The Little One Arrives!

On Friday, May 23rd at 11:35 in the morning, Orin Alexander Zawicki made a grand (but very painful) entrance into the world outside the womb.

This is not what he looked like at that time,

but I thought you would all want a cute baby picture right at the top of the post.

Now I will go back to somewhere near the beginning to fill you in on all the details:

At around 1:00 in the morning, Casey and I were both wide awake: I was up with the realization that I had gone into labor and Casey was up because he had just been hit by one of the worst cases of food poisoning that I have ever seen.

Despite our uncomfortable situations, we spent several hours laughing uncontrollably about meaningless random little things... mostly our excessive toilet use... it was just one of those times. 

Around 3:30 I hopped into the shower to see if it would stop my contractions (warm water is suppose to stop fake labor) When it didn't, I called the birth center and they told us to come in right away.

This is me in early labor on my birthing ball (notice the smile... that went away later on)

Here I am again, holding onto Casey as my situation got progressively less appealing.

And here is the moment right before I lost Casey. I am pictured hanging over my vomit bowl and he is prepping to go to bed. 

Seconds later, my mom and I were on our own for several hours.

I give him credit for being able to sleep through a large part of my labor... that takes real talent 

and he was, in his defense, really sick.

But by the last stage of labor he woke up again and held my hand while I screamed bloody murder. There is nothing about labor that is fun.

Except in the end, it was all worth it.

This was Orin's first moment with his daddy.

After the labor we were transferred to the hospital to begin a 48 hour stay so the doctors could monitor the baby.

We had a lot of time to kill, so we found ways to stay busy: first, a warm-water hair wash and comb for the baby.

We declined a bath after the labor, but by day two we decided we should get the blood clots out of his hair. Casey did a really great job.

Orin was not very appreciative.

But eventually he settled down to do what he does best: nap (and look really cute).

More of sleepy baby.

Later in the day my brother stopped by to visit. He just qualified for Special Forces training and had been given a leave for Memorial Day weekend. I found out that he was coming home the night I went into labor. It was really a wonderful surprise to have him get to meet the baby.

So, all in all, the first day was amazing. I think that we are both still in shock that we have been blessed by such a lovely baby. I can't wait for you all to meet him. 

And don't worry, from now on the blog will be filled daily with pictures of Orin.

I will leave you with this one... he looks a little like a monkey in it, but we managed to catch him in one of the rare moments when his eyes are open.

See you tomorrow. 

The Selfish Gene

Lately the baby and I have been having a slight conflict of interest, mainly over the timing of his birth. See, baby has moved on to the stage of development known as "hanging around in the womb just gaining weight." He seems perfectly content with his current situation which involves wiggling around, accumulating body fat, and enjoying his safe water-bubble existence. However, I am experiencing this stage in a significantly different way. 

Sleeping, for example, has become very challenging. The only position that is comfortable is one in which I am sitting up, so I now nap (actual sleep is impossible with the number of times that I have to go to the bathroom in the night) propped up on a mound of pillows. My neck has never appreciated anything less. And that is just one example, I am not gong to even tell you about how difficult walking up stairs has become.

 So, naturally I wouldn't mind if the baby would just hurry up and be born. "You can gain all the weight you want after birth," I regularly assure him. But so far he is continuing to be stubborn.

 

Other encouraging speeches have also been ignored. Everyday I try something different, such as "It is a really beautiful day today... a good day to be born" occasionally adding a threat like "If you don't hurry up, you are going to miss this blooming Magnolia tree... it is really something special." My mother has a different tactic. She simply plans out when I should go into labor depending on what works best for everyones schedule. "Your labor should begin tonight around midnight. Spend 6 hours in the early stage then come and wake me up...." Then she pats me on the belly reassuringly and heads off to bed. 

Casey just asks me every morning "Are we going to have the baby today?" I think that he is interested in not going to work. 

So for all of you anxiously awaiting baby pictures, I am not sure how much longer you will have to wait. Hopefully, the baby and I will be able to strike a compromise soon... one in which even though he will be forced to leave his comfortable womb and I will be forced to go through the painful process of guiding his exit, it will benefit us both in the end by allowing him to taste something other than amniotic fluid and letting me nap (in between feedings and diaper changes) lying down. 

We miss you all and hope that you are doing great.

A day at the farm

At some point a couple months ago in one of my many baby books, I remember reading about how exposing a baby in the womb to farm animals helps to protect him or her from developing allergies. I think. It may have been beneficial for some other reason, I can't remember, but either way it was a good excuse to go visit a farm on Casey's day off. 

We looked up directions to a local farm and set off on a beautiful Sunday afternoon with my mother and brother in law.

When we arrived it did not take us long to realize that what we thought was a "family farm day" was actually a "family fair day"... no livestock to pet, no lovely manure-air to breathe.

 But they did have cotton candy, so we decided to explore for a while.

The best part in my opinion was a booth set up by a local artist who was selling baby books. The books are unique because not only do they tell a baby-friendly story in big letters, they also have smaller captions that have interesting little scientific facts about the animals in the story.

It won me over. We bought "The Pond" and "The Oak Tree" and had them signed by the author.

Andrew's favorite part was the pie tasting. There was a competition going on to see who had made the best pie so there was quite a lot of pressure from the old ladies at the stand to try all of them. This proved to be no problem for the boys. 

After leaving the fair, we set off again to find a real farm and this time we were successful.

Fluffy chickens...

Cute baby goats...

A cow demonstrating an act of personal hygiene.

A big shiny red tractor...

And Wilbur.

We wandered around for a while, petting goats, sheep, and pigs, and enjoying the sunshine.

After the farm we went back to the house for dinner and a round of Settlers of Catan (a game that Casey and I discovered while visiting our frineds in San Franscisco earlier in the trip).

It went very well. 

I won. 

I always win.

:)

Now we are back to focusing all of our attention on having a baby. 

Otherwise, who will wear this cute outfit I made...

my first successful sewing project 

Any day now... I promise.

Sunny Sundays

Yesterday Casey and I went to Cape Cod to visit our friends Colleen and Cody and their beautiful baby Rowan. 

It was an absolutely gorgeous day and Colleen and I spent the better part of the afternoon just basking in the sun with the baby.

The boys, however, had other plans: they left us almost immediately for a day of fishing and alcohol consumption (I hear that these two things go hand-in-hand).

When they returned, they reported catching quite a few fish but had decided to throw them all back. They also appeared to have been successful at the drinking aspect of the day as well. 

All in all, it was a great day and we were very sad when we had to leave. As we were saying our goodbyes Rowan stretched out his tiny little hand and patted my tummy. Next time we see him he will get to meet his cousin outside the womb. 

It couldn't happen soon enough.

Some scattered bits

Recently I have been accused of slacking a little on the blog. The entry numbers per month speak for themselves... life has been slowing down a bit.

I guess it is hard to make things seem interesting in between traveling across the United States and having a baby.

Although I assure you, when the little one does arrive (2 more weeks!) the blog will pick right back up again and you will be flooded with so many baby pictures that you will not know what to do with them.

But for all of you that would like to know what we have been up to 

whether it is interesting or not, this entry is for you: 

Honestly, we have been doing a lot of eating.

See, the school where my mom works has a dining hall which is open most of the day and boasts some amazing food variety. Really, if you can think of it, they probably have it and, of course, it is free and all-you-can-eat.

It has suited us well. I think we have both put on quite a few pounds since arriving and only I can blame it on the baby.

In other news, springtime has finally arrived in the northeast.

To celebrate, Casey and I took a trip on his day off to visit my old stomping grounds in central Mass. It felt good to be back in the van.

And even better to be back in the central Mass forests.

We packed a picnic and spent the day hanging out by the river, watching the dogs swim, and enjoying the sun.

Later on, we met up with my father and my brother-in-law for a late afternoon walk and a scrumptious dinner. 

The dogs outnumbered the people on the walk. 

This is my brother-in-law, Andrew.

On Casey's next day off, we decided to go to the Boston Science Museum.

The museum is so big it is hard not to get lost, it is definitely the kind of place you need to go to more than once.

One of Casey's favorite exhibits was the make-your-own-mobile.

Later when we got home, he decided it would be a good time to finish the bird mobile for the baby. See how the designs are eerily similar?

We also moved the furniture around until we were satisfied that we had the best set up for the baby's arrival. Here is our crib nook, complete with mobile and Red Sox blanket.

Now all there is left to do is wait...

Don't worry, it shouldn't be long now.

Love you all.

Fenway Fever

The other day, Casey had his first real introduction to Boston: My stepfather took us all out for a night at Fenway Park to watch the Boston Red Sox play (and, of course, beat) the Toronto Blue Jays. To prepare for the event, Casey put on his entire collection of Red Sox gear, which is currently quite substantial... including the receiving blanket I made for the baby (we figured that we could authenticate it by bringing it to the game)

Upon arriving at the park, Casey wasted no time in ordering his first famous Fenway Frank. 

He said it was the best hotdog that he has ever had. 

I trusted him on this but went for a piece of pizza instead.

And, of course, to wash down the hotdog and toast the occasion... a couple of beers for the guys.

We realized early on that this was probably the last big event we would attend together before the baby was born. We couldn't think of any place that we would rather be. 

The weather was beautiful as the fans filed into the park.

I had to include this picture in the blog, just because we thought it was so funny. There was a tiny beam of sunlight coming though the stands and it was shining right on Casey... he took  full advantage of the opportunity to look saintly.

The game was amazing. We got to watch David Ortiz hit a home run, a Blue Jay get picked off trying to steal second base, two unbelievable outfield catches, and our pinch runner get tagged out at home base.

Later on it got chilly, but it didn't matter because by the end of the game we were all on our feet anyway... it was tied in the bottom of the ninth. There were Sox on first and second with two outs....

Nobody could remember who smacked the ball into the outfield to send Manny home for the win. Details don't matter as much when you are yelling that loud.

All in all, it was a great night. We have made a pact to try to go to one more game before heading back to Oregon... this time with the baby outside my belly, although he was kicking and squirming around with the rest of us during all the best parts of the game,

which would make him quite possibly the youngest Red Sox fan in history. 

He clearly already has good taste.

Hope you are well.

Birth 101

Today Casey and I attended our birthing class. It was an all-day-long event at the Winchester hospital. Although we decided not to deliver at Winchester, we chose not to cancel our class there and I am really glad we didn't! Our instructor was great and we learned a lot about labor and birth, including different birthing positions, stages of labor, possible complications, the role of the coach, etc. The only part of the class that wasn't as relevant to our situation was the talk she gave on pain medication (you are not allowed any medication at the birth center), but we listened closely anyway, just in case.

Casey and I got to practice all different types of breathing for the different labor stages and both took a turn on the birthing ball (they are wonderfully comfortable... I might get one for our living room, just for fun). Casey even got to play the role of the neonatal nurse in a skit the instructor had the coaches do to teach us about cesarian sections.

During the lunch break, we headed down to the emergency room to see my stepfather. He was very happy that we had come to visit and gave us a full tour of the ER unit, introducing us to all of the nurses along the way. It was fun to see him in his element... he is a great doctor.

During the second half of the class we watched a movie with three different births. One of the couples in our class was so squeamish about labor that they left so they wouldn't have to see the movie! I hope that they do okay... they are due before us! 

The only trouble I had with the movie was that every time the nurses placed the baby on the mothers chest after birth I got teary-eyed. I don't think anyone noticed because the lights were dim but wow am I an uncontrollable sap! Casey, who has watched hundreds of episodes of "A Baby Story" since day one, was less affected. I am confident that he is going to make a great coach.

Well, that is all we have to report. I can't decide if life is moving really slow or fast right now. We have three more days until we enter the window of "term." Pretty much, the baby can come whenever he wants after that. I think that we are going to have a party on Wednesday to celebrate the milestone.

We will check in again soon. Hope you are all doing really well!

Love and hugs.