piano recital

I have the hardest time uploading/downloading/whatevering videos to my blog.  Click here to see Damon performing at the piano recital, and to see Anne sticking her face in front of the camera.  Click here to see Claire.  I missed her millisecond bow at the end.  You'll have to take my word for it that it was cute.

baby pictures

Note: you should probably get everyone pedicures before having a foot picture taken.  But I really wanted one.  It's too bad the only one with presentable feet (Claire) has her feet buried by everyone else's.

Julia Charlotte

She finally came last week, 34 hours before my mom and sister had to go back to Idaho.

I went into labor at 5 p.m., and she was born at 11:33 p.m.  I decided not to get an epidural, so it was painful.  But, I had a really great nurse who got me heat packs and an exercise ball shaped like a peanut.  Those were helpful.

When things got really bad, she suggested a hot bath--that was fantastic (not epidural fantastic, of course.  Don't let your imagination go wild thinking hot baths are a natural cure to women's suffering.). Sorry, no picture.  I know you all must be dying to see a naked pregnant lady in a tub.  My friends in MA who do water-birthing are on to something.  The pain relief was incredible.  I should have ignored the nurse when she said I needed to get out when I started feeling pressure.  Things would have been more pleasant if Julia had been born in the bathtub.  The doctor would have gotten wet, but maybe he wouldn't have had to endure my sobbing and telling him to "just give me an episiotomy and take her out!"  But, we all survived, so it doesn't matter now.  Holding her has made me forget the misery all ready.  There's a scripture about that, but I'm too tired to look it up now.  Here she is: 7 lbs, 7.8 ounces, 19.88 inches long.

Damon, Claire, and Anne love her and love holding her.  They can't bear to hear her cry, so she may never learn to go to sleep on her own or how to sleep through the night.

Damon was very disappointed by her name.  He wanted her to be Nicki, and even though Jake and I told him repeatedly during the past month that would not be her name, he was not prepared for the final blow.  I was surprised and relieved Claire accepted her name so graciously--she wanted a name that started with B, like Barbara or Bobbie, and Claire doesn't usually let go of her ideas.  She's been content to give her an additional middle name: Julia Isabella Charlotte.  Just having a baby sister must have fulfilled all her expectations.  Lynsey says that before she and my mom brought the kids to the hospital, Claire dug a baby doll out of the toy box saying, "I must practice holding a baby."  And that's what she did. 

I've managed to mortify Damon and Anne by nursing Julia in public.  Claire has a Bug Science class in downtown Kalamazoo this week.  It's a 20 minute drive, and by the time we get there, it's always time to feed Julia.  I told Damon he was nursed on the Eiffel Tower in front of 100 people [I didn't count, but it was really crowded up there], and he and Anne needed to get over it, which they have.  Mostly.

Viewer Discretion Is Advised

No, I'm not posting graphic photos from the delivery room.  1. I still haven't had a baby.  2. I don't believe in pictures during delivery.

However, below are some some photos that might disturb you if you are the type who has been pregnant, looked rather large at the time, and has a habit of making unfair comparisons.


But, if you have never been pregnant...



Or if you have been but you were so cool and/or appreciative of the privilege of carrying a child that you didn't care about how big you got and how big other ladies didn't get...



Or if you are one of those few people, like my sister pictured below, who might be 7 1/2 pregnant but looks more like she ate too much for breakfast...



Then go ahead and look.  But I warned you.  (I'd warn you about the unphotogenic-ness you're about to experience, but you're probably used to it by now if you're a regular.)

Here's the amazing thing: my baby is measuring 3 weeks small.  Her baby is measure a week big!!  That doesn't make sense to me.

melatonin

Still no baby.  She's due the 15th, but the other kids were 5-7 days early, so she feels late.

New topic.  Claire has a hard time going to sleep at night, which is common for kids with Asperger's.  If I don't give her melatonin, she almost never falls asleep before 11 PM, even if she was up by 7:15 AM, had plenty of exercise during the day, and has been in her bed with the lights off since 8:30 or 9.  Her pediatrician says melatonin is safe, but have any studies been done on children to prove it is?  Mayoclinic.org says not.  But what's worse?  Not getting enough sleep, or taking less than half a mg of melatonin 5-7 days a week?  I wish someone would find out and tell me.

Little Lottie in utero

Sadly, her name will not be Lottie.  Lottie is my first choice, but Jake says we can't because of some Austin Powers character.  (Note: if Jake has a weakness, it's James Bond and Austin Powers.)

Wow, cameras hate me.  I wish I were less lazy.  I'd figure out a way to crop out my head.  I have magic mirrors in my house that make me think I'm a hot babe until I see a picture of myself.  Which is why I almost never look at or post pictures of myself.  But, inquiring minds (the 5 people who follow my blog) want to see how I look, so I must oblige.

Here's a picture Jake took for his own amusement.  I'll post it for yours, too.  Now I know why people stare and make comments about how soon the baby will be here whenever I'm sitting down.

Gah!  That hair!!  Cutting it myself+Michigan humidity=not working out.  But my old stylist's replacement is not any better than I am.  Help!