Well, Hello.

Juniper: Week One

Olive looooooooves her "Baby Juni"

Trick Or Treat Night 2011

Ruby and Juniper on a Snowy Sunday Morning

You Know You Have a Newborn, Continued...

-you forget to practice normal grooming standards. You realize this when one day, you look in the mirror and realize your eyebrows have grown together.

-your face, after being beautifully clear of blemishes for the past 9 months, suddenly erupts. Welcome back, chin zits.

- you curse the day that is swiftly approaching when you're going to have to wear a normal nursing bra, as opposed to the ultra-comfy night-time type you currently sport 'round zee clock.

-the volume of your laundry seems to triple in size

- you have categorized every one of her features into very scientific genetic categories: Mine and His. Her adorable dimple: Mine. Her crazy long feet and toes: Most definitely His.

You Know You Have a Newborn When:

-your life is suddenly divided into 2 hour increments

-you take showers at extremely odd times of the day...and/or night

-you take these showers, not only to cleanse yourself but it's a comfy place to have a good cry

-you feel you're making great strides when doing every day tasks such as making a sandwich or loading dishes in the dishwasher

-you can fall asleep sitting up

-your 2 1/2 year old suddenly looks HUGE

-especially that 2 1/2 year old's bottom when you change her diapers, after getting so used to changing teeny diapers on a teeny bottom

-you welcome painful uterine contractions, gritting your teeth and silently urging your gigantic, empty uterus to get back to its proper place and size

-you lament when you discover your last pair of mesh hospital-issue underwear, clutch its meshy, softy goodness to your chest and vow to use it wisely

White and Delightsome

Juniper Betty

Born October 21, 2011. She was 7 pounds on the button and 19 inches long at birth. We went in at 6 am for my induction, but not before I had a mini-breakdown but after a prayer and a blessing, I felt up to the task. After we got settled, The Silver Fox, as he is known around here between my friends and I who love love love this OB, was still only dilated to a 1. Got my epidural from an anestestiologist attending I hand picked, which was super quick and easy, except for the fact that the residents with her kept trying to get me to use this lame apperartice where I put my face into like I was getting a massage at the mall. I could tell I wasn't arching my back enough and it just wasn't working for me. I said "You know, I really feel like I'm not reaching my full potential using this thing. Do I really have to?" so they took it away and a minute later, the epidural was in and done with. They started heavy pitocin and I felt not a thing except for some mild pressure. The Silver Fox swooped in again at 10am, I was only at a 4, he broke my water and announced given my history, she would be here by 11. My nurse, who was awesome, informed me of some naysayer nurses out on the hallway who were like "Oh, you won't see that baby until late afternoon." I knew then and there that my baby would be born by 11 if it was the last thing I did. Nobody puts Baby in a corner. At 10:50, I started feeling a lot of pressure, like she was comin' 'round the mountain (Gilmore Girls, anyone?), he checked me, smiled and said "Let's get her out here." I pushed twice through the next contraction and out came her head to which Go exclaimed how much blonde hair she had, I pushed once through the next contraction and out the rest of her came...at 10:56. Ha! It was such a peaceful experience, the best labor I had and easy and nice and will always be a sweet memory. The second I saw her, I knew she was my Juniper Betty. She looked almost exactly like Olive but with long, white, white hair. She cried a little, but then just wanted to snuggle and peek around, so incredibly sweet. Because of some major indications that are TMI for most, this postpartum recovery should be my easiest. I'm hoping, anyway. Everything went so much better this time around; I'm so grateful. I am in my normal hibernation mode: that thing I do when the thought of talking on the phone or having visitors exhausts and overwhelms me but other than that, no roller coaster emotions, though I know there's still time for those to sneak in. I'm really trying to just suck up as much as the newborn yumminess that I can while it lasts. It goes by so incredibly quickly. I hope to have pictures soon. I've been trying to nap when she naps, so there's been little time to pull out the camera. By the way, I'm doing this remotely on my phone while I nurse, all with my left thumb, which for some reason makes for stiff blog posts. Oh well. Here ate some phone-pics from the hospital of our little beauty.

Friday Photo: Just One More Week Left

Next week's Friday Photo will be of "Sister Baby!"

I Hope This Isn't a Breach of Contract

...but my husband sleeps in odd positions. His top top three:

-The "Just Another Day in Paradise": flat on his back, hands held behind his head, chin raised high, ankles crossed, as if he was lounging on a hammock.

-The "Mummy": flat on his back, chin tucked down, arms crossed high upon his chest.

-The "Black Panther": flat on his back, one arm raised above his head with the hand balled into a fist. This is my most unfavorite, as sometimes this fist, without warning and unbeknownst to his consciousness, suddenly springs into action and right into my eye socket.

That First Night

I was telling Go tonight as he was falling asleep and half listening to me, that the first night's sleep after you give birth is always so, so weird. You lay down on the hard, squeaky, SO UNCOMFORTABLE hospital mattress. Your baby has just been taken back to the nursery. You must sleep now--the pressure is on because there's only so much time in between the non-stop feedings and what seem to be the hourly vital checks. You untangle yourself from your IV tubes, get your pillow situated and automatically roll to your side because that's how you've been sleeping for the past 6 months. But then you remember: Ah! I can sleep on my belly! How I have waited for this! You roll on over and take it all in. Never mind the big mush ball you're laying on, you're doing it: you are lying on your stomach. Sweet slumber will surely come! After a couple of seconds, it starts to hurt and as you're lugging yourself back onto your side, you think "All in good time, all in good time." Once you're back on your side, you breathe in and out deeply and as your body and mind gives itself over to its exhaustion, you feel not just a flutter, but a kick. You stir and sigh. As you rub your belly and say out loud, as you've done on so many other nights before, "Let Mama rest, baby," you realize that you're talking to no one. That child who resided in you for almost an entire year has left your womb hours ago. In fact, she's down the hall and in a completely different room! You start to chuckle at how crazy you are but the sheepish feeling is immediately replaced with extreme loneliness. That little person who kept you awake at night every night for months and months, with her kicking, her somersaulting, her hiccuping, she's no longer there, no longer a part of you. She's swaddled in a scratchy hospital blanket, wearing a strange knitted yarn cap all the way over in the nursery and you're here in your hospital room, extremely alone and literally empty inside. You find yourself missing her even though you've just met her. It's an odd experience, one that I experience with each baby that first night. Does anyone else go through this or am I just really, really sleep deprived?

Testing testing

This is a test. It is only a test. Remote blogging and what have you.

Ok, Well Maybe Three Photos. Friday Photos: Woodland Creature Masks

The girls Halloween woodland animal costumes: Done.

These collectively took me about an hour? to make.

Best costumes ever!

The great thing about masks is that they are generally one-size-fits-all...

and I'm appreciating that quality right now.

Here is May's: a racoon. The contrast is awful in this photo

but there's black around the eyes...like a raccoon.

She will wear a grey outfit with it.

Easy.

And seeing that I'll be in post-birth agony at Halloween

so "easy" is the name of the game this year.

But let's be honest. "Easy" is the name of the game every year for me.

Remember this?

And this?

Olive: a skunk.

She will also wear a black outfit.

If I'm feeling saucy, I'll paint a white stripe down her backside.

Ruby: A fox.

She will wear an orange outfit.

Each animal is very appropriate for each girl.

It's funny, because they chose them themselves, too.

Hooray for Halloween!

Mostly because I won't be pregnant anymore!

Instead of a Photo Today, I GIve You a Crazy Pregnancy Dream

A couple of nights ago, I dreamt I gave birth to a pinto bean. But not just any pinto bean...a hermaphrodite pinto bean. And I intensely loved my little hermaphrodite pinto bean.

I (little black heart) My OB

Is it inappropriate to want to kiss your OB on the mouth? Hm. Probably. Either way, my sweet OB moved/set my induction date to the early morning of Friday, October 21st. LET'S DO THIS.

Friday Photos: My Buddy and 36 weeks

So much personality inside of such a little body.

And she's been that way since day one.

I can't wait to meet this next little person on her very own day one.

The induction date is set for the morning of October 24th,

but I'm crossing my fingers that it happens sooner than that.

State College

We took an excursion this weekend to State College, PA,

the second-to-last thing on our

EAST-COAST-THINGS TO DO BEFORE WE MOVE BACK WEST list.

Our family is big into road trips, so this being the last weekend I felt comfortable

going outside of a 10 mile radius away from the hospital,

my beloved OB and anesthesiologist,

we took advantage and high tailed it out of town.

It was a gorgeous day and we had a great time.

Really, now the only thing left on our

EAST-COAST-THINGS TO DO BEFORE WE MOVE BACK WEST list

is Boston.

Maybe in the spring...

Anyway.

Here we are enjoying our ice creams under a huge oak tree on the beautiful Penn State Campus.

And this was taken with Go's phone, by Go,

while we took a break from walking around the little down town area of "Happy Valley."

No one really looks that happy in the picture, but trust me we were.

...even if I wasn't too thrilled with my picture being taken at 8 months pregnant.

After a lunch, a treat and a couple of hours meandering around,

we went to Penns Cave,

somewhere I had really wanted to go:

PENN'S CAVE:

America's only all-water underground cavern.

You are taken on an hour long boat tour in a cave that's 100 feet under the ground.

SO COOL!

You go through the cavern and come out onto this lake where the boat can turn around and then you're taken through the cave again.

Outside of the cave offered more photo opps than inside,

where we were in the dark of a lot of the time.

Just as the inside of the cave was mysterious and fascinating,

outside of the cave on the lake was just as beautiful.

You are about to witness Go's "You bettah check yo'self befo' you wreck yo'self" face,

which was pointed at Ruby who apparently, was being sassy.

I hope you checked yo'self.

And this picture is for my Grandpa, who loves Blue Herons.

I've never actually seen on in a tree before.

You can't really tell from the picture but he was pretty high up there.

And here we are back to the dock where we started.

And now back up 100 feet to the earth's surface.

What an excellent day.

Also, This.

Friday Photos: Home From School

Snacks.

Waiting in line for the bathroom.

P.S. - I made Ruby this skirt.

Still not sure if it was worth the effort.

It's cute but it took me forever

and didn't turn out quite like I had envisioned.

Close, but not exactly.

Checking out the job chart but getting distracted on the way.

Olive being a weirdo.

May being a weirdo.

Snacks on her face.

Yoga in the kitchen with her bunjee.

Downward facing dog.

Chaturanga.

Cobra.

Shavasana-Olive style.

Namaste.

Zee Peel-oh

Lookee at what my Mom made us.

Isn't she a beauty?

And she shall be called Chantilly Monrovia Oppenheimer.

The pillow. Not my mom. Her name is just Caren. She's a beauty too, though.

X

This is where I would put a picture of her, but if I did that,

she'd stop making and sending me cool stuff.

And the fabric she used for the back, I find hilarious.