Two Weeks Old January 24, 2012

Amazingly, our baby girl turned two weeks old yesterday – and the day was appropriately momentous. It is Jami’s first day back at work and my first day handling feedings all by myself. The overnight feedings were a little rough, but we’ll figure it out, Frances and I.

Frances also lost her cord stump yesterday – another milestone. Now she has the cutest little belly button.

Finally, this was the first day that Frances began demanding food. Up to this point we’ve been having to wake her up to eat. Good news in terms of her growth and development, although it has meant less sleep for her and for me.

My mom is here now helping out, which is great. So nice to be able to focus on Frances and not worry about food or laundry. My dad was here too for a brief overnight (he dropped my mom off, but had to get back to the farm) and he spent as much time as possible holding Frances, which was sweet (and which Frances enjoyed)

My parents have both commented on how tiny she is, but I keep thinking how big she has gotten. Her cheeks are chubbier and her arms and legs have little fat rolls now. It’s good to see. She weighs 7 pounds even now – an ounce past her birthweight at the two week mark which is encouraging. We are doing our job!

2011 in Book Statistics January 21, 2012

Here’s how 2011 shaped up. I am very interested to see how many books I read in 2012, now that I have a little one competing for my time!

Total Books Read in 2011: 130

• Number Read in Best Month: 16 (December)

• Number Read in Worst Month: 6 (Tie between June & July)

Total Books Read in 2010: 130

Total Books Read in 2009: 200

Total Books Read in 2008: 80

Total Books Read in 2007: 122

Total Books Read in 2006: 70

Fiction/Non-fiction Split:

2011: 70%/30%

2010: 68%/32%

2009: 84%/16%

2008: 63%/37%

2007: 50%/50%

2006: 59%/41%

Percentage of Books by Women (Overall/Fiction/Non-fiction):

2011: 59%/58%/62%

2010: 55%/54%/59%

2009: 44%/44%/ 42%

2008: 68%/70%/67%

2007: 60%/57%/68%

2006: 74%/88%/55%

Five Star Books of 2011:

Room by Emma Donoghue

Waiting for an Ordinary Day: The Unraveling of Life in Iraq by Farnaz Fassihi

I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin

No Biking in the House Without a Helmet by Melissa Fay Greene

More Recommended Books (Not Quite 5 Stars, but definitely worth reading!):

Essex County by Jeff Lemire

The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama

Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love, and War by Annia Ciezadlo

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

True Grit by Charles Portis

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

December Round-up January 19, 2012

I read 16 books in December, 3 non-fiction and 13 fiction. I read 6 of the books on my Kindle.

Nina in That Makes Me Mad by Hilary Knight. Hilary Knight is one of my absolute favorite illustrators. You may know him as the artist who illustrated the Eloise books, but I have loved everything he has done – and this graphic novel for young readers is no exception.

The Canterbury Tales adapted and illustrated by Seymour Chwast. I had never read Canterbury Tales (just a few select stories in high school), so I was eager to read this graphic novel adaptation. It seems to me that the Canterbury Tales is a collection of fart jokes and sleeping with someone else’s wife. I don’t feel like I missed much not reading it.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling. An amusing, quick read on my Kindle. I really like Kaling.

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake. This book is set in World War II and shifts perspectives from the home front on Cape Cod to the Blitz in London to the deportation of Jews in Europe. It was one of the popular fiction books of 2011, and while I enjoyed it, I think the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a more enjoyable read of a similar type of book.

Feynman by Jim Ottaviani. A graphic novel biography of the brilliant physicist, Richard Feynman. I wasn’t familiar with him at all before reading this, but I really enjoyed the book a lot.

Bake Sale by Sara Varon. Another sweet Varon graphic novel about friendship (and baked goods).

Benjamin Bear in Fuzzy Thinking by Philippe Coudray. A Toon book (so a graphic novel for early readers) that show a series of comics featuring the none-to-logical Benjamin Bear.

Level Up by Gene Luen Yang. A graphic novel that explores the protagonist’s conflicting love of video games and his family expectations that he go to medical school.

The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School by Laura Murray. The Gingerbread Man is a classic tale that lends itself well to reinterpretation. In this version a school class bakes a gingerbread man and then leaves him to cool in their classroom. Thinking he has been left behind, the Gingerbread Man races off to find his class.

Bad Island by Doug TenNapel. This is sort of a graphic novel version of Lost for the late elementary school/middle school set. It was a good read, and I enjoy TenNapel’s illustrations.

Mangaman by Barry Lyga. This book was just weird to me, set in current times, but with a really ’80s look to it. It did do a good job of illustrating the differences between graphic novels and manga though.

Americus by MK Reed. My final graphic novel of 2011, Americus tells the story of a battle to ban a YA fantasy series from the public library. It’s hard for me not to love a book with a librarian battling censorship, and I found this one quite good.

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson. Bryson uses the concept of his home to ramble on about the history of, well, pretty much anything that interests him. I really like Bryson – his writing style and his curiosity – so anything that interests him is pretty much guaranteed to interest me. Very enjoyable.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. This is another book that was very popular a few years ago. It imagines the history of rare book and that hands that created and cared for it. It was a good read, although I kind of got bogged down in the middle. Glad I read it.

The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie. This is my least favorite Miss Marple so far – mostly because it was a series of short story mysteries (the 13 problems), instead of one real meaty book length one. An interesting concept, but I’m not much of a short story girl.

True Grit by Charles Portis. I think that I could have only loved this book more if I hadn’t already seen the movie and known what happened. The version I read had a postscript by Donna Tartt, and she mentioned how we talk about books we love and one of the measures of that is if we reread the book. I could definitely see rereading this book. It was good and fast and I love Mattie’s voice. I am not a Western reader, but I highly recommend this book.

Motherhood: Week One January 15, 2012

Frances Gloria made her way into the world on Monday, January 9th at 12:39 PM. She was 6 pounds, 15 ounces and 20 inches long. She is just perfect. We didn’t know if we were having a boy or girl and we were both sure she was going to be a little boy. When Jami told me she was a girl, you could have knocked me over with a feather. Best surprise ever.

Her arrival itself was a bit of a surprise – I had a regular midwife appointment Monday morning, and when I went in I had elevated blood pressure and protein in my urine – signs of preeclampsia. My case was pretty mild, but the midwife wanted us to go to the hospital for evaluation and said it was likely that I would deliver today. Indeed, at the hospital, my blood pressure remained high and the bloodwork showed that I was beginning to have some liver enzyme abnormalities, so, since Frances was full term, it was time to get her out.

We had known for the previous week that Frances would be delivered via c-section (after the external version was unsuccessful in turning her), and while it was sooner than we expected, I think it actually worked out for the best because I didn’t have time to stress or obsess about this surgery I was about to have. Our midwife appointment was at 8 AM and we had a baby at 12:39 PM – things moved quickly. A c-section wasn’t the birth I wanted, but the recovery hasn’t been as bad as I feared. The pain was the worst the day after surgery, but has greatly improved and is now being controlled by Advil. I’m taking it as easy as possible to help myself recover faster, and it’s definitely helping. Every day I’m a little more mobile than the day before.

As is the case with most c-sections, we stayed in the hospital for 3 days and have now been home for 4. Every day is new with Frances. The biggest focus of our time and energies as far as she is concerned is feeding. Every feed is different, sometimes she latches easily and feeds well. Sometimes she fusses and squirms and can’t latch. Sometimes she’s too sleepy to be interested in food. I am pumping after every feeding and we are supplementing her breastfeeding with expressed breast milk, trying to ensure she gets enough food and is back up to her birthweight, hopefully by her next pediatrician appointment later this week. We closely follow Frances’ diaper changes and marvel over her noisy pooping. I am reminded of this blog post, I read a few weeks ago about parenthood and pride in pooping. I definitely feel like that.

Jami’s mom has been here this week and it has been a real help – running errands, doing laundry, cooking food, and being an extra pair of baby holding arms (her favorite part of the job, I’m sure). She flies back home tomorrow and then Jami and I are flying solo for a few days until my mother arrives next weekend. We are so lucky to have so much help.

Jami and I are making a good team – every feeding is a joint affair. Jami is good at positioning Frances and much better than I am at burping her. She handles feeding Frances the expressed milk while I pump another round and I can honestly say that I would not be breastfeeding if it wasn’t for her and all her hard work. It’s definitely a team effort. In addition, she is so good about making sure I’m feeling okay, remembering to take my pain medication, making sure I have food, plenty of water, lots of love. I am so lucky that she is my wife.

This week has been both harder and easier than I thought it would be, but so, so good. I feel like we are doing well for one week in and I am so proud of us and of Frances Gloria.

38 Weeks January 8, 2012

We are in the final countdown now. 11 days until our due date, with a very wriggly, happy breech baby. This past Tuesday we had an attempted external version, which was unsuccessful. The baby could still flip on his or her own, but the chance is honestly pretty remote at this point.

In the meantime, I’m taking everyone’s “sleep now” advice to heart and really prioritizing low-key, relaxing weekends. We’ve had two in a row with sleeping late, naps, and low stress activities (a Harry Potter movie marathon last weekend, football this weekend). I definitely think it’s helping. By the end of the weekend, I really feel good and rested.

Tomorrow begins my last week of work before maternity leave. Even if the baby hasn’t arrived by Friday, I’ll be off work, de-stressing and getting ready for our little one’s arrival. I’m looking forward to it.

The nursery is done and looking pretty good, if I say so myself. As I told Jami, it’s almost like we knew what we were doing!

So now, we just wait for our baby to be ready. Could be any day now, could be a few weeks. Here’s hoping for sooner.

The Much Delayed November Round-Up December 26, 2011

I read 10 books in November, 4 non-fiction, 6 fiction. I read 3 of these book on my new Kindle Fire.

As the Pig Turns by M.C. Beaton. The latest Agatha Raisin mystery – nothing brilliant, but always good when I want a mindless, 24-hour read.

The read-aloud handbook by Jim Trelease. My boss gave me this book when she found out I was pregnant, and I really loved it. The first half of the book talks about the benefits of reading aloud to children and the second half has recommendations of good read-aloud books for every age and topic. I love to read (obviously) and can’t wait for us to read to our little one!

The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side by Agatha Christie. Another Miss Marple – slowly working my way through these, enjoying every one.

Smokin’ Seventeen by Janet Evanovich. I got a new Kindle Fire in November (thanks, Jami!), and one of the first things I did was figure out how to check out books from the library. This Stephanie Plum mystery was the first one I checked out and it was a fun read. While I will always love a print book, I have to say I’m loving the Kindle, especially for library books, which I  was never going to keep a print copy of anyway!

Onions in the Stew by Betty MacDonald. I loved the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books as a child (if you haven’t read them, I highly recommend them), and Betty MacDonald wrote them. When I heard that she had a memoir, I couldn’t wait to read it. Written in the 1950s, Onions in the Stew is mostly a humorous account of the MacDonalds move to an island off the coast of Seattle, and doesn’t focus much on MacDonalds writing. There are a few racial comments that were a little uncomfortable to me as a modern reader (referring to a particular gentleman as colored, the matter of fact way MacDonald describes getting an apartment because the Japanese couple living there were sent to an internment camp), but it was still an interesting, enjoyable read.

Lady Fortescue Steps Out by Marion Chesney. With the purchase of a new Kindle Fire, came a free month trial to Amazon Prime. In addition to free, fast shipping, a Prime membership gives you access to the Kindle Lending Library – a collection of titles that you can borrow for free (you can only borrow one a month, so it’s really not going to replace an actual library, but still pretty cool). This was my Lending Library selection. Chesney is a pen name for M.C. Beaton, the author of the Agatha Raison series, and this is the amusing first addition to a non-mystery series that she wrote in the 1990s about the poor relatives of British aristocrats who open a hotel in the early 1800s.

Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich. The next Stephanie Plum novel – also a Kindle library book. Amusing as always.

Daytripper by Gabriel Ba. This was beautiful Brazilian graphic novel, which highlights important days in the life of the protagonist, Bras de Olivias Dominguez, and imagines if he had died on each of those days. (That sounds dark, but it’s really and interesting concept and very well done, not morbid or depressing). If you like graphic novels, I really recommend this one.

Wine to Water: A Bartender’s Quest to Bring Clean Water to the World by Doc Hendley. I got this book through Early Reviewers and I enjoyed reading about Doc Hendley’s creation of the charity Wine to Water. I really came to appreciate the dire need for something so simple as clean water in much of the world. It made me really thankful for what I have. Hendley’s writing wasn’t quite my style, but it was still a good read and introduction to the work of Wine to Water.

Around the World by Matt Phelan. In this graphic novel, Phelan recounts the tales of three explorers who went around the world – Joshua Slocum, Thomas Stevens, and Nellie Bly. Phelan is an excellent illustrator, but I think that this book wasn’t quite the tour de force that his first graphic novel, The Storm in the Barn was.

35 Weeks December 17, 2011

What’s NOT New: The baby is still breech. It feels like I have tried everything at this point to get the baby to turn: inversions, the chiropractor, playing the baby music through the lower part of my belly, moxibustion, walking on my hands in the pool, cat-cow yoga exercises, putting something cold on the top of my belly, asking nicely… Our baby is stubborn.

What IS New: I’m BIG. I know I said this last time, but it’s more and more true. I’ve now reached the waddling stage. When tired I don’t even really waddle, I lumber. Our childbirth classes have finished and the first couple in the class has already had their baby. Amazing. I’m still focused on getting through Christmas and getting everything set at work for my absence, but the end is in sight. I’m not to the “I’m ready” stage yet, but I definitely see it in my not too distant future.

33 Weeks December 2, 2011

What’s New: As you can probably tell from the fact that I haven’t given an update in 6 weeks, life has been BUSY! On the pregnancy symptoms front, the heartburn continues, and I’ve also started having some swelling in my hands and feet. Nothing extreme, but enough to make me whiny. Good reason to come home and put my feet up. I’m also starting to feel BIG. Not unattractive (I actually really like my pregnant body), but like my belly is getting in the way of things and I’m having to compensate for it. I can’t imagine how big I’ll be by the end! Childbirth classes have continued and now we only have one left. I think they’ve been helpful, but they have definitely added to the busyness. I also went to a breastfeeding class a few weeks ago, which was good. I have some concerns about breastfeeding, so I’m trying to be as informed and prepared as possible.

Appointments I’ve Had: Since the last update, I have had an ultrasound and three midwife appointments. Baby has been head’s up at all 3 appointments, so I started doing inversions to try to get the baby to flip about a month or so ago, and I have now added a Chiropractor to the appointment list. 3 chiropractor appointments so far, but baby was still heads up yesterday during our doula appointmen. Let’s all visualize baby turning over and soon. I don’t know how I could possible fit more appointments into my schedule, but accupuncture is the next thing to try.

Where We’ve Been: November was a traveling month. We did a little last minute trip to Baltimore at the beginning of the month, which was a lovely vacation. We went to the Aquarium and the Walters Museum and saw a friend of mine from Grad School – and met her husband and 5 month old baby, which was great fun. Veteran’s Day weekend, we flew up to Maine (where my wife’s family all lives) for a baby shower. They really went all out with crafts and decorations – It was quite impressive! The next weekend we stayed in town (hooray). Jami’s best friend came down from New Hampshire (delivering the shower gifts from the Maine Shower), and we had our DC shower at our good friend and neighbor’s house, which was a laid-back, good time. Then Thanksgiving weekend we were on the road again – down to my parents’ farm in North Carolina (where the picture above was taken). My brother also flew out from Colorado which was a real treat! It was a great time, but I’m happy to be back home with no travel on the horizon until (months) after the baby comes.

Preparations Completed: The baby’s room is mostly done. All the furniture is in and now I just have to finish putting everything away and getting organized. I’m hoping to have the room pretty much done this weekend – I’ll put up photos when it’s finished. I finished the baby’s quilt, but haven’t started on the wall hangings I’m planning on. We’ll see if those get done before baby arrives! We have a car seat now, but it hasn’t made it into the car yet. Lots of little odds and ends of things to do.

What I’m Reading: Not too much on the pregnancy/childbirth/baby care front. I started Bestfeeding, but haven’t picked it or the baby care books up in weeks. I need to get back to my preparatory reading for sure.

October Round-up November 8, 2011

I read 9 books in October – 8 non-fiction and 1 fiction.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. This was the October book for my books club (chosen by me), and I found it fascinating. The book has had a lot of buzz and I was interested to see what it was all about. Knowing the basic story (cells are taking from a poor, African-American woman without her knowledge while she is in treatment at Johns Hopkins and form the basis for much medical research), I thought the author did a great job of painting a very nuanced portrait of the consequences of that action. It really made me think about medical ethics and medical research in general.

Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskins. I loved this book and definitely recommend it for any pregnant ladies. The first half is birth stories, which I thought I would find cheesy, but I actually found really empowering. I think if I had read them prior to being pregnant, I might have found them to be off-putting, but staring the process of labor and delivery in the face, it was actually really helpful to read all these stories and realize that ALL of these women had done it, even in occasionally less than ideal circumstances – and I could too. The second half of the book is more practical information about what Gaskins has learned in her decades as a midwife and is super helpful too.

Arms Wide Open: A Midwife’s Journey by Patricia Harman. This memoir is loosely wrapped around the author’s journey to become a midwife. The first 2/3 of the book is focused on Harman’s hippie days, early years of motherhood, and the process of becoming a midwife. The last 1/3 focuses on the present day, with Harman’s children grown and her not longer delivering babies. I found it a good, quick read – and an interesting, personal counterpoint to Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth.

Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear. Book 4 in the Maisie Dobbs series – which is a smart series set in London between the two world wars, but which I sometimes find to be slow going.

Across Many Mountains: A Tibetan Family’s Epic Journey from Oppression to Freedom by Yangzom Brauen. I enjoyed this book – a family memoir that traces three generations of women from their home in Tibet, escape to India, and eventual settlement in Switzerland. It was a little more political and less contemplative than other family memoirs that I have read, but it was still an interesting story.

No Biking in the House Without a Helmet by Melissa Fay Greene. Greene is the matriarch of a large family – 4 biological children and 5 adopted kids. The book is both an interesting, touching and often quite funny tale of international adoption and look at life is a very large family (which is increasingly less and less common).

Educating Alice: Adventures of a Curious Woman by Alice Steinbach. I have to say in some ways Steinbach is my hero – the premise of this book is that she travels from place to place around the world taking lessons in things that interest her (cooking at the Ritz, sheepdog training in Scotland, etc). I would love to do this when I am older – although of course not having a book deal to support the travels will make it a little harder!

This is US: The New All-American Family by David Marin. This was a very quick and engaging memoir about the author’s adoption of 3 siblings from foster care. I finished the book in two days. Marin has a good sense of humor and parts of the book are quite funny, especially when describing his learning curve becoming the father of 3 small children. The story is also in part heartbreaking, when Marin describes what his children went through with their birth mother, “bad foster”, and with social services. My sister was also adopted out of foster care and I can say that while it is ridiculous that it took him 2 years for him to be able to adopt his children (and that this is a big barrier to folks adopting out of foster care that should be fixed), it is certainly typical (and perhaps even on the quicker side of average).

Spoon Fed: How Eight Cooks Saved My Life by Kim Severson. This is a really good memoir about Severson’s recovery as an alcoholic and growth as a food writer (for the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Times). If you like food writing and/or memoirs, I would recommend it.

27 Weeks October 22, 2011

What’s New: The baby has a new trick – he or she has gotten long enough, that I can sometimes feel him or her on both sides of my stomach. It’s pretty neat. We also started our Childbirth class last week. There was a lot of “sharing” which is a little awkward, but also a little affirming. We have 7 more classes to go, and I’m hoping at the end we will both feel nice and prepared for labor and delivery. On the food front, my new favorite thing is roast broccoli and I’ve also developed a fondness for milk. I’m drinking about a cup a day (I started drinking milk again in the first trimester, but it has definitely picked up in the last month or so). On the symptom front, heartburn has become more frequent and it’s lasting longer, but it’s still not a daily occurence, which is good. I picked up some Tums at the supermarket today though, because I think it will only get worse from here.

Appointments I’ve Had: In the past month, I’ve had one endocrinology appointment (all is well with my thyroid) and one midwife appointment. It was my last every 4 weeks appointment, and now we switch to every two weeks. We’re getting there! I also had my gestational diabetes test, which wasn’t as nauseating as I feared (my friend told me to ask for the “red one” and it was fairly unobjectionable). Even better I passed, so no gestational diabetes here!

Preparations Completed: The crib has been purchased and assembled (by my lovely wife). We think the next must buy item is a car seat. We won’t be able to take the baby home without it!

Where I’ve Been: At the beginning of the month, I went down to Williamsburg to visit with my Grandma (who just turned 90 and lives there) and my Mom (who drove up from North Carolina for the visit). We also went down to Virginia Beach to see my sister, who lives there. It was so nice to see my family (my Grandma, in particular, I hadn’t seen since our wedding!) and catch up. My mom and I also did some outlet shopping while there and got me some more maternity clothes (It’s so nice to have clothes that fit) and the baby some cute outfits.

What I’m Reading: I read Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth this month. Written by Ina May Garten, so is sort of the mother of modern American midwifery, the first half of the book consists of birth stories, the second of the lessons Garten has learned about childbirth. I thought I would find the birth stories cheesy, but I actually found them really empowering – “That lady had a 10 pound baby naturally, without so much as an episiotomy? I can totally do this!” Next up… books about breastfeeding!