Blacho Blog

Music!

2009-11-13T16:07:00.002-05:00

Listening to music with the family.
Arlo is asleep in my lap.
Auggie looks up at certain songs an grins or dances.
He is in the sunroom and alternately plays/fusses.
Dave is occasionally chatting and cleaning in the kitchen
while I play DJ from my laptop. Mostly there is no complaint
with my song selections.

I put on River (Joni Mitchell) and suddenly Dave comes
running into the living room waving his arms above his head.
"LILLITH FAIR!! RUN AWAY AUGGIE RUUUUUUNNNNN"
and back the other way
"LLLIIIILLLIIITH FAIR THE LESBIANS ARE COMINGGGGGG
RUUUUUUUNNNNNNN"

and he returns to the kitchen quietly.

Night at Blacho

2009-11-12T15:36:00.002-05:00

I hear the door thud and open one eye to see the
silhouette of Auggie in the doorway.

"Come on in"

He crawls in the bed between Dave and I.
Arlo is sleeping in a sidecar on the other side of me.
Within minutes Auggie is plastered up against my
back, one foot working it's way down my yoga pants,
and one hand tangled in my hair.

I lay there awake. Daisy is on the floor snoring.
Arlo is making straining noises and saying "EHH Ehh"
Dave is snoring. Auggie is snoring. Somehow I
manage to doze off.

Awhile later- hours? minutes? I hear Arlo start up again.
"EHH EHHH" he fusses quietly so I put a hand on his
chest and say "shhh" Auggie rootches further up in the
bed and I hear a soft voice. He's singing. I listen more
carefully and realize he's singing "Rock a bye baby on
the treetops...." He's getting half the words wrong, but
the tune is unmistakeably Rock a Bye.

I have to laugh.

Newest pics

2009-11-03T20:10:00.005-05:00

Pictures

2009-11-03T07:53:00.001-05:00

Lots of new pictures coming.
Just a matter of finding time to upload.

Birth

2009-10-28T19:43:00.007-04:00

I kept feeling like I must be a total wimp because I wasn't
even that far dilated and I was really hurting. I remember telling
Lisa that I wasn't managing the pain, and she said "yes you are"
"that is exactly what you are doing"
It was then that I realized pain management doesn't mean there is
less pain. It just means you are managing not to freak out. You are
managing to have moments of quiet and peace, but the pain is still
very much there.

The midwife kept telling me to go to my 'happy place'. "Go to your
happy place, lay on the beach and enjoy the sun...." etc.
I kept telling her "The beach ain't it, too much sand would stick to me,
I'd itch and get sweaty !!"

I know I threw up a few times and was relieved because it finally got
rid of the nausea from the car ride. At some point I ended up
laying on the bed, Dave alternately wiping my arms and forehead
with a cool cloth. I found some kind of quiet there and was probably
still for about an hour.

At this point the midwife came in and said I think you need to get
moving. "UGH, don't make me! I'm COMFORTABLE!!" The rest
I was getting felt wonderful. She pushed a little and said she thought
I wasn't making any progress laying in this position. I begrudgingly
got up and started pacing the room. The contractions hurt more.
When the midwife came back in I let her know that she was an
evil witch for making me move.
(At least I laughed when I told her this).

Kate told me that the anesthesiologist was going to come in to ask
questions-that it was just procedure. She came in while I was having
a contraction and asked "Do you want an epidural?" I said no, and
she responded "WHY NOT?!" What an asshole! She kept asking
questions and was completely oblivious to when I was having
contractions. If I waited to breathe through a contraction
before answering her she would say "Hello??" and I'd just hold
up a finger to tell her to wait a minute. Through the entire
night this was the one person that
didn't seem to get it...

Finally she decided to check me again and found that I was dilated to
6 cm.
WHAT!!
WHAT!!!??
ALL THIS TIME AND ONLY A 6!!! YOU'VE GOT TO BE
KIDDING ME!!
She offered to break my water to get things moving and I said yes.
What a frickin weird sensation. It was hard to believe just how
much water there was.
AND
With the next contraction
I
WAS
PRACTICALLY
ON
THE
CEILING.

In retrospect the contractions up to this time were NOTHING.
Now I was in serious pain.
I hopped up and rocked. Buried my face in the towel.
Did everything I had been doing before, but there was NO relief.
"I can't do this!"
"I think I want Stadol"
Lisa responded that stadol might make me sleepy and groggy but
wasn't going to take away the pain.
I really didn't think I could take this pain. this was unlike anything
I'd ever ever experienced. There was not getting away from it.
A contraction would start and get worse and worse and oh my GOD
IT'S EVEN WORSE!!! SHIT!

Suddenly I thought I was going to pass out so I was helped to the
bed where I sort of perched one hip and buried my head in Dave's
shoulder. I was kind of moaning/humming/growling and would
get louder as each contraction hit. They were unbelievably painful.
If Lisa and Dave hadn't been there I probably would've run
screaming naked down the hallway. The nurse hooked me up to
a monitor at this point and Dave could watch the contractions
on the strip. They were so intense I couldn't tell when they were
peaking so he'd watch and tell me "Ok, that's the worst of it" and
the midwife would remind me to try to take a deep breath and
relax in the moments before the next contraction would hit.

At some point a contraction hit and I was moaning and had to
hold my breath and push away from the pain. I heard Lisa say
"Sounds like an urge to push to me!" The midwife checked me
again and said "Yep! she's fully dilated"

At that point there was a lot of activity in the room and
Lisa leaned down and said "You're almost there- look at Kate,
when you see the nurse bustling around getting things ready
you know things are really moving"
It turns out I'd gone from 6cm- 10 cm in 45 minutes.
No wonder it was so intense.

Now the pushing.
Growling
Pushing
At some point the midwife handed me a towel- she held
on to the ends and would do a tug of war with me. This made
pushing much more effective.
We knew this baby was going to be big, so the midwife asked
the Dr. to be present in the room for an extra set of hands.
He came in and introduced himself to everyone.
He grabbed my ginger ale and gave me a sip, picked up the
cloth and wiped my forehead and reassured me that he
thought I was working hard and doing a good job.
We were all impressed with how nice he was.

The rest of the pushing is a blur. It hurt. I pushed as hard as
I could and felt like I was turning my body inside out.
Felt like I was splitting myself in half.
At the same time, pushing was better than not pushing.
Dave stayed right with me, giving me sips of ginger ale in
between pushes and encouraging me. Lisa, Jenny and Kate
took turns holding the towel that I pulled on for pushing leverage.
At one point I looked up and Kate was holding the other end
of the towel. I had to laugh. She is so tiny I thought I'd fling her
right over my head into the wall. Lisa later told me that
Kate was sliding across the floor from my pull and Lisa had to
put a foot in the way to block her.

Finally the baby's head was halfway out, and everything got very
quiet and focused.
The Dr. came over to help because the baby's shoulder was stuck
on my pelvic bone. This was the one thing that I knew the midwives
feared during my pregnancy. It felt like the world held it's breath
for just a moment...
With the next contraction I pushed, the Dr. pushed down hard
on my pelvic bone to alter the shape of the opening and Jenny
turned the shoulders,
and out he slipped!!
After an hour of pushing we got to meet little Arlo!

Baby was placed on my stomach for a few minutes, and then
they had to take him out for a minute to be assessed since there
was meconium in the amniotic fluid.
Dave went out with him and they were back in what seemed
like no time. I got to cuddle him and we all chatted while
Lisa and Kate finished up nursing 'chores'

I asked "HEY, where is this almighty powerful feeling I'm
supposed to have?"
"All these frickin natural birth magical woo woo chicks
always talk about
this burst of ENERGY!!
I'm just EXHAUSTED!!
AND HUNGRY!!
Energy?
HA!"

The room felt peaceful. Lisa hung out for awhile and took some
pictures. Dave snuggled the baby. I ate a bagel and sipped a
cup of coffee.
One of the other midwives came in and congratulated us. Another
nurse peeked in and said hello. Things were surprisingly quiet and
normal. We hung out for about an hour in this room before moving
downstairs to another room.

Dave, Arlo and I were all exhausted. We took a few pictures, and
then dimmed the lights. Dave stretched out in the lounge chair, I
settled in the bed, and Arlo snoozed away.

It wasn't easy, but it was exactly the birth that I had hoped for.
Without the support of the midwife, Kate, Lisa and Dave there is no way
I could've done it.
So THANK YOU
Dave
Lisa
Kate
Jenny
and
Big Doc Red

One Week Ago...

2009-10-26T20:03:00.004-04:00

One week ago I lay on the bed watching Dancing With the Stars. My contractions were about 4 minutes apart and increasingly uncomfortable. I'd been having contractions since Sunday morning, but now they were really starting to hurt. Dave lay with me. I would breathe my way through and Dave would wipe my forehead with a Lightning McQueen washcloth. I found an Emery board that I would tap/poke into my forehead with each contraction. Somehow I figured out that if I focused on this sensation I could distract myself from the discomfort.

I called my sister to let her know we were thinking of leaving for the hospital soon. We decided to see if we could wait until 11pm when Kate (one of the nurses) started her shift. Lisa was going to meet us there and stay with us to support both of us through the labor since she works there as an L&D nurse. My mother stayed at our house with Auggie.

We arrived at the hospital around 11:30 pm. Lisa was waiting out front. I remember walking in with my soft purple towel and my emery board. We made our way upstairs while Dave got our things from the car and took care of the Valet parking. I stopped to lean against the wall with my face against the soft towel and breathed through another contraction while Lisa waited.
As we went to the elevators I veered off to go in the restroom because having a full bladder made the contractions hurt worse.
Lisa: "You might want to wait, they are gonna want a sample when you get up there"
Me: " Yeah, well they can SUCK IT- it hurts worse when I have to go! Besides, I can tell them, the pregnancy test will be positive"

Upstairs we got in a small room while we waited for a larger birthing room (with a shower) to be cleaned. With each contraction I would lean on the wall with my face against that towel, tap my forehead with the emery board and breathe. The car ride made me really sick to my stomach so I complained about that to whoever would listen. Dave arrived, and the midwife (Jenny) arrived as well. She checked me and said I was dilated almost 5 cm. "THAT'S IT??!!!!"
I couldn't believe it after all these hours of contractions!! CRAP!

The midwife was in and out, offering suggestions for managing pain.
Kate was a fantastic nurse. She monitored me without keeping me constantly attached
to a machine so I was able to get up an move around. She was quiet, but present. Lisa, Jenny, and Kate were reassuring because they all have a true understanding that labor is not a crisis, not an emergency, but a process.

Dave was fantastic- attune to the contractions, gentle, soothing, the perfect partner
Lisa was steady and helpful- reminding me that I was managing the pain and that I could do this.

The next hours brought a move to the larger room
a warm shower
lots of standing and rocking while leaning against my purple towel
Sips of cola and ginger ale
constant pats with the cool cloth on my forehead
many registered complaints- just so nobody would forget that I was hurting.

More later...

All My Boys

2009-10-25T14:37:00.001-04:00

Arlo

2009-10-24T16:01:00.004-04:00

Arlo has brought a little bit of mellow to the house.
Much needed and hoping it continues.
He sleeps, eats, makes little squirley noises, and
looks around with his big brown eyes.

I'm feeling guilty for not having all my time for Auggie.
I just wanna hug him close and let him know "I'm SO SORRY!!",
but I know having a little brother will be a wonderful thing eventually.

The hormones have hit and with them have come evening crying
spells. I seem to remember that this passes in about a week or so,
or at least I hope so. It is making me feel a little crazy.
Dave took Auggie out for quality time today- they went to
Build a Bear (more on that later) and had pizza for lunch.

Will write about Arlo's birth in a day or so. At the moment when
I have some free time I mostly just feel like laying around.

Welcome!

2009-10-22T11:57:00.003-04:00

Arlo George Blachowicz
10/20/2009
5:57 am
8 lbs. 14.2 oz

What NOT To Say

2009-10-12T04:36:00.002-04:00

My Mother (to me at 39 weeks) :

"So I'm talking to people and you know how some pregnant women just have this little bump in front. I said, NOT MY DAUGHTER!! She looks just like that sun in the Jimmy Dean Commercials. Ya know, I told them? She's just ROUND!! " "I hope that doesn't offend you."

Me:
____ (?) ___(?!) ____(?!@#$#***!!!)

At least it's better than last pregnancy when she poked me in the arm at 39 weeks and said "I'm trying to figure out if that is weight gain or swelling"

Sigh.

Fall

2009-10-11T04:09:00.002-04:00

My sweet boy climbed and played and romped
all over at Webers last week. He discovered apple
cider and it's his new fav. He sucks it back and
declares "MORE HAPPY JUICE!!!"
He's verbal and singing and adorable while at the
same time asserting his independence more and
more.

The other day Auggie went to work with Dave
and had a FANTASTIC time. He packed his backpack,
put on his hat and proudly walked out the door to
"go to work!". According to Dave he would declare
"C'MON everybody" every time he left a room.
He climbed the set, wore a hardhat, crawled under drapes,
somehow found a mask (a duck's bill) and quacked his
way through the shop.
When he came home he was wiped out.

I'm in a state of waiting. Waiting for this baby to
be born. I've hit a rough patch with my hormones
going nuts. I'm irritable and raging one minute and
weepy sad and remorseful the next. I can only imagine
that I'm horrendous to be around, and I'm finding that
knowing you are being crazy doesn't make it any less crazy.
I've pretty much stopped answering the phone because I
just don't have much to say. I seem to remember feeling
this way before Auggie was born too.

Bigger

2009-10-03T14:21:00.001-04:00

I can't possibly get any bigger.
Weber's Farm today.
Hot
Boys were cute
I went from shady spot to shady spot and sat

Feel like I should be writing this in Haiku format
Pics later

Saint Theresa

2009-09-22T06:51:00.002-04:00

After 5 days.
Gone!
No pain!

I feel lighter than air.
I you see a large pregnant woman float by your window
think nothing of it, that's just me.

You got nothin' on me Theresa, you crazy ol' lady!!!
Ecstasy? I HEAR YOU SISTER!!!

Another Meatball!

2009-09-21T18:34:00.003-04:00

Ultrasound this morning!
This baby looks JUST LIKE AUGGIE.

The pics above are the meatball at 35 + weeks and of
Auggie at 8 weeks old. Remarkable!

Aside from that I've been doing nothing but feeling like crap. I thought I had a
UTI this week, but it turns out that doesn't seem to be the case. My guess is that
the awful cramping last week (that I was worried might be premature
labor) was actually a kidey stone and now that it has moved down I SUFFER.
I SUFFER
the
pain
of
a
glass
shard
in
my
urethra...
No shit, IT HURTS.

So I guzzle gallons of water, and complain.
I've complained in person to lots of people, so
I figured I might as well complain on this blog too.

I hope I get my sense of humor back soon!!

Doin the Trudge and Waddle

2009-09-15T11:16:00.004-04:00

Trudging from here to there
Waddling to Dr's appointments
Trying to nap when I can
Everything seems to be proceeding well.
I had a few very uncomfortable days over the weekend.
I was hurting enough that a little question mark started
floating around over my head "Could I be going into early
labor?" After a full night of no sleep on Sunday the pains
started to subside. I guess it was just more of the 3rd
trimester 'par for the course' aches. It's hard to believe that
in just 5 weeks we are going to have another little human in the
house! Holy CRAP!!

Auggie has been singing to me a lot lately.
I love it.
Twinkle Twinkle
and We Are A Team (put to the tune of a
Strauss Waltz) seem to be the favorites at the moment.

He's also beginning to make intimate friends with his 'time out'
chair. Mostly he gets time out for pulling the dog's tail.
He'll pull, and look at me and smile- testing me until I
count off "LET GO, ONE....TWO...THREE...OK TIME OUT!!!
Put him in the time out chair and the tears start. He's
heartbroken, but not heartbroken enough that he doesn't do
it again repeatedly.

Today he had a flu shot.
He flirted with the nurse on the way in
Cried only for a moment when he got his shot, and
was quickly distracted with the prospect of a sticker and
rocks to collect from the rock garden outside.
The nurse smiled at him on the way out and he walked
right by her muttering "I wanna go home"...

So home we are.
He's being pampered with pillows and blankets on the
couch because the injection site must feel like a gunshot
wound if I go by the way he is complaining about it.

It's nice to have a quiet day, just he and I
some songs
some cartoons
and lots of blankets.

Wedding

2009-09-07T19:51:00.002-04:00

Shot a wedding with Kathleen this weekend.
Hard work.
Harder when you are 8 months pregnant.
I was completely exhausted by the time I got home last night,
but we had a good time, and I think we made a great team.

It didn't hurt that the surroundings were fantastic and the
bride and groom were both beautiful.

Opinions

2009-08-21T12:44:00.002-04:00

For some reason he insisted on wearing rain boots
and a floppy sun hat to the fish store.

It made him happy and I figured "why not?".

Balloon

2009-08-21T11:34:00.002-04:00

Got Plastic?

2009-08-14T07:56:00.002-04:00

Last night after dinner I reached into the drawer
to pull out some tupperware. I thought I'd pack up
left over salmon and rice for Dave to take to work.

HMMM
NO STORAGE CONTAINERS AT ALL

What???!!
We have tons of plastic storage containers.
I was completely puzzled.
They weren't in the dishwasher.

It took me about an hour before I realized what happened.
Ya see, this is the ONE drawer in the kitchen that doesn't have
a child proof clasp on it. I have often seen Auggie pull out tupperware
and play with it. Suddenly it dawned on me- his obsession with
throwing things in the recycling bin and his joy of playing
with tupperware have collided.

Good thing the recycling was put on the curb and picked
up 2 days ago.

I guess I just didn't see it in there.

How is YOUR day going?

2009-08-11T12:16:00.002-04:00

I open the fridge to make Auggie lunch.
I'm putting ingredients on the counter and before I
turn back to close the door Auggie has taken beer bottles
from the door and thrown them in the vegetable keeper.
When I say throw I mean THROW... because several of them
have shattered and now the veges are floating in a glass shard
beer soup.

sigh

I put the drawer in the sink and start fishing out
and washing off all the solids. As I'm doing this the
dog runs by (clearly having an emergency) and drops
several wet turds on the floor before diving out of the
dog door.

I wipe them up. I spray the floor with bleach cleaner.
When I turn around I see Auggie now has a ceramic bowl
full of the amazingly sweet and ripe cantaloupe that I
cut up last night (despite being so tired I wanted to collapse).

"Auggie NO!!"

Too late
He has THROWN the ceramic bowl in the sink. It shatters
and now the entire sink is full of beer/cantaloupe/glass shard soup.

I give up.
I make chocolate milk for Auggie, put on cartoons, and
sit him in front of the TV while I try to clean a little.

I feel like I haven't had a break in ages.
I just want to meet some friends, pull up to a bar and have a
beer. Then I want to sleep in the next morning...

Where Did the Week Go??

2009-08-08T06:15:00.002-04:00

The phone rang the other day and it was the contractor!!
FINALLY! He called me back! Is it pathetic that I feel
like I've been waiting for him to call for a second date?
My first contractor REJECTED ME!! He didn't want the job.
I'd been KICKED TO THE CURB by my contractor!!
It is THAT DIFFICULT to find a contractor that you like
and that also comes in with a reasonable estimate!

So fixing up the new baby's room is on hold. That room
is serving as a construction staging and storage zone.
I'm hoping the bathroom reno won't push me over the
edge into crazy land.
Since it is our only bathroom we may have to get a hotel
room for several nights or take a mini vacation if Dave's
work schedule allows it. Even when we aren't staying
overnight somewhere I'm going to have to keep Auggie
out of the house all day to prevent him from breathing
in nasty dust.

I hope we don't get arrested for napping in the park.

I wish I could just take to my bed until the construction is
over.

Bowling

2009-08-02T16:13:00.002-04:00

Auggie runs to where the balls are and grabs one.
Immediately he throws it down and it starts a slow roll
down the lane. Before that ball is even halfway down he
grabs another and rolls/throws it after the first.
Dave tries to slow him down, but he's not having it.

He's also not having any of this "take turns" crap.
As soon as we pull him away so other kids can have a chance
he screams, kicks, cries and is generally in a full blown toddler
tantrum. I'm taking pictures and I look up to see Dave breaking
a sweat. He looks exhausted and frustrated.

We managed to stay at Ben S's bowling party for about 45
minutes before we had to pack it in. He loves the bowling
part, but really isn't so big on the wait your turn part.
He sure looked cute in those little bowling shoes though!!

At the Beach

2009-07-31T20:48:00.002-04:00

Walk to the lake
throw stones
watch the ducks

Back to the beach house
Breakfast

Walk to the beach
dig in the sand
chase seagulls

Back to the beach house.

HOW CAN IT ONLY BE 8 AM???

I'll tell you how- because we have a miraculous child that
doesn't appear to need sleep.

We had a very nice vacation, but are glad to be home.
Auggie is in his own bed tonight and we are praying for
a quiet evening.
Dave and I are recovering on the couch.

Chill

2009-07-23T09:11:00.003-04:00

When did it become so difficult for me to chill out?
I didn't used to be a tight ass!

I realize that a lot of the stuff I worry about I don't
really give a shit about anyway!
I need to start remembering to let go of all the trivial
crap that I spend energy on when I really don't care
about it one way or another.

I'll still worry about leaving lit candles around though.
And catching my toes in THIS toy! (a fear that follows me around!)
sigh

Playing

2009-07-18T20:21:00.003-04:00

Out playing with the family and the new camera
today. We had a very nice afternoon- will write
about it tomorrow.

Til then just wanted to put up some of the newest
shots.