTS of diaper changes, lots of "wardrobe" changes, lots of naps and, most importantly, lots of smiles and laughter enjoying our new family.

Napping

It's Been Fun Dressing Him Up

In addition to getting to know this little guy, there is one other big important observation I've had. I have been amazed at Mike and my team work. I mean, I obviously knew we made a good team since I married him, but I'm in awe at how much the work of taking care of a baby has increased our team work bond. I think there was small level of anxiety on my part during the pregnancy that Mike might not be as into the whole parenthood thing as I would be.

As a mother, you don't really have an option to not take care of your child. I mean, from day one, I had to be concerned about his well being through taking care of myself. That created a strong bond that I knew would only grow stronger with my responsibility to take care of him out of the womb. However, the father doesn't get the same type of bonding during pregnancy so it can be a little concerning as to how strong the father\baby bond will be.

Now, I never questioned that Mike would be a great father. But, I have honestly been shocked at how incredibly wonderful he's been not only in his over the moon love for his son but in his role as a caretaker. I expect a lot from myself and, therefore, a lot from him. He has somehow managed to go above and beyond every expectation I could have had and been an incredible partner to me in taking care of Dylan. It's been awesome to work with him in taking care of our son. Our bond as husband and wife has grown stronger in the last 9 days and I'm very much looking forward to our growth in that relationship over the life of our child.

What A Difference A Week Makes!

Hard to believe that it was already a week ago today that my water broke and we headed into the hospital to bring this new little guy into our lives.

Me and Dylan

It's been a ridiculously crazy week. So, let's just start from the beginning.

After the birth, we finally got to our post delivery room around 4am. They took Dylan to the nursery for a bath and kept him there until the nursery "closed" at 6:30 am. At 5 am, they came to take out my epidural "stuff." So, obviously not a lot of sleep was had by us after a crazy and physically and emotionally draining night. Even though they kept telling us to get some rest, it was ridiculously impossible with all the people and visitors coming in and out of the room constantly. Seriously, I wish I had had a Do Not Disturb sign I could have hung on the door.

Obviously, we wanted our visitors to be there, but I could have done without some of the hospital traffic. Every day the following people were in our rooms - pediatrician, obstetrician, cleaning people (twice a day), meal folks (twice each meal to drop off food and pick up trays), nurses to check my vitals several times a day, nurses to check Dylan's vitals several times a day, lactation consultants to help with feedings, and nurses to check up on us in general. Not to mention, there were several "announcements" each day about the maternity shop hours and classes for new parents. We also had some random other drop ins - the lady with the social security forms, the woman "selling" the baby hospital pictures, the anesthesiologists to ask about post epidural things and several other random folks that I lost track of. All in a matter of 2 full days that we were there. Seriously, way too much going on to get much rest during the day. So, we definitely took advantage of the night time nursery care (11:30pm-6:30pm). Dylan hung out with the nurses there while we slept and they just brought him in for meal time. If it wasn't for that, I'm not sure that we would have ever gotten any sleep while we were there. So, we were really ready to come home by Wednesday morning.

At The Hospital - First Family Self Portrait

We left the hospital around 11am on Wednesday and came home. First thing first, Dylan needed to be introduced to his furry siblings - Oliver and Lucienne (Smokey, George and T.D., the fish, wouldn't really need much adjusting to the baby). Luci sniffed him and then took off. We expected this...she generally doesn't stick around when kids are in the house. We weren't sure what to expect from Oliver. Boy, was he SUPER interested in what we had brought home!

Dylan and Oliver Meeting

He still hasn't quite figured out what this thing we've brought home is, but he seems to be welcoming the addition reasonably well. He seems VERY concerned about Dylan's well being when he cries. Luci has made a lot of progress and will exist in the same room where this little being makes funny sounds. So, really, their reaction has been about the best we could have hoped for.

About 2 hours after we arrived home, Dylan's Mimaw and Pipaw arrived from Dallas. They're here to help us out and spoil their new grandson rotten until next Wednesday. So far, they have been accomplishing their goals!

Pipaw, Dylan and Mimaw

So much more to report on in the first week, but, new Mom duty calls. After sitting down to write all this up on 3 different occasions, I figure I better go ahead and post it before another interruption. That means there will have to be a week 1 part 2! Later!

Who Does He Look Like? YOU Decide!

When a new baby is born, there's always much discussion on who he looks like - Mom or Dad?

Well, so far, most people think that Dylan looks more like Mike. Since I'd really like some claim to my child too, I decided that we should compare all of our baby pictures.

So, now I think all of you should decide who Dylan looks more like!

Michael Dylan Kara

There's a poll on the right side of the page. Voting closes August 1st so get your vote in!

The Labor and Delivery - All The Gory Details

Ok, I will try and not provide too many gory details, but I've gotten lots of requests as to what the "whole story" is so I'll try and give as much information as possible without grossing anyone out too much. Sorry you requested it...this is a long one!

It all started Sunday morning. On Saturday, the 4th of July, Mike and I hung some cabinets in the mud room we had gotten at Ikea, I took a 2 hour nap and had Mike's parents over for a small cookout. A couple of things about the day, in retrospect, were a queue that my body was preparing for the big event. 1) I took a nap. I usually am not a good mid day sleeper but just felt so tired that I went right to bed and slept about 2 hours. Definitely not my norm. 2) At the cookout, I literally could not eat enough. My appetite had waned the previous weeks as less and less foods were appetizing to me. However, I had a hearty appetite that night and really ate a ton. Subconscious carbo loaded for the marathon was on!

Saturday night, I slept well while I was sleeping, but was up more in the middle of the night than usual. I have been making bathroom trips about 2-3 times a night but made the trek 4 times that night. Sorry, tmi I know, but I think it's interesting that my "usual" patterns had changed as my body was getting ready to expel a baby.

Sunday morning, after a full night's sleep, I woke up and sensed something "odd" going on. I got up to head to the bathroom and got to the end of bed, where my water broke. It was a little shocking.....just like in all the movies! I called Mike to bring a towel and the phone to call the doctor. That was at about 8:40 am. The nurse that was paged let us know that we should head on into the hospital - take our time to get there but come on in. So, while I showered (who knew when I'd be able to do that again), Mike finished throwing all of our hospital items in bags and in the car and whipped us up some breakfast. By 10:20, we were off to the hospital!

When we arrived at the maternity ward, the receptionist asked "can I help you?" I replied, "I'm here to have a baby!" She said "oh!" and quickly set in motion to get us set with all the paperwork we needed. After checking in, we went back to the maternity ward and they put me on monitors to track my contractions and the baby's heart rate. When your water breaks, they hope that contractions will start soon after on their own. Mine really weren't. Since the water sack is what protects from infection, they don't really let you wait long for your own contractions anymore, so they took us to a labor room and hooked me up to an IV for pictosin, the drug that mimics the drug in the body that starts contractions. That was about noon.

Oh, also interesting to note now is that at our last appointment on July 1st, my obstetrician let us know she was on call Sunday, so if we wanted to have a chat with the baby and convince him to come then, she would actually be there to deliver him (as opposed to another doctor in the practice). Lo and behold, our talks with him didn't fall on deaf ears so he was actually delivered by her!

Right after they started the drug, the nurse quickly left the room to get labels to put on the IV sack. When she left the room, an alarm started going off. My obstetrician was in the hallway, heard it, came in and went into action. Apparently, the alarm was an effect of the baby's heart rate dropping. They stopped the pictosin, the heart rate quickly went back to normal and then they started it back up a little more gradually. Everything was smooth sailing for a while. We finished watching "Breakfast at Wimbledon"....the great match between Federer and Roddick.

Around 5:30, I was starting to get really uncomfortable with the strength of contractions. I was pretty easily convinced to take the epidural since I was only about 3cm dilated (a long way off from 10 which is where you need to be to deliver). Then, happy times returned. Getting the epidural was no big deal and I was really comfortable for several hours. It was a bit weird to be numb from the waist down, but Mike and the nurse were great about helping me move positions (they were moving me from side to side to help labor more). It was really surreal for the nurse to ask "do you feel that?" I would say no. At those times, I was apparently having big contractions and was blissfully unaware! To pass these many pain free hours, Mike and I watched tv (lots of shows on HGTV, all of "The Adventures in Babysitting," great classic 80s movie) and looked at lots of our pictures that we have on Mike's laptop.

There was one little time of drama. Around 8:30, my obstetrician came to check "progress." I was up to 8 cm dilated! After the exam, the alarm that we had heard earlier started going off again. This time, they couldn't quickly get the heart rate back up. They had me changing positions in case the umbilical cord had somehow been compacted but nothing seemed to be working. So, they called anesthesia....I was going to have to go in for a c-section! Now, I was pretty flexible on my "birth plan." All the options available and how I wanted things to go on the day....I really didn't care. EXCEPT, I really didn't want a c-section. So, I wasn't thrilled. However, the doctor calmly explained that the baby could be in danger and they wouldn't let that happen so the c-section was necessary. "Luckily," the anesthesia folks were delayed in getting to the room. The heart rate had been slowed for 9 full minutes. BUT, by the time the team got there, we had got it back up. I personally think that my mental focus in trying to keep myself calm and, therefore, get the baby calm must have been the key factor in getting the situation resolved.

But, the obstetrician was very concerned since this was the 2nd occurrence of a decelerated heartbeat so she wanted to go ahead with the c-section. Since I was SO close to getting to the necessary 10 cm, I really wanted to try to go ahead with a "natural" birth. I was able to convince her to give me and the little guy one more shot. However, if the heart rate went down again, I agreed that, no protests, I would go in for "the cut." Thankfully, the rest of the labor progressed with no more issues on that front. Yay me for sticking to my guns!

My "happy time" (ie, pain free labor) ended between 10 and 10:30 pm. I started to feel really bad! I was queasy and just felt like something wasn't right. Around 11, I mentioned to the nurse that I thought it might be "time." Of course, I prefaced it by saying, I obviously have no idea what I'm doing. However, she said, it's surprising how many women "just know" so she went ahead and did an exam. And, what do you know, I was fully ready! However, she advised, due to the earlier drama, that I wait as long as possible to try and start pushing since the contractions would naturally "labor down" the baby and would provide less work for us down the line. So, I waited until 12:15am and then it was go time!

Before I continue, I have to give serious props to my nurse, who supported my decision for refusing a c-section, but, much more importantly, props to my awesome labor coach - Mike! He was really great. When I started feeling really bad, my communication really broke down. I wasn't able to talk much, but somehow he knew exactly what to due for me. He kept me as comfortable as possible with a cool rag to my head and sips of water. He had a huge role in the next part of my labor and was just wonderful!

So, at 12:15, the pushing started. I know I said it before, but after this whole experience, I'm really in awe how the human body naturally knows what to do. I decided not to give myself anymore of the epidural (I had complete control over increasing my dosage) so that I could be as aware as possible of when I needed to push. I wanted to get that baby out as quickly as possible in case he decided to drop his heart rate again. Without really any instruction, I could "feel" what needed to be done to push that baby out. It took several contractions for me to get into the grove of it, but after that, it was game on! Mike and the nurse were not only my foot\leg holders, they were also my cheerleaders. Mike really wanted to start the Bill Cosby cheer (push 'em out, shove 'em out, WAY out!) but I appreciated that he refrained at that moment.

It was not an easy thing to do. I know, obvious that childbirth is hard.....right? Man, they weren't lying! Somewhere in that pushing time, I voiced that I had no idea why I chose to do it that way...the c-section was looking really good about that time! But, I was too far into to go back, so I just had to push onward.

Anyway, to make a not so short story not much longer, around 1:15 the obstetrician was called in to "assess the situation" and she called for delivery back up. At 1:36 am, Dylan Thomas Hines was officially out of me and into this big world!

Me Having Just Pushed Out A Baby and

Brand Spanking New Baby Dylan

And Baby Makes Three

Wow! So, our long awaited new family member has arrived. As pretty much everyone that reads my blog already knows, Dylan Thomas Hines was born July 6th at 1:36am weighing 7 pounds 4 ounces and measuring 20 inches long. He is, of course, perfect to us, wonderful and we're completely in love! By far, my favorite picture of him yet is this one:

Too Adorable!!!

It's been a crazy couple of days what with giving birth, being in the hospital and having tons of people welcome Dylan into the world, we've been on a bit of a whirlwind!

We knew that our family and friends would be excited for us but we have truly been overwhelmed with the outpouring of love, support and enthusiasm from everyone. So, thanks to all of you for giving a spectacular world wide welcome to our little guy. We appreciate it more than you know.

Mike, Dylan and I got home from the hospital at about 11:30 this morning, introduced Dylan to his furry siblings and got unpacked just a little bit before his Dallas grandparents (aka Mimaw and Pipaw) arrived to spend some time in Boston getting to know their new grandchild. We also have several visitors coming by in the next few days and, more importantly, are still very much trying to figure out how to provide basic care for the little guy. So, the hectic time will not be ending soon.

I am very much planning on providing more details on the whole experience and hope to steal some moments to myself in the next few days to document them here. So, hopefully, you'll be hearing from me again soon.

Thanks again for your love and support during this crazy transition in our lives. We feel very lucky to have such awesome people surrounding us in our lives.

The Woods and The Works

Yesterday, we took advantage of the brief break in the rainy season (aka Boston this summer) and spent a little time outside. We recently read an article about an area called Allendale Woods having volunteers work on clearing the trails. The area is just a couple of miles from here and I didn't even know it had existed. When I lived a couple of boroughs over, in Jamaica Plain, I literally drove past it every day on my way to work and was completely unaware what lay behind the view from the road. The Boston area never ceases to amaze me at how many great surprises it has available. Anyway, since reading the article, I've been dying to check it out.

So, yesterday morning, we chanced what might have been really muddy trails to see what the area held. What a nice surprise it was! The trails weren't muddy at all (except for one small section we passed through) and we had a really nice time wandering around the paths and finding out what was in this wooded area. How cool to have such a nice little hiking spot so incredibly close to home! In fact, when I'm not 9 months pregnant, it's close enough that I would walk there from home to hike around for a bit. Here are some pictures from the outing.

Pretty Flower

Pond - Might be a Good One for Fishing

(seemed to be a lot of fish jumping around in it)

Me at the Top of a Little Waterfall

Since time to enjoy "life as we know it" is quickly coming to a close at an unexpected moment, I feel like time is of the essence. Since I didn't know what I would be up for tonight, nor if I'd be "available" to go see Boston fireworks, we decided to go see what nearby town, Needham, had to offer for July 3rd fireworks.

Around 9 last night, we made the quick drive over, parked, walked about half a mile to what we thought would be nice viewing spot and sat down on a blanket to wait for the show. Once it started, we realized some trees would be blocking our view of a lot of it, so we got up and started moving back towards the car (I wasn't willing to walk any further away from it at that point). In between a couple of houses in the neighborhood, we actually got a really nice, pretty much unobstructed view of the fireworks show. We were standing in the middle of the street (it was blocked from traffic) but no one else was around so it was like our own personal show! They had a very nice display of fireworks and I enjoyed it immensely. Probably the biggest plus to the smaller town fireworks is not fighting hordes of traffic to get home. We just walked back to the car and quickly drove ourselves home. Nice!

Now, it's the 4th. So, happy 4th everyone! Still no baby. The wait continues.

How Am I Supposed to Rest for THE Marathon?

Over and over I hear that labor is the marathon for which I've been training for the last 9 (actually, almost 10) months. In this last month of pregnancy, you're supposed to rest up as much as possible so that your body is as ready as it can be for the big event.

Here's the problem. Sometime last weekend, when this "labor could happen any day" reality hit me, my subconscious kicked into overdrive. On the surface, and how I feel in waking moments, is a feeling of calm waiting. I'm just doing what I can before "the time" actually comes, taking everything in stride and hanging out with no structured plans that I could have to cancel. It's definitely not a natural "state" for me to be in. I like to be busy and to plan events. However, I really thought I was doing a good job of being relaxed. Well, apparently not.

Even though sleeping and resting is top priority for me, I haven't been doing a very good job of it. Why? Because of my anxiety filled dreams, that's why. Aches and pains during the night are nothing new...they've woken me multiple times during the nights for some time now. However, now these aches and pains are now manifesting in dreams that I'm going into labor and my sleep is very restless and anything but peaceful and relaxing. How to calm the mind...during sleep? Perhaps I should be doing my prenatal yoga DVD more often? Any other thoughts on how to get my subconscious mind to take a chill pill?