11 Weeks Old

In the last few weeks, we've embarked on the new adventure of cloth diapers. Frank was the driver here, and I'm glad he pushed for them. They're colorful and after some initial hiccups, they seem to be working well. And it is really nice to have so much less diaper waste.

We also had a great visit from our friend, Kathleen. She made us a lovely dinner of zucchini ribbons with almond pesto, meatloaf w/ mashed potatoes, and roasted Brussels sprouts served with a red wine from local winery, Breaux, and finally an apple crisp for dessert. Delicious!

This week I also headed back to Zumba on Saturday and Monday. Yay!

Finally, breast pumping still feels like a chore, so I am focusing on the opportunity I've had to watch some interesting TED talks, documentaries, and movies. Favorite documentaries include: First Comes Love, Chasing Ice, Twinsters. Enjoyed the movie, Tracked, and watched a TED Talk by Isabel Allende that showed a picture and referenced Frank's cousin, Grace Dammann!

And, of course, Zach is still super-cute. See above!

10 Weeks Old

Zach in motion

After the snow, Zach and I have gotten into some pretty good routines. Dad arrived on Thursday, and with his help and Katie's we got down to the wound center for one of my last appointments. I can't believe Wednesday might have been my last appointment with Ivy. She has been such a fantastic home health nurse!

Zach had his two month appointment on Thursday, and he got a good report from the doctor. We were all surprised to learn he's  22 3/4 inches for height (70th percentile), 11 pounds 15 ounces (40th percentile), and his head is in the 90th percentile. Everyone says he looks "so big," but he's not really that big. And his head does not look disproportionately large...somehow!

Over the weekend, Frank and I both made it to the gym separately, so we used our membership once in January! Woohoo! I am looking forward to getting back to Zumba very soon. 

On Tuesday, Zach and I got out for a walk, and the paths were in better shape than they had been on Saturday when we took our first family walk post-Snowzilla. 

9 Weeks Old & Snowzilla

Discovering the baby gym

Bath time

Get out just before the
beginning of Snowzilla

The sun after Snowzilla

Frank's burping
technique

All bundled up and
ready to go and asleep

Asleep on Daddy

8 Weeks Old

Zach is two months old today. Hard to believe!

Master Zach saw his first snow and has had to stay in a few days because of COLD weather. He's motoring still and talking to us mostly with coos. He listened to a lot more music this week. Katie's nursery rhymes, Pandora's toddler station, and lots of Mommy and Daddy's music. And he slept some too.

The last week has been momentous for me too. I feel human again -- am getting adequate sleep overnight, and Frank too, I think, when work isn't making him put in extra hours! :(

Other highlights for Susan:

• I left the house in work-type clothes and shoes - my winter black boots!
• Over several days, I watched a few of my favorite movies Moonstruck and Tootsie while feeding Zach.
• I made a "fancy" dinner, Hungarian goulash, albeit with some shortcuts, and it was accompanied with wine and dessert of Halloween candy Blondie brownies. Yes, that was 2015's Halloween candy. 
• I had that strong, sweet, malty beer I've been craving at Aslin Beer Co.

The Deceiver

7 Weeks Old

Over the last week, I've taken some new walks - to the doctor's office and to the pediatrician's office. Reston always makes it interesting with a stroller...so many roads without sidewalks, paths to be found, and often a circuitous route. 

Zach has been listening to some new books (thanks, Penni and Tommy) and tried out the Ergo carrier to mixed results. He's still motoring and weighs in at 10.5 pounds. On Friday, 1/8, we took him to a Killers concert (via DVD). He enjoyed dancing with Mom and Dad. See below. 

Snooze with Daddy
at the Killers concert

I got the wound vac off on Sunday, 1/3, and have LOVED being rid of it. I keep getting up and realizing I'm not tethered to anything! However, with my new dressing, my home health nurse stealthily sniffed out some bacteria, so I had to go back on antibiotics on 1/11, and my wound healing has regressed. Very sad. I'm hoping we start heading back in the right direction soon. Despite this setback, I'm lucky that I still feel pretty good.

It has been great to spend time with so many people because of their help. Thanks to Emily, Aliana, Mary Kay, Katie, Mom and Dad. During Dad's stay, we introduced him to a favorite show, Broadchurch. Mom has been a generous babysitter so that Frank and I could get out for date nights to Red's Table and Not Your Average Joe's. So much fun!

6 Weeks on 1/5/16

Gamma and Zach
(He slept like this for 2 hours!)

A Sunday walk with Zach

6 weeks old and a new outfit

5 Weeks Old!

Christmas attire

Leading up to Week 5, Zach experienced his first Christmas! Thanks to Agatha and family for outfitting him with his festive clothing. 

He's a champ at
holding his head up!

He goes out on almost daily walks, conducts when Daddy dances, dislikes his baths, and grows, grows, grows! (He's known as the Ravenous Beast.)

Cycle time

I'm still chained to the breast pump, and my wound vac likes to beep low battery, so I have to be cognizant of being plugged in! Good times.

A new pose

But all in all, time is passing incredibly quickly. We're trying to savor every moment with Zach because he'll never be this age again!

4 weeks and the many faces of ZFD

3 weeks + 1 day

ZFD - Morning motoring

Introducing Zach and the first 2 weeks...

I went into labor on my due date - 11/23/15. Started contractions around 4am, was not sure they weren't Braxton Hicks. They didn't seem to go away from being in bed to my morning exercises, but they did seem to disappear when I tried a warm bath.... I called the doctor, and I guess I was unsure enough that they asked me to come in. At around 2pm, I went into the office, and they measured me at 4cm dilated. So, to the hospital we went. Frank had gone into work thinking my contractions were Braxton Hicks or "warm up." He got to the house around 3pm, and off we went. 

Birth day, very pudgy

I checked in with another woman from the Healthcare for Women practice. It was also her due date. Frank and I got into the room and got settled. My contractions got stronger, and I eventually had an epidural. Dr. Casadaban told me the baby's head was still really far up, and there might be complications with a natural birth - getting his head and his shoulders through. I was worried too. The night was very uncomfortable. Appendages kept falling asleep. At one point, I started to shake, and they let me know that was normal. Never heard of that one before. 

My water broke in the middle of the night...maybe around 3am? I pushed for one hour and vomited, which was another side effect I'd never heard of. Dr. Casadaban advised a c-section because he was not descending into the birth canal. So, they prepped me for surgery. There was some weird tension in the OR with the resident and the nurses. I continued to shake. 

Headed home from the hospital - 11/28/15

Zach (Zachary F D) was born at 5:35am or 5:58am depending on what documents you look. I think his birth certificate will say 5:58am. We enjoyed some time skin-to-skin. Mom, Dad, and Emily came by around 8am, when we were just getting settled into our room. 

Tummy time

My recovery went well on Tuesday. My body had a tough time waking up from my epidural. I nearly fainted, The catheter was removed, but my body wouldn't wake up, so they put it back in. Traumatic. That was my Tuesday/Wednesday night drama. On Wednesday, I really felt much better. Jeff stopped in and I was eating well. I was starting to feel some pain, but did not understand it was the normal cramping that occurs post-birth. I unwisely decided to take a percoset. The doctor suggested that I might only need 1/4 or 1/2 of a pill, but the nurse advised an entire pill. Whether that was my grave mistake or a stomach bug, we don't know. After that I felt nauseated and vomited three more times overnight. My c-section wound opened up, and there was no going back. From that point on, I had a pretty arduous recovery. 

Swing time

My body was so swollen, and I wore compression socks, which were cutting off my circulation. We had some great nurses and lactation consultants. They all advised me to walk around as much as possible. I tried breast feeding, and that worked somewhat, sometimes. I walked the halls as much as I could. I apparently have a high pain tolerance, which is one saving grace for me. One break. Frank's heart started racing. He was sure it was probably nothing, but went to the ER overnight. (Luckily, he was fine.)

First walk

We had a tough time naming Zach too. We clung to keeping the initials JFD, but no name materialized when he was born. All of our "J" names were too popular -- Jake, Jackson, James. We went back to Zach, which was my first choice if not for the "J." Though we'll call him Zach, Zachary F D seemed to have the right ring, so we named him on discharge day - 11/28/15.

Mr. Handsy, holding the bottle

Starting on Monday, 11/30, I had daily wound care appointments as well as Zach's visits, lactations, etc. On Wednesday at the doctor's office, we ran into the woman and her husband who had been admitted at the same time as us on 11/23/15. She and her husband have had it so much worse (their daughter has a cleft pallet making feeding difficult), but interestingly, she went into labor on her due date, also with the same doctors. She delivered on 11/24/15, but after 10 hours of labor! She had a temperature of 104. Her wound also opened up. 

Snoozer, thinking and sleeping...

On Friday I went to the wound care center at VA Hospital Center for assessment. My second break came days later when my wound vacuum pump was delivered on a Saturday after insurance denied it twice on a Friday. Thank you to Cara for her help with that. I now have home health coming every other day and a wound that may take 6 weeks or more to heal. 

Hanging with Mommy in her Nuroo

It feels like I'm chained to the breast pump, but trying to stay positive. The milk supply is going up, and our lactation folks are super-helpful. All good. Frank and Zach camped out downstairs in the first nights to try and help me get more sleep. Quite a fun boys' night.

Zach just went in for his 2-week check up, and everyone says he looks great. Very healthy. He's still not back to birth weight of 9 pounds, 2 ounces. (His birth length was 22 inches.) As of 12/8/15, he is 8 pounds 7 ounces and quite a cutie. 

We are thankful for so much help from family and friends. We couldn't have done it without you!