A Very Hungry Caterpillar Party

What a great way to celebrate the first year of life - A Very Hungry Caterpillar Party!  Ellie was fortunate to have visits from both her Grandma & Grandpa Killian and her Mimi & Papi Swanson during the week of her birthday.  We played, laughed, sledded, read lots of books, snuggled, got whopped by lots of dog tails, went to the children's museum, went out to dinner, and tried ice cream for the first time (ewww - cold), whipped cream (yum - duh), and cake (ack - too sweet).  What a funny girl.

This past Saturday we invited friends over (and Mimi & Papi were still here) for a Very Hungry Caterpillar party to celebrate not only Ellie's birthday, but our survival of the parenting process over the past year.  :)  We ate all the foods that the caterpillar eats in his famous adventure, colored butterfly and caterpillar pictures (the adults mostly - there's just something cathartic about coloring with crayons), made a thumbprint caterpillar keepsake, tried cake (yuck, again), and opened presents. 

We had a great time, and hope everyone else did, too!  Here are a few pictures, thanks to Jessica and Eduardo Ibanez.  Thank goodness they thought to bring their nice big camera and video camcorder. :)

 

 

 

Ellie's Arrival

We started our labor adventure with Ellie on a Sunday morning, and by Tuesday afternoon I was being admitted to the hospital (for the second time).  I think I was in shock.  I'd been back and forth along the continuum of "ready" what seemed like one hundred times over a period of 48 hours.  I'll be honest, after every contraction I was in a different camp.  :)

Once we got settled into our room I spoke with our doctor and the anesthesiologist, and we determined I'd do an epidural.  It pains me to write that as I'd intended to forego the needle, but I'd not slept in nearly 60 hours and we knew I'd need strength in order to actually bring Ellie into the world.  While I didn't sleep, I at least had a chance to rest for more than 7 minutes at a time, and since we were in for the long haul we started calling and texting family and friends. 

After a few hours of not much progress (I'd stalled out at 5cm) I was given Pitocin and my water was broken manually.  Since there was meconium in my water we knew it was a possibility we'd need some additional support once Ellie was delivered in case she'd swallowed some of it and/or was having any trouble breathing.  Luckily, it never came to that.  However, Pitocin didn't "seem" to do the trick as the monitors I was hooked up to didn't show any regularity and or increasing strength in contractions. 

Our original nurse was about to go off shift and decided to check my progress as an afterthought...or so she could let the incoming nurse know where we stood.  To her surprise, and mine, I was 9cm dilated and it was go time.  To hell with patterns and "normal", I guess.  At this point it was about 6pm, and by 9pm Ellie had made her welcome into the world.  8:47PM, to be exact.  Between 6 and 8:30pm there was a lot of pushing, watch checking (the doctor had a scheduled C-section on the docket for 9pm), and random small talk from the nurse in between contractions.  Oh, and Drew ordered dinner on the hospital phone a mere 18 inches away from me (talk about awkward) because the kitchen was closing at 8pm.

I'm not a mushy person; I'm more sarcastic than anything.  My psyche at 8:45pm that night was still in some weird zone of "pre-Mom". 

And then she was here. 

Ellerie Ann Swanson.  Oh my god.  Slimy, amazing, with a wicked cone on top of her already coney head, and so itty itty bitty.  My mind was blown, and I'll never forget the look on Drew's face  - incredulous with a side of terror, perhaps.  It seemed like the entire floor of nurses and specialists were in our room for the big moment, but Ellie quickly let them know with a howl that she could breathe JUST FINE, DAMMIT.  :)  We had the opportunity to hold Ellie for about an hour without any interruption (the golden hour) and it flew by.  Then Drew watched with a perma-smile and followed along about as closely as the nurses would let him as they gave Ellie a bath, took her footprints, measured and weighed her.  I, meanwhile, ate the ham sandwich and mashed potatoes that Drew had ordered me (eating seriously seemed so inappropriate, but whatever) and soaked up the idea of my child.  My child.  My daughter.  Ellerie.

Happy 1st Birthday to my teeny tiny, sweet and smushy, stubborn little miss independent.  Love you.

Happy Birthday...Dr. Suess!

So, it's Dr. Suess's birthday.  Earlier today as Ellie and I were hanging out at the Golden Public Library with friends celebrating the author's big day, I found myself - and not for the first time this month - thinking back to Ellie's first big day.  Well, no - not quite.  Let's call it her "I'm going to make you wait three excruciating days in labor before making it my big day" phase.  She had phases before she was even born, folks.

I remember Dr. Suess's birthday last year.  At nearly 41 weeks pregnant, I was clued in to any and EVERY sign that Ellie was ready to come out.  I was ready for her to come out.  No, I wasn't.  Yes, I was.  No...Yes.  Who is every really ready, anyways? 

So it was Dr. Suess's birthday, and it was a Sunday.  I hadn't been sleeping well for at least two months, but the few nights previously I'd woken to mild cramps.  Right on.  Party = started.  I think I even made a Facebook post to the effect of it being a good day for this little one to be born.  I was up for maybe the third time that morning, and it was only 5:30am.  I peeked out the window above our bed, facing the street, and saw the most random thing.  Someone stealing our mail (which we'd forgotten to grab the day before).  That's right...stealing our mail.  I was so confused.  I yelled at him through the window, which didn't work, but CERTAINLY woke Drew up in a very agitated state.  I tapped on the window and did all the things that were of no help as he pulled away.  What I didn't do was grab my phone and take a picture of the guy or the license plate - which might have actually done some good.  And then I just got mad.  Mad at the mail thief.  I mean, really.

Now that we were thoroughly awake and peeved, I asked Drew if he was ready to meet his daughter, because I thought she might be coming that day.  He balked for a second and answered rather honestly with a "No, I mean, I don't know.  Really?"  I totally understood the sentiment, and smiled at him.  The kid thing is really unnerving, even 10 months pregnant.

Throughout the day my contractions got progressively stronger.  I called a friend, our old neighbor in Arvada, and asked her what contractions were like.  I knew I had a ways to go, so I didn't call or text any family members - false alarms aren't my style.  Neighbor friends can answer questions honestly without running to tell your mom.  :)  By that evening I was ready to call the nurse and ask some questions.  Like, "What do I do?"  That's the kind of question I had.  Or, "What the hell comes next?", or maybe "Why is it not at all like they talked about in class?"  That's right, I was not matching what I'd heard in class.  There was no pattern, there was no consistent strengthening, there was no shortening time frame between things.  There was mild chaos.  First time mom chaos.  Needless to say the nurse told me to stay home and continue to monitor things overnight until I'd hit their magical pattern.

Pattern my ass.  That's what I said the next morning after a night full of contractions and no sleep - several every hour but none closer together than 10 minutes.   Drew took the day off of work (a Monday) and we downloaded contraction timer apps on our phones, double and triple checked our bags, ate popsicles and camped out on the couch and living room floor.  I was miserable, but not the "consistently" miserable that the doctors wanted to hear about.  There was frustration, and there were tears.  That evening I called the on-call doctor and got the same response.  There's not much we can do unless your contractions are intense and within the 3-5 minute range.  I was stuck at 7-10 minutes apart with no hope for progress, and if one more nurse or doctor asked me, "Is this your first child, honey?" I was about to go postal.  Later that night it got so bad that I started getting sick, which prompted Drew to call the on-call doctor again.  We went for a labor check, and were sent home around 4am on Tuesday morning as I was only 1cm dilated.  I was tired, shaken, and my confidence in a labor without assistance or medication was waning.  Drew meanwhile, was amazing.  He'll tell you he felt helpless and not in control, but to me he was amazing. 

I was scheduled for an induction on Wednesday.  Around 9am on Tuesday morning, however, I knew I'd not be able to make it through another night of contractions.  Drew went to the store to get some of my favorite foods for breakfast, and I called my OB's office to see if I could talk to someone during office hours instead of the on-call at night.  I was connected with the nurse right as Drew walked back in the door and I literally threw the phone at him as a contraction started.  He stood there blankly for a second and then realized the line was live... The wonderful, amazing (can you tell things are about to get better?) nurse suggested I come in to the office and they'd do a quick check on my progress.  We showered, put our bags in the Jeep, and headed to the office fully prepared to hear that there had been no progress.  After I was hooked up to a machine to monitor my heart rate and Ellie's and told to click a button when each contraction started, the doctor came in.  He took one look at me when I had to stop talking mid-sentence to clench my teeth through a contraction and took me right off the machine and into his exam room.  A quick check and we found out I was 5cm dilated, in active labor (even though my contractions were still erratic), and the doctor asked if I wanted to head straight to the hospital from the office.  "Yes, please!" - I couldn't say it fast enough.

To be continued...  :)

Kauai From The Air

The morning after our luau Drew and I were up early and headed south along the coast.  We had scheduled an 8:30am helicopter flight for an aerial view of the island we'd already grown to love.  Knowing what Lake Michigan waves, roller coasters, and bumpy airplane rides all do to me I made sure to take some Dramamine right before heading off from the condo.

We made our way back to the Lihue airport and found our outfitter, Mauna Loa.  We'd chosen them because they offer private flights (the pilot plus a party of two or three) and because they allowed passengers to choose doors on or off.  As we waited for our pilot to get the helicopter ready (and meanwhile signed our lives away inside their mobile office) we noticed a few other outfitters taking off with larger helicopters and unfortunate passengers crammed in the middle without much of a view.  We were happy that we would each have the best view possible, and for the price you pay with any outfitter it's really a must.  I'd hate to pay $$$ for a helicopter ride only to be in the middle row and middle seat leaning over others to see - talk about a let down.  And doors off - you can't beat it.  We'd read reviews for both options but for Drew it wasn't even a question.  :)

We loaded up with our fantastic pilot (who went to school at CU-Boulder), got a quick run down on safety (Mauna Loa also runs a flight school and they are very particular about safety - which is good), and then without much fuss we took right up into the sky!  We were in a tiny little helicopter with the doors off, about to make our way around the island.  We had incredible photo weather, incredible flying weather, some easy listening Bob Marley over the radio, and not one second of turbulence the whole trip.  We toured the whole island and I'll just say I'm glad we hiked the Na Pali coast and then saw it from the air, because there would not have been a hike if it had been the other way around.  There isn't a whole lot else that I can say about the rest of the trip that can't be explained better in pictures (and no, I didn't do any color enhancing - this is what it really looks like).  Once I figure out how to upload Drew's GoPro videos, that will give it a whole new take, too.  Our ride lasted over an hour, which is one of the longest rides offered by any outfitter.  Didn't matter - I wanted to stay up longer...

Enjoy!

Smith Family Luau

Once off the trail and back into our red Mustang it was time to find our vacation rental condo and crash for a bit.  We found the rental company location easily enough and I sent Drew in to get the keys and any last minute check in things.  He was filthy and disgusting, and came back out with at least four bottles of water.  The woman at the front desk had taken pity and handed over everything she had in her little cooler.

We made our way to the condo, which was just a few miles down the street from the Aston Islander on the Beach that we'd stayed at our first night.  After a shower and a quick look around we ordered pizza takeout.  I ordered Hawaiian - how often do you think they hear that one?  I asked for green olives, too, and she paused to consider a moment - then said, "We have them up at the bar, I'll go grab a few and cut them up."  At least she was sweet enough, and the olives were for martinis so they were HUGE.  We combined pizza and Cokes on the lanai (balcony) and had our first real meal in days.  It was amazing.  I'm not sure we did much except relax and listen to the waves from our lanai for the rest of the evening.

The next morning we woke up, ate the complimentary macademia nut cookies and downed entire bottles of water, then headed out to the grocery store to stock our little vacation condo.  We bought things we needed, and things we didn't need.  Impulse buys and novelty buys.  We came home and made fresh fish burgers (trying to imitate the ones we'd had the first night in town) and grabbed our suits.  It was still beautiful weather and we intended to enjoy it.

Since there was road construction going on around the corner from our condo we didn't have the normal beach access.  I asked the front desk person and he told us to head the other way down the side road for a hundred yards or so and we'd come to a semi-private beach access.  And so we did - and it was better than the beach we would have had otherwise!  We found our own little nook and watched sea turtles float by, read, and relaxed.  We had nowhere to be.

That night I did some laundry and we got ready to head out for the Smith Family Luau (so named because tourists can't pronounce a Hawaiian name and Smith made for better marketing).  We were given a show by the peacocks, took a tram around acres and acres of beautiful grounds, and enjoyed a ceremonial unveiling of the pit roasted pig.  The ceremony has a name and I likely could have told you what it was a few weeks ago, but damn it if things aren't already fading away...

 

After the unveiling we headed to the pavilion for dinner.  We ended up sitting next to a late 20's couple who were on vacation with their parents.  We made small talk until the woman blurted out, "I know you.  You look so familiar!  Were you on House Hunters, the Denver edition?"  I said all I could think of which was, "Ummm, nope."  Haha.  We continued to make small talk until it was discovered that they had been part of the slow trudge up the last two miles to the trailhead the day before!  We'd actually exchanged a few words on the trail about how far, how long, and my goodness why is it so uphill.  As if to make me feel better for some reason she said at one point, "Well you clean up really pretty."  Aww, shucks.  Thanks.  :)  We wrapped up the evening with a great show and headed "home" to our condo.