Baby's First Christmas

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas blessed with love and the light of Christ.

Christmas morning Esmé found a present under the tree with her name on it. (Which Kyle made fun of me for wrapping and said "Who do you think is going to actually open it?")

What could it be?

Baby Legs! Just what she asked Santa for!

Parents can be so cruel.

Christmas day - her first time in a dress!

Boxing day turkey dinner

First time in jeans! (She's growing up so fast, sniff...)

The huge Christmas tree that Kyle so bravely bought, sawed, and dragged up three flights of stairs all by himself. Then exclaimed, "I'm NOT decorating that!"

I Miss My Midwife

Esmé had her first check up with the doctor a couple days ago. She is now 12 lbs. 11 oz. and 62 cm long. Doc said that she is tall for her age, which makes me very confused since both Kyle and I always had to sit on the front row in class pictures. (Kyle says he actually had to sit down on the floor next to the class sign.) At 2 months I did have to pack away all her 0-3 month clothes because they were too small and she's now fitting perfectly into 3-6 months.

Aside from the good news that all was okay with our babe, the doctor visit was very disappointing. It has been almost a year since I was there, just because I've only been seeing my midwife throughout this pregnancy. But we only get midwifery services until the baby is 6 weeks old, then we are transferred back to our family doctor. What a shock it was for me to be back in that clinic. I've already gushed about my MW during my labour care, so here are...

6 More Reasons Why I Love My Midwife:*

1. My MW clinic is warm and and inviting...

Doc's clinic is...

2. MW was fair. She assumed that I actually have a brain and she laid out all the options I had regarding medications, delivery methods, tests, etc. without any bias and let me make the choice. Now with all the growing controversy around vaccines, I asked Doc for information about baby immunizations, and she just told us we need to get them all. Then she went so far as to begin to fill a dose of each the flu shot and the H1N1 for Kyle and I so that she could stick us before we left her office. When we told her that we wanted to think about it before getting the flu shots, she pulled the "if you were good parents you'd do it" card. Nothing like peer pressure from the doc!

3. MW seems to have a special interest in babies (obviously!) while I don't think Doc even remembered her name.

4. Doc made my baby cry. I was clearly exhibiting mama bear instinct and wanted to maul Doc when she did the hip displasia test and hurt my baby. MW has done this same test several times, always gently and never painfully. Now that I think about it, my baby didn't cry once with MW, even when she got the heel prick.

5. MW cares about our family's emotional well being. She always asked how we were coping with a new born, etc. And Doc? Well, she mentioned how she missed reading the paper in the morning after having HER kids, but that was about it.

6 . MW gave me a hug as I left the last appointment. 'Nuff said.

I vote that midwives extend their services for a full year after baby is born. All in favour?

*Disclaimer: This applies to MY Doc and MW, I’m sure there are good Docs and bad MWs out there too.

Aunties

Esmé is so blessed to have some very loving Aunties who have recently paid a visit.

Auntie Carolyn

Auntie Sarah and Auntie Manda

Auntie Gillian

Esmé and her new BFF, Daniel

(she looks a little concerned, I think it is because she was slowly slipping down the arm of the couch)

All smiles

Couch of Babes

Esmé went to her first party a few days ago. The guests all posed for a photo together. Can you find Esmé? Hint: she's striking a pose...

And the answer is...

No peeking until you think you've made your guess!...

There she is!

This was actually during our prenatal class reunion. (They combined a few classes for this photo. Our class only had about 6 couples.)

Firsts

We've had a few firsts these last couple weeks. We introduced Esmé to the bottle, which she took very well. She's pretty much up for anything that has to do with eating. Her parents, however, started off a little rocky with the whole process.

It took me several days to get any milk pumped, but finally got the hang of it and got enough for a feed. (It's really not a very fun thing to do.) Then when the time came to give her the bottle, we couldn't figure out why she wasn't getting any milk out. I suggested maybe she just wasn't sucking hard enough. So we proceeded to encourage her to keep sucking. Poor girl was getting so hungry and was crying and miserable so we decided to give up. But just as Kyle was handing her to me, I suggested we test the bottle to see if it even worked. So I tried sucking on the bottle myself (hey, how else could I test it?) and nothing came out! I took it apart and decided, hey, maybe this little disc inside is not supposed to be in there. Once I removed it, viola! Milk flowed, almost poured, out! Turns out that disc is supposed to be put in only if you don't want the bottle to leak in the diaper bag. Well no one told us that! It doesn't say anything about that in the manual! How are dumb new parents like us supposed to know these things?! In the end, Esmé got her milk, with much apologies from her amateur parents.

We also finally bought a stroller! It's a City Mini that we bought on sale and we love it! Esmé has been out for her first stroller ride a few times and seems to enjoy it, just before she falls asleep that is. We usually put her in her Cree moss bag * which is hand made by Cordelia from Alberta, then cover her with a blanket. It keeps her snugly warm during these cold days.

* Babies were/are wrapped in a moss bag by aboriginal mothers. The bag used to be made from hide and filled with moss or cattail down. The bags were then tied to a cradle board and worn on the back while mother went about her work. The soiled moss would be emptied and replaced when needed. Today they are often made from fabric with padding inside, and usually don't include the cradle board.

Sleep Wars

I understand that the phrase "sleeping like a baby" is meant to mean sleeping soundly. Hmm, I vote that we nix this meaning of the phrase in favour of the real definition, which I'd say is more synonymous with "sleeping like a Vietnam vet."

Yes, from the way Esmé sleeps, you'd think she spent time in Nam. She will wake up to the floorboards creaking in the other room. If the heater clicks on she stirs. And heaven forbid if she hears the clink of a glass as I get my dehydrated, milk-drained self a glass of water. I don't even want to mention trying to get her to go to sleep in the first place, that's a war story in itself.

... can you tell how my night's been? ...

However... once she is actually sleeping, undisturbed, she rewards us with 6 hours of straight sleep. Which really doesn't sound like a lot, but it's better than the 2-3 hours we were getting a few weeks ago!

Okay, so now that we can't use that phrase anymore, what should be our new phrase for sleeping soundly?

Grandparents Galore

Benefit of coming from a broken home #26:

Your kids end up having 13 grandparents (including the greats).

Esmé met more grandparents last week.

That's 9 down, 4 more to go.

A little grouchy, nothing personal Uncle Chris...

Auntie Heather has the magic touch.

Esmé loves bath time. She watches me the whole time and grins when I give her a "shower" with a squirt bottle.

Lounging in the study with her cigar and brandy (not pictured).

She can hold up her head for a little while before her neck gets tired and it flops back down.

Hanging out with her new friend. 6 months can make so much difference when they are this young! Lilia was so interested in everything and kept staring at Esmé. Meanwhile Esmé seemed a bit oblivious.

Elvis and the Pink Elephant

Can you believe Esmé is 5 weeks old already?

She has just started smiling at us, which is thrilling! She'll flash a quick little grin that lights up our day.

Things feel like they are becoming a little bit more sane every day. Kyle and I are learning more about our daughter, and she is learning more about us. And amazingly I cleaned the house today while taking care of Esmé all by myself. I have not been able to do this yet for some reason. I feel so accomplished. This could also be aided by the fact that Esmé slept for 5 and a half straight hours last night. Another first that greatly contributes to all our sanity.

Tummy time with a pink elephant.

Lying around this afternoon listening to Elvis. Life is good...

The Meltdown...

A common occurrence around here lately.

Happy Halloween!

At first Esmé was scared of all the goblins out on Halloween.

But after we told her they weren't real, she tried out some scary faces of her own.

And in the end, she just decided to be cute.

Hope you had a great weekend!

Talent Comes in Many Forms

5 feet, 10 inches. The total distance our elegant daughter can shoot a stream of poo across the room. Thanks to my quick reflexes, my face was narrowly missed. I'll spare you the aftermath pictures.

Two Weeks!

Esmé had her two week check up today. She is getting nice and fat and weighs 8 lbs. 6 oz.

I've decided that this baby we were given may not be fully human for several reasons...

1. She seems to be in the process of shedding a layer of skin. And as we all know, this is an activity normally reserved for the reptilian variety, not humans.

2. She has super human strength. The other night when I was giving her a bath, I sat her forward in the tub while I supported her head so I could clean her back. Somehow my little two week old managed to get her feet under her and STAND UP in the tub! Obviously she's harnessing super powers.

3. She's already discovered the laws of human kinetics. While lying on her back, she has learned that if she throws her arms above her head while arching her back and violently twisting her legs across her body, she can roll over on to her side. I tried to explain to her that infants her age are not allowed to roll over yet, but there seems to be some sort of language barrier. (See #4)

4. She refuses to learn English and insists on using obnoxious screaming noises to communicate. This is getting old fast.

Little girl blue

After she rolled on to her side, now sleeping with her arm across her face.

She loves her cozy minky blanket from Grandma Anne.

Happy One Week Esmé!

Since Esmé is one week old today, I figured I should post some photos!

Some of you have been asking about my labour story, so that comes first. If you aren't interested, please skip ahead for the baby pics!

The Epic Labour

Monday: I began early labour at 2 am on Monday morning with contractions that met the “time to call the midwife” criteria. Kyle set up our home with all the supplies for our planned home birth. But when the sun rose, my contractions slowed drastically... false start I guess! They picked up again in the evening and we called my friend Amanda, our amazing labour and prayer support, who brought such a peaceful presence into our home. At midnight the midwives came over and told me that, even though my contractions were 4 min. apart, 1 min. long, I was only 2 cm dilated and still in early labour. Phshh.

Tuesday: After being up all night for the second night in a row, I was still only 2 cm by the morning. The midwives gave me an injection of Gravol so I could sleep and get up my energy again. I slept in between contractions while Kyle was constantly by my side, encouraged me to eat and drink, massaged my back and legs, and was the most supportive husband I could ask for. I really wanted to get things moving so I began climbing up and down the stairs, walking around our apartment in circles, doing one legged squats during each contraction, etc. Things felt like they got much more intense after all that so the midwives came over again. And... still only 2 cm! But the baby’s heart rate was quite high so we had to go into the hospital to monitor it for a while. Turns out she was just fine, so I went home again and spent a third night trying to sleep in between contractions.

Wednesday: I tried to relax as much as I could in the morning by sleeping in the bathtub while Kyle held my head and gave me fluids to drink. (At one point I saw poor Kyle sleeping with his head on the side of the tub while his hand was holding my head. What an amazing guy!) The midwives came by again in the afternoon and told me I now had pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure) and had to go into the hospital again. They said that since I was dilating so slowly we should start thinking about inducing. I really was against any interventions so I was quite disappointed by this news. But, once we got to the hospital, I had made progress and was 5 cm! So no interventions or drugs for me! By 6:15 pm I was fully dilated and delivered our beautiful daughter in just 45 min.

Kyle was so incredible during those three days. He never left my side, was always on his toes, anticipating what I might need, making sure I drank and ate and slept. I couldn’t have asked for a more amazing husband.

I also couldn’t have asked for a better team of midwives. They knew exactly what I needed, were so gentle and caring, and full of wisdom and experience. I felt so supported and encouraged during the whole labour.

And now introducing...

Esmé Sofiya Rideout

Born Oct. 7, 2009

6:57 pm

7 lbs. 15 oz.

55 cm (22.5 inches)

Just a few seconds old

Some skin to skin time.

Proud Papa

Esmé is giving a high five to the midwives, "We did it!"

Midwives Tracy and Andrea

First outfit to go home in.

Trying to figure out the car seat.

Wrapped in a towel after her first bath at home.

Proud first time grandma

Just as proud 10th time grandma.

Beautiful quilt hand made by Grandma Anne.

Uncle Kevin

Proud first time great-grandparents.

Kyle is so sleep deprived he's getting the baby confused with the cat...

More pics to come, sometime between changing diapers and feeding!