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Lucy, this is your Poppa.
It's going to take me a lifetime to describe to you all of the wonderful qualities he has but let's start off with a few things he's done recently...
- I was really, really sick the first couple months I was pregnant with you and your Daddy did everything for me. He cooked me every meal, cleaned every nook and cranny of our house and never, ever complained. Not even once. He even stopped making his morning coffee because it made me feel sick (By the way, all of this sick stuff? Don't worry, it was totally worth it.)
- When I finally felt better, your Daddy still cooked for me all the time and cleaned and did most everything. He also rubbed my hands and feet most every night before we went to bed. How neat is that?
- At the end of my pregnancy, when we could feel you movin' around in there and we were feeling happier with each day, your Dad was always the most excited one in the room. He has dreamed about being a Daddy his whole life, and now you're here.
Most nights when we're up together--you're having a snack, and I'm watching your sweet face--your Dad is there too, keeping me company and rubbing my feet. He just doesn't want to miss anything that you and I talk about I guess. How did we get so lucky, Lucy?
Lucy has gained almost a pound in one week.
She now weighs in at 9 pounds, 9 ounces. This, according to kindly Dr. Jeremy Shapiro, is a wonderful sign that Lucy is doing very well. She's eating and sleeping about every three hours, her eyes are focusing on us, and her temperament seems pretty good.
My folks, Sally and John, are visiting and helping us feel normal for Week Two at Home. Dad's been cooking, Mom's been cleaning, Sarah + I have been learning that Lucy's 4 1/2 hour sleeping jags last week were a fluke and are adjusting to a more "normal" schedule of three hours of sleep at a time. Leslye, our Lactation Consultant, has been here twice and really helped us learn how to feed Lucy and not to take anything too seriously when problems arise. And arise they do.
My sister, Leigh, comes in for a quick visit starting tomorrow, while Dad is back in Portland now. We've been the lucky recipients of so much help from both families, we're a little nervous about making the transition to just the three of us next week. I think we both know that it'll be fine and we're looking forward to seeing what a family of three feels like, but still... our families have been such a help, it's tough to imagine doing it without them. We are so, so lucky to have them.
But luckiest most of all to have sweet, sweet Lucy.
Several highlights from the last few days:
• Lucy had her tongue clipped yesterday. She was born slightly "tongue tied", which runs in Sarah's family, so kindly Dr. Shapiro sent us to A Specialist. Despite some tears and a surprising amount of blood everything's fine and Lucy will play the violin again.
• Lee has whipped this place into shape and I think it looks great. She is amazing and we're sorry to see her go back to Chicago tomorrow morning. Plans for another visit are already on the table; we're delighted that she isn't sick of us.
• My mom, Sally, is here and my dad, John, arrives tomorrow. This is a very special time for us and I'm so happy that we have our family here, I couldn't ask for more.
Allow me to bring you up to speed.
Today Lucy had her first appointment with our new pediatrician, Dr. Jeremy Shapiro. He's great. He's the guy who walks into the room and you immediately think, "Oh, okay. We're in good shape here." Thanks to our friends Marion + Jason (and now Wes!), we're the newest patients at Boulevard Pediatrics and we're very happy.
Lucy has regained the weight she lost at the hospital and is up to 8 lbs., 12 oz., which is great. Interestingly, the kind folks at Cedars slightly overestimated her length and she's actually 20 3/8 " long instead of 20 1/2". Either that or my newborn baby daughter is shrinking. So let's go with the former.
Lee + Steve are taking great care of us, buying groceries, making dinners, and watching tons of Olympics. A Lactation Specialist is coming by first thing in the morning to help us out with a bit of breast feeding, which incidentally is the name of my new racy telenovela. Finally, we're beginning the process of switching Lucy's day/night sleeping schedule. Pray for us.
Lucy has some great grandparents.
Steve and Lee are in from Chicago, helping us make the transition from hospital to home. Things are good: Lucy is eating about every three hours and sleeping in between most of the time. It's a good life, eating so much that you fall asleep and are then awoken for a new meal a few hours later.
Last night was our first "long night" and it wasn't too bad. Lucy woke up at 4:15 a.m., ready to eat, and stayed up until 7:00 a.m. We knew it was going to be fun when the sun started coming up. I think it'll take about two weeks to make the adjustment, but we've got so much help that we're going to do just fine.
Diaper Update: In the hospital, the nurses told us that the Newborn size wouldn't fit her, so Lucy has already moved up to Size 1, for babies 8 to 12 pounds. If anybody's in the market for seven-hundred Newborn size diapers, we can hook you up.
Oh my God, we made it.
The Swiss Family Tallman is safe at home. In the last 48 hours we had some AMAZING nurses at Cedars teach us how to breast feed Lucy, how to swaddle her, how to take care of hiccups, and so on. More pictures are coming but right now Sarah's taking a shower (while protecting her invisible stitches, courtesy of Dr. Betty Lee), Lucy's taking her first nap, and I'm putting stuff away.
Lee, Sarah's mom, arrives in a bit and will help us out for the next week. I predict dinner tonight will consist of deliciousness and naps, followed by a diaper change (or three, Lucy keeps us on our toes).
Another movie starring our favorite troublemaker drunk on formula.
So far, so good.
Lucy's temperature ran a little high overnight and as we hit hour 48 of her entire life, a bit of jaundice set in. This is all tied in to her feeding, according to Dr. Miller, our on-site pediatrician. We've been breast-feeding exclusively but Sarah's milk doesn't "arrive" until tomorrow, so today we had to supplement with formula. Apparently this was good because Lucy immediately did her impression of a hobo drunk on moonshine, rolled her eyes into the back of her teeny-tiny head, and passed out. To quote the nurse, "Is good!"
A normal moment here at the hospital.
We received this in an eMail.
Todd B. from Milwaukee writes, "I can't believe it! Lando was there, just like the blog promised."
Quite a couple of ladies I've got.
Man, we're fried. Short version: Everything went great. We got to the hospital, no problem. Dr. Betty Lee worked her magic and Lucy Power Tallman was born today at 3:01 p.m. She weighs eight pounds, ten ounces and is twenty and one-half inches long. Sarah is doing well, not much pain at all.
Thank you to everybody who's visited, called, and in any way wished us well. You are superstars and we are grateful. Here's a neat fact about me: Number of diapers I'd changed before today: 0. Number of diapers I've changed today: 4.
I am slowly changing into a Dad.
The butterflies in my stomach are kicking my ass.
Sorry about the language. After a few back and forth phone calls with the office of Dr. Betty Lee and Cedars, everything is set. Sarah is scheduled for a C-section at 2:30 tomorrow, which means my father wins the pool. Congratualtions JOHN TALLMAN, your Prius is in the mail.
The surgery should take about 45 minutes; the first 5 are for Lucy and the remainder are for Sarah. I don't know what my state of mind will be afterwards. Somewhere between euphoria and forgetful nincompoop. Apparently the surgery is quite easy on the baby, which is nice. It's a longer recovery for Sarah, which sucks, but her Mom is coming in to save us when we get home, which is delightful.
Should be about 4 days in the hospital. We've been told that they have Wi-Fi there so updates will be possible. If you see pictures of a grumpy troll, that's me. If you see pictures of a baby with cheeks like she's storing food for the winter, that's Lucy. If you see pictures of a suave African American gentleman, that's Lando Calrissian.
Lucy, meet your mother.
Throughout the pregnancy, Sarah has apologized to me for being "crabby". This is crazy talk. She has the HARDEST JOB IN THE WORLD, which is to carry this kid around with her for almost a year. Her body is constantly changing, growing more and more uncomfortable each month. And now, as we reach the final moments, she's told that she has to walk into the operating room for her C-section. That's just nuts. I guess it has to do with keeping her flexible or minimizing pain medication or she lost a bet or something.
Sarah feels guilty because she can't do as much around the house as she'd like. I understand that feeling but I don't subscribe to it. For me, taking care of her is how I get to participate in the pregnancy. Sarah's doing the real work, I'm trying to keep up with her. She doesn't get a break. She goes from nine months pregnant to recovering from surgery AND being a New Mom.
Yeah, I'm biased. I'm married to her, she's my best friend, I have a crush on her, blah blah. It's always tough to watch the people you love going through hard times. But Sarah... she's awesome.
She has her father's cheeks.
This is a 4-D picture of Lucy. I have no idea why it's 4-D; when something's in 3-D, the third "D" is depth, added to height and width. The fourth "D" should be time, but I'm pretty sure this picture is from 2008 and not taken at The Battle of Hastings. And yet, the doctor said, "This is in 4-D!" I don't get it.
We had our "final" appointment with the doctor today and we're about to schedule a C-section for next week. We have to wait until Lucy hits 39 weeks, Tuesday the 12th, which allows for her lungs to strengthen enough to expel fluid on her own after the birth. So it'll be next week, we won't know exactly when until we hear back from the hospital.
Hopefully that'll be tomorrow so we won't have to wait it out over the weekend. I think I just successfully quit biting my nails (Sarah took me for a manicure and that magically did the trick. It was my second; first one was for the wedding.) but my stress level, she is climbing. "Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue."
A close-up of the changing table. Notice the dangling power cord from the air conditioner! Danger abounds in the baby's room....
Just a couple shots of Lucy's Room.
Bless her heart.
Comic Con 2008 was this past weekend. I've gone down to San Diego for the past six years to check out all of the Nerdly delights; kind of like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, except that the chocolate is Batman, Indiana Jones, and Harry Potter. Despite my hesitation due to the proximity to Lucy's due date, Sarah encouraged me to go down for the day on Sunday. "But you love Comic Con!"
Yes, I do. But her, more.
Lucy, this is your Poppa.
