The Droolie Ghoulie

2 weeks of life, and Avery already celebrates her first holiday. At least Halloween is an opportunity to show the world how ridiculously cute our daughter is. Grandma embroidered her name on a little ghost outfit, and my aunt sent another cute one for the season. Check it out.

oooh! I'm scaaaary cute!

Since she's not old enough to have any of the candy we'll be distributing to the neighborhood tonight, I'll probably have to eat her share - for the next several years most likely:). Anything to help speed my recovery process!

P.S. My mom whipped up this pumpkinman for our front doorstep - almost as cute as Avery!

Little Starlet

Here's a short video and song for our favorite little girl. We recorded the song with the help of Grandma Alison Ormsbee and Uncle Jesse Marble. If you like how it sounds, Abby and I have recorded some more tunes that are posted here. Our daughter is such a beautiful blessing.

Faces

Wow, day 12 of Avery's life is already here! She's growing and looking different to us by the day. Pretty much all we've been doing is hanging out with her, taking naps, changing diapers, and eating lots of food. And of course I have the milk so just a little of my time is spent feeding...or about all of it! We have our challenges but definitely our joys.

Here's a glimpse into some of the new faces we've enjoyed over the past week. She started smiling a lot after she eats and is plainly the cutest thing we've ever seen!

I'm a little stir crazy and jealous that Tim has been able to maintain a relatively normal life. He's bought a new bike, gone for quick rides to enjoy super awesome mountain views and fall colors, met Matt for his birthday lunch, taken the car in for checkups, run errands for my feeding emergency needs, etc etc. Just today I sat outside for the first time since I've been home. Recovery process seems slow, but I get great treatment from Tim and my family (and lots of baths) to make up for it.

We've also have been enjoying the beauty of Colorado Fall in between everything. Avery even got her own little pumpkin decorated for her. Wait until you see her Halloween gift outfits!

Yeah, we're picture crazies! Unashamed!

The Story of Avery

The babe has made her debut. Avery Anne Isaacson decided she was ready to enter the world about a week early, and she was born at 8:03 am on Sunday, October 17!! 6 lbs 12 oz, 19 inches. WE LOVE HER!

Here's the story (feel free to skim):

10:00 a.m. Tim and I headed to Boulder for a date exploration day since Tim had the day off and had never been. I figured some exploring and walking and getting out of the house would be a good thing! Tim took me to brunch at The Kitchen along Pearl Street, and we perused the streets and visited a bike shop. We enjoyed thinking that this might be Tim's future college town!

12:30 p.m. We drove to the Flatirons Vista trail head for some panoramic views and a 3.5 mile flat (wheelchair accessible) trail. I figured this would potentially get things rolling, or help my body get ready for labor and at least be fun. We took it nice and slow and nearly got run over by a million mountain bikers, which was cool.
2:30 p.m. After a really slow, sunny walk, we headed home. My feet were super tired but otherwise felt glad we got out, but ready for some brief rest. I continued having Braxton-Hicks all day, which really was normal for the past month anyway, just a bit more frequent but still painless.

5:00 p.m. Our friend Kathryn met us at home so we could go to a nearby corn maze. We had planned awhile back to meet Dinah there and figured there wasn't a baby yet, so let's get some Fall adventure in while we can! It was a nice warm night, we found Dinah and some of her friends there, and Kathryn and I downed a big fat plate of funnel cake before heading into the maze.
6:30 p.m. We emerge from the maze probably a little later than is expected (totally dark!) since we got pretty turned around in there! I was definitely feeling like I had walked 6 miles that day and was ready to cheat our way through the corn to the exit, but we only did that at the very end once we could see the exit:) The four of us grabbed a light soup/sandwich dinner at a cafe, had a great time, and we crashed pretty soon after we got home.

Sunday:

12:30 a.m. I awoke with some digestive and abdominal discomfort. I thought it was the food but also knew it could be a sign of early labor, so I tried to go back to sleep.

1:00 a.m. BAM! My water broke! I had totally expected labor to start with contractions rather than my water breaking for some reason, so I was sort of in shock. It took me awhile to realize what was happening, and immediately the adrenaline started flowing. I woke Tim up and we started timing the contractions, which were about 3 minutes apart right off the bat (but 20 sec). My body soon started shaking a little bit. Soon Tim started finishing packing our bags and I called the midwife, who urged us to get some rest if we can and call in a little bit when we feel we wanted to go to the hospital.

1:40 a.m. I noticed I started bleeding fairly heavily and called the midwife again to ask if this was normal. She said it can be, and that as long as the baby was moving well we could stay home. Of course as soon as I started paying attention (she had been moving up to that point), I didn't feel anything for a long time. I wondered if I should be concerned.

2:15 a.m. To be safe, we decided to head to the hospital just to check out the bleeding and movement since I still hadn't felt anything. The midwife said she'd get an update from them once we got there and come in if they didn't send us home. On the way to the hospital, of course, I felt a couple kicks that provided lots of relief! And so much for the terror expectation of the car ride, it was still so early that it wasn't very uncomfortable!

2:45 a.m. I was now in our birthing suite, still having the same duration and intensity of contractions (mild), hooked up to a monitor for awhile. Since my water broke, they weren't going to send me home. I was expecting to be barely dilated, and had never been checked till this point. I was a 4.5-5 cm!! Baby heartbeat was steady, but they wanted a bit more variation so they gave me some IV fluids and Oxygen to see how she reacted. I think she was just mellow since she knew what was ahead! Soon she started responding as they wanted.

Around 3:30 a.m. (things get fuzzy from this point on!): My doula arrived at the hospital, and shortly afterward, my midwife. Contractions stared getting a bit stronger, and I couldn't talk all the way through them but I was calm and talkative in between. My midwife thought the bleeding was ok, and she gave me permission to get all unhooked move around however I wanted.

From this point on I tried laboring in all the ways we learned in class - toilet, tub, massage, aromatherapy, bouncy ball, leaning on the back of the bed, whatever relaxed me and got things progressing even more. Sometimes I didn't know what I should try next so I sort of rotated through them. I remember thinking this all seemed relatively manageable, but intense. In between we all talked in the room about Boston, our families, public health, etc. It was pretty calm, and I had a lot of support during the contractions. Time was flying by.

Eventually it was time to check me again and get another heartbeat reading. I was feeling more uncomfortable and very inwardly focused. I was about 8.5! This time Tim's pressing my hips together did wonders, and I loved the ball and also tried the tub again. But the second time in the tub things were getting a little too intense for me to relax and I got back to the bed pretty quick for some hands and knees relief. A couple of times I felt like I was definitely losing it, and everyone was great about telling me how to breathe differently and use my voice to get through. It really helped. I sort of noticed the nurse bringing in the warmer and knew that was a good sign!

7:40 a.m. My midwife said the baby was low enough to start pushing if I wanted. At this point I still didn't feel the "urge" I had expected to feel, so I was sort of surprised and it took awhile to figure out. But I was also very uncomfortable, and she said pushing would feel better and I should just see how it helps and feels to see if I wanted to continue. I had trouble feeling very confident it was accomplishing much, but it did feel better. Let's just say it was definitely working. I was surprised how much umph this was going to take, and I wasn't looking forward to the last part! But I knew I had no choice. I had pretty much lost my "control" and inward focus at this point and my body was taking over, and fast!

8:03 a.m. After several pushes, Avery just about shot across the room! They were yelling at me to STOP after her head was out but it took me a second to get the message, and by the time I realized what they said, she was out to her waist and let out a loud cry! The rest slid out and she just spent the next 30 minutes (while I was stitched up, ouch) chilling naked on my chest staring into my eyes! We couldn't believe she was here, and it was soooo cool to finally meet her. After only 7 hours of labor, and no interventions (!), she was finally here.
So that's the story. I don't know exactly why it went so quickly or so well, but I honestly feel that prenatal visits with our doula, the supplements I was taking, our choice of classes, and my 4 visits to the chiropractor at the end each gave my body and mind the preparation it needed to let birth happen well. At least they played a role!

I can also say my body feels trashed and recovery seems like it will be a long process, but it's amazing how we heal. When I see this cutie I know it was all worth it! We are really really blessed.

What about the name? We just like the name Avery, and if you look it up most likely you will find "elf ruler/counsel" as the primary meaning:) Also, bear-like is in the mix. But if you look deep enough, the French meaning is simply "wise", and Anne means "gracious" and is the middle name of Avery's mom, grandma, and great grandma. Ultimately, we pray she will be wise and gracious!

We already know she's (corn)MAZEing!

Halves

OK, 9 1/2 months! So we've rightly completed 1/2 of the nursery, waiting still for the crib to complete the rest. Bags are about 1/2 packed as well! Pretty soon we'll be halfway through October.

The bird mobile will hang over the crib.

Still have plenty of movement and the standard Braxton-Hicks going on, but my pelvis does feel like it's widening by the day. Bring on Baby I!!

P.S. A shout out to Becka, who's halfway around the world in Taiwan, settling into her new teaching job. Miss you sister!

new dipes

So as soon as it fits into them, Baby I will be sporting BumGenius cloth diapers of various types. BG just came out with an actual designed cover (compared to the normal solid colors). These are wild! What do you think?

Cast your vote!

If you so wish, the polls have opened for voting on Baby Isaacson's sex (cast your vote on the right). We've kept approximate verbal tallies from friends and family, but this is your chance for the vote to count (if you have an opinion). Of course, results will be revealed on D-day:)

P.S. The blog soon be going by "invitation only," so if you suddenly find yourself locked out, just put in a request and we'll invite you right in. Thanks!

It's OCTOBER!

It's birthday month! About 3 weeks to go. There have been a handful of developments over the past couple of weeks that I thought I would summarize while I have the time.

1. The swelling has begun. My hands lost their rings a couple weeks ago, but only recently have my feet decided to remind me I'm 9 months pregnant. It's not horrible, but they are growing!

2. I've had a bit of time to stay connected to the public health world, and although I completely forgot about a Partners In Health webcast symposium last weekend, I did catch this article by Paul Farmer on an International Health Service Corps that would give people Masters Degrees and pay off student loans. Nice!

3. I'm pretty sure I've developed a waddle.

4. Baking/experimenting. I made a ginger molasses apple cake which turned out a bit tarter and drier than I would have liked, but it's a nice breakfast or ice cream accompaniment. I'm also sorting through bread recipes to start making our own bread more regularly. I think next I will try this Oatmeal Sandwich Bread recipe from Orangette:

1 package (2 ¼ tsp.) active dry yeast
3 Tbsp. unsulphured (not blackstrap) molasses
2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour
1 cup rolled oats
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 ¼ tsp. table salt, or to taste

The only adventure (what's baking without adventure?) will be trying it in a bread maker instead of by hand. We'll see.

5. We completed our childbirth education classes! I guess you could say we're feeling 'readier' for this baby to make its debut. In the class were introduced to kind of a neat website called Spinning Babies that let's you 'belly map' and help your baby into the optimum position for labor. I can't way we've actually drawn a map, but we think little I is ROA. I guess LOA is optimum for anterior (and thus faster) birth, but we're close! Just interesting.

6. I've seen the chiropractor twice now in preparation for The Event. Apparently keeping spine and pelvis in the best alignment as possible (through pregnancy-specific adjustments) can do a lot to help labor progress without any hitches.

7. I met Tim's whole team for a yummy dinner meeting. They are pretty cool and he is working well and hard to get a few more allstars to run the place so he can take 2 weeks off for dadhood. We're thankful for the low stress this job has been so far!

8. I escaped briefly to the mountains with my parents last weekend. Every day is still stunningly summerish and although we long for Fall (which sometimes just skips itself in CO), it's been really nice here. We drove just west of Denver through Morrison up to Echo Lake to catch some color and panoramic views. I'd go again in a heartbeat, as there are so many other places to explore!


9. Tim dominated the GRE.

Well that's a glimpse of our world these days. In a few short weeks there will be pics of a new human being!