Category Archive: Jessie

Sirena’s first two weeks

Posted by Lisa On June 27th, 2012

Sirena’s first days of life

A few hours after Sirena was born, we made the trip upstairs to the Family Recovery Room to spend the next two nights getting to know our baby and preparing to go home as new parents. Over the course of the next 48 hours we spent a lot of time visiting with the family that was in town, trying to get as much sleep as possible which proved to be almost impossible with the constant feeding, changing of diapers (which Kevin did completely while in the hospital, I didn’t have to change a diaper until we got home!), and the constant interruption by nurses and doctors coming in to check in on us, and just being in complete and total awe of the little lady we had created.

My first experience in a wheelchair and I couldn’t have asked for a better chair mate!

Skin-to-skin with mama

Hanging out with mom and dad (and Uncle Derek who came for a surprise visit!)

Love

Sirena was surrounded by lots of loving family members who couldn’t wait to get their paws on her–she was rarely laying down in the bassinet but instead almost always in someone’s arms!

Proud first-time grandma

Kevin and his mom (I love this picture!)

Such a happy Grandpa!

Enjoying time with Grandpa George and showing off those expressive little hands

Getting the special treatment by Aunt Jessie

Uncle Derek made a surprise visit to the hospital on the afternoon of the day she was born–someone knocked on the door and, thinking it was another nurse checking in on us, I told them to “come in” and I was speechless when I saw Derek walk in the door! Turns out he happened to have an ultimate frisbee tournament in Santa Cruz that weekend so made the drive up to visit with us for a couple of hours before going back. It was so wonderful having him there to meet his first niece!

The Delmars

The Edmonds

Sirena actually had to have a minor medical procedure done while still at the hospital–I was experiencing a lot of pain while breastfeeding and the nurses who observed me just said that Sirena had a strong latch but that eventually it’d get better. When I began bleeding and the pain, in fact, did not stop we asked to meet with a Lactation Consultant to see if she could help. She first observed Sirena nurse and then took a look inside her mouth and said that she believed her frenulum (the membrane that attaches the tongue to the floor of the mouth) was shorter than usual which did not allow her to breastfeed very efficiently. She told us about the simple procedure of cutting the frenulum and after we said it would interest us she had the attending pediatrician come to our room to check her out. The doctor agreed that cutting the frenulum would be beneficial and gave us the consent forms for the procedure. It was surreal having to read through medical paperwork and sign off on something for another human and not myself. Once the paperwork was signed and the doctor was getting ready I was overcome with some pretty intense emotions–whenever I had heard moms say that they couldn’t stand seeing their child get a shot I really couldn’t understand why something like that could be so dramatic, and yet here I was with a one day old baby who was going to get a very minor medical procedure done and I was overcome with sadness and I began to cry. I felt so bad for this little person and I couldn’t help feeling guilty, questioning our decision to do this if it was only for a selfish reason (so that I wouldn’t be in pain while breastfeeding). I couldn’t stand to watch the 2-second procedure and felt awful when I heard her little cry after it was done. Luckily her cries only lasted for 30 seconds and she barely bled at all but it was the first time I truly understood those other moms and the overwhelming feelings of wanting to protect my baby from any little harm.

The hospital commissioned a photography company to drop by to meet with the new families to take baby’s first photos–although we didn’t order any from the company we did take advantage of the trance-like state the photographer put Sirena in so that I could snap a few posed newborn photos of our own!

Our itty bitty model

Sirena’s first glamor shot

Daddy and Sirena

Our last night at the hospital we got the extra special treatment with a meal fit for a royal family. Kevin and I had placed our order the previous day so were looking forward to the dinner but when another huge tray showed up covered with five servings of desserts and Martinelli’s sparkling apple cider we were blown away–they not only prepared dessert for Kevin and me but for my mom, her boyfriend Steve, and my sister Jessie who happened to be visiting during that time as well!

The feast (with the guest of honor)!

And here’s a short video of the three of us hanging out in the hospital together

Life with a newborn

Bringing Sirena home

On Monday morning after meeting with countless medical professionals and attending the hospital discharge class it was finally time to go home. I hadn’t set foot outside of the recovery room for 48 hours so it was strange not only to be going home with a new sidekick but also just to be outside of those four walls in general! The weather had changed dramatically that day–it had rained early that morning and it was so windy, it reminded us of some tropical location. She couldn’t have asked for more dramatic coming-home weather!

Proud new daddy

Soothing herself on mom’s finger for her first ever car ride…she was a total champ!

We were both excited and anxious about Sirena’s and Lola’s first encounter. Lola had been without mom and dad for three days so we decided to leave Sirena out in the hallway with my mom while Kevin and I went into the apartment to greet our overly-excited pup. It was so apparent she missed us a ton while we were gone and it was so great getting to see her again! After a few minutes it was time for the long-awaited first meeting: here’s a short video of the two of them being introduced! Lola was extremely curious about the new little person (if she even recognized that Sirena was a little human) and just wanted to sniffsniffsniff her. We had to tell her to “leave it” when she started getting a little too carried away with wanting to give her kisses but overall Lola did great at their first meeting!

Her first week

Sirena’s first week at home was a whirlwind. Kevin and I were busy trying to figure out this whole newborn thing and getting used to our new sleep schedule. We had the company of my mom and Steve for a couple of days at home which was nice to have some companionship and some extra hands to hold her while we tried to get things taken care of.

The only thing we had to do that week was go to our first doctor’s appointment with a Lactation Consultant on the day after we got home from the hospital. The LC we met with was fantastic and gave me a lot of support and an extra boost of confidence. Sirena at first weighed in at 7 lbs, 7 oz and after nursing her for 20 minutes she was weighed again and gained almost an entire ounce! The LC scheduled us for another appointment the following week and said that it was her hope that Sirena gain at least 4 oz within the week.

Here are some snapshots from her first week at home:

Three generations

So itty bitty in her car seat!

My Aunt Tina bought Sirena a cute little Minnie Mouse outfit and a ton of Disney dolls so we wanted to take advantage and take a cute photo reminiscent of E.T.:

Let’s play “Where’s Sirena?”

Napping with Dad (check out the arm positions for both of them…)

Kevin and I made sure to get out of the house as much as possible to enjoy the outdoors and the sunshine instead of being cooped up in the house all day long. Our first excursion when she was five days old was to Piedmont Park for a nice walk with Lola–while pregnant with Sirena I would take Lola here just about once a week so it was crazy being there with a little baby in tow!

Kevin and his girls

Sleepy baby

Lola checking out the munchkin Dad was carrying around

Her second week

We kept ourselves pretty busy her second week with visitors (Carleigh, Terri & Scott, and Darinee & Harrison came by for visits), a doctor’s appointment, a postpartum doula appointment, and excursions around town.

The doctor’s appointment we had was with the same Lactation Consultant we had seen the week prior–the first thing she did was weigh Sirena and when she found out she weighed 8 lbs, 4 oz (up 13 oz from the week before) the LC said, “Good job, mama! That’s all I needed to know, you’re doing a great job and you can go home now!” It seems that Sirena and I are a pretty good team when it comes to this breastfeeding business. 🙂

One of the days that week we took a nice long walk to the Lake Merritt farmer’s market. Since dogs aren’t allowed in the market I sat in the shade with our girls while Kevin went around to get some food–there was a man with his one year old daughter who stopped by to see the little baby in the stroller, he asked me how old she was and when I told him 7 days old he said, “You gave birth a week ago?!” 😉

On the walk home we stopped by the lake to take some photos…

Lola checking in on her sister

Kevin and his three girls

And here are some random photos from the week…

Little Buddha baby (check out those legs!)

She’s such a GRUMP when she wakes up! We love it.

A visit from Auntie Carleigh (who is expecting two boys in a few months, Sirena’s future buddies!)

At the Oakland Rose Garden

Trying out Dad’s shades

And a little bit about postpartum recovery

With all of the preparation I did for the birth itself I wasn’t quite prepared for the moments and the days after the birth. Other than a co-worker telling me about her own experience the two days in the hospital after her daughter was born, no one really talked to me about the recovery so I thought I’d mention it briefly here.

Like I mentioned in my previous post with her birth story, the moment she was placed on my chest was incredible. She was so warm and so big and so unbelievably cute and I just could not believe that she was real and that she actually came out of me. I was very much focused on her little face and her huge presence but something else was demanding my focus: being stitched up by the doctor. Turns out I had a second degree tear (which is pretty typical for a woman’s first vaginal delivery) and because I didn’t have an epidural, even though she applied a local anesthetic I was still very aware of the sensations of the stitching while it was happening. It actually took around 30 minutes for the doctor to finish and it was a lot more painful and uncomfortable than I could have imagined. Even though I was in quite a bit of pain, during this time I was very much focused on Sirena and I actually gave her the nickname “Honey bear” to comfort her when she would cry or whimper. I had never thought of that nickname prior to this experience so I consider it extremely special for the two of us and I find myself calling her that now when she’s in the most distress.

Another thing I hadn’t really expected was when I went to use the restroom for the first time about an hour after she was born, Kevin accompanied me and when I got up I told him I was feeling dizzy and placed my arms around his neck and the next thing I knew I woke up on the bathroom floor with a nurse looking over me. I had fainted because I had lost so much blood (not any more than expected for a vaginal birth but way more than I had ever lost before!) and thank goodness Kevin was there to help lay me on the floor so I didn’t hit my head. From then on I had to wear a “Fall Risk” bracelet on my wrist and the nurses were extra cautious of me getting up for any reason. I also had a hard time urinating and ended up having to get a catheter put in for an entire evening–the worst part about this was that the nurse couldn’t put it in so had to ask the head nurse to come in and help her and she also had a hard time putting it in so for about 30 minutes total I had two nurses pricking me in a very sensitive area which I had definitely not anticipated. Once the catheter was in I felt a huge relief so it was definitely worth it but it was a very trying time while they were putting it in.

More than anything, what I had the hardest time with in terms of recovery was the fact that I was so extremely weak. I had never even broken a bone before so being in a hospital and actually having to recover and needing nurses to take care of me was very difficult for me. I couldn’t do a lot of things for myself and I had a hard time letting go and being okay with nurses helping me with some very personal and uncomfortable things like assisting me in the restroom, emptying the catheter, etc. I now have so much more respect for nurses and all they have to do for their patients having been one myself! The first two weeks at home were pretty rough with my recovery as well but each day I would feel more and more normal and now that we’re almost one month from her birthday I am feeling about 95% back to normal.

The “baby blues”

Yup, I experienced them. I struggled with deciding whether or not to include anything about this on the blog but I decided to be honest and share my experience because it seems that it isn’t always talked about and I want other new moms who have experienced them or women who may experience them in the future know that they’re not alone.

The first two weeks were…rough. Adjusting to life with a newborn was not easy in the slightest, just like everyone had said (but I didn’t truly understand until I was living it!)

Lack of sleep + constant discomfort/pain from recovery + feeding Sirena every 1-3 hours all day long + crazy postpartum hormones = a not-always-happy mama. I had a hard time accepting the fact that the independence I had once enjoyed every day was now completely gone. When Sirena was hungry (like I said, every 1-3 hours all day long), I was needed right this instant. Sleep was constantly being interrupted by a need to breastfeed and/or change a diaper–she’d wake up 2-3 times during the night and be awake for at least one hour at a time. Our daily schedule was completely flipped on its head and we weren’t getting out of the house and seeing the light of day until around 2pm each day. My body was no longer my own (not just in terms of breastfeeding but with the recovery too) and I just didn’t feel normal anymore.

All of these things added up to make me feel, in a word, drained. Even though I genuinely enjoyed so many moments with my new little family there were many moments when I felt inadequate for not knowing what to do at all times, I felt selfish for wanting more sleep and wanting to not breastfeed and wanting my old life back, and more than anything, I felt guilty for having these feelings. I have wanted to be a mom for a long time–I am great with kids and had expected mamahood to be something I would be a natural at. So when my first two weeks as a mom turned out to be extremely difficult, I began feeling like maybe I wasn’t cut out for being a mom after all and that was the worst feeling to have.

So what helped me snap out of this? First of all, Kevin was amazing throughout this experience. He allowed me to crycrycry it out, he was extremely supportive and was constantly telling me that I was, in fact, doing a good job and that it was okay and normal for me to feel the way I was feeling, and he would do his best to take her so that I could get a 2-3 hour nap in every day. Getting out of the house at least once a day to enjoy the sunshine and some fresh air has done wonders as well–I can’t imagine what kind of a wreck I would have been if I was cooped up in our apartment every single day. And lastly, I had to constantly remind myself even during the crying fits and the discomfort and the sleeplessness that I had wanted and dreamed about having Sirena for so many years and that I needed to appreciate the little life that I was fortunate enough to spend my days with, even during the rough patches.

Each day has honestly gotten better and better and even though we’re now approaching her one month birthday and I’m still exhausted, even though I still question whether or not I know what the heck I’m doing, and even though I still cry at the drop of a dime, I know that this is all temporary and that this will all be over before we know it so I strive to enjoy each and every moment I have with her as much as possible.

Our little burrito

Sirena’s birth story

Posted by Lisa On June 18th, 2012

Friday, June 1

5:00 AM

I woke up to the sound of the ticking clock in our bedroom and I remember hearing the faint, faraway sound of the Amtrak train horn going down the tracks about a mile from our apartment. I had to use the restroom (something that I had gotten well-accustomed to during the pregnancy). When I returned to bed, I thought about the few baby items I wanted to take care of on my very first day of maternity leave and about the possibility of getting a pedicure. I quickly fell back asleep.

6:15 AM

I woke up again, this time to the sensation of what turned out to be my water bag breaking. I sat up and immediately made my way to the restroom. I told Kevin on my way out the door, “I think my water broke.” Kevin’s reaction may or may not have included a curse word which, thinking about it now, I find hilarious. I took a shower to get cleaned up and got back into bed. We laid in bed for a while, trying to figure out what we should do next.

7:15 AM

After snoozing in bed for a while we decided to call our doula, Lauraina. She said that we still had plenty of time to get some rest, eat a good breakfast, and get things together before calling the hospital. After hanging up with her we decided to call the Labor & Delivery line just to make sure and the nurse who answered told me that I needed to be there in thirty minutes and that we would most likely be admitted to the hospital right away. This really stressed me out—I hadn’t pictured our birth story starting out this way (very few women actually have their water break before going into labor, unlike what the movies show) and I had hoped to labor at home for as long as possible. We knew that it was relatively safe and acceptable for a baby to remain in the womb for 24 hours after the water bag breaks so we decided to nap and then take our time getting to the hospital.

7:15 AM – 1:30 PM

For those few hours at home we slept, showered, ate a significant breakfast and lunch, and cleaned our apartment. We even took Lola on a walk up and around the block. It felt good to do normal things because at the back of my mind I was terrified of what was to come. I didn’t feel 100% prepared mentally or emotionally to give birth within the next 24 hours and I am so glad we decided to stay home to get things taken care of and for me to work things out in my head before heading to the hospital.
My contractions had started within those hours at home but they were very mild, like menstrual cramps.

1:45 PM

We arrived at the hospital parking lot and sat there for about 10 minutes—I was still terrified and Kevin helped talk me through my fears. I told him that I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to give birth naturally and unmedicated like I had hoped and that as soon as we were admitted I would be pressured to do things on their schedule, their way. He assured me that the nurses and doctors were there with the best interests of me and Sirena at the forefront and that I had to be positive and give everyone the benefit of the doubt before making any assumptions about them. After some deep breaths, we decided to make our way down to the hospital.

2:00 PM

We were admitted by a very friendly nurse name Cathy in triage (the room where laboring women are evaluated before being officially admitted to the hospital) and she immediately calmed my fears. She wanted to determine if my water had actually broken and tried to do a few tests which turned out to be inconclusive.

With a smile on my face in triage!

The doctor on duty came in to check me—she said that if my water had broken they were going to limit the amount of times I was checked internally by a doctor because the more times I was checked, the more times I and the baby would be subject to new germs being introduced. She determined that my cervix was 4 centimeters dilated (a very good number to be at so early on!) but that it needed to thin out some more. She also said that she was pretty certain my water had broken even with the inconclusive tests because…she could feel Sirena’s hair! She said that they were going to admit us to the hospital and that, in the next couple of hours if my contractions didn’t start to pick up in intensity, that she’d like to start me on a pitocin drip (pitocin is a synthetic form of the natural hormone oxytocin and it is used to induce labor). I was very honest with her in that pitocin was not something I was interested in so early on (the reason being that, generally, contractions are extremely intense after pitocin is started and it can lead to a “snowball effect” with interventions, possibly leading to an epidural and/or c-section) and that it was my hope to induce labor naturally.

3:00 PM

Cathy led us down the hall to the Labor & Delivery (L&D) hall, we were in Room 11. The room was, to our surprise, HUGE and although it was most definitely a hospital room we were encouraged to make it our own (even being encouraged to rearrange some of the furniture if we wanted to). The most surreal moment was when Cathy said, “And this is the room where your daughter will be born.” Incredible.

3:00 PM – 4:30 PM

The nurse on duty for the evening, Anissa, was amazing and we really took to her quickly. I shared my concerns about the doctor’s recommendation to start the pitocin that afternoon and asked her opinion–she said that we still had plenty of time for labor to start naturally and that the best thing for me at the time was to walkwalkwalk the halls to try to get things moving along. She had to hook me up to an IV, though, for an hour—I tested positive for something called Group B strep (a very common bacterial infection found in many pregnant women that can be passed on to babies during birth so they had to give me penicillin via an IV every six hours)—so I couldn’t walk around much in the beginning. While I was hooked up to the IV they also put a fetal heart monitor on my stomach so that we could hear Sirena’s heartbeat (to make sure that she wasn’t in distress) along with a monitor to time my contractions and monitor their intensity.

The number on the left is Sirena’s heartbeat, the number on the right is the intensity of my contraction (very low at the time Kevin took this photo)

Kevin and I were on our own for the majority of this time—we kept ourselves busy setting up our room, eating snacks to stay nourished for the long night ahead, trying to relax, and talking about the little lady that decided to grace us with her presence a week early. I couldn’t get over the fact that she decided to begin her arrival on the very first day of my maternity leave–for the 2-3 weeks leading up to my maternity leave all I kept telling her was to “wait until June 1!” and guess what? She listened.
My contractions were coming pretty regularly by this time, about five minutes apart but still very mild in intensity.

4:30 PM

My sister Jessie arrived at the hospital with a huge smile on her face—she was so excited to be a part of the birth but obviously very nervous too. The three of us sat in our room and talked for a while.

5:30 PM

Our doula, Lauraina, arrived at the hospital to check in with us—because things were progressing pretty slowly she wanted to come in for a visit to try to help things move along naturally with massage. She enlisted the help of Kevin and Jessie and all three of them worked on me while I laid in the hospital bed.

7:20 PM

My mom and her boyfriend Steve arrived at the hospital after having taken a last-minute flight from Long Beach to Oakland. Generally they only allow three other people in the L&D room but our nurse said that until things started progressing they didn’t have a problem with the number of visitors. Mom jumped in to help with massage and acupressure and we all passed the time away talking about the night ahead of us.

My massage team getting to work!

9:00 PM

My contractions had actually started slowing down by this time and I was starting to get nervous again. Lauraina asked me if I noticed that they started slowing down once everyone had arrived and it seemed that they did. She asked if I thought it might be better if Kevin and I were left alone to rest and focus on the baby and the birth ahead of us and although I didn’t realize how much I needed it at that time it was such an appreciated suggestion. Jessie and Lauraina both went to their respective homes to get some sleep and my mom and Steve went out to the lobby. Before Lauraina left I shared my fears about potentially being induced with pitocin and I asked her if she had ever witnessed a birth where a mom was given pitocin and things were still able to progress naturally and, luckily, she said she had. This gave me an extra boost of confidence and set my mind at ease if we were to eventually go that route.
When everyone left, Kevin and I decided to take a nap to see if things started picking up when we woke up.

10:45 PM

Kevin’s parents, Dorothy and George, arrived at the hospital after the long drive up from Long Beach. We were afraid that they might not make it in time and we were so happy to finally see them!

Dorothy so obviously elated that they made it in time!

11:00 PM – 1:30 AM

At this point we were feeling more rested so decided to get up and out of the hospital bed to walk the baby out! The loop we had to walk was pretty short and we must have walked that hallway over 100 times. At one point we decided to switch things up and go in the opposite direction, just to keep things interesting. It was great that the L&D halls were so empty during these hours so there wasn’t a lot of foot traffic to have to walk around.

Kevin and me on lap 79

In the center of the loop we walked was the visitor’s waiting area so my mom, Steve, Dorothy and George were all hanging out and watching us walk around and around and around. My mom and Dorothy joined me for a few laps to give Kevin a break.

Dorothy going for a lap with me

The family was starving at the late hour (since none of them had eaten dinner) so they decided to order pizza around midnight.
After walking the hall for a couple of hours and talking things over with the nurse, Kevin and I decided to start the pitocin drip at 1:30 AM. She was going to start me at 2 drops per hour and increase it two more drops every hour until everything was at the level it needed to be.

Saturday, June 2—Sirena’s birth day

1:30 AM

The nurse began the pitocin drip but told us it would take thirty minutes to kick in so it was advised that we try to get some rest. Kevin got onto his reclining chair again and I laid down in the hospital bed for one last pre-baby nap.

2:00 AM – 4:00 AM

Right on schedule I was woken up by much more intense contractions at 2:00 AM. At first they were pretty manageable just with the use of deep breathing. Kevin and I were in our room together with the lights kept down low, working through each contraction one at a time, just the two of us.
Kevin would keep his eye on the monitor to see how far apart the contractions were coming along. The funny thing was that on our monitor we could also see the contractions of the other laboring women who were also hooked up to the monitors–it was hard not to compare where we were at with all of the other women’s contractions we were seeing on the monitor.
At 3:00 AM the pitocin drip was increased to four drips per hour. This ended up being as high as the pitocin needed to get–my body got the kick-start it needed and basically took it from there!
Towards 4:00 AM I was starting to have a harder time coping with the intensity of each contraction. I had read a lot of books about natural childbirth and there were a few things that stuck with me that helped me a ton–I would wrap my left arm around Kevin’s shoulder and lean into him sideways, rock back and forth, then I would relax my jaw, take a deep breath, and on the exhale I would make a low “ahhh” sound. This is what we would do every few minutes for a few hours, over and over again. We were honestly living life in five minute increments, just getting through each contraction together, one at a time.
There were a few thoughts that kept going through my mind during this time–I would keep in mind that Sirena was working just as hard as I was to come into the world and that we needed to continue to work as a team to get through this experience together; I would also imagine life with Sirena, camping with our family, playing with Lola, spending time outdoors in the sunshine–these thoughts helped me get through the brief moments of relief in between each contraction and helped me prepare mentally and emotionally for the next big wave.

4:00 AM

We called the nurse in because things were feeling a lot more intense and we wanted to know how we were doing. She said that things were coming along and that we should call Jessie and Lauraina to let them know and that they should start making their way back to the hospital but that they could take their time. Kevin called them to let them know our status.

4:20 AM

Within 20 minutes (about four contractions) things became extremely intense. I was having a harder time standing during the contractions and began feeling the urge to push. We called the nurse back in and told her how I was feeling–she said that things weren’t far enough along for me to be pushing and that I should try other coping techniques but that things were definitely progressing and that Jessie and Lauraina should really make their way to the hospital. Kevin texted Jessie and Lauraina and told them that they needed to get to the hospital NOW.

4:30 AM

The intensity of my contractions was overwhelming–I felt such an incredible pressure and a need to push that I couldn’t get relief from. We called the nurse in again and she suggested I lie down on my side and she said that she would call the doctor in to check me. As I was lying on my side I felt so many different sensations that were overpowering–I felt nauseous, like I was going to throw up, and Kevin held up a bag next to my face just in case I did; and at the same time I felt such an urge to push that I could not control. The nurse suggested to Kevin that he help me with quick, shallow breaths so he sat in front of me and mimicked the fast breathing that I was able to follow (and this helped a ton with keeping me from pushing as much as my body really wanted to).
Dr. Gray arrived to check me and said that I was only six centimeters dilated so I still had a ways to go. Hearing this was so incredibly frustrating and I began feeling overwhelmed and defeated. I didn’t know how much longer I’d be able to keep myself from pushing when the urge was so incredibly overpowering.
Neither Jessie nor Lauraina had arrived yet so Kevin texted my mom and told her to come in.

4:40 AM

Within 10 minutes (about three contractions) I could no longer control the urge to push and told the nurse. She called Dr. Gray back into the room and the doctor quickly noted that I was ready to begin pushing. They had me lie down on my back and put my feet in stir-ups. By the next contraction, I began pushing.

4:45 AM

Jessie arrived just as I was placed on my back and she joined me opposite Kevin at my right shoulder.
This time is both extremely vivid in my mind but at the same time, a blur. I was aware overall of my sister arriving and my mom being in the room but I also was only focused on what I was feeling and how I was going to get through each push.
At first I didn’t really know how to focus my pushes, it was just an urge I had but I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right. Dr. Gray placed her fingers on me and told me to focus my pushes there which I tried but I still wasn’t sure I was doing it right.
They brought a standing mirror into the room and Dr. Gray asked if I was able to see the top of Sirena’s head. I tried to focus enough to see her clearly but there was so much going on in those moments I really couldn’t focus on anything other than what my body was doing.
For each contraction I was able to get about three pushes in–when the urge would arrive I would lift my knees up (which Kevin and Jessie helped with), take a deep breath, then push with all of my might for around 10 seconds (which Kevin and Jessie would count out for me), then take another deep breath and do the same thing two more times. After three pushes I would get a break of around 45 seconds when I would relax my legs, try to breathe and relax my body, Kevin would pat my head with a cold washcloth, and I would prepare myself for the next set of pushes.

5:00 AM – 5:15 AM

Lauraina arrived at this time and went to my left shoulder while Kevin went to my feet with Dr. Gray.
By this time there were so many more doctors and nurses in the room, just standing around and getting ready for Sirena’s arrival. In between the contractions I remember glancing around and taking note of how many people were standing there in the room while I was lying there with my feet in stir-ups wearing nothing but a sports bra (but of course, I couldn’t care less in that moment! It’s completely true that any and all modesty goes straight out the window when a woman gives birth). Luckily no one thought to tell my mom to leave the room but she stood in the back and tried to blend in with all of the other people in the room as much as possible just in case.
I continued the cycle of pushing three times in a row with about 30 seconds of rest in between each set of pushes. Lauraina told me later she noticed that I had gone very much into myself during this time and I couldn’t agree more–I was semi-aware of what was going on in the room but was mostly focused on the work my body was doing. I had to close my eyes shut during each push and all I remember listening for was the countdown to 10 Jessie would say aloud during each push and Dr. Gray saying, “That’s it, that’s it” which was so helpful to hear while I was pushing, hearing validation that I was doing it right and that things were coming along.
Kevin was having a completely different experience while at my feet with Dr. Gray–she asked him if he wanted to touch Sirena’s head while it was crowning which he did and he says it was amazing.

Kevin’s smile here makes it so apparent that he was having an amazing experience while watching his daughter be born

As her head was emerging, Kevin continued to have his hand on her head and Dr. Gray was supporting it with her hands. Then as the shoulders emerged, Dr. Gray began to help pull them out while Kevin continued to hold Sirena’s head–it was at this time that Kevin barely dodged a stream of fluid that came out with one of my pushes (something that Sirena and I had been planning all along 😉 ). Once the shoulders were out, it was with one more big push that her entire body squirmed its way out of me and into Kevin’s and Dr. Gray’s hands. I remember a very warm, wet sensation (and a huge relief) when she was finally born. The nurse looked at the clock and declared her time of birth as 5:15 AM.
Dr. Gray had to remove the umbilical cord from around her shoulders and then Kevin immediately placed Sirena on my chest, umbilical cord still attached and allowed to finish pulsating as we requested.

Kevin and Dr. Gray lifting Sirena to my chest

I cannot quite describe the feelings I had when I first saw her. It was an extremely surreal moment that I still have not found the words to describe (and I’m not sure I ever will). This photo that my mom took captures the moment beautifully and it makes me cry every single time I see it.

I was in total and complete awe of this creature that had just come out of me, this creature that had been growing inside of me for nine months, this creature that I had wanted and dreamed about for so long, this creature that was me and Kevin.

Love at first sight

First family photo. Head over heels in love.

She was finally here and our lives have not been the same since.

A baby story: Week 36

Posted by Lisa On May 17th, 2012

Week 36: Baby’s the size of a crenshaw melon!

Here’s a picture of what a crenshaw melon looks like because, if you’re like me, you probably have no idea!

We are officially in our ninth month of pregnancy! And it’s been another very busy week here in pre-baby land. It is crazy to think that within the next 4 weeks or so Kevin and I are going to be parents. Just let that one sink in for a minute…

Our weekend was filled to the brim with baby-related things:

Meet the Labor & Delivery team: We went to meet a panel of resident doctors, labor & delivery nurses, an anesthesiologist, a perinatoligist, a lactation consultant, and a pediatrician to get a better idea of what to expect on the big day and afterwards. We left the meeting feeling reassured that Kaiser Oakland is the right facility for us and that they are overall pretty progressive and practice what they preach. We asked two questions that were important to us but we weren’t sure how it would fly at this facility and were very happy with their responses:
- I asked about the benefits of allowing the umbilical cord to finish pulsating before clamping and cutting it and the perinatologist was in favor of it and said that it could only benefit the baby (it’s only delaying the clamping/cutting of the cord a few minutes and she can still be placed on my abdomen or at least held by Kevin for skin-to-skin contact before the cord is cut and then she is placed on my chest)
- Kevin asked what the chances were that the father would be able to “catch” the baby and one of the resident doctors said, “Well, I had one yesterday!” which was so good to hear! So if Kevin decides that this is something he wants to do then at least we have the support of the hospital to do so.
Newborn care class: The class was pretty basic (diapers, what signs to look for for healthy or sick babies, dos and don’ts, etc.) but it was fun and entertaining nevertheless. What I liked the most about it was that all of the dads in the room were the first to grab the baby doll we were to work with to change the diaper and clothe them and then when the instructor told us that for the rest of the 2 hour class the babies could not be put down but instead had to be held, it turned out to be all of the dads who picked up the babies and held them. So cute! Kevin didn’t look too bad holding that little plastic baby either. 🙂
Meeting with our doula: Kevin and I along with my sister Jessie met with our doula on Saturday morning at our apartment. We had a nice little breakfast together and talked about the roles everyone will play during labor. At the end she gave each of us a large sheet of paper and a set of pastel chalk and told us to draw what we think Sirena is doing in utero. We were given around 10 minutes to create our drawings and come up with a title. Here’s what we came up with (I saved the best for last)!

Here’s my drawing, titled Loving her Little World. I had a dream years ago (when we were still living in Long Beach) that I was pregnant and my uterus came out and it was a glowing, deep blue color with a little baby girl inside who smiled at me–this dream was my inspiration for the glowing blue uterus that Sirena’s been living inside of the past nine months. I pictured her enjoying nature with her best friend Lola. The doula said to think of a message for her and “Welcome!” was the first thing I thought of since there are so many people that can’t wait to welcome her into this world.

Here’s Jessie’s drawing, she said it was a lot more esoteric and symbolic than mine and Kevin’s. I can’t remember all of the details of her drawing so I’ll need to ask her when she’s back in town! 🙂

And here’s Kevin’s drawing, titled The Amazing Sirena. He said that she is in utero playing jump rope with her umbilical cord and has a swing set in the background. The circle on the left is the moon which symbolizes him and the shape on the right is the heart and sun which symbolizes me because I am her lifeline right now. The conversation bubbles with the music notes coming from us symbolize when we talk to her but because she doesn’t understand us quite yet he says that it just sounds like music to her. And the conversation bubble coming from outside on the left that says “Woof!” is, of course, her big sister Lola. I honestly wasn’t sure if Kevin would enjoy the art activity with our doula (wasn’t sure if it would be a little too “out there” for him) but he seemed to enjoy it a lot. Seeing his picture and hearing his description made me fall in love with that guy ten times over. And, of course, I cried a bit when he was talking about it. 🙂

Tomorrow (Friday) we’ll be at 37 weeks and with that came a whole lot of comments this week about just how close we are to meeting her. I had three people remind me that now that we’re at 37 weeks and Sirena is considered full-term, she could “come at any minute”! Although I really really can’t wait to meet her, I would really really love it if she would continue cookin’ for just a wee bit longer…there’s still so much to do! I started to get a little stressed out thinking that maybe we wouldn’t even have this weekend to prepare for her arrival but in the end I decided to just trust her—to trust that she is going to come at the right time. We decided to get the most important to-dos taken care of this weekend (baby clothes and bedding laundry, buying her crib mattress, signing up for a cloth diaper delivery service [more on that later]) and just take things one at a time and make the most of our alone time.

After sharing my worries with a co-worker she told me to “enjoy the anticipation”…what perfect words to live by right now. Once she’s here, she’s here and there’s no turning back! 🙂 So I am doing my best to enjoy these last few days/weeks that we’ve got to be in complete awe and wonder at what our life is about to become.

Belly shots!

It’s pretty apparent, she ain’t messing around any more!

I really wonder how many more of these weekly belly shots we’ve got left!

Other pregnancy updates

Total weight gained: 13.5 pounds
Fun baby developments this week: She weighs around 6 pounds and measures around 20 inches, her skin is smoothing out, her gums are rigid, and her kidneys and liver are in working order.
Number of weekends we’re hoping to enjoy, just the two of us (ahem, three of us with Lola), before the little miss arrives: Three. Fingers crossed, people!
What I’m most looking forward to when the baby’s born: Other than seeing and holding our sweet little girl? I can’t wait to (not necessarily in this order)…
- Sleep on my stomach
- Eat a big ol’ brownie sundae
- Drink a beer
- Eat sushi
- Go for a run

A baby story: Week 35

Posted by Lisa On May 10th, 2012

Week 35: Baby’s the size of a coconut!

The weeks seem to be zooooming by now that we’re getting so much closer to the due date! A LOT has taken place in the last week and it feels good to be getting so many things done in the baby department. But before I get to that I just need to shout at the top of my lungs that I AM OFFICIALLY DONE WITH STUDENT TEACHING! Friday was my last day with those 7th grade knuckleheads and although it’s completely bittersweet since I enjoyed my time with them so much, it is such a major relief to be done and only have to work full-time for the next few weeks. 😉 I want to write a post reflecting on my experience once my credential course and my CA state assessment are done (should be all finished up with everything next week) so I’ll leave it at that for now.

This week Kevin and I did some major work on the baby’s room and it’s coming together quite nicely! The fire was under our rears because our Bay Area shower was being hosted at our apartment so we worked from early morning hours both Saturday and Sunday to get the room and the entire apartment in tip-top shape. We’ve still got some work to do on the baby’s room but we are almost done! Here are some sneak peek photos of our progress so far:

Mars relaxing in the glider we got from Craig’s List! We’re going to dye the fabric a dark brown but this is what we’ve got for now.

Here is a little something I made for her–a picture of our very first ultrasound at 8 weeks (seems like a lifetime ago!) with the words “Love at first sight” written on the bottom.

The top of her dresser/changing table with another plant, her mermaid candle holder from my mom, an art print of a bear + constellation, a little mermaid finger puppet from Jenny and Neil, her first spoon with a little mermaid on it, and last but certainly not least–a framed picture of her big sister Lola!

We went to IKEA and purchased two bookshelves to begin her little library. Here are some shots of some of the shelves:

The top of the bookshelf with some flowers, her cute little Vans shoes (courtesy of Kim and baby Amelia!), her Ariel doll (one of four Disney dolls my Aunt Tina got us for our shower last week!), and a mirror I purchased years ago at an antique store

So many good books!!

Two of the shelves with a Peter Pan pop-up book that mama and daddy bought for her months ago sitting atop a stack of children’s story/song records from the 60s we scored for cheap during our babymoon, and the second shelf has her Shel Silverstein book collection (we received Where the Sidewalk Ends from her Aunt Judith, A Light in the Attic from Jayme, and The Missing Piece Meets the Big O from Kim, Frank and Amelia) and two cute teddy bears (one from Steve and one from Brianne and Brian wearing a cute little hat from Lisa and Josh)!

She’s already got a shelf dedicated to her bilingual English/Spanish books! I only told one person that I wanted to get some bilingual books but quite a few people thought of it on their own and I am so happy they did! Kevin’s looking forward to practicing his Spanish with her too.

We had a great time at our Bay Area shower and we can’t thank Carleigh enough for throwing such a fun party for us! We had around 17 people there total and Lola and Mars were the perfect hosts. 🙂 My mom and her boyfriend Steve crashed the party and surprised us that afternoon, here’s a link to a fun video she put together of their sneaky plan to surprise us. And here are some photos from the afternoon (courtesy of my mama):

One of the games Carleigh had the guests play, they had to create a baby out of Play-Doh and I chose the one that I liked the best! Some very interesting creations here…

The pink one on the bottom is the one I chose (Carleigh’s)!

Second and third place winners for the other shower game

Me and Kevin opening up some gifts. We were reading a super sweet poem written by our friends Terri and Scott that was inscribed in the inside cover of the book.

Some of the party guests + doggies

Family photo!

Tonight I was treated to an amazing prenatal massage and it was so appreciated. Our doula is a massage therapist and I had been looking forward to this massage for weeks! This one was included in our package we got from her and my mama bought me a few more to take advantage of before and after the little miss arrives. THANK YOU mama! It was beyond relaxing and I feel like I’m on cloud nine right now. 🙂

And last but certainly not least today we had our 36 week prenatal appointment. It was a little stressful because our OB/GYN’s office called me yesterday afternoon letting me know that she was cancelling all appointments for the rest of the week, including ours. Kevin and I had been looking forward to seeing her one last time today and I was definitely upset by the news. Luckily this morning I was called with some good news, that another OB/GYN had an opening to see us at 11:30 so we were able to have our appointment after all! The doctor was able to confirm that Sirena’s head is down (woohoo!) and although the ultrasound was short and sweet, we were so happy to see her little arms and fingers and long legs stretching out. The funniest thing was that the doctor could tell that her bladder was full, haha. The picture we got wasn’t the best but I thought I’d put it here anyways just for posterity’s sake. 🙂 This is a picture of her pretty lil’ head:

The doctor said her head is nice ‘n round!

Belly shots!

She is definitely groooowing!

Can you tell how much more relaxed I am after my prenatal massage? Ahhh…

The best Lola photo bomb to date!

Other pregnancy updates

Total weight gained so far: 13 pounds
Number of baby-related classes/appointments we have this weekend: Four! Friday we’re meeting with the Labor & Delivery team to ask questions and get a sneak-peek as to which resident doctor might deliver this little munchkin, Saturday we’ve got a Newborn Care Class at Kaiser and we’re meeting with our doula again, and Sunday I’m going to an event where mamas get together to share positive birth stories which I’m really looking forward to.
Fun baby developments this week: She measures around 20 inches now and weighs a little over 5 pounds. At this point she probably won’t grow much longer so all of her attention will be focused on packing on the pounds! Her kidneys and her sense of hearing are fully developed and at this point all she’s got left to do is allow her lungs to mature.

Holiday visit to Long Beach 2011

Posted by Lisa On January 1st, 2012

Kevin, Lola and I were lucky enough to spend 9 full days in Long Beach visiting with family and friends over the holidays. Here’s a recap of our visit!

Christmas Eve with the Delmars

We spent Christmas Eve with my family this year so that Christmas Day wouldn’t be so stressful going back and forth between the two families and I think it worked out great!

Jess and Kevin trying to get Mars and Lola acquainted. I’m sure they’ll be best buds before you know it!

We had a non-traditional Chinese buffet for dinner that filled us up just right and a delicious assortment of See’s candies and brownies for dessert. Some photos from our evening…

Jess and Auntie Tina

Jess, Auntie Tina, and Uncle Joey

Me and Tina

Most of the group: Jess, Tina, Steve and his daughter Lacey and his grandson Christian, Uncle Joey, and Derek

Santas Jessie and Derek

Derek and his new ukulele

One of the highlights of the night was when the Delmar kids presented my mom with the gift of a song. Every year she tells us that all she wants from us is a song, no gifts, so this year we took her up on it. We decided to sing the theme song of the old cartoon “David the Gnome” that used to show on Nickelodeon and that we used to love as kids. After a couple days of rehearsing we were ready for our big debut! Here’s the link to the video of us singing on YouTube!

Christmas Day with the Edmonds

We woke up bright and early to accompany Thomas for a drive up the 91 freeway to pick up our adorable niece Sophie to spend Christmas Day with the family!

The little lady ready to celebrate with the Edmonds!

She loved taking photos with my camera, here’s a self-portrait and a photo of her dad Thomas in the rear view mirror (can you see her?)

Goofy picture of me, thanks to Sophie the photographer

Silly photo!

Say “Cheese!”

After making it home it was all fun and games until the feast was ready. Lola sure got a workout with Sophie and Katelyn around…

Sophie with Aunt Sarah and Rob

Me and my adopted kiddos, Joshua and Katelyn

We spent a good hour or so opening tons of gifts…

Kevin with his gift card to Best Buy…such a creative way to give a gift card (from our brother-in-law Luke)!

A few last photos outside before Sophie had to go back home…

Me ‘n Sarah with Sophie and Lola

Sophie showing off her Cinderella toy

Last goofy photo of the day!

Hike in Whittier Hills

Brianne, Brian, Brian’s sister Lisa, Kevin, Lola and I went on a nice long hike in the Whittier Hills the day after Christmas to burn off some of that holiday feasting we all took part of.

B & B overlooking the amazing skyline with Palos Verdes at one end (and Catalina even further off, out of frame) and downtown LA at the other end

Big hills and winding trails made for a very fun (and tiring) hike

A beautiful Buddhist temple in the Rose Hills Memorial Park

A quick little detour we took to visit a huge water tower…

…covered in graffiti.

The “slide” Kevin and Brian took down the hill (just kidding)

More fun with the Delmar family

On Tuesday night we made it to our annual Chinese massage with my mom, this time accompanied with Jessie, Derek, and my mom’s boyfriend Steve too. I didn’t get the full treatment this time around, though, because of the little bebe in utero but the masseuse did a mighty fine job of working out the kinks in my shoulders, arms, legs, and feet. Kevin got beyond the full treatment from a little lady who was working on him (NOT what you’re thinking…he was in the massage bed right beside mine of course). Here’s what I’m talking about…

Linda (yes, her name was Linda) walking all over Kevin

Then we went across the parking lot to chow down on some Vietnamese food (which, unfortunately, was not as good as we had had in years past. I ordered a crab soup and the pieces of meat were anything but crab and Kevin actually got food poisoning from it! Blech.)

On Wednesday I spent the entire day with my mom and Jessie. We spent the morning in LA exploring Grand Central Market–a really neat, open market with tons of food stalls.

Jess enjoying the market!

A really neat chalk drawing at MF Gourmet (where I had lunch)

Can you tell we’re related??

That night we met up with Derek, Steve and his grandson Christian at At Last Cafe in Long Beach for some grub.

The Delmar kids: Derek’s beer, Jessie’s wine, and my lemonade (can’t wait to partake in some yummy, non-pregnant drinks in the near-ish future)

Christian goofing off (encouraged by Jessie and Derek, of course)

Me, Derek, and mama (notice Christian’s photo bomb? Haha!)

Piggy back ride!

After dinner we dropped Derek off at his new place and took a quick tour through the house. We then took a gander at his motorcycle (he’s had it for a while but I had yet to see it for myself)…

Jess, Derek, and Vanna White checking out the bike

My mom: “Jesus, I have a big head” (hahaha!)

Fast-forward a few days…we met up with my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Clay (my dad’s sister) on Saturday morning for a nice visit. We always enjoy spending time with them and we were so happy we were able to squeeze in a quick visit with them. We talked lots about teaching (since they’re both teachers) and also about family history (since Kevin’s really interested in genealogy and my Aunt Kathy is a wealth of information). Afterwards we met up with my mom, Tina, Steve, and Derek for lunch down the street.

Kev, mama, Tina and me

Miniature golfing date with Joshua and Katelyn

Part of our Christmas gift for our nephew and niece was to take them out for a morning of getting their butts whooped in miniature golf (or at least that’s what I told them in the beginning). We used to spend a lot of time with those knuckleheads but since we moved up to the Bay Area we don’t get to spend as much one-on-one time with them as before and I miss ’em a bunch so it was a great opportunity to spend some time with them during our visit.

Mini golf courses crack me up

The creepiest metal monkey you will ever see

Pancho’s Fish Tacos, anyone?

Joshua taking his turn, Kevin looking dapper

My beautiful niece…she’s getting so big!

Nerding it up…me and Katelyn pretending to look out at the pirate using our golf clubs (although it looks more like Katelyn is playing the flute, but I’ll forgive her this time)

Working on my form

Me taking an awesome shot

Kevin and Joshua were obviously impressed by Katelyn’s amazing form

Our group’s rainbow assortment of golf balls

Proof that Joshua’s butt didn’t get whooped too bad (at least by me, anyways). Katelyn, on the other hand…

I love that these three always go along with my crazy suggestions

After a round of golf we met up with almost the rest of the Edmonds family at Lucille’s for a lunchtime feast at one of me and Kevin’s favorite places. Dorothy, George, Judith and Luke met us to enjoy each other’s company at the end of our week’s visit.

Ringing in the new year

We spent a fairly quiet evening at Kevin’s parent’s house with the folks and our good friend Alison as well. We enjoyed some dinner then got started on some board games that kept us entertained (and awake!) until midnight. On the game menu for the evening: Bananagrams and Sequence.

About as exciting as our evening got!

Lola, reluctantly waking up for the countdown

Clinking our glasses of Martinelli’s sparkling apple cider as the clock hit midnight (photo taken by Alison)

After a delicious breakfast of homemade waffles and pancakes (care of George), we packed up the car and made our way up Interstate 5 back home to Oakland. Lola sure seemed to enjoy her new ride…

Snoozing all the way back home

Kevin, Lola and I are very excited to begin a new year and we know that 2012 will bring some very exciting changes our way. Can’t wait to celebrate Christmas/New Year’s at the end of this year with the newest addition to our family!

Our forties photo shoot

Posted by Lisa On December 8th, 2011

As most of you know, Kevin and I went back in time for a forties-themed photo shoot the weekend after Thanksgiving. A little background on how this came to be: Lindsey, a friend from high school, is now a professional photographer and I’ve followed her blog for a while now. Some time last year she had a little contest that if you commented on the blog you would be entered to win a free photo shoot…and I randomly won! I never win anything so I was surprised beyond belief. Soon after winning the contest she moved back down to Southern California and I was afraid we may never get to have our photo shoot. In early October, Lindsey e-mailed me letting me know that she’d be in the Bay Area for a few other photo shoots and luckily we were able to schedule a session! I thought it would be so fun to do a forties-themed photo shoot (instead of us dressed in matching cardigans, haha) and we spent a good month or so researching outfits and putting things together piece by piece either through online stores or local thrift shops. We were pretty happy with the final result.

And of course I enlisted the help of my amazing sister to do my makeup and hair (because goodness knows what I would’ve turned out to look like if she hadn’t been there to make me over!) I can’t thank that girl enough for making me look damn good. 🙂

Sisters all done up!

We were pressed for time and were extremely nervous leaving our apartment with only 30 minutes to get to our destination in the city. Without traffic, we could be there in 20 minutes. But it was a Saturday afternoon and traffic can be INSANE getting across the bridge at that time. We got so lucky and arrived to meet Lindsey only a few minutes late.

Our adorable chauffeur

My hope was to take some fun photos on Embarcadero near some of the piers, I thought it would look very timely for our 40s shoot. But I didn’t realize that at 4pm (my favorite time of day to take photos in the soft sunlight), all of the tall buildings downtown would cast shadows along the piers. Boo! But Lindsey made it work and had us take our photos in Levi’s Plaza Park, a great little garden area (Kevin and I took Lola to this park once and had a great time).

We had Coit Tower looming overhead as we readied ourselves for an hour session in the cold (I hope my goosebumps don’t show in the photos! Hahah).

Dorothy and George came along for the ride (or was it for Zante’s Indian pizza we promised them that evening…hmmm?) and Dorothy snapped some good shots over Lindsey’s shoulder…

Leaning in for a smooch!

We had a bit of an audience throughout the shoot as well

I was afraid Kevin might drop me, haha! Luckily, we both survived.

We had SUCH an amazing experience and cannot thank Lindsey enough for her generosity. I am beyond excited to see the final photos once she’s finished processing/editing them (fingers crossed it’ll be before Christmas!) If you’re in Southern California and want some amazing family photos, maternity photos, baby photos, wedding photos, or even a fun boudoir session, all you need to do is spend five minutes perusing her portfolio on her website to see her work speak for itself. We highly recommend her! 🙂

Fall visitors & a mostly vegan Thanksgiving

Posted by Lisa On December 8th, 2011

A pre-Thanksgiving visit

We were privileged with a visit from my lovable, adorable, stinker-of-a-brother Derek the week before Thanksgiving. We spent a lot of time together, just hanging out and eating our way through Oakland and San Francisco. 🙂

We made a couple of visits to Fenton’s Creamery in Oakland, a cute ice cream parlor, for some delectable ice cream.

We also discovered this awesome ale house in Oakland called Cato’s that Derek likes to describe as a “classy dive bar”. Even though I couldn’t partake in the beer (boo!) the food more than made up for it.

And we spent an evening at Jessie’s pad eating some amazing food and a game night.

Thanksgiving weekend

Unfortunately he couldn’t stay for Thanksgiving, but fortunately for us we had another couple of visitors right on his heels: Kevin’s parents, Dorothy and George. Dorothy flew up a few days ahead of George to spend some time together (and to prepare for the big feast that we were going to make and eat later that week) and it was nice having her around!

One evening that week we drove up to Richmond to visit Point Isabel (where Lola experienced her first open water swim!) so Lola could stretch her legs and so that we could watch the sunset over the SF city skyline.

We were so happy when George arrived from his long drive up from Long Beach and it was doubly nice that Kevin got four days off for the weekend as well! We spent one of those evenings revisiting Fenton’s Creamery for some ice cream sundae goodness (or, in Kevin’s case, pie).

My idea of heaven (and don’t think for a minute that I didn’t scoop up some of that hot fudge from the plate)

George taking a good, long look at his and Dorothy’s chosen treat

Me, Kevin and George ready to dig in!

This was our third Thanksgiving spent up in the Bay Area (the first was spent with the Julian clan and last year’s was spent with Jessie in San Jose) and it was great having the Edmonds family in town to celebrate. Dorothy and I got a lot of the work done the day before but we still got an early start on Thanksgiving day to make sure we were ready in time for our other guests (Jessie, Carleigh and Scott) to arrive. Since Jess and I are vegetarian and Carleigh is vegan we decided to make it a mostly veg-friendly meal. There were only two things that the vegan of our group couldn’t indulge in: the turkey (obviously) and my Aunt Tina’s infamous corn (made with lots of cream cheese and butter). But other than that, all of the sides (including one of the pumpkin pies!) were made with no animal products whatsoever!

Kevin and George spent some time working on Kevin’s bike so that they could go mountain biking together later that weekend.

And Dorothy put the finishing touches on the dead bird…I mean, the turkey.

The group arrived and were ready to chow down!

The group minus George

The group minus me

Overall I think it was a pretty successful Thanksgiving meal, especially given that we were cooking for seven in the teeniest kitchen ever!

We had a really busy Friday, starting off with a long hike through Joaquin Miller park (a place Kevin and I have frequented many a time and were excited to share with his parents).

Dad, son and grandpup

Can you spot Kevin and Lola?

K + Lola braving the log

Beautiful trails!

Surprisingly beautiful mushrooms on a log

K + me

George + Dorothy

We rushed home so that we could meet with up our favorite friends from Irvine, Alison and Seth! We hung out at our apartment for a bit (or until Seth’s stomach yelled at us to leave, haha) and then took them to one of our favorite Mexican places, Taqueria Monte Cristo in Berkeley. It was SO nice seeing them, even if only for a couple of hours!

The Redlands gang (minus Seth!)

That night we were off again…to the Christmas tree lighting in Union Square! Kevin and I had gone in 2009 with the Julians and we knew his parents would enjoy it as well. I think once every two years is about as much crazy Christmas crowds I can handle. 😉

Macy’s all decorated for the holidays

George + us

Dorothy + us

Dorothy + me

It was surprisingly not as cold as it was two years prior but it still warranted my winter fuzzy hat.

This kid had it made: a helmet with straws feeding into two Starbucks’ hot cocoas! Hahahah!

The main event!

Kevin and George ended the weekend off right by spending a morning mountain biking in Joaquin Miller park with Lola. I was a bit nervous about Lola going out with them but apparently she kept up pretty good! Kevin hadn’t gone riding in a looooong time and I’m hoping it becomes more of a habit for him (hint, hint!) 🙂

We had a great 10 days full of visitors and we couldn’t have asked for better people to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with! And now we’re sooo looking forward to Christmas…only 15 more days until we drive down to LB for a week full of family, friends, and food!

Our forties photo shoot

Posted by Lisa On November 27th, 2011

A friend from high school who now owns her own (amazing) photography business advertised via Facebook about a contest to win a free photo shoot with her after looking over her updated website and sharing our thoughts. Somehow I actually won!! I was ecstatic. She was traveling to the Bay Area after Thanksgiving and had a small window of opportunity to squeeze us in so we took advantage and within a few weeks had planned for our 40s-inspired photo shoot. Dorothy and George were in town for the holiday so they tagged along. I bought a vintage dress on Etsy and bought a cute hat and shoes from a hat store and a thrift shop in Berkeley. We bought Kevin’s outfit both at thrift shops (pants, shirt, vest), the hat shop in Berkeley, and online (bow tie). My amazingly talented sister did my hair and makeup that day (thank goodness!) We met Lindsay on The Embarcadero at Levi’s Plaza.

Here are my favorite shots!

And a photo of the little guest of honor <3

Here’s a link to Lindsay’s blog post about our photo shoot

All photos taken by Lindsay Cahill Photography

My 28th birthday

Posted by Lisa On November 9th, 2011

My birthday landed on a Thursday this year so I went to work like any ol’ day but came home to this wonderful little surprise…

Walking in the door I was greeted with a “Happy Birthday” banner

Then a batch of balloons, streamers, and a giant gift box. What did I do to deserve such an amazing guy?!

What was in that giant box, you ask? A sewing machine! I’ve been wanting to learn to sew for years now and I am so excited to get started on these projects that I’ve been waiting to do forever now.

That night Jessie took me out to Yoshi’s in Oakland for some sushi and live music. Yoshi’s is a pretty famous jazz club with locations in both Oakland and San Francisco and I’ve been wanting to go there for a while now. The night we went, though, was a rare night of bluegrass music and not jazz but I was happy as a clam nevertheless!

A friend she met through her last job at the wine bar in Los Gatos happened to have three tickets to see his friend play the night of my birthday so she generously asked if I could tag along and alas, I ended up getting a fun night out on the town for my birthday! Sure beat the alternative of me and Lola watching tv that night. 😉

The group was fantastic. His friend (the blond on the left in the following photos) is now a featured musician at the club and will be performing with select musicians throughout the year. For her debut she chose two women to perform bluegrass music with. So the three of them aren’t really a band, this was the first time they ever played together, but boy were they amazing. They played such a great mix of folk, bluegrass, and blues.

Here’s a video of the group performing one of their crazy-fast fiddle songs.

Jessie always has this amazing way of celebrating me for my birthday. Last year she took me out to try escargot and then treated me to the Bridge School Benefit concert to see Pearl Jam, Modest Mouse, and Elton John, amongst others. I sure got lucky in the sister department too!

The big plan for my birthday was to celebrate on Saturday night (so that Kevin could join in on the fun and not be at work) for some dinner and live music at Pena Pachamama in North Beach. Pena Pachamama is a small, hole-in-the-wall Bolivian restaurant and music venue that serves mostly raw, organic food and has live music every weekend. We reserved a table for 5 (me, Kevin, Jessie, Carleigh, and Scott) and spent a few hours there soaking in the amazing food and amazing sounds.

The girls! Me, Jess and Carleigh

Halfway through the show a few traditional Bolivian dancers came out to strut their stuff.

It didn’t take long for Carleigh and Scott to take over the dance floor!

Then me and Jess braved the floor as well…

Once the table full of intoxicated girls took over the dance floor we knew it was our cue to leave, so we danced our way out of the restaurant and onto the streets of North Beach.

Me and Kev outside of the restaurant

I had SUCH a good time with my dearest family and friends and could not have asked for a better birthday weekend. And I couldn’t end this post without saying that the evening ended with me yelling out the car window to a trolley-full of tourists “It’s my birthday!” (after which said trolley-full of tourists yelled out “Happy Birthday!”) and then I yelled out “Occupy the trolley!” (and no, I was not one of those intoxicated girls I mentioned earlier, I was just on a high from good food, good music, and great company!).

Pre-Halloween pumpkin party

Posted by Lisa On November 9th, 2011

My sister Jessie, Kevin and I hosted a small Pre-Halloween pumpkin-themed party in mid-October. The plan? Make/bring food that centered around the glorious pumpkin. And boy did we have some good food!

The menu:

Appetizers: pumpkin hummus, sliced apples and ginger snaps with pumpkin pie dip, medjool dates with chopped walnuts and dark chocolate

Dinner: vegan pumpkin pistachio pasta, vegan pumpkin pizza, vegan smoky braised Mexican pumpkin over brown rice

Dessert: pumpkin bread, vegan pumpkin brownies (this recipe is AMAZING!!)

The spread!

The pups working hard to look cute in hopes of some snacks

Couple of beggars

We had a yummy time eating our way through the pumpkin food and boy were we stuffed at the end. Lola was wiped out as well…

The tired little hostess

For the party Kevin and I got some decorative mini pumpkins to put on the table and Lola could not let them alone. So the next day I decided to let her check one out and she was in heaven…

Chewing the stem: her favorite part

Mouth full of pumpkin

Adventures with Lisa & Kevin