Meet the Lynches

We've had quite the week at the newly-anointed Oakland Street B&B. Christopher's two older brothers were here last week - that's Ralph, who lives in Connecticut, and Philip, who lives in Hong Kong - and his mom (sorry, mum) and stepfather have been here since Sunday. They leave today to continue their US-tour in CT/NY, and it's been a fun, productive visit. Productive because Elizabeth is a master organizer/house planner, so we've been moving and arranging and cleaning like mad all week. Much, MUCH appreciated. There's also been ample "Angus appreciation" time, and the kid continues to woo with these grandparents, as well. I think it goes without saying that the first grandparents he met were fairly smitten.

Anyway, Angus is one-month old today, and he's growing like a weed. As for my mothering abilities/skills, I can only hope they're developing and improving at an appropriate speed. I'm certainly trying, but I'm also finding that (as my more pragmatic friends told me while I was pregnant), it's mostly a matter of finding what works best for you and your baby. So far, Angus is proving to be a relatively unfussy baby - the qualifiers in that statement are a protection against my jinxing myself by making outlandish claims of a nonfussy baby, which will surely be met with a host of "wait until..." statements. BUT so far, so good. Having said that, any and all advice/suggestions are always appreciated :).

Pictures of the rapidly-growing baby boy are attached, along with some pictures from our field trip to the Udvar Hazy Air & Space Museum out by Dulles. I'd never been there, and I was a teeny bit skeptical about the wisdom of making the trip with a one-month old, but Angus was probably the last-fussy of the lot of us. Not a single crying fit or melt down. For the most part, he alternated between sleeping and taking in his surroundings in a very Angus-typical contemplative manner. As part of my "do what works best for you and your baby" lifestyle mantra, we haven't shied away from taking him out in public. Some new parents opt to minimize outside exposure during the first 6 weeks or so - while I do understand there are reasons for this school of thought, I would probably lose the plot if I went that route, and Angus has been quite a trooper in his numerous outings. Now, that's not to suggest that I allow strangers to paw at him, and I'm not taking him to Chuck E Cheese (well, that will NEVER happen), but I do believe it's in everyone's best interest to get him started on the real world as soon as possible.

Past Angus's stellar performance yesterday, I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised with the museum. I'd been, of course, to the Air & Space Museum on the National Mall, but I preferred the Udvar Hazy exhibits. Far less touristy-packed, less shtick (best word I can think of) and more actual information and planes, etc., and overall just a well-organized place. It would have been nice if they'd had a second option for lunch past McDonald's, but nobody's perfect :).

One of his mid-sleep spaz-outs. Usually including a solid punch to his own face.

Angus with his binkie at the museum. Taking it all in.

Molly in front of the space foods and poop-bags exhibit. Quite a combination.

Who knows what he was doing. Pretty standard Angus-face.

Vietnam and Korean War exhibits.

Sleeping.

Just woke up.

I love this picture for some reason.

Back shot of the Discovery.

Sleepy boy.

LOVE this picture, too. I could watch him making faces for hours.

Terrible Twosome Left Home Alone

It's hard to believe that Angus is now 16 days old. It's hard to imagine life before Angus, a feeling I'm told is pretty normal. I mean that in all of the best ways, of course, though also in some of those "how did I not appreciate how wonderful it was to be able to walk up to 7/11 without major planning???" ways. An otherwise previously routine trip to Macy's and Best Buy yesterday turned into a major production, for example, with me spending most of the Best Buy time in the car, changing a massively poopy diaper or feeding his royal highness. Carrying a screaming baby out of the store does make you wish you'd been a bit more sympathetic to parents in the same position before you became a fellow sucker, but that's just the order of things, I suppose.

I do have to say, I've become quite adept at multi-tasking with one hand, though!

Anyway, the wee man is now about 8 pounds, so the pediatrician is quite happy with his progress. Which means that we are also very happy that he's a healthy little boy. Because, as illustrated by the pictures below, any annoyance/frustration/tear-your-hair-out moments are automatically forgotten the second he makes one of his faces. :)

The title of this post comes from Christopher leaving for Ft. Worth today for a work conference, leaving Angus and me alone. Abbey and Molly will be here during the days, but I may or may not make it out alive.

Ok, so he's not supposed to sleep on me, but he's so small and cute when he curls up on my chest, it's hard to resist letting him nap there.

Hanging out in the big bed. Onesie courtesy of our Aunt Judy.

There's a little bit of Zoolander in this picture. I'm not sure if I'm happy about that yet or not.

Another drunk face.

My absolute favorite picture of him so far. He's not really smiling at me, but this picture alone could make a shitty day seem much, much better.

We did NOT style his hair for this.

Day 12...

A quick update and photo fun, as Angus is finally down for a nap. Ok, I should clarify that, last night, he only woke up once, so I actually got some decent sleep, for which I am extremely grateful. And he did nothing but sleep, observe the outside world, and make the occasional chipmunk-type chirp when I took him for an hour-long walk this morning. So, all-in-all, a pretty good kid. But he's also a hungry little dude, as well as a pooping-machine (and I do realize none of this is remotely unique to him, but I'm a first-time mom, so what do you expect?), so nap-times will probably become less and less frequent.

Grandma went home to Kansas last night after staying on to help me out for a while. Her assistance was GREATLY appreciated. For example, with Grandma watching Angus, I've been able to shower every day since leaving the hospital (I even managed to today, on my own), which I hear is somewhat of a rarity when living with a newborn. I'm sure she's happy to have a little down time before the other two grandkids descend on Kansas in early September :), but for what it's worth, her help was invaluable.

So now I'm on my own, as Christopher also went back to work yesterday. At the moment, I seem to be maintaining my sanity, but stay tuned. Depending on the future content and tone of these posts, emergency deliveries of espresso and/or Sonic cheesy tots may be required.

Starting our daily walk. A fairly wet, muggy day, but we got started before it got too bad, and he was a trooper.

Passed out.

Trying to fight the urge to nap.

Again, nothing special about my baby except that, well, he's MY baby. So, to me, his "I'm hungry" faces are the funniest things in the world.

Slightly less comical, but one of many Angus faces.

And finally....Angus George

As my father reminded me, this blog was being woefully neglected. Since I started the blog with "Sparky" in mind, I should really record the culmination of the last 7 months or so - i.e. Sparky's birth.

I won't go into a lot of gory detail, but July 24th came and went with nary an extra kick from Sparky. Not that my intuition had any validity, but I really didn't feel like he was going to be coming any time soon. Evidently the doctors felt the same way, as they had me scheduled for induction from week 39. When I was showing no signs of labor well into week 40, I had to accept that D-Day wasn't going to happen without the assistance of drugs.

I picked up my parents from the airport on Wednesday, July 31st - they'd, of course, originally scheduled their trip with the purpose of meeting the new baby, not of actually being there for the birth. But, of course, it's impossible to predict what's going to happen with due dates and all that. Wednesday was a flurry of eating last, uninterrupted meals and napping (for the record, Angus, we had pizza and meatball subs from the Italian Deli as our Last Meal) before Christopher and I checked into the hospital at 11pm that night. Funny thing is that my labor contractions actually started earlier in the evening - probably around 8pm - which was discovered once we got to the hospital.

Fast-forward 10 hours later, and very little progress with labor combined with increasingly back-to-back, very painful contractions meant that my previous determination NOT to have an epidural FLEW out the window. And thus the next 9 hours were passed in a very relaxed, pain-free oblivion of HGTV on the hospital television and a revolving door of nurses and the doctor. I completely lost all feeling in my legs, but the lack of pain with contractions was worth it.

By about 5pm, the doctor informed us that I was going to be ready to push in the next hour or two...I was very excited, as I was hoping to avoid a C-section, and, of course, nervous now that the grand finale was finally in sight. Unfortunately, the baby had other ideas, and as we were literally a few pushes away from meeting the little man, his heart rate started dropping fast. The doctor made the call for an emergency C-section, and I was rushed to the operating room. It was scary - seeing the look on my doctor's face said it all about the potential direness of the situation - but they had me in the operating room, surrounded by 10+ hospital staff members and knocked out - within about 2 minutes. Christopher was suited up in scrubs, but because they didn't have time to give me enough pain killer to keep me awake during surgery, he was ultimately kept out of the OR.

All's well that ends well, fortunately, and Angus George Lynch was born at 7:34pm on Thursday, August 1st. Grandpa Marden's birthday :). Since I had been knocked out, I didn't resurface until after 9pm, and to say I was out of it at first is the understatement of the century. Of course, I was also in horrific pain from the C-section, and I was shaking so badly from the pain at first that I couldn't hold the baby. About 7 doses of morphine later, I was finally able to 1) understand where I was and the fact that I had a baby, and 2) hold my new son for the first time.

It was a tiring night, but the hospital staff was fantastic - we did not meet a single nurse/doctor/etc. who was less than pleasant and helpful. They kept us in the hospital until Sunday, and Angus George is now at home and already controlling the household schedule. :)

For me, it's been a wild ride in many ways. Everyone says that you can't understand the intensity of the love you feel for your baby until/unless you experience it, which is very definitely true. A fortunate thing for little Angus, since he can be a determined, demanding little bugger!

Of course, they also say you can't understand how overwhelming and tiring having a new baby is until you experience it. Well, duh. I'm only one week in, so I'm sure I have much to learn and will only get more tired and overwhelmed, but this week has been more difficult because recovering from the emergency C-section has been, in a word, rough. I'm starting to feel more human, thankfully, but it's been a tough week. For someone who would sometimes run 10-15 miles/day with no problem, it's amazing how this experience has kicked my ass. Far more physically challenging than any marathon.

Anyway, we are very, very happy to have little Angus George in our lives. He's a sweet little dude - very serious in some funny ways. One of the hospital nurses called him a very "patient" baby, which I thought was funny. And a good sign. He's also ridiculously cute. Though that may not be an unbiased opinion :).

Here are some photos from the hospital and first week with Angus. D-Day has arrived!

First (coherent) moments post C-section.

First day in a non-hospital-issue outfit.



Sleeping like an angel. Or carefully-concealed devil :).

Dad helping with first bath at the hospital.

Angus in his car seat, completely passed out.

With Grandma. A pseudo-smile.

Cranky face.

First walk to Giant and back.

With Grandpa Dave.

Maya and Angus sizing each other up. Though Angus seems more interested in his hands.

Yep, he's definitely my son, sleeping like that. Reminiscent of a certain picture of me sleeping on a Czech train...

Abbey and Molly with their new brother.

The recovery room at the hospital.

The "status board" in the delivery room.

Due Date Come 'N Gone...But No Baby

Well, I am now 40 weeks and 3 days, and the little guy has yet to make an appearance. While we're excited to meet him, the extra few days haven't been completely unappreciated, given that we were not actually allowed to "move back" into the house until July 24th - my due date. I say "move back" because there is SO much to be done still, but at least the big stuff (floors, painting) is done and we've got the big furniture back in place. Anyway, according to my doctor (well, one of the 6 I switch between) says that there's a good chance I'll have to be induced. So stay tuned. If this happens (i.e. I don't go into labor within hours of posting this blog entry), I'm currently scheduled to enter the hospital at 5am on Thursday, August 1st. In other words, my dad's birthday. He has some reservations about the joys of sharing birthdays, but I know he's secretly honored :). And, by the way, Dad - if Sparky is born on your birthday, consider that your present!

Because we had to move out of the house for a few days while they did the floors (I won't go into the drama of the repeated delays on that, lest it cause future flashbacks for Christopher), we decided to go up to Annapolis for a few days. I hadn't been there in years...the last (and only) time I was there, I think it may have been part of the grand Marden-family-East-Coast-College-Tour. In which case, there's little I remember. Christopher had never been there, and it's only an hour drive. So we dropped the cat off at the vet, booked a room at the Annapolis Westin, and hit the road only 3 hours late (Sparky, for your future edification, when your dad gives you an ETD, ALWAYS add at least 1-3 hours on...it's easier for everyone involved).

I have to say, while Annapolis can't compare to a lot of the weekend trips by brother and family make - Nuremberg, for example - we were pleasantly surprised. It was hot as hell, which slightly tempered our level of activity, but I enjoyed taking full advantage of 1-2 naps/day. Hey, once this kid is born, will I be taking naps EVER? Hardly likely.

But our hotel was a very short drive to the main historic part of town, so we spent a good amount of time wandering the stores, hitting any of the 18 ice cream joints, and ogling the massive boats docked there. I must also say, we didn't have a single mediocre meal while in Annapolis. The highlight for me was when, upon walking into a diner on the main street, the man behind the counter shouted "when're the twins due?!?". Instead of taking the hint, of course, that my stomach is MASSIVE, I tucked into mozzarella sticks and a massive, greasy crab omelet. Well, when in Rome and all that.

Pictures attached below - some of Maya, of course, as she'll soon be the forgotten child, some of the house, and some of Annapolis.

Sparky, take note: today is Saturday, July 27. 3 days past your official due date. When will you decide to grace us with your presence? Time will tell, but one week from today, you'll be here. Either already at home with us or getting ready to come home from the hospital. It's been a long journey, and I can't believe I'll be a meeting you in less than a week!

Annapolis "downtown" - the dome in the distance is part of the Naval Academy.

Some of the massive boats - there's a LOT of money in Annapolis, for sure.

One of the touristy boats docked by the Academy.

The circle around the State House.

I may not look too miserable, but it was roughly 140 degrees outside, so rest assured, I was a cranky pregnant lady.

Christopher posing down by the water.

Me posing. Or resting against the pole. Oddly enough, I can still run 4 miles, but walking or just standing in place has me gasping for breath like a 400-lb fat man.

The girls decided to give the stroller a test ride. Maya was happy to oblige.

For any of you few readers who will never experience pregnancy first-hand, this is what I see when I look down.

The floors in the process of being stripped. Or whatever the term is for what the flooring guys do.

These pictures are quite out of order, but I'm still running/walking every day, and I took a nice jog on the W&OD Trail the other day that culminated at these gardens.

Christopher and Molly in the upstairs bathroom. It's since been tiled.

The living/dining room in the final throes of clean-up pre-floors. 

Pontifications about Pregnancy

As I waddle my way past the 38-week mark, I figured I'd start my parenthood journey off by doing what a lot of parents seem to do best: criticize other parents. Though I certainly hope that I don't become a hyper-critical mother who sneers when she sees other moms feeding their kids candy (ok, realistically, I'd have to have a complete personality transplant for that to happen), I feel justified in calling this particular woman a dumbass: http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/michelle-duggar-calls-abortion-baby-holocaust-141700694.html

I guess it's better and more responsible to have 19 kids than to allow a teenage rape victim to have access to safe abortion facilities? People continue to astound me, and I won't even go into the debacle that is this debate in many states right now (Texas, KANSAS, NC....). Given that a lot of this blog is dedicated to my future son, ranting about abortion laws may not seem quite kosher, but I've not changed my opinions since pregnant, so I'll rant away!

Anyway, with labor imminent (though not too imminent, I hope), I thought I'd take a few minutes to record my thoughts about pregnancy before the pain of childbirth makes me romanticize these past 7 months. To be fair, I've had a remarkably drama-free, easy pregnancy. Given that it took Christopher betting me $100 that I was pregnant to actually take a test at about 2 months, I clearly wasn't in the throes of morning sickness. Now, while I did just stare at the wall for a solid hour after taking that first test (followed by 4 additional tests, just in case the Safeway brand was crap or I was a medical anomaly) thinking about how my life/our lives were unexpectedly going to change dramatically, I'd say we both took the surprising news very well.

I've given quite a lot of thought to what has been the most surprising to me about pregnancy, what has been the most challenging, the best parts of the whole process, etc., and my thoughts are, in no particular order (pretty boring post, I know, but this one's more for me than anyone!)...I've been surprised by how natural pregnancy feels, to be honest. I don't mean that in a starry-eyed, "I was meant to be a mother" way, just that pregnancy always seemed like a very physically cumbersome, awkward thing to me, from the outside. Don't get me wrong - I am VERY awkward and, as anyone who's seen me get up from a chair or walk, for that matter, can attest, I am a clumsy mofo right now. But I guess I've been surprised at how natural it has felt to adjust to these changes. I honestly thought it would be far more difficult for me to mentally wrap my mind around my body changing so much so quickly, but it hasn't bothered me at all. In fact, I'll miss having a place to rest my dinner when the massive belly is gone!

Most challenging aspects? Again, I've been pretty lucky physically, but the pregnancy side effects that have been the most difficult to deal with have been the back pain and the fatigue. Back pain is hardly a surprise, given my genes, but it makes sitting for ANY amount of time over 20 minutes very uncomfortable, and once I'm on my feet, it can make standing in one place quite painful, too. So I'm in a kind of constant shuffle, trying to find a better position. Fatigue? Let's face it, I wasn't exactly a party animal before the pregnancy, but with the exception of some extra energy during the second trimester, I've definitely become even more of a wimp. Of course, as anyone who has been pregnant or has lived with a pregnant woman knows, just because we may be more tired and fall asleep easier doesn't mean we stay asleep. Ah, well, the body preparing you for the extreme fatigue of newborn care :).

Other challenges? I've not had too much swelling, zero heartburn (for which I am very grateful), my skin itchiness went away (thank goodness), and I've been able to keep my weight gain in check. He's been a pretty consistent kicker, which can be distracting at times, but that's endearing more than anything, and I've been lucky in that I've been able to continue running throughout the pregnancy. I'm not exactly on track to beat my half-marathon PR, and I don't even want to know how gimpy I look when I'm rocking my 10-minute miles. It's also amazing how a 3-mile slooooow run/fast walk feels more exhausting now than 10-mile runs used to, but at the end of the day, I've been able to keep doing something I enjoy, and I hope (! fingers crossed!) having kept active will make labor smoother....

I've not had any crazy cravings, though I have discovered a pretty intense affinity for Snickers (thanks, Barbie) and mozzarella sticks (though I've limited myself with those). My usual rabid sweet tooth has been somewhat tempered during this pregnancy, which may partially explain why I haven't ballooned a la Kim Kardashian or Jessica Simpson. My main aversion has been to hot drinks. I did get over the nausea the taste or smell of coffee initially caused for me, and I still drink one cup of coffee a day, but I can't stomach tea. At all.

I'll definitely miss being pregnant - parts of it - at the end of the day. I'll miss knowing that Sparky's with me 24/7 (it's like my own, built-in traveling companion), I'll miss feeling him kick and move around, I'll miss knowing that, if I'm feeling really tired or sore, it's OKAY to take a breather, to rest. I'm not saying I want to be pregnant for another 9 months, but there are also certain...allowances that are made for pregnant women that are really quite nice. I do live in DC, so I do still run into assholes, and not everyone is polite to me, BUT more people are friendly than they normally would be, and people even occasionally give up their bus seats for me. People just seem to respect a pregnant woman more, and it's nice to be shown just a bit more common courtesy than I would be otherwise.

We've come down to the wire with me getting up more and more frequently at night as well as growing more and more concerned about 1) my ability to actually physically go through labor and 2) my ability to be a good mother. I have no idea, really, what I'm doing with either labor (can you just ask for a free pass and wake up with a happy, healthy baby?) or motherhood, but I suppose there's a pretty sharp learning curve for all first time moms, so I'll just take it day-by-day (well, for labor, hopefully NOT day-by-day). I've determined that July 30th is my ideal delivery date. First, because it would give us an extra week to ensure the house is in good enough order to accommodate a newborn baby and, second, because, if he hasn't made an appearance by the 31st, they'll induce labor. I'd like to avoid as many drugs as I can, if possible (please feel free to say "that's what ALL women say before the big day"). But it's ultimately not my decision. The doctor called Sparky a "very cooperative baby" at my check-up yesterday (for his position, his steady heartrate, etc.), so let's hope he keeps up that trend!

Anyway, if you made it to the end of this post, you're probably bored out of your mind, but, like I said, this post is really for me. To round it out, a few last bump pictures. Don't ask me why I keep forgetting to ask Christopher to take them...

My "bullet baby" look.

Hopefully this is as big as I'll get!

If this were a marathon, I'd be winding up for a final sprint

Sparky is officially considered "full term" today, at 37 weeks. Can you celebrate pre-birthdays? Hmm. I may have to get some cake later to celebrate - since he's now full term, he no doubt has the ability to fully appreciate the white cake with white frosting his mother is oh so fond of. But I had my weekly check-up today - it feels like I'm at the doctor every other day right now - and everything looks great for where we're at - his weight, my weight, blood pressure, his length, etc.. As I told Christopher earlier...not to brag, but I seem to be very good at this pregnancy thing. I mean, I DID get an A+ in Calculus III back in college, so I guess it should be no surprise that I would excel in other areas, too ;). Anyway, my tactless bragging aside, there are no indications at this point that Sparky will be early, so EVERYONE KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED. I mean it! The house is a war zone right now with dry wall bits everywhere and the contractor sprinting to get everything done in the next 2 weeks, so any suggestion that meeting this baby early will be met with a very cold shoulder indeed.

Having said that, I am very excited to meet the little man, even though I am also a teeny bit concerned about the fact that I have NO clue what to do with a newborn and have NO idea what type of mother I'll be. Normal emotions, I am assured, and thankfully Christopher has been a remarkably calming influence. Very strange turn of events, indeed, since I'm usually the one saying "whatever" to anything life throws at me.

No pictures of the house, for once, but those will come next week. I can't deal with documenting the mess at this point, though I did finally take another picture of my belly this morning. This may well be the last "bump" photo to show Sparky when he's older...