Introducing Ruby Leroux!

By kate on March 20th, 2006

Ruby Joan Keelty Leroux was born (in a natural birth) on Friday, March 3rd, 2006 at 3:59pm. She weighed 6 pounds, 10.5 ounces, and was 19.5 inches long.

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A whole new way of sleeping

By kate on March 1st, 2006

I realized recently that my whole perspective on sleep has changed during pregnancy. Before, if I was woken up once in the middle of the night, I considered it a serious interruption and felt like I hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep.

Now, I wake up every two or three hours throughout the night, to go to the bathroom or because of pain in my hands. After I take care of the issue, I can generally get back to sleep quickly, so I’m not awake too long. Even so, I wake up easily in the morning after the same number of hours, feeling rested and done with sleeping. It’s cool because it doesn’t make sense that it would be possible, but it is. I’m sure my body is doing on purpose because it’s a good preparation for having a newborn.

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No more pencils, no more books, no more boss’s dirty looks!

By kate on March 1st, 2006

My last day of work was yesterday, and it really feels like summer vacation. I should have at least a few days to relax and enjoy the time off. This weekend, there’ll be some hard work as we will finally be able to move some furniture and things into the basement (it will be mostly done on Friday). It’s very weird to suddenly have time on my hands, time in which I have a good chance of actually getting things done on my to-do list, things that are not urgent but nice-to-dos (for now), such as our taxes.

I feel like we’ve done everything that’s really important to do before the baby is born. Obviously, there’s another week or so of house preparation, but since she’ll be sleeping in our room at first, it’s not essential that the nursery be ready right away. All the vital stuff is ready. It’s a nice feeling.

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COPS… in Maple Leaf

By kate on February 27th, 2006

“Get down on the ground!”

“Get down on the ground!”

“Get down on the ground!”

After a couple repetitions of this yelled exclamation outside our bedroom window last night, we both woke up. It was about 2am. After ascertaining that it wasn’t a dream, we looked outside the window to see a police car outside our house. The shouter, a cop, was partially visible in front of the house kitty-corner to ours as he attempted to subdue someone we couldn’t see (because of a large SUV in the way).

Shortly, two other police cars raced up (silently but with lights flashing) and other officers jumped out, guns drawn. One guy had a rifle. Now that reinforcements had arrived, the stand-off was won and the suspect was restrained on the ground after a brief struggle. We never actually saw the guy, but heard his continual shouts, exclamations, and little songs. From what we could hear, he definitely had some kind of mental disturbance.

Then, a period of waiting while some of the cops looked around, watched the suspect, etc. I threw on clothes and went out on my front porch (any danger seeming past). I could see curtains being drawn aside in my neighbors’ houses as the suspect’s shouts continued to wake people.

Another police car pulled up in the line and a woman in pajamas walked with a policeman to where the suspect was being held. I assume she identified him, then was led back away.

Finally, a police van joined the party, making it seven police vehicles filling our street. The police van pulled in the far end of the street (to the front of the line of cars) and they loaded the suspect into the back.

This done, the street was finally quiet and the cops began to disperse. I flagged one down on the way back to his car to ask what happened. He told me the suspect had stolen a car around 80th, crashed it, then ran down our street and had been in the process of trying to steal another. He had also been carrying a fake gun, which he waved at the police when they found him. The cop, who seemed to still be a bit buzzed from the excitement, said the suspect was lucky to “still be here” [in other words, not shot]. I thanked him, and the line of police cars slowly filed away down the street.

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Inflation

By kate on February 26th, 2006

After several days of focusing on the swelling in my hands, I took a minute to look at my legs and feet, only to discover that they are now hilariously swollen. They already looked like someone else’s extremities, but now they’re losing all their curve and definition as they get more swollen.

This particular symptom is more amusing than anything because it doesn’t come with any pain or discomfort (at least now that I have bigger shoes). Take a look for yourself at the before (pre-pregnant) and after – it’s OK to laugh!

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We have a doula!

By kate on February 26th, 2006

Steve and I had gone back and forth on whether we wanted to have a birth doula or not. After interviewing one woman who was not a good fit for us, we were leaning against it. However, one local doula, Alissa Wehrman, was highly recommended by both our midwives and an aerialist friend, so we met with her as well. We both liked her a lot and found her calm and unobtrusive style to be what we were looking for.

Basically, her role is to be an emotional and practical support person for Steve and I during labor. She’s attended over 150 births in all kinds of settings, so she’s very experienced and knowledgeable about what comfort techniques are useful when. Her presence will allow Steve to spend more time focused just on me during labor, as well as giving him a chance to go to the bathroom without leaving me alone.

The midwife that is attending the labor will be more focused on medical/physical things like vital signs and measurements and equipment preparation, so she won’t be able to focus so much on helping us cope with labor. We’re confident that Alissa will contribute a lot without taking over or getting in the way (as we originally thought might happen).

In addition to helping us through labor, Alissa will do two post-partum home visits to make sure we’re OK and answer questions. She’s a trained lactation consultant, so she can help with any breastfeeding issues that come up. Finally, she takes detailed notes throughout labor and at her last visit will review all the details with us (such as what time I went into transition, etc.). It will be nice to have such a written record without having to do one ourselves.