The House that Cleaned Itself... and other adventures

Okay, so my house doesn't really clean itself, but it's felt that way for the last month.

My mom arrived about a week before Santiago was born, and stuck around for a few weeks after to help take care of the baby.  Almost every morning around 7:30 or 8, Santiago would wake up (after sleeping only an hour) and start crying.  I'd lay in bed half-asleep, waiting for him to stop (or at least hoping he would stop.)  Then I'd hear my mom get up and entertain him.  (Bath, walk, etc.)  Then I'd fall into a deep sleep for another hour or two.

By the time I up, the house was miraculously clean!  Trashcans empty, dishwasher emptied, floors vacuumed.  And on top of that, she made a freezer full of food while she was here.

This will be a rude awakening to have to start doing those things myself...



I'd like to think we did at least a few fun things while she was here-- it wasn't all work.  Before the baby came, we went to Flossenburg.  We walked around the concentration camp and then I sat in the car while she walked up to the castle.

We spent many hours watching seasons 2 and 3 of 24.  I think Jack Bauer is now our hero.  We also watched seasons 1 and 2 of Downton Abbey.  (Hey, there are a lot of hours in the day when you can't really get out and do stuff.)

Of course, there was the birth.  Hanging out at the hospital, playing with Tiago, feeding, burping, changing diapers.

We walked around Amberg, bought a few things, and visited the Franciscan monastery at the top of the hill.

We visited Bayreuth, which has one of the top 10 castles in Bavaria.  We toured the palace and gardens, then went to the Opera House which was built by/for Richard Wagner.  It was closed.

Lastly, we ate.  A lot.  We ate the following cuisines: Thai, Greek, German, Turkish, Italian, Chinese and more German.  Mixed into that was a bunch of Gelato.  And more Turkish doners.  And a little more gelato.

Franconian pancakes

sausage and sauerkraut

pumpkin soup

Chinese food

We walked all over Vilseck, many times.  Mostly to get gelato.  And doners.   Hopefully the walking balanced the eating!

Thanks for coming, Mom!  I'll miss you.  Especially at 8:00 in the morning!

Model in the Family

Yesterday we made Santiago sit through a little photo session.  I figured we have a fancy new camera--we might as well use it!  Of the many pictures we took, here are a few that turned out cute. 

He got fussy being awake, so we waited until later (when he was fast asleep) to take more.

These soccer pictures are for Hyrum.  This is his favorite soccer team: 

Santiago is now two weeks old.  He normally eats every 3 hours, but last night I was shocked when he slept for 5 straight hours!  I was so happy with him for letting me sleep so long.  We'll see if it happens again any time soon...  He is a pleasant baby most of the time and usually has a serious look on his face, as you can see in the pictures.  He does not like to curl up in a ball, and usually has both his arms and legs outstretched.  He completely skipped the curled up newborn stage.  He loves using his hands and is always reaching out like he's trying to grab things in the air.

Pictures of Santiago

[9/20]

Getting ready to go out. [9/22]  He loves having his head tilted all the way back!

We ran into Vilseck's night watchman at a little festival in town. [9/22]

First real bath. [9/22]

After getting blood drawn they wrapped up his foot so much he really looked injured. [9/24]

A German Birth Experience

The army post here does not have a hospital (or an OB-GYN for that matter), so I've been going to a German doctor for the last 9 months, and I delivered Santiago in a German hospital.  Overall, it was a positive experience... good staff, good facilities, most of the time there wasn't a language barrier.  Once or twice there was a nurse that didn't speak English and we had to play charades--which can be a bit unnerving when it comes to taking medications.  Based on what I've heard of births in the states, here are some other things that made the experience unique:

• In general, none of the medical professionals I interacted with volunteered information.  I had to ask questions to find out anything.  I could go in for a check up and not know any more when leaving than when I arrived.  Occasionally I'd just check, "So the baby is normal size?  Healthy?  All is normal?"  
• For the first 9 hours I was in the hospital, I was still in my own clothes and wandering around wherever I wanted.  They assigned me a room for my entire hospital stay, and I was able to hang out in there during the contractions.  It wasn't until after the epidural that they had me stay in the delivery room and put on a hospital gown.
• German doctors have no problem with patients eating or drinking during labor.  In fact, when I asked my doctor about it a few weeks ago, she gave me a funny look for even needing to ask.  They served me both breakfast and lunch while I was still up and walking around.
• Most of the time I was in the hospital, I was seen by nurse/midwives, not doctors.  In general, doctors don't play a big role in the delivery wing.   They check in occasionally but its the nurses who check you, give you medicine, and pull the baby out.  And its whatever doctor is on duty that sees you, not the doctor you've been seeing for appointments.  
• After Santiago arrived and was cleaned up, the nurses pretty much left us alone. Similar to German restaurants where you have to specifically ask for your bill or you will wait around for hours, I think we would have been hanging out with the baby in the delivery room for over 2 hours had my mom not stepped out into the hallway to find out what was going on.  
• The patients' rooms are not private, and there isn't even a dividing curtain.  Usually Americans are assigned to a room with another American.  But there is no personal space or privacy.  I found out WAY too much about the girl I shared a room with... single soldier, young, pregnant by boyfriend, unstable relationship... drama!  And in addition to that, it also means waking up several times during the night because their baby is crying, or the nurse is coming to give them medicine, etc.  I was glad to escape the hospital and be back in my own house. 
• Babies spend the majority of time in the rooms with mom.  You can take them to the nursery if you have to shower, but for the most part they stay with you.  
• Upon leaving, you pretty much just walk yourself out.  Earlier in the day I got checked by the doctor, and Santiago was seen by the pediatrician.  Then we packed up and I carried the baby down to the car.  No car seat check, or wheel chairs.  Not really even any paperwork or farewell.  

Announcing the arrival of...

Santiago 

born at 9:29 pm on Friday, Sept. 13

So far, Santiago is a happy little baby (as long as he's fed, clean, and burped).  And I'm feeling great, aside from all of the obvious pains associated with giving birth and then being sleep deprived.  Here's a small recap of events from the last few days, hopefully without too many "TMI" details.

On Thursday, my due date, I went into the hospital to be checked.  Like at all appointments, they hooked me up to a fetal monitor for 30 minutes.  I was feeling no contractions, or signs of having a baby any time soon.  I was scheduled to have appointments every 2 days for the next week.  As I was hooked up to the monitor (bored) I was not looking forward to repeating the exact same thing day after day.

Timing contractions at home

So, surprise when my water broke that night!  I thought I'd be able to go back to sleep, since I'd really only been asleep a few hours, but the contractions started within 15 minutes.  From 2-5 I was feeling contractions every 5 minutes, and finally decided to go into the hospital.

[Obviously with this being my first child, I learned a lot in the process.  One thing that completely surprised me, though, is that when a person's water breaks, it's not a one-time thing.  It's a lot of liquid coming out in gushes over several hours.  I'll be better prepared the next time around!]

All that pain, and they told me I was only 1 cm dilated.  Seriously??  They put an IV port into my hand and then brought me to the room I'd be in post-delivery, and let me put my stuff down and hang out there and wait.  I was free to walk around and do whatever I wanted.  I just had to check in every 2 hours.

At my first "two hour" check up, they gave me a relaxant drug.  It did absolutely nothing for me.  So I went back after an hour and asked for something stronger.  I got another drug that relaxed me, but didn't do anything for the pain.  I just wasn't feeling quite so miserable in between contractions.  (Up to that point, I was definitely not enjoying the process!) After two more hours, I was still only 2-3 cm dilated, and asked about the epidural.  The nurse said she could start me on the epidural, and give me pitocin to speed things up.

Around 3:30 I had the epidural in.  It was much more painful than I'd imagined.  Not a quick pain like a normal needle, but instead a long steady pain as it went further and further and further... But worth it!  I felt very little for the next few hours.

By 6 I was almost completely dilated, but the baby wasn't low enough.  My right side was still numb, but I had quite a bit of feeling on the left half of my body, especially my back.  With every contraction I felt sharp back pain, and with contractions coming pretty much every minute I was miserable.  The epidural had a button I could press to get "extra" (to a certain extent) so I kept pressing it hoping for the best but I started wondering if they just give you the button for the placebo effect.  It made no difference.  And then the epidural ran out, and they wouldn't give me more.  They wanted me to "feel the pressure to push".  Quite frankly, I didn't want to be feeling anything.  Isn't that the point of getting an epidural??

The time between 6 and 9 pm is kind of a blur of pain, and hoping the baby came soon.  Finally the nurse said I could push if I wanted, but not 100%.  Within 15 minutes the doctor and nurse came back in and decided it was time to have the baby.

Every time I pushed the doctor put his forearm onto the top of my stomach and pushed down with all his weight trying to get the baby lower.  That might have been the most painful part of the day.  I felt like my entire head was going to explode because he was pretty much cutting off my lungs and any air back to my head.  Meanwhile, I felt nothing of what was going on "below."  Pushing a baby out of a little hole?  No big deal, apparently.  Not passing out during delivery?  Maybe a bit more difficult.

About 10 minutes of pushing, and Santiago was here!

I got to hold him for a very long time before they took him away to get weighed.  He was bloody, and screaming, but perfect.  10 fingers; 10 toes; strong lungs!  He weighed 3150 grams, or just under 7 lbs. (We had to google that the next day.)  Shortly after they took him from me, I started feeling dizzy, and told the doctor.  But it was too late.  I threw up water all over myself, and was completely soaked.  My blood pressure had dropped to something like 80/50, so they started pumping something into my iv to help.

Eventually I got my baby back, and the nurse and doctor left.  Around 11:30 my mom and I started wondering if they'd forgotten about us.  They were in no hurry to get me out of there.  But finally they wheeled me down to my room and I got to sleep.

[You can sort of see the red dots around my eye]

I was surprised the next day by how difficult it was to move around.  I felt like I had no working muscles between my knees and waist.  And my right hand still had the IV in, which made my hand sore and useless.  I was still feeling dizzy.  Finally by that afternoon I went to take a shower and was surprised to look in the mirror and see dark circles under my eyes and lots of popped blood vessels all over my face!  I guess the feeling of having my head explode during delivery took its toll.  My neck muscles were also really sore from the ordeal.

Santiago slept most of the day, but he'd wake up occasionally to eat, or cry.

I stayed at the hospital one more night, and got to go home on Sunday afternoon.  Before we left, though, the pediatrician checked Santiago and they drew blood... from his head!  It was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen, and he was screaming and screaming.  I would have been too.  It made me grateful that my IV had been in my hand.

Flowers from Mom at the hospital, right before we left

Now we're getting into a routine here at home, and enjoying the down time.  Hyrum has been able to skype with us a few times to see the baby, and said it's hard to believe that the baby on the other end of the camera is his!  It will certainly be a strange feeling for him to come home in 9 months and hold his baby for the first time.  But for now we do what we can.

Survival of the Army Wife: first week of deployment

One week down.  And I'm not even counting how many are left...

After dropping Hyrum off in the late night/early morning hours, I let myself cry all the way home and then go back to sleep.  Since then, I've been surprisingly stable!  Maybe that's because it's hard to comprehend how long 9 months feels without a spouse around [3 months is our record, and that included a weekend visit], so for now it's just one day at a time.  And I can handle individual days.

Here are some thoughts floating around in my head from the last 7 days:

• It's strange to go back to grocery shopping for 1.  And cooking for 1.  
• Falling asleep, alone, is quite an adjustment, too.  Several times this week I've laid in bed for over an hour before finally drifting off to dream land.  
• Speaking of sleeping, Hyrum might be glad he's not around because my bed has been taken over by pillows!!  Even using 5 pillows, its still hard for me to get comfortable.  [This is to be blamed completely on pregnancy, not deployment.]
• I kind of miss eating meals at the table.  But its so boring!  If there's not another person around to entertain me, I go somewhere more fun, like the computer or TV.  
• My first day home alone I decided to stay home and take it easy.  And by the end of the day, I decided "never again."  Now, I create to-do lists with just about anything on them, just to keep me busy.  I go to a weekly play group, even though I don't have kids.  I spread out errands over a few days, instead of cramming it all into one like I used to.  If you can think of any recommended non-crafty hobbies, I'm all ears.  
• In cleaning the house, even some menial tasks are tinged with nostalgia.  For example, This is the last time I'll be washing Hyrum's clothes for 9 months.  Or, Now that I've put his shoes where they belong, I won't have to touch them again for 9 months. Kind of nice.  But also sad. 

If only it weren't for the "war" aspect of deployment, I think I'd have much more peace of mind.  I don't worry about myself here at home; I can pretty much handle whatever comes up... but war zones introduce so many unknowns!  That's what I dislike the most.  

But we keep moving forward, a day at a time.  And thank goodness for technology, even if internet in Afghanistan costs an arm and a leg.  

View from my Kitchen Window

One of the things Hyrum and I love about our house is the view we have of our town.  Out our 2nd floor kitchen window we overlook a huge field, and beyond that is the old Catholic church right in the town's center.  Throughout the year we've lived here (we marked a year last week!) we've taken several pictures, which I finally have edited together.  It's pretty when it's plowed or covered in snow, but I especially love when it's dark green and looks like grass.  Below are bigger pictures of my favorites: