Mommy Diaries

2006-07-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

Indy was born at 1:38 pm on Friday, July 28th by scheduled cesaren section. The pre-op nurse told me the word of the day was "Macrosomia".... aka big baby syndrome. He was estimated at 8lbs, 14oz, but entered the world at a more reasonable 8lbs 4oz. Still, the doc assures me c-section was the only way to go since he came into the world with a 14" head that my pelvis simply could not have accommodated. In case you're wondering, he's nice and tall at 21 1/4", so he looks lovely and proportional.

Happily, the surgery was uneventful and we were both comfortably in our post-partum room within a few hours. Thanks to the abdominal surgery, I spent most of the hospital stay caring for Indy from bed while the burping and diapering fell to my mom and Jonathan. This suited Indy quite well, as he's been a good sleeper and not in the least fussy. Not bad for a first week that has already included a surgical birth, circumcision and light therapy for jaundice. Biased as I am, I'd say he's perfect.

His light therapy may have been harde for me that the c-section since it meant that he was confined to the nursery and blindfolded when under the UV light (a little cloth eye mask was velcroed to his head). I was allowed to take him out from under the lights for meal every three hours and take his mask off, but was left missing him every other minute of the day. It also meant that Indy needed to supplement breastdfeeding with formula, so I needed to start pumping.

When they let us take him back last night, it was with the understanding that it might just be for a few hours, so I braced myself for a few more days in the hospital. Luckily, the tests all came back great and we were happily surprised with the news we could both come home today. By late afternoon, Indy was home for the first time and asleep in his very own bassinet.

I'm exhausted, but so happy to be home with him. Will post more photos soon.

2006-07-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

Indy has a first cousin! Alexandra Cole (Jonathan's neice) was born yesterday evening. Hopefully, he'll be quick to follow :)

2006-05-11T13:55:00.000-07:00

Indy's wikipedia entry.....

Indy can refer to:

The SGI Indy workstation from SGI.
Indy, a music discovery system using collaborative filtering conceived by Ian Clarke
The Indy gene found in Drosophila melanogaster, which makes the fly live twice as long. Here, ‘INDY’ stands for “I’m not dead yet!”.
Indy grab, a skateboarding trick.

Indy is also a common abbreviation and nickname:

Indy Media Independent Media Center
A variation of the abbreviation indie for "independent", used in many contexts such as the indie musical genre, indie radio, and indie gaming.
A common nickname for Indianapolis, Indiana'. It often substitutes for "Indianapolis" in phrases, such as "Indy 500", "Indy Racing League", or as a nickname for the "Indianapolis Motor Speedway".
"The Indy" is the nickname for the British newspaper The Independent.
The nickname for the fictional character Indiana Jones.

2006-04-18T07:37:00.000-07:00

I was surpised to learn that the Watts family Easter celebration was also a shower for me and a birthday party for my Nana Phyllis (on the right in the photo). Actually, I did have a heads up on the birthday party part, but not the shower.

As you can see, my cousin Naomi's son Rowan was eager to identify all the goodies packed into the diaper cake my Aunt Debby (on the left) made for me. Indy also recieved a bathtub, loads of adorable little outfits, books, finger puppets and many of the odds and ends he'll need in the first year.

Thanks to everyone for the presents and the party. It was wonderful to have my cousins come in from Virginia, Lewisburg, Pittsburgh, and Connecticut!

2006-04-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

Interesting visual image: my uterus is now approxiamtely the size of a soccer ball.

In other baby news, one of my coworker gave me an absolute ton of 0-3 month clothes (with some 3-6 thrown is as well). My brother says the baby now has more outfits than he does. Which is probably true.

2006-04-05T14:03:00.000-07:00

According to the pampers website, Indy now looks like this and is about the length of a barbie doll. Somehow I don't imagine him with the purplish-pink aura surrounding him in utero.

2006-03-28T12:55:00.000-08:00

2006-03-28T08:03:00.000-08:00

I've found a couple interesting articles lately on boys' education and reading preferences that are pretty interesting

"The Little Men Who Love Little House, Why boys like girls books. " Slate, 9 March 2006.
http://www.slate.com/id/2137789/
According to the author, boys look for books with humor and information more than narrative (which girls are big on) or a male protagonist (which has been the common wisdom for some time). It also recommends the site www.guysread.com, which actually has a few books I really enjoyed growing up. If you're thinking "What does that have to do with Little House on the Prairie?"....apparently, it's the how-to aspect of pioneer life in that series (such as when Pa explains how to load a musket or tap a maple tree) that adds the cross-gender appeal.

"The Trouble with Boys, " Newsweek, January 2006.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10965522/site/newsweek/
This article offers a controversial look at gender and education. It makes a interesting case for the benefit of single-sex education for boys before college, at least at some stages. From an 8,000 student Vanderbilt University study: In kindergarten, boys and girls processed information at about the same speeds. In early adolescence, girls finished faster and got more right. By 18, boys and girls were processing with the same speed and accuracy. Don't think I'm sold on the idea yet, but it's certainly something to consider.

2006-03-26T04:36:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have been wondering how big I am now, a photo...
taken last week, so I may be a teensy bit rounder now. I'm 21 weeks along and have gained 12 lbs, which is good for my height/pre-baby weight. I've been sleeping more than average again and feeling a little sick, but nothing like the first trimester. I can feel Indy move every day now, but nothing so strong as a kick.

I bought Indy a crib yesterday that's an amazing match to my bedroom furniture:

http://www.munirefurniture.com/newport_01.htm

It's the rubbed-black color and matches the desk, armoire and dressers already in the room. It won't arrive until he's almost here, but I'd rather have the space in the meantime.

2006-03-24T10:27:00.000-08:00

My favorite ultrasound pic

I had my ultrasound on Thursday. My mom and Jonathan both came with me and we got our first real glimpse of the baby now that he looks like a baby. (He was ony 5 weeks at the first ultrasound, and looked more like a tadpole with a giant heart.)

We'd decided on names for a girl or boy beforehand, so as soon as they told us he was a boy we knew he'd be Indy Cole Watts (Cole for Jonathan, Watts for me). We could see his perfect little hands and feet, and long legs. The ultrasound tech kept prodding him for better positioning (causing many unsure glances back and forth between his first-time parents). Indy was merely irritated by the josteling, though, and mostly complied.