Happy Two-week Birthday!

Luke is two weeks old today! It's amazing how much his face changes every day, and even from expression to expression. You can start to see the little boy he will become. He is growing too fast!


At his last pediatrician appointment Luke weighed in at 10lb 4.5 oz. He did get down to 9lb 15.5 oz at the appointment before that. The doctor was a little concerned that he lost weight after leaving the hospital, but now I think we have the feedings figured out. We try to feed him every 3 hours during the day and every 4 hours at night. He's a good night sleeper already. I have to wake him up to feed him. I think he could sleep 5 or more hours sometimes if I didn't. All in all, he's a very good baby with a good disposition. He doesn't startle easily and seems to be interested in new things. I hope he has Matt's easy-going, friendly personality!

Day 10

Here are some pictures of Luke from the last two days. Enjoy!

And here's a picture that Matt's mom took when we were in the hospital. I just like the way Matt and I are looking at each other.

Mondays

Luke is one week old!


Luke spent the morning multi-tasking with Dad. In just a week, Matt has become a real Dad. He can watch TV, surf the internet, drink coffee, and entertain Luke all at the same time.


Here is Matt's newborn picture.

Compare it to this picture of Luke. Do you see the resemblance?

I never posted my 40-week belly shot. Here is what I looked like the morning my water broke. Would you think there was a 10lb 11oz baby in there?

And here's the picture that finishes out the belly-shot series. You can click on the Flickr Slideshow link over at the left to see the whole series.

Saturdays with Luke

It's Saturday with Luke.

First time watching soccer with Dad

Proud poppa

First sponge bath

Hey, this is not too bad. Luke loves to have his hair washed! He closed his eyes and looked so relaxed when the warm water sprayed over his head.

Family portrait

Ahh, post-bath sleepy time.

Luke's First Week

OK, I have to make this fast, but here are some pictures of Luke from his first 5 days. We obviously have a ton more pictures to share, but it's been really hard to get on the computer as you can imagine. Aunt Ronny is here and her help has been invaluable. She's really made the scary first week of "oh my god what do I do" so much easier.

Luke is very strong and "vigorous" as his pediatrician said. He can lift his head and hold it up for a couple seconds at a time. He loves to have belly time and look around:

Luke's first nap in his crib:

Luke zonked out after eating:

Swaddled in Aunt Ronny's arms:

After his first pediatrician appointment:

Look at those hands! The pediatrician said Luke was the first baby he'd seen that could palm a basketball (music to his daddy's ears!).

Day Three

Luke gets to go home today! We'll be discharged at 11am. We can't wait to introduce Luke to his house, his pet cat Roosevelt, his neighbors, his room, and his Aunt Ronny who will be flying in from Michigan today to give him lots of love and attention.

Here is Luke and Daddy just a little while ago at Luke's 6am feeding.

We've been breastfeeding and supplementing with formula for now since big boys have big needs. All of you women who successfully breastfeed, I salute you! Ugh, it's so hard. Especially with a hard chomper like Luke. He will basically chomp down and start sucking on anything put in his mouth, so there doesn't seem to be any problem with nipple confusion.

Here are some pictures from his Day Two photoshoot yesterday. I present, the many faces of Luke Siorek:

The nurses say that Luke is the biggest newborn they've seen in the maternity ward in a long time. And this is a hospital that sees 6,000 births a year! We honestly are just as perplexed as the doctors about why Luke is so big. I certainly didn't do anything special and had no idea I had such a big baby inside me. Every doctor who examined me and my belly during the pregnancy said to expect a 7-8 lb baby, and his 20wk ultrasound measurments were normal.

He is incredibly healthy. His bilirubin count was only 2 and his blood sugar was great. He has only dropped to 10lbs 1oz, so less than the10% of weight loss that they usually expect. He is a wonderful, good-natured baby so far and we are lucky to have him!

Introducing Luke Anthony Siorek!

Born March 16th at 9:47 p.m.

10lbs 11oz
22" long

Delivered via c-section after 24 hours of labor. Labor stalled because Luke was too big to enter the birth canal!

More to come . . .

Progress! But No Baby Yet

It's been 18 hours since we were checked in to the hospital. After a sleepless night of contractions that went nowhere, they put me on Pitocin at 7am. I experienced Pitocin contractions for 5 hours and decided I had had enough and asked for the epidural. At that point I was still only 1cm dilated but 100% effaced! The doctor was happy with this progress and said I would have this baby in 4 to 8 hours. That was at noon. I was checked just a half hour ago and was at 4 cm. The contractions are steady and the baby's hearbeat is very good. He/she is tolerating the contractions well. Here is a picture:

What is with that "orb" hovering above the baby? Ok, I know it's probably just dust, but we've seen a lot of these bright white perfectly round orbs in the pictures we've taken associated with the baby. Right now I'm just going to believe it's a guardian angel looking out for a successful, healthy delivery. ;)

Admitted to the Hospital

My water broke at about 5pm tonight. We drove to the hospital shortly afterward to be checked. Sure enough, it was amniotic fluid and they have admitted us even though I am only 1cm dilated. It is now 10pm PST and we are in the birth suite waiting it out. I'm feeling contractions every 6 minutes or so. We have the computer in the room, so Matt or I will update when we can!

Due Date!

Today is our official due date. No baby yet, but am feeling crampy and lots of baby movement. Stay tuned for more pictures . . .

In the meantime, here is a poem I wrote this morning when I couldn't sleep:

In the moment
Before you come down from the clouds,
We measure the silence between lightening and thunder
And wonder how far off the rain is.

In the moment
Before two becomes three,
Before life becomes better lived,
We gaze at each other
And fall in love with the new parent emerging.

In the moment
Before the space we cleared for you
Is revealed as emptiness we didn't know we had,
We wander the house
And imagine how it will feel with you in it.

In the moment
Before you turn us into our future selves,
Before all the past becomes mere preparation,
We look across the chasm and hold hands
To leap and not care where we land
Because you will be there.

Nursery Pictures

The nursery is basically ready and waiting for Baby Siorek's arrival. I can't wait to feed and rock the baby to sleep here. The room has such a calm and peaceful feel. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

This weekend we bought the little green nightstand from Cargo, an Asian import store here in Portland. And yesterday we received the glider and ottoman from Target.

The crib was put together a couple of weekends ago. It fits perfectly in this little nook.

We put the changing table against the opposite wall by the door.

An old armoire I got on Craig's list last year is the perfect size for baby clothes. We're stocked with diapers and diaper wipes for the first month thanks to my friends at work!

And here is a close-up of the collage Matt put together of the baby's cousins. A butterfly for each cousin!

39-Week Appointment

Today I had my 39-week appointment. It was a bit disappointing since I am not showing much progress towards labor. In fact, the doctor went ahead and scheduled an induction for the evening of March 24th in the event that I do not go into labor by then. This was a smart thing to do, but it left me feeling a bit disappointed that I might have to wait another couple of weeks to have this baby. On the good side, Sara and Frank and Mark are flying out on the 25th, so if the induction goes as scheduled they would be here when the baby is born.

39-Week Photo

Here I am in the 39th week.

Brought to you by adidas

If you are checking this blog today or this weekend you are probably looking for an update on the baby. You will be disappointed. I'm 39 weeks pregnant today and this baby is in no hurry to come out. I bet you I will probably be here next week posting my 40-week belly pic.

So, instead I'll update with pictures and stories of some of the material goods we have acquired that have amused us as we dream about what kind of person this baby will be.

Matt is an adidas fan. He has more pair of adidas shoes than I have black shoes, which is saying a lot. So imagine how delighted we were when Seniye, my manager, gave us these little adidas trainers:


How sweet are they? I still can't imagine the little feet that will go in them, even though these very real little feet poke me in the sides almost every night.

Matt could not resist and for one of my Valentine's Day presents bought this little red adidas track suit at the adidas originals store in downtown Portland:


How very cute. Again, I still can't imagine the little body that will fit into this track suit, but boy or girl, our baby will be outfitted in the coolest clothes. Part of the fun of having a baby is dressing it up in clothes you find funny, cute, amusing and then taking pictures of it. If you've seen the movie the Royal Tenenbaums you will understand the ironic reference to the red track suit.

38-Week Appointment

We went to our 38-week appointment yesterday. Everything is looking good but no progress toward labor was made since last week. The doctor said, "You'll be pregnant for at least another week."

Two More Weeks?

I officially made it to 38 weeks on Friday. Here is the picture from yesterday:

Maybe you can tell from the picture, but I feel that the baby has definitely dropped lower. It's very uncomfortable to sit and I've been feeling cramps for the last few day. I know these are just normal pre-labor discomforts and are not real contractions. I'll have my 38-week check-up tomorrow to see if there are any signs that true labor could be coming soon.

Matt also finished the nursery construction yesterday, and now today I can decorate!

Look at how beautiful the floors and crown moulding turned out. We have brother Matt to thank for helping with the crown. And also for putting in our brand new doors.

I don't think I have pictures of the doors that the previous owners installed, but they were cheap, hollow, contemporary doors from Lowes. We replaced them with five-panel doors in a style more consistent with the age of the house. We still have to paint them, but there's no rush. (Also in this picture you can see a bit of the pergola that Matt worked on last summer!)