Grandma Capper's Pearls

Grandma Capper came to visit us. Fortunately, it coincided with the day that we came home from the hospital and we were so glad to have her around to share a few pearls of wisdom as we coped with the first couple of days of caring for a newborn at home.

We survived our first bath, got a good start to the breastfeeding experience, and even managed to get out of the apartment.

The folks at the fish fry down the street were surprised we had Wednesday's baby at Friday's fish fry, but Henry slept through the whole thing! What a good boy. Already making Mama and Papa proud. :)

We had a wonderful time with Grandma and are all very thankful she came to lend a hand.

Parent Lesson #1

I just have to share this revelation. It's probably just a new parent thing - you can't believe how "deer in the headlights" we still feel as the identity adjustment of parenthood is still setting in.

Just to prove this point, Henry had his first doctor's visit yesterday and when they called his name to come back to the exam room, I didn't budge. Be sure, there was no mistaking who they were speaking to, as we were the only ones in the waiting room. As the receptionist happened to be walking by at that exact moment she quipped "Yes. You are a mom. And yes, your baby's name is Henry."

But on with the lesson, and the reason for which this post is titled...
Parent Lesson 1: All babies should wear gowns to bed - baby boy or baby girl. A 2:00 am diaper change is SOO frustrating when trying to navigate snaps throughout the legs and crotch of a sleeper suit. Especially when baby is mad as hell.

The Name

Whew. I'm getting that blog withdrawal itch! Henry and I have been napping and snacking this morning. I think that he's making up for the fewer zzz's he took yesterday. He was so awake and alert for a few hours at a time yesterday and he wore himself out. So now he's in the middle of another cat nap and I can get a few posts up without being interrupted (at least that is the hope...)

I wanted to be sure the explanation for his name was posted. George and I felt enormous pressure when trying to decide what our new little person was going to be called for the REST OF HIS LIFE. So we were racking our brains for a suitable name. George and I are both named for people in our family history, so we wanted the same for our baby.

Henry is a family name (his great-great-grandfather on my mother's side), while Adam is derived from Jane Addams. This was the name given to our group of volunteers in California, where George and I met.

We thought this name would be unique for him, as I don't know very many Henry's, but it turns out as people hear it they say "oh, so & so has a baby Henry", or "that's the name so & so is naming their baby." Perhaps we've merely stumbled across the latest trend. Either way, we think it fits him. The name Henry means "home ruler" - derived from estate ruler. And right now, he certainly rules the roost. So its a go!

Boy Time

I wanted to write a quick post (before taking a little nap) while George is bonding with Henry, who is asleep on his lap. Its cracking me up because they are watching Terminator II. George keeps saying "watch this, here comes the roses and shotgun part" etc. Although I know he's really talking to me, its not really my type of movie and I can only imagine there will be many more father / son bonding moments over similar movies in the future.

We are settling in at the apartment, trying to do a few chores in between feedings, napping, and diaper changes. Slow day here, but well deserved, I say.

More photos of Henry

I know there are more stories and details to share. Unfortunately, I now only have little nuggets of time to spend doing this stuff!

For now, here are a few of the hospital photos taken on our own camera! Enjoy!

Henry's Hospital pictures!

We are so happy to announce the arrival of Henry Adam Leydon!
Born 2/20/2008 at 3:56am
9 lbs. 6 oz. and 21 inches long.

Here is a link to his hospital photos!

More postings and information to come. For now we are settling in at home and still getting to know each other!

Due Date / Week 40

Happy Due Date!
Apparently, only 4% of babies arrive on their due date, so my hopes aren't set too high. If something does happen, I would consider actually playing the lotto with these numbers, because I would consider myself really lucky! And I'm not a gambling person.

So here is the Week 40 picture. I do hope its the last in the series, but there are certainly no guarantees when it comes to the timing of Mother Nature. Its just me hanging out in my T-shirt and jeans, enjoying the first couple of days of vacation.

George and I have been talking to the baby to try to convince it that there is so much more room out here to stretch and play. This would actually be more comfortable for mom and baby, but so far we must not be very convincing.

Our bags are packed for the hospital, so we should be ready once labor actually begins.

That's the news for now. Just us hanging out, or hanging in there, and so far, baby's hanging on...to the comfy and warm surroundings of mother's belly.

Maternity Leave

So I'm officially on "maternity leave" -- which, lets not be fooled, is simply vacation time used in combination with short term disability benefits. Sending in the leave of absence forms was slightly amusing, as they make pregnancy sound more like a disability rather than a naturally occurring life event. Part of the leave of absence forms are filled out by the nurse at the clinic and included phrases like "patient is currently not incapacitated" or part of the treatment plan for return to work "continue with prenatal vitamins and appointments." Describe the medical facts which support your qualification for the Family and Medical Leave Act: "enlarged uterus and fetal heart tones."

Anyway, my last day at work was Saturday and I feel good about working as long as I did. It was certainly challenging, but working up until two days prior to the due date is quite an accomplishment, I think. Apparently my co-workers agree, as the surprise on their faces when I showed up for work was clear, as well. I did finally come to the realization that it might be a good idea to have a little downtime before the baby arrives, in addition to not dealing with the stress from work. So they just took me off the schedule for this week. With the added appointments, it was probably a good idea, scheduling-wise.

Now I'm just (patiently) waiting for maternity leave to be just that -- more about mothering.

George and I spent Sunday basically curled up in our cozy apartment avoiding the freezing rain and gray day. We rented a couple movies the night before (but fell asleep part way through), so we finished them in the afternoon, had a nap, and basically just hung out in the evening. It was quite nice, and who knows, could be our last weekend as "just the two of us" for a while.

Prenatal Appointments

We (probably mostly me) are getting a little impatient here as the due date approaches. I had an appointment today, and unfortunately nothing has really changed since last week. All my doctor can really tell me is that my cervix is softening and I'm maybe a centimeter dilated. Not very promising, but I'm still hoping.

Next week I'll have to go for fetal non-stress testing and ultrasound to be sure amniotic fluid levels are ok, since I'll most likely be passing the due date. This is just to monitor baby's condition and decide if they'll induce depending on how long I go without delivering and the situation for baby.

I find this quite frustrating, as that means more appointments and time at the clinic -- another reason we're happy to live close to the hospital, but it sure would be nice to simply move from "expectant mother" to "motherhood"! I guess the important thing is baby will come when baby is good and ready. No matter how "ready" Big Momma feels.

Valentine's Day!

For Valentine's Day, George and I were lucky enough to have a few visitors. My sister, Jessica, is on her February vacation so she brought Julia over for a quick hello. It was a pretty low key visit as we just hung out, went to the library for a little bit, then grabbed some pizza and returned to the apartment to make some cupcakes for Valentine's Day.

They were chocolate with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. Yummy!

By the way, here's a very important article on pregnancy and chocolate consumption. Seems like very interesting research! Count me in!

Week 39

Here's a photo of me as Nurse Charlotte. Again, not very flattering, but I'm thinking that any good picture of a pregnant person has required special lighting, make-up, and camera filter. I have none of these.

Oh, and this picture was taken after working two days in a row of very busy 12 hour shifts.

The following is a very typical conversation for me at work lately.
Me: Hi, I'm Charlotte, I'll be your nurse today.
Patient: When are you due?
Me: Next week.
Patient: What?!? (wearing a very shocked look)
Me: That's right, I have 7 days left, give or take.
From here the conversation usually follows every other conversation with strangers...
No. I don't know if its a boy or a girl.
Yes. Its my first.
I don't look big? I sure feel big.
Ok. You can feel my belly if you really want to. For a brief minute.

It is pretty amusing to me how many people want to rub the baby belly. Personal space has become very limited. Both outside and in. Baby toes are poking their way around, looking for the escape hatch. ha!

So Week 39. Here I am. Just wishin'...and hopin'...(makes you think of that song, right?) and thinkin'...and prayin'

My next doctor's appointment is Friday and we'll see what he says about how long he's going to leave me in this state. He alludes to induction, after week 39. Of course, that is all dependent on my body showing a few more signs of readiness to deliver. Right now, no sign. Just plannin'....and dreamin'...

DO Match Day!

And the winner is....

MADISON, WISCONSIN!!!

Week 38

Here's the Week 38 photo, including the new life-saving wrist brace that now allows me to sleep at night and not awaken in the morning (or middle of the night) with excruciating pain. Yay!

To tell the truth, this photo has been on the camera for a couple of days, but the battery was dead (or I should say batteries -- the back up one also not charged) so the camera would not stay on long enough to download to the computer. I guess this is a good lesson for us. Note to self: Make sure the batteries are all charged up before we REALLY need them -- ya know, for anything important coming up. Like the birth of our first born!

People at work this week are convinced that the baby has dropped. Looking at the new photos of me, I sort of have to agree...though symptoms really haven't changed too much.

Speaking of work, its becoming increasingly difficult. I'm going to attempt to get through one more week, after that I can't make any guarantees!

Carseats, Webcams, and Paczkis

So it's been awhile since I have contributed anything to the blogosphere. Charlotte's been diligent in adding pictures and whatnot, and I've not...

So, the car seat is in. Whew! That's a relief. Now we have an official means of bringing the munchkin from A to B. Now we just have to get it checked. I didn't even know that there was the whole special way of installing seats NOT using the seatbelt. Glad our car is a 2002, not 2001! Makes life easier.

What else is new. Residency stuff is in, and we're just waiting on the match. One more week! Glad to have choices...

If anyone who reads this has skype and would like to be added to our list, please pass along your info via email - we FINALLY got a (non-busted) webcam from Dell (check out the comparison below - can you guess which one works?). Talk about a lame company! I did one of my famous "mark my words" speeches to Charlotte saying that I would never contribute to Michael Dell's wealth ever again. Words marked.



Tomorrow is the day before Ash Wednesday, known in most places as Fat Tuesday. Here in Detroilet it's called Paczki Day. Basically a day devoted to special donuts. The Wikipedia article on this is interesting. Apparently they're really tied to Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Lent. Some cities like Detroit like to do it different and have the donuts on Tuesday. Interesante.

Alls I knows is I'm gonna git me some tasty donuts!