One Woman Band

The little fella and I are going to be on our own for a couple of weeks, as Omi has gone back home after a great extended visit. She helped us tremendously - in both the around-the-house ways of doing laundry and loading the freezer with baked ziti, and also in the what-do-i do-now ways. Like when Luca's screaming in the middle of Target and I don't know whether to pick him up out of his carseat or run us all out the door. Omi always knows the right thing to do. Thanks Portland for letting us borrow her for a few weeks. We'll need her back later.

A's Big Day!

Supermom will probably blog tomorrow, but I just took these photos this morning (her birthday!) and thought they were more than blogworthy.


Happy birthday, A!

Super T

Today is T's first day back at work after two and a half weeks off, and we miss him. He is an impressive dad already. He sings to Luca and walks the floor with him for hours to comfort him. He jumps up in the middle of the night when Luca makes one of his many wild baby animal sounds. He even lets Luca pee on him.

This weekend Luca got to meet special visitors Marsha and Sam

T & Luca, after Luca marked his territory

Lucky Luca

In his first two weeks of life on the outside, Luca has been showered with love, attention and gifts from friends and family near and far. T & I have been saved from starvation thanks to generous meal deliveries, and bailed out from the shocking pile of baby laundry by Omi. We're immeasurably thankful for Luca and all the support and love our new family has received over the past two weeks.

Papa with Luca's chin

Omi & Luca - forging a special bond during her visit

T has been off of work since Luca's arrival and will be heading back to the adult world next week. In the meantime, the closest he's gotten to his office was earlier this week when we checked out a special Aquatennial tennis match put on in the plaza of his building.




In the future we will post videos of Luca doing funny and amazing things. For now, we only have video of his mom doing an impression of him. T thinks I have a gift for impersonating our baby.

Videos brought to you thanks to Papa & Gigi's gift of a video camera.

Week 40 - Gametime!

Dear Luca,
Since this whole thing began back in October 2007, July 2nd was the date that you were supposed to arrive. However, with Mom's family history of delivering late (she was 3 weeks late herself!) and the fact that first babies typically are a little on the tardy side, we were prepared to wait a few more days or even weeks when we went to bed on Tuesday night, July 1st.
Mom was having some dull pain in her back and her frequent contractions seemed to be even more frequent than usual. We chalked these things up to being effects from having taken a long walk to Liberty Frozen Custard for ice cream after dinner, and went to bed as usual. Little did we know that your arrival was around the corner.

3am - Contractions woke Mom for the first time in the entire pregnancy. Each contraction was also painful, which was a first as well. She noted the times of the contractions, and saw that they were coming fast and furious (5-minutes apart right from the start).

4am -
A: "Wake up T, I think things are happening"
T: "Oh my god"

4am - 545am - We timed contractions, took showers, put the finishing touches on our hospital bags, called the doctor (who told us to head to the hospital), and of course, took A's in-labor uber-important week 40 photo.

Yes, she's in labor in this 545am photo!

7am - The nurses at maternity assessment noted that A's contractions were strong and close together, but that she was only dilated to 2-3 cms. They asked that we go for a walk before being reassessed. With further dilation, Mom would be admitted and we would begin becoming your parents. No further dilation would mean we would head back home and continue with the waiting game.
8am - After an hour-long walk to and around the midtown market, we returned to the hospital to learn that A's dilation had moved to 4-5 cms. It was gametime! Mom was admitted to room 10 of the delivery room (which we later learned was the same room where your cousin Ben was born just 9 months before!), and her contractions ramped up in intensity and length.
11am - A was dilated to 6 cm by this point, but her contractions had reached a point where they were almost unbearable. Mrs. Tough Stuff had been handling her discomfort so well that nurse Linda said she couldn't believe A was at 6 with no pain medication b/c she was acting like someone at 2.
12pm - A's pain escalated rapidly and after discussing some relief options, she decided to give the tub a shot. The warm water of the tub proved a good distraction as A began to feel a little better about her discomfort.
1215pm - A's water broke in the tub!
1245pm - Mom began feeling the need to push and nurse Linda thought it was time to head back to room #10 to begin the delivery process.

1pm - We returned to the delivery room and the nurse was impressed to see that A was between 9-10 cms without having received any drugs at all. She asked A if she was ready to push even though the doctor was still not in the room, and A said she was ready.
1-135pm - Mom's spirits improved as she was able to take some control over the process by pushing through each contraction. Doctor Kilburg arrived around 130pm, and after a funny introduction to A during a big push she immediately prepared for a delivery that she deemed imminent. Here was their exchange:

MD: "Hi, A. You're doing great. I'm doctor Kilburg. It's nice to meet you."
A: "MMMRMRRRRRMRGRRR!"

136pm - You were born! Luca Thomas! To quote the doctor, you were a big, juicy, baby boy! We high-fived upon hearing the news (partly because we didn't even have a girls name figured out), and you immediately screamed and cried. After Dad cut the surprisingly thick cord, you bonded with Mom for a few minutes and then were measured by the nurses: 8lbs 12.8 oz., 21 inches long, 14-inch head:

We stuck around the hospital until Friday, and were immediately overwhelmed with happiness and the sense that you belonged with us all along -a euphoric feeling that is impossible to explain.

We love you, and welcome home.

Love,
Mom and Dad

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