Happy Halloween!

Today is Elizabeth Ward's original due date - and she's celebrating her 0st birthday in style!

This is not photoshopped at all.....

Sleep deprived

Elizabeth's birth story . . . as told by Kate

All is well here in the Ward household. We are settling in nicely as a little family of four.

I like reading other people's birth stories, so I thought I'd share Elizabeth's with all of you while the memory is still fresh.

Also, here's a pic of my belly on the night we left for the hospital. I was 38 weeks and 3 days pregnant.

When thinking of her birth, I consider the journey to be composed of three parts.

1) The natural labor:

On October 19th, contractions started just as I was dozing off to sleep at eleven. After about two hours of contractions about eight minutes apart, I got out of bed to see if the contractions would go away or pick up. After a short time bouncing on the ball, I timed some contractions and was surprised to find they were between two and three minutes apart. I realized that I was really in labor, and that I should probably pack my bag for the hospital.

When I arrived at the hospital at about three in the morning, I was two centimeters dilated. I walked the halls for a couple of hours, swaying between contractions, and was five centimeters at my next check a few hours later. After a couple more hours of walking, I asked to have the tub prepared so I could use it for relaxation. The midwife checked me before I got in and found I was almost ten centimeters dilated. At this point, it was just before ten in the morning.

I labored in the tub for awhile and really enjoyed the ease with which I could switch between positions. I started pushing in the tub, but after awhile, and not showing much progress, the midwife told me to get out of the tub and try to push in some different positions. I continued trying to push until about twelve, but still was not having success getting the baby down.

Overall, I found this part of my labor experience to be pretty easy to handle. I really enjoyed moving around and never felt the pain was unbearable. I just listened to my body, and it did what it needed to do.

2) The uncomfortable part:

At about noon, my midwife told me to stop pushing. My contractions were still coming very frequently, and the urge to push was very strong, but I was instructed to take shallow breaths during contractions and not push.

This was probably the hardest thing I've ever done. I was really putting everything I could into not pushing, and it was exhausting to fight my body's need to push. But, try I did, and after about two hours of not pushing, numerous internal examinations, changing positions a few times, and an ultrasound, it was determined I was in need of a C-section.

Though my OB had previously said my daughter was in a great position, it seems she somehow turned her head 90 degrees and assumed a position that would not allow for a vaginal birth.

3) The C-section:

The forty-five minutes between hearing I was getting a C-section, and receiving the epidural were probably the most difficult. I was still having frequent contractions, and I was still instructed not to push, and knowing that all of that work was not going to bring the baby out just made me want relief.

The C-section itself was fine. The epidural brought immediate relief and I felt lucid for the first time in many hours. After some cutting and tugging, my daughter was born.

Overall, it was not how I imagined or hoped Elizabeth's birth would go. However, the end result of a healthy baby and healthy mom was achieved, so I'm okay with it. I was very impressed with how I handled the whole thing, and will certainly try for a natural birth again next time . . . not that that will be anytime soon.

Elizabeth – Week 1: The Fecal Position

Hi all – Just wanted to give a brief update on life in the Ward family this week.

After spending a few restless and sore nights in the hospital recovering from her C-section, Kate was feeling well enough on Friday to come home with our stinky sprout in tow.
We’re now adjusting to life’s little miracle by buying lots of German breastfeeding products, taking naps, and manipulating our sleeping baby into poses no child should ever be subjected to, such as playing air guitar, doing the cha-cha, and (Kate’s favorite) getting the shakes while benchpressing too much weight.

Family Ward is also enjoying the kind convalescent care the Ward Seniors (Jay and Linda) are providing, including frequent commissary trips, enchiladas, and phone check-ins to make sure mom and baby are adjusting to life A.D. (after delivery).

Pecos is showing affection, but is generally still undecided about the whole baby thing.
And we finally made our first foray into the Great Outdoors – to get mail and play fetch with Pecos. All seemed to go just fine…no apparent allergies to air or grass or nature yet.
Oh, and about the title: Babies poop. A lot. As such we have a whole fecal station set up to handle the frequent and massive movements. As Kate’s still on the mend, I’m usually the one taking up the Fecal Monitoring and Janitorial Service positions. And it’s not too bad. Baby poop, I’ve discovered, smells like chicken, which is far better than regular poop.

Either way, Pecos loves the smell (and taste) of her and continually asks for more, ostensibly because he's so caring. Check out his eyes in this picture. Deep down, though, I think he thinks she's dinner.

Elizabeth Bruhy Ward's 0st birthday

Well ladies and gentlement, Kate and I are proud to announce with a decent amount of fanfare that as of 2:22 p.m. on Oct. 20, there is a new bundle of poop and joy in our lives. All 6 lbs. 6 oz. of her.

Elizabeth Bruhy Ward didn't want the fanfare that would greet her on the outside, though. At least that's what Kate thought after 15 hours of labor and four hours of being told to NOT push through the contractors even though she was dilated 10 cm. and not pushing would be very painful. The baby wasn't coming out.

The problem wasn't space. Apparently there was enough of that for even a bigger baby. And the problem wasn't the birthing process. Kate's contractions were "Wunderschoene" and the baby's heart rate was healthy and strong the whole time.

The problem WAS that Baby Elizabeth didn't want to turn her head the last 15-20 degrees, meaning she would have come out face down which is apparently a bad thing. So, after much discussions, consulations, and exhaustion, the doctors said the only alternative was a C-section. And we agreed.

So we dressed in scrubs, went in the OR, and a few minutes later had a beautiful little baby girl - sans the conehead that comes from vaginal delivery.

Right now, momma and baby are doing well in their respective recovery rooms. They'll probably be there until Friday or Saturday and I'll of course keep those interested parties sated with pictures.

Babyness overload

The baby’s not here yet and already we’re overloaded with babyness.

We had three baby showers in two weeks (one was “virtual” for Kate). And while that was an awesome boon to our munchkin clothing inventory and we truly thank everyone who came and/or sent gifts, it was, admittedly, a little embarrassing for Kate and I … who never really like to be the center of attention or overdue our ooohs and aaahs to appease the crowd.
We now can dress a whole army of dolls in pinks and a whole army of garden gnomes in browns and imagine them fighting each other with multitudes of soft baby spoons and throwing nipple protectors at each other like ninja flying stars.

Or at least that’s what I TRY to imagine sometimes because, frankly, it gets my mind off the imminent arrival of our own little mini life complicator...who's in here, somewhere.
It’s not like I’m franticly trying to escape or think we’re so unprepared that we’ll fail. (Yes, mom, I know we’ll NEVER be prepared and we have NO idea what we’re getting into. Sure. Got it.) But it’s just been a lot of babyness lately. And, without an actual baby here, it just seems silly and excessive.

Once the baby gets here, yes, there will be much more baby talk. (Is that sound normal? What orifice did that come out of? Hey, come here and smell this.) But I expect that. And I’m excited for it. This whole preparation thing….what can I say? Dude needs a break.
Oh here's a fun but lamely narrated video of Kate "zipping up" her gut.

All growed up

It's October in Germany. And that means it's a little depressing outside. So I'm a little depressed inside. I just realized that we're officially ... adults.

We sold our beloved, fun, and zippy Ford Ka and replaced it with a more staid and zzz-inducing station wagon. I just got promoted to supervisor and now work more.

Kate’s having a friggin baby.

I made my own cheese recently and get WAY too excited about that. BOR-ING!

Kate insisted we get a picture of her practicing her civic duties and voting for president.

And, similar to my cheese overjoy, Kate got all sorts of excited about our new bedspread. (Pecos obviously is wary of all these changes.)

So, I wanted to take a moment to reminisce about the great times Kate and I had with the Ka…..during our sometimes incredibly long car trips.

In the two years and two months we had the Ford Ka, we traveled about 30,000 miles, more than the circumference of the globe. Now, that may seem pretty normal for the U.S., but when you consider that I walk to work and that Kate only uses the car to run errands and take Pecos to the fields, the number is pretty astonishing.

Here’s a list of some of the more massive driving trips we took with our Navy Bean:
Switzerland – Aug 06: 1000 km
Munich – Sep 06: 900 km
Holland – Oct 06: 900 km
Paris, Strasburg – Nov 06: 1600 km
Nürnberg – Dec 06: 600 km
Grafenwoehr – Jan 07: 725 km
Paris – Mar 07: 1200 km
Hamburg, Amsterdam – Apr 07: 1500 km
Switzerland – Apr 07: 1000 km
Garmisch – Apr 07: 1200 km
Berlin – May 07: 1250 km
Dresden, Wroclaw, Krakow, Prague – May 07: 2400 km
Rothernburg ob der Tauber – Oct 07: 450 km
Switzerland – Nov 07: 1000 km
Nancy, Metz, Luxembourg, Trier – Feb 08: 600 km
Zermatt, Milan, Turin, Geneva – Mar 08: 1900 km
Bruges, Keukenhof – May 08: 1250 km
Salzburg, Dolomites – May 08: 1400 km
Prague – June 08: 1200 km
Berlin – Aug 08: 1250 km
Sylt, Copenhagen – Aug 08: 2100 km

Here's our Ka covered in snow in Switzerland.

Plus countless trips to Heidelberg, Rüdesheim, Limburg, Köln, Kaiserslautern, which I’ll estimate at about 7,000 km, bringing our total road trip miles to about 20,000 miles. This means that about 68 percent of the mileage we put on that car were roadtrips. That’s pretty good. What percentage do you do?

By the way, here's me and that crazy unnamed dog from the last blog jumping into a vortex like the ones Bubbles from HBO's The Wire created on the last episode of Heroes.