Well we've been working on this one for a while! Isabella finally has put all the pieces into place. Yeah! Does this mean I get a little break from "Daddy... will you push me. HIGHER!!!!" :-)
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Crazy Yogi Babies
OK... isn't it amazing how similar Noah and Bella look! But they don't just look alike, they seem to naturally like to do the same things.
At 8 weeks, Bella started doing these backbends... she loved doing them. Whenever we held her on a pillow, she would arch her back to see what's behind her.
Boy were we surprised when Noah started doing this a few days ago (He is 4 weeks today). Noah has always had surprising neck strength.
Nice Sunday
Morning hike out at Lake Murray all four of us
Sunday lunch at Gordon Biersche. Nice when Noah sleeps
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Noah meet Atlas
Our neighbors Suzanna and Elisabeth came by to meet Noah and they brought their dog Atlas along who absolutely loves kids. She was whining and trying to see Noah so I sat down so she could get a better view and it was love at first sight. She kept licking his toes:)
He he he that tickles:)
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sweet angel
Three weeks old and I still can't stop looking at him. I count my blessings because I have a wonderful husband, a brand new baby boy who is so easy going and beautiful girl who can't stop telling me how much she loves me. Ahhh life is good!!!!
Monday, January 17, 2011
ET ?
Noah is sitting in his swing and dreaming not so pleasant dreams I imagine judging on the look on his face. I think he looks like ET:)
Interacting
We hope you're not getting bored of all these pictures and videos :-). I was hanging out with Noah on the bed and he was so alert this evening that I just turned the video on and watched him.
I did it again a 2nd time and Isabella came in... it was kind of fun (2nd video).
Friday, January 14, 2011
Wow... You're my Grandma and Grandmpa
Last weekend Grandma and Grandpa came over to meet Noah. We had such a nice time. When Noah went down for a nap Grandma and Grandpa took Isabella out for donuts. We don't eat a lot of sweets in our household so this was a pretty special outing.
Here are some pics with Noah and Bella. Fredrica put Noah in a blue outfit knowing it was my mom's favorite color. They just happened to be a nicely matching group :-)
Thursday, January 13, 2011
New Routines... Family Massage Time
As Fredrica said in the last post, we started baby massage with Noah the other night. Isabella loved participating and afterwards she wanted a massage too. We realized this was a great opportunity to build this into our 'new night time routine' and give a great opportunity for mom and Bella to do something special together.
Here are some fun pics.
Week two and chaos slowly settling
Bella and Noah all clean and ready for the night
When Bella was a baby we used to give her a bath and then a massage before night feeding and then night time. We want to do the same with Noah but now we also added Bella to it by me washing and massaging Bella and James takes care of Noah. This way they get boys bonding time and Bella gets one-on-one time with me which she misses. Bella's teacher told me she had been seeking a lot of attention from her and telling her she misses me and it breaks my heart to hear that because me and Bella have always been so close and she's been all about mommy always. Since we started the the new evening Bella has been much happier. Noah has also started sleeping better at night so I think we slowly getting there:)
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Snug as a Bug
Routines? No of course not, its too early. Chaos rules for now...
Noah, unfortunately, still has day and night confused. He naps so well during the day and is convinced he shouldn't sleep more than 60-90 minutes at night.
We're trying all the tricks... exposing Noah to lots of light during the day... limiting naps during the day... but we're not there yet. Oh well... in the meantime here are some tired pics of us :-)
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Noah's Birth Story... His First Days
About 9:30p we moved up stairs to the postpartum room. Our first night was pretty easy. Many of the problem we experienced with Isabella... latching on for breast feeding, getting jaundice... didn't happen with Noah. We admit we felt a bit like pros. We had hoped to be heading home the next day and Fredrica's doctor said that would be no problem since she was recovering very fast. However, Noah's pediatrician wanted us to stay one more day just in case something would come up. Noah passed his exam but the doctor did hear a clicking sound from his hip on day one but it was gone the next day.
The next days was pretty packed... Hearing test, first bath, Isabella came and met Noah. So we've had requests that the more pics the better so there are quite a few in this post.
Our room after the delivery was quite nice... not a bad view
I am so glad I just shot this... there is nothing quite like waking up a brand new newborn... it actually looks like the whole concept of being awakened is a totally new experience... and actually is
Good morning... the security at the hospital is really amazing. In his sock is a little 'lo-jack' chip. If its not against his skin or if the lo-jack leaves the post-natal wing of the hospital, alarms go off everywhere (more on this after the next video)
Noah's first bath
The nurse came by for Noah's hearing test. Fredrica was exhausted so she stayed to nap while I went with the nurse and Noah. After the hearing test, we realized Noah hadn't had his bath. So we went down and got him bathed. Unfortunately the nurse forgot to call up to tell them she was taking the lo-jack off Noah. Minutes later a different nurse burst into Fredrica's room, waking her up asking if Noah was there. Fredrica's thought did someone knock down James and the nurse and grab Noah... after a moment reflection she calmed down. The nurse said they could immediately contact the nurse who was with Noah to verify... not the most fun way to be awakened
Bella came up to meet her little brother for the first time. She was so excited... a little shy. Waiting 9 months for something is such an impossibly long time to wait for a 3/4 year old
Bella Holds Noah... she was really gentle
Bella and Noah
Big sister and Noah
We had lunch in the hospital. Bella wanted pizza... the slides where about as big as her
Noah after his bath
Noah with his birth card
Big sister
The volunteers at Scripps knit these hats for the new babies born at the hospital
Everything looks like a source of milk to Noah :-)
We were so excited to heading home... and just be a family
After a day and a half in the hospital, its time to go home
Fredrica looks so amazing... going in on the left and going out two days later on the right!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Noah's Birth Story... Noah Arrives
Time to have a baby... Noah's arrival was so really magical. Here's how we remember it
By now Fredrica was starved and her belly kept growling pretty loud. She was dreaming about a chocolate shake which is what she had after Bella was born. Since breakfast at 6 am she had been feasting on ice chips pretending they were yummy food.
About 6:30p Dr. Nelson came back in to check on Fredrica. Yep, we're finally there... fully dilated and the doc could easily touch the baby's head. So everyone got ready for the big event.
James stayed right next to Fredrica and focused 100% on her... he's been known to faint when there's blood and this sure wouldn't be the right time!
Jackie was right next to James... so she had a full view of the playing field and could give tell Fredrica about the progress and support her.
The epidural had almost worn off by now so Fredrica could feel the contractions but was not it too much pain. On each contraction Fredrica took a deep inhale and pushed like hell, James counted to 10 strong and firm. After the first contraction Dr. Nelson encourage Fredrica to feel how Noah's head was already half way out and that gave her the feeling it was so close. Amazingly, 10 minutes and third contractions later we heard baby Noah cry.
Mom's story...
It's an amazing moment when you finally get to meet the person who has been sharing body with you and kicking around. When I saw Noah I was in awe how beautiful his is and how much he looks like his sister. I also noted like with Bella that he has daddy's feet and hands. He for sure will be tall with those giant feet.
Noah cried for a minute then he opened his eyes and began looking at me as if saying so you're the one who was tickling my feet and feed me all those yummy desserts:) It was different than with Bella who was mad and cried for a very long time. I also loved the fact that Noah stayed with me for a very long time before they took him to check him out and to measure and weighing him. Bella's heart rate went way down right as she was born so I could only hold her for a minute.
I never did get that chocolate shake but the first thing I did was sink down 3 cranberry juice packaged and a plate with fruit and I swear it could have been a lobster dinner at Fleur de Lys, it tasted so good.
Dr. Nelson cleared Noah of all his fluids... he was a healthy baby boy!
That moment when he screamed and you know he's OK... it's a mixture of relief, joy and elation.
This really captures our moment.
From Dad's perspective: This was such an amazing moment. The nurse brings Noah to Fredrica's chest. Here is a level of awe and closeness between mom, dad and baby that is really indescribable.
This is what pure joy looks like
Can't stop kissing
Mom's reflections: There is that moment, from right before the last push to when you hold your baby... it is a feeling of such deep bliss and joy that you never forget it and carry its memory in your heart forever.
Oh boy... You've got big feet!
Mom, Dad and baby
Jackie and Fredrica were a great team! There are acupuncture points above the ankle that encourages labor. You could actually see a difference on the monitor with the frequency and strength of the contracts when she was working on those points.
We rubbed and worked those points so much there were actual bruises there the next day.
7 pounds, 3.5 ounces
Dr. Nelson and baby Noah... geez, we're lucky to have such a photogenic doctor and baby :-)
We did it!
Dad's first time to hold Noah
Dad introduces Noah James Gunnar Syren to the world... time of pure bliss.
Bella told us month ago that his name was Noah one day but were not convinced. We actually picked the name Noah the next days. We wanted to see what he would look like. We had a good short list: Leo, Troy, Elliot, and Noah. I wasn't convinced he would look like a Noah, but there was no doubt after a nights sleep.
His middle names are after grandfathers. Noah paternal grandfather is James and Fredrica's grandfather is Gunnar.
Noah's Birth Story... The Morning Of
Its baby day!!! Isabella slept right through us getting up and ready. Jessica came by 6:30 and it was time to go.
We drove up the coast early Sunday, a cool crisp 39F (4C) morning. 'What a beautiful day to have a baby'... James had to say both because it was and because his dad said that to his mom 41 years earlier on their way to the the very same hospital (Fredrica smiled... we were told James's mom said 'Shut and Drive!')
Fredrica simply looks amazing doesn't she? We shot this video diary on our way into the hospital in front of a nice fountain. Sorry the audio is a bit hard to hear.
About 7:15 we got into our room and went about setting things up to make it a little more homey. We brought a nice picture of Isabella and Fredrica. We got our music ready and settled in.
As we settled in James shared his thoughts... As a dad , he had lots of work to do to 'get things in order' the night before, so he was running around quite a bit. He felt like a runner gearing up for a marathon. You just don't know quite what to expect even if you've done this once before.
Jackie Bensinger, our friend and acupuncturist, came along to help with the birth. She had worked with both of us to get us pregnant. Last week, Fredrica went to Jackie for daily sessions to try to get labor going. Fredrica said to Jackie 'You got him in there, now I expect you to get him out of there!'
There's not much we could do about those 'charming' green gowns, but we got Fredrica some fluffy pink socks to keep her tootsies warm.
At 8:40 Fredrica got pitocin to get labor going. Dr. Nelson, our OB doc, dropped in at 9:30 to check on us. We actually had quite a bit of fun chatting.
Jackie gave Fredrica some acupuncture to support her body... East meets West.
It felt like showtime. The contractions started coming pretty regularly and started building in strength. By 11:15 Simon and Garfunkel was playing on the iPod and the contractions were strong enough that James started counting breaths for Fredrica to keep her focused.
We kept an eye on the monitor... the baby's heart rate was supposed to stay between the red lines on top and the contractions were monitored on the bottom.
Just before noon, Fredrica said it was time of an epidural. It is amazing how effective this is. Within 5 min, Fredrica was still having contractions but she couldn't feel them at all. Unfortunately, her blood pressure dropped and she got quite nauseous. The anesthesiologist helped straighten this out and then Fredrica got comfortable.
Dr. Nelson dropped by and checked in on us... But Fredrica wasn't making a lot of progress yet despite the contractions. She had been 80% effaced and 3cm dilated for a couple of hours. Hmmm. could this take until midnight? Later?
Now the waiting game
At lunch, with the epidermal working its magic, James got to go for lunch and take a walk while Fredrica rested. Fredrica was in on the second floor, far right window. James called his parents to give an update and had a really nice conversation with brother Allen. Everyone was so excited for our big day.
At about 3:30, still 3cm dilated, Dr. nelson put in an internal monitor to get a more accurate measure of the contractions. Either the baby was too big and contractions weren't going to progress or we need a bit more pitocin. We upped the pitocin to find out.
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