Liam Joseph Sullivan

On Saturday, May 26 at 11:30 AM we met Liam Joseph Sullivan for the first time. He was 8 lbs 10 oz, 20.5 in long with a 14 in head. It was about six hours from the time I woke up feeling cramps with an intense backache until the time he was born, and only about an hour and a half was active labor. We were blessed to be able to have a smooth and healthy home birth.We were so happy to meet our little boy.

His Name

You can see from the list in our previous post that we like pretty traditional names. As Jack Donaghy said, "Don't overthink the name. Stick to kings and queens of England. There will never be a President Ashton, or a Dr. Katniss, or a non-sexually-confused Lorne." That's been our philosophy, which was why William was a front runner for so long. However, about two weeks before Liam was born, Joseph announced that in all our time considering the name, it hadn't really grown on him, so we started back at square one and made a new list. 

Patrick was considered, as well as Joseph, although Joey didn't really like the idea of using it for a first name (his dad is also named Joseph). I liked William because it lent itself to cool nicknames like Will or Liam while still being traditional and distinguished. Unfortunately, it lends itself to all sorts of nicknames I don't prefer, like Billy or Willy. We could have named him William and just called him Will or Liam all the time, but that is fairly common practice among his ten cousins and it gets confusing very quickly. (For example, there is an Adam James who was named after his father Adam, but he's called James so he's not confused with his dad, but there's also a cousin named James who was named after HIS father James, but is called Teddy so as not to be confused with his father OR his older cousin James. Great names, and we adore our family members, but very confusing.) Liam popped up because it was an Irish shortening of William that sounded nice. I admit it's not very traditional, and I didn't like it at first, but it grew on me. We decided to go with Joseph as a middle name because we didn't want to lose a nice legacy name like that completely.

Birth Story

(Note: This is prominently labeled so that those of you who don't want to read the details can skip this section completely) :)

The day before Liam was born, I reached an odd sense of peace about being pregnant pretty much for the rest of my life. Really. I was struggling and gnashing my teeth at the discomfort of pregnancy during the entire 38th week, but by week 39 I'd just become calm about it all. It happened with Diana too on her due date and she came the very next day. I guess that peace indicates the calm before the storm for me, because Liam came as soon as I'd made up my mind to just enjoy pregnancy again.

I woke up at 5 AM feeling crampy, a little nauseous, and with occasional killer back/hip pains. I wandered around a little bit, tried to go back to sleep, got up again, took a shower, and started timing the back pains, since I didn't feel any distinguishable contractions. They were about 10 minutes apart and moved to 8 as I wandered around. By 6:30 AM I was fairly certain that I knew what was going on, even though it was still hard to distinguish contractions from pains in my back and hips and it felt completely different from when I went into labor with Diana. I woke Joseph up to let him know what was going on and called my midwife, who told me to eat a big breakfast (with the nausea, that didn't happen) and time some more contractions and see how the morning unfolded. We called my mom and she picked up Diana around 8 AM after she woke up. By that time, the contractions had become very distinct and were getting harder. I had to close my eyes and concentrate to get through them. As soon as I felt they were starting to really pick up speed and intensity, we called the midwife. She arrived around 9:30, saw one of my contractions, and got all of her equipment ready in a hurry. Joseph said he'd been feeling calm and confident until that point, having seen me in labor before and knowing that it would probably be a while before hard labor began, but when he saw how quick Lisa was to set up her supplies, he began to feel less confident about the situation.

By about 10 AM I felt like I didn't have the energy to take the very strong contractions sitting up, so I went to lie down on the bed. Something about lying down made the contractions become VERY strong and intense and much faster. Lisa saw that things were going to happen very quickly and told me it was time to push my baby out. At that point, the only people around were her, Rachel (another midwife) and Joseph.

Though I disliked being the center of attention, I found that I didn't care much about it when I had other things to focus on. Everyone was so encouraging when they spoke, and Joseph was a good sport about letting me squeeze the life out of his hands with each contraction, but mostly everyone was quiet to let me do my work. Joseph put on some quiet George Winston music that I loved when I was growing up. That's what I love about home birth: it's relatively peaceful. You're in your own house, surrounded people who are calm and supportive. I've been lucky enough not to have a hospital birth, but I really can't imagine a better way for a healthy woman to have a healthy baby than at home!

Some women are silent and strong during labor, but I find it helps me more if I yell with each contraction. With Diana, someone mentioned at some point that I was using all my energy to yell and that I should push with each contraction instead. That's what I tried to do this time- less vocalization and more pushing with each contraction. I think that really helped. My water broke in the middle of heavy labor (same as with Diana). Liam was born at 11:30, after about an hour and a half of hard (pushing) labor. Much better than the four hours it took with Diana. His labor was like riding a lightning bolt through a thunderstorm. It was very quick, but so very intense!! I didn't get much time to rest between each contraction and they lasted much longer than I would have been comfortable with (if I'd had any input). I guess that's the nice thing about labor: it feels like someone is making your body work to push a baby out instead of you deciding to work hard and push the baby out yourself. All you can do is work with the natural process.

Our Liam didn't cry when he was born. He was also completely and very definitely blue. But no one panicked. Lisa, who has been to close to 900 births, didn't see any cause for concern because he was looking around and breathing. She called it "a peaceful transition." It's a good thing she's an expert, because both Joseph and I were a little worried. She laid him on the bed next to me (I was on my side) so I could meet him face-to-face for the first time. Our little blue baby just sat there with his eyes open looking around and studying the world. The cord was cut once the blood drained from it. When the placenta was delivered, there was a gush of blood and fluid that made both midwives jump into emergency response mode (P.S.- They both seem very capable in the event of an emergency). It stopped after a moment and they determined that there had probably just still been some water behind the placenta that came out after it.

I still required stitches thanks to the speed of labor and his 14 inch head. I think there were more than when I had Diana. Still, when you've just been through childbirth, it's not that big a deal to get some stitches. And it's much more manageable when you have your brand new baby to hold and talk to. Little Liam turned pink like all healthy babies should and even eventually cried about an hour after he was born. I let him nurse for a little bit, but mostly he just wanted to sleep. The midwives gave us a final checkup, packed up and left, and Joseph, Liam and I all got some rest. Around 6 PM we called my mom, who brought Diana back so our little family could all be together again. Diana enjoyed seeing me and Joseph and was even briefly interested in her little brother, though she kept insisting he was Ella or Emily, her 3 month and 6 week old cousins who live down the street.

It was such a blessing to have a speedy and healthy home birth. We love the newest member of our little family!

A day in late pregnancy

Here is a timeline of my day, which could probably be considered a typical day in week 39 of pregnancy:

12 AM- Finally pass out after two hours of tossing and turning because sleeping on one side makes the baby kick and wiggle, the other makes him push on your cervix (OW.), and your back and hips are killing you either way. Plus, bathroom breaks and random contractions.

5 AM- Unable to go to sleep after waking up for probably the fourth time during the night to go to the bathroom because the sun is starting to come up, and the combination of light and having your eyes (barely) open makes for the perfect opportunity to start worrying about everything.

7 AM- After numerous trips to the bathroom and tossing and turning (punching from the inside, pushing on cervix, the occasional Braxton-Hicks), fall asleep again.

8 AM- Wake up to hear your sweet child asking for "Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?" from the next room.

8-10 AM- Change the little girl, feed her, clean up, manage to get in some breakfast yourself, fold some laundry, take care of the dog, try to entertain and distract and clean up after an 18-month-old and a puppy.

10 AM- Put baby down for a nap (yes!) and try to get a nap in yourself.

11 AM- Get up feeling helpless, enraged and frustrated because, yet again, your baby won't let you sleep.

Take a relaxing shower, dissolve into tears because of pregnancy hormones you're so tired.

Share a little of the raincloud with your sweet husband who is working from home by telling him everything that's bothering you and all your hopes and fears and aches and pains. These are definitely real, overwhelming problems and probably not just pregnancy hormones gone awry. Husband (who has dealt with a pregnant wife once and knows how to handle these sorts of things) sympathizes gently with you, which is greatly appreciated. As a solution, he suggests you down half a beer to settle yourself and the baby down to sleep, which suggestion is not greatly appreciated.

11:45 AM- Toddler wakes up again.

Around 12:30 PM- An angel or sister-in-law, it's difficult to tell which, calls out of the blue to ask if she might take Diana sometime during the day to play and make cookies with her, while giving you the chance to nap. Almost begin weeping again at divine providence.

1 PM- Make and feed everybody lunch.

2 PM- Drop happy toddler off with many happy relatives and go home.

2:30 PM- Attempt to go to sleep. You know you'll have no problem because you're incredibly tired.

3 PM- After bathroom breaks, punches, and particularly vicious attacks on your cervix by a surprisingly energetic inside baby, give up the idea of sleeping with much more teeth-gnashing and tears of frustration. Feel like punching the kid back just because you're so tired.

Husband again talks you off a cliff of rage and desperation (helpful). Again suggests using beer to calm the child down (not helpful).

Decide to use your time sans baby to get things done around the house. Pick up toys (including the dog's toys), vacuum the entire house (a feat because everything's harder when you're pregnant) and start making potato rolls.

~5 PM- Amazing sister-in-law drops off your very happy child AND cookies.

5:30 PM- Sweet husband comes home from the gym with flowers, encouraging words, and fresh French bread.

6-8 PM- Husband plays with his little girl and the dog and finishes putting together the organizing system in the kids' closet (which you've been hinting you'd like finished). Everyone eats a happy dinner, the rolls are finished, the little girl gets a bath and goes to bed with minimal fussing.

8:30 PM- Sit down, relax, feel humbled by all the blessings and wonderful people in your life. Resolve to try to have a better attitude even when life is physically difficult. Realize that it's not your baby's fault that life is so uncomfortable and allow yourself to think about how wonderful it will be when he's born, how much you want to see him, and how much you love him already. Wonder if it's too late to try some ice cream....

Catching Up: Part II

Joey is BUSY

Joseph has some very industrious, detail-oriented tendencies which he credits to his German heritage. He is, at times, a workaholic. Sometimes it's because Alyrica demands it of him (owning a business is not what everyone dreams it is), but other times it's just because he wants to get things done. Lately he's been working on his latest baby company, Active911.

Active911 is actually a really cool idea. Joseph has been a volunteer firefighter/EMT with the Philomath Fire Department for the last ten years. Everyone carries around these clunky pagers (yes, apparently they still exist) with piercing alarms to let them know when a 911 call has come in. However, now everyone carries around cell phones and increasingly, smartphones. (If they're like Joey, they also tend to lose their pagers/chargers.) Joseph thought it would be a good idea to send 911 alerts from the dispatch center to emergency responders' phones. So for the past seven months or so he's been designing a system that will send alerts to any type of cell phone (iPhones, Android phones, "dumb" phones, etc.) and allow users to interact with other users in their department, letting them know whether they can respond or not. Smartphones obviously have more features: alert messages come with a map that allows users to see the location of the emergency as well as who in their department is responding (or can't respond).

Active911 very quickly took off, thanks in part to partnering to help a system called CADPage, which delivers alert messages to Android phones. Active911 is designed for any type of emergency responder, whether in a police or fire department, but is mostly used by fire departments. They have users all across the country and are adding new departments every day. However, the thing that everyone has been asking about is an actual iPhone/iPad App. For the past two or three months, Joseph has been working night and day to program an Active911 app. I literally mean night and day. He does as much work as he can on it during the day, while being interrupted with pressing Alyrica matters, and then usually programs until sometime between 2 AM-6 AM because "there are no distractions then." I've been trying to get him to sleep more, but he has been really excited about his work. He has started a few businesses over the past ten years, but this one has really gained momentum and is providing a very useful service. I think what makes it really rewarding is that it's something he's interested in and there is a base of very enthusiastic, very supportive users.

At something like 3 AM on May 8th, he finally submitted the Active911 App to the Apple App store. The word is that it currently takes about seven days for Apple to review an app and reject or approve it, so we expect to hear about it early next week. Joseph is really nervous it will be rejected. That would be a shame since it's so useful and the service has so many happy users already, but I think things will be fine either way. If it's rejected, he can tweak some things to make it more acceptable to Apple, and if it's not, there will be a bunch of happy people and he will be relieved and able to work on other things (and I won't have to fight for his attention over his laptop screen). 

Nova

Nova's preferred sleeping position.

When we came back from Mexico, we noticed something had changed about our dog. She was thinner and less fluffy. I think she went through a growth spurt and we suddenly came back to an adolescent dog! She certainly acts more like a teenager. Less puppy-like romping- she has serious energy and needs to really get it out and rough-house with someone. She has also suddenly developed attitude problems. We never had a problem leaving her at home and coming home to a very grateful dog. But in the past two or three weeks, if she feels as if she's been left at home unfairly, we'll come back to a trashed house. Now, she has lots of dog toys. She gets them out of her box and plays with them all day. I don't mind if she rips those up or chews on them or scatters them around. But for every naughty incident she has left her toys UNTOUCHED and completely shredded: the ringbearer's pillow from our wedding, a CD, the instruction manual for our dishwasher, books, pens, a stuffed sheep given to me by my great-grandmother, and she's ripped the eyes and noses off of a couple of Diana's stuffed animals. I'd say she needs something to occupy herself with, but SHE HAS HER TOYS. That sort of thing is on my "Bratty Teenage Behavior" list. Unfortunately, one of the best remedies is more exercise and keeping her occupied, and Joseph is the only one who can do that right now (and he has been busy). I am really looking forward to the time when I can take her for walks at a pace faster than a slow waddle and throw toys and play with her without pulling muscles. She is still a very sweet dog who loves us and wants to get along with everyone, we just have to work on a few problem behaviors before she'll be a really well-behaved girl. 

More Baby

I think I've written enough about how mentally done I am with pregnancy. There's not terribly much to update about the baby until he actually shows himself. He's measuring slightly behind schedule, which gives me this horrible feeling that he'll actually be in there the full 40 weeks if not longer (*weep*), but he's still active with a healthy heartbeat, which is the best thing I could hope for aside from actually being able to see and hold him and have my abdomen back.

The most common question people have is whether we have a name picked out. We really don't care about keeping names a secret since everyone's going to find out anyway. The truth is that we just haven't settled on anything. In the running are:

• William
• Joseph
• Matthew
• Patrick
• Finn
• Lloyd
• Timothy
• Arthur

all in various combinations. Some I'd only use as middle names, some Joseph prefers more than I do, some have awful nicknames... maybe it's a good thing pregnancy lasts ten months since we seem to need all that time to pick out a name. I can think of about a dozen girls names right off the bat that I'd love to use, but for some reason it's really hard to come up with a boy's name. Some of the names Joseph likes seem too grown-up and I can't imagine using them on a little boy, but Joseph points out that "he'll only be a kid for a short while and he'll be a man practically forever." I guess he has a point. Hopefully we'll have something picked out by the time the baby's actually born. 

Catching Up: Part I

I always do this with my diaries/journals, so I'm not sure why I thought I'd be able to consistently keep up with a blog. I guess I wasn't really thinking about it at all. Catch-up entries aren't all that bad. It means I've had time to filter out most of the unimportant things that seemed important at the time. Where to begin....

Pregnancy

At this point, I'm now 37 weeks pregnant. By the end of this week, baby will be considered full-term, thank goodness. I'm definitely ready to have my body back. (Yes, I've breastfed before. I know it technically won't be mine again until he's weaned.) Mostly I can't wait to be able to do normal things: bend over, walk, lift anything, throw a ball for the dog, have energy... Pregnancy is VERY uncomfortable by this point. This kid is very active, which always becomes uncomfortable when space gets tight. Contractions can be very strong. In fact, last night, they were six minutes apart and lasting a long time, but I decided to go to sleep to see if they'd last and they were gone by the morning. :P 

Baby has dropped, which means he bounces on arteries that cause the upper part of my legs to go numb at random times. I can literally be walking along and have my legs essentially fall asleep or feel like they're cramping up. Sometimes he also does something painful that feels like bouncing on my cervix. I don't know what it is exactly, but it makes it so that I have to stop where I am and just rest for a minute or two- something that doesn't always work well if I'm trying to run errands or do anything when my energetic toddler is involved. She has been very sweet about helping to pick things up off the floor and hold my hand and walk around very slowly with me. Our adolescent dog is not so patient. I feel bad- I WANT to play with her, but I waddle very slowly on our walks and I threw out my back slightly after one night of throwing her ball in the park. 

I feel like I've pulled probably every muscle that has to do with my pelvis or lower back. Actually, it feels like my pelvis is trying to detach from everything else (which is a major pain in the lower back and hips) and do its own thing. I feel compelled by a strong nesting instinct (oh, it's real, people) to start/finish a thousand house projects, but I don't have the strength or energy to do any of them. It's so frustrating. I feel useless and handicapped and huge and I just want this baby out! (To hold and cuddle and snuggle, of course. I still have some maternal feeling.) 

Diana

Our little girl grows up more every day! She can imitate just about every word we say, but sometimes she jumbles them up in adorable ways. If mommy needs a few minutes of time without Diana constantly scattering toys around or asking for "UP?!?" I put on the show "Kipper," or "Pikker" in Diana Speak. She often fingers the "pick" (clip) I have in my hair. She enjoys eating "Ogur" (yogurt). She will say "mess you!" when someone coughs or sneezes, she is very quick to point out when someone else makes an "uh oh! Mess!" She loves her dad and mom and "Nowa" (Nova). She does a happy stamping and twirling dance when she knows she's getting a snack or something she asked for. 

For some reason, clutching cheeks indicates happiness. One of the most endearing things she does is putting her hands on someone's cheek and telling them "hap-PY!" or randomly chanting "happy day!" It's so sweet and disarming when I'm frustrated or gloomy and she smiles into my face and tells me "happy day! happy day!" She is also very friendly to everyone and everything. She will wave and say "hi! hi!"  and then blow a kiss to anything you can think of: the moon in the sky, birds on the lawn, Nova, the train she hears in the distance, sheep in a field, characters in a book, etc. 

Diana has also begun to name things. Her special blanket is "Minky Blankie." The round stuffed giraffe she has is "Onk." Her bunny is "Hop-Hop." Her stuffed owl is "Howl." She probably has a host of other names for things, but Minky is definitely the most important. There can be no happiness in the world without Minky blankie. 

Diana has had eczema since she was four months old, and her skin is an ongoing battle, although as she grows older and grows out of some allergies, it has been slowly getting better. She has good weeks and bad weeks. The strangest things can set it off- like using anything with cocoa butter or introducing a new hand soap at home. Using dye- and fragrance-free laundry detergent helped, as did cutting out fabric softener. We experimented with dozens of soaps and lotions for her before finding that Aveeno's Eczema Therapy Moisturizing Cream and their Aveeno Baby Cleansing Therapy Moisturizing Wash were the only things that soothed her skin. The best thing we found was that by adding just a couple tablespoons of bleach to her bath, her skin (and occasional diaper rashes) could clear up overnight. I guess a lot of the redness was caused by bacteria on the skin naturally or that had been deposited there by her scratching. I discovered that I had to switch to a natural (Burt's Bees) body wash since she came in contact with my skin so often. I also had to stop using any lotion anyplace that wouldn't be covered by clothing (my arms, neck and face, usually). Consequently, I haven't used a facial moisturizer in like a year and I'd REALLY like to find one that works for both of us. 

Physically, Diana is so much more capable that sometimes it brings a tear to my eye. (I blame it on the hormones.) She loves playgrounds and sandboxes. She climbs up on couches and chairs and carries things around that should be way too big for her. She's sweet and very smart and still very much like her dad. Since she's over a year old, we've started on a catch-up schedule for the vaccines we thought were necessary. Unfortunately, since she's over a year old, she has a pretty good memory, and the doctor's office has become a sad place. Poor girl. 

Matt's Diet

Part of the reason this blog started in the first place! Again, Matt is the person most qualified to talk about this, but since he hasn't gotten around to writing a guest post, I guess I can write a bit of an update. After the initial Reboot diet, Matt went on and did his own exclusively juice diet for another month or two. He said he felt better than he had in a long time, and he was eating a great healthy diet (lacking only in protein and some fats and carbs), but Matt didn't actually lose weight on his juice diet. In fact, he gained it. At one point, Joseph's brother Kevin estimated that Matt was actually consuming 4,000-5,000 calories per day. No wonder he didn't lose weight! Since Matt really wanted to see results, especially if he was depriving himself of protein and caffeine, he was depressed and dismayed by his weight gain. So after talking it over with Joseph and Kevin, he decided to go on the Joseph Diet.

Joseph is a big and healthy man, but he has a stomach that may actually be smaller than mine, even when I'm not pregnant. He rarely goes back for seconds, or if he does, he usually regrets it later. Their thought was that if Matt could eat a healthy balanced diet that included protein, carbs, and limited amounts of caffeine but control his portion size by only eating exactly what Joseph ate, he might be able to lose weight and transition from a very sparse vegetarian diet to a more normal diet without swinging in the opposite direction toward giant portions of highly processed and greasy foods. 

Surprisingly, the Joseph diet did not work. Since we have a limited grocery budget, and we (by which I mean I) were suddenly feeding two grown men, we used meat very sparingly. I guess we ate more carbs and less meat than Matt was hoping for. He enjoyed eating meals that weren't vegetarian, but it still probably wasn't great weight-loss food. Also, despite my best efforts, Joseph never manages to eat breakfast and makes up for it by eating more at night or snacking on carbs (mostly chips) during the day, which I realize (though it is hard to convince him of) is NOT HEALTHY. I told Joseph that for his next diet venture, Matt should spend a couple months cooking for us, since I spent so much time making food for him and Joseph. ;) 

Matt's current eating plan is mostly just trying to eat a healthy, balanced diet on a budget, but he does love good and flavorful food. While he's not gaining weight, he's not really losing it either, and continues to flirt with the 300 lb mark despite working out very hard on a mostly regular basis. We'll see what works for him in the long run!

Everything Else

Family Trip to Mexico

We went on our first international family vacation with Diana to San Jose del Cabo in April. Joseph's friends really wanted to do a "guys' trip." Since we want to go on a big family vacation in the fall, and I suspected I'd need his help more in the last part of pregnancy, I suggested that the best time to go would be in early April. I've had lots of people tell me how generous and tolerant I was to let him go on a trip while I was 34 weeks pregnant and had a toddler. But I wasn't. I was just naive. If I'd had any idea how difficult that week would be, I would never have suggested he leave. It was a huge mistake. But he appreciated it, even though I felt each day like I was just fighting to survive with an energetic dog, an energetic toddler, and a baby using all my spare energy. :P He felt so guilty about leaving us that he arranged for Diana and I to fly down to meet him after his friends left so that we could spend a week together in Mexico as a family. One of my greatest fears with children has always been air travel, just because I know how loud, fussy, wiggly and bothersome kids can be. Did I mention Diana was going to be my "lap child" when I was 34 weeks pregnant and HAD NO LAP?? Luckily, the flying went much more smoothly than I anticipated. The novelty of travel was interesting enough to keep Diana entertained, and we flew down with my brother- and sister-in-law Kevin and Michelle and their baby, so we had help and company. Thanks to some fantastic company policies by Alaska Airlines, we actually had an open seat next to us on one leg and an entire row to ourselves on the longer leg, so Diana had room to play around. 

It was so much more relaxing in Mexico than at home, partly because I had help from Joey, who made up for the week before by watching Diana, cooking, and insisting that I take naps and read under umbrellas by the beach. Diana's skin cleared up in the sun and dry air and she loved wading and eventually being carried around in the pool. Overall we had a great time!

The Big Family Trip

Joseph and I love traveling internationally and we didn't want to stop just because we were having kids. In 2010 we went on a "Babymoon" (really an anniversary celebration) to Belgium, France, Switzerland and Germany and loved it. We wanted to go back and see more of Europe this fall, but it was going to be challenging with a 21-month-old toddler and a 3 month old baby. One of Joseph's younger sisters is studying German, so we invited her and another sister to come along with us. That way they can get to experience international travel and maybe help us with the kiddos a bit. We're very excited to plan out our trip, but really don't know exactly where we're going. It looks like it's cheapest to fly into Paris, and we'd love to see France again, so we'll probably come into Paris and swing through Strasbourg, but we're not sure where we should go in Germany. If anyone has any suggestions, we'd love to hear them!

A growing family

Our family has grown again. In fact, we don't seem to be satisfied with a family of fewer than four souls all told, including pets. Joseph and I have been feeling for a while that we are ready for another dog. It seemed like a good time to get one since we still have a few months to train and adjust to a new dog before having our baby.

We looked at Safehaven Humane Society, the shelter where we found Luna almost two years ago. We also talked to friends who knew of dogs that needed homes and scoured Craigslist. We were looking for a female that would be good with kids and not TOO wild, but beyond that we didn't have any firm ideas about what kind of dog we wanted. Joseph has the most experience with shepherd mixes, so he was partial to those.

After a month or two of looking around, we found a dog! Sticking to our celestial theme, we named her "Nova" (which is surprisingly easy to mix up with "Luna). She's about an 8 month old yellow lab. (Although so many people- including a veterinarian- have asked if she's a golden retriever, I'd be willing to believe she's a mix.) She came from a young couple who had a two year old and were expecting a baby AND both worked full time, and they understandably didn't have time for a puppy. They had one other dog- an older male pit bull- and Nova basically grew up playing with him in the back yard. Originally, they told us, she came from the Salem area where she belonged to a German couple who had given her some training in German. It would be interesting to see if she remembers any of that.

We've had Nova for a week now and my assessment is that she's basically a very smart, good-natured puppy. She can learn commands ("sit," "shake," and "down" were new for her) with just a couple of tries. She is definitely an energetic puppy, but does a fantastic job of controlling herself in the house. She is a snuggle bug and loves pets and rubs. She is very eager to please people! She managed to chew up one comb and a cardboard tube of ribbon before we got her some chew toys, and now she mostly works on those. She gets distracted by things, sometimes leaves puddles when strange men try to say nice things to her, and chases cats. Her greatest asset as far as I am concerned is that she is absolutely and unfailingly gentle with Diana. Diana is absolutely in love with the "doddy," who can always make her smile. She whacks her lovingly on the back, pulls her tail and ears and fur, grabs her nose, and Nova just walks away if it becomes too much. After growing up with a male pit bull, she can be VERY rough and tumble with her playing- there's lots of growling and pawing and sometimes nipping if she's playing with another dog. But while she lunges at toys that Joseph and I wave around, she just sniffs and walks away if Diana waves the same toys in her face. She knows not to get rough around kids and I appreciate that. Now, whenever Nova is lying down around the house, Diana will seek her out and just sit down next to her to figure out what they're going to do next. It's very cute. I suspect those two girls will have something very special as they grow up.

Baby news

I'm almost six months pregnant now, and I have been DYING to know baby's gender (and that everything's okay, because moms worry). Our midwife doesn't do ultrasounds, so for Diana I volunteered as a model for ultrasound tech training at the local pregnancy resource center. It works out very well and it's free, but they legally can't tell you your baby's gender since they're not a medical clinic and run into liability issues. So they basically browse over the area and let you speculate wildly.

Now Joseph and I and everyone else who cared to guess have felt that this baby was a boy for a long time. By the old wives' tales about fetal heart rate (lower heart rate for a boy and higher for a girl), this baby seemed like a boy (HR around 120-135). But really, there's no way to know without an ultrasound and I REALLY wanted to know whether I needed to be preparing for a boy or if we'd be able to use all of Diana's old clothes, blankets, etc.

With slight distrust, I talked to our insurance company who said they'd cover an ultrasound as long as it was ordered by our midwife even though they wouldn't cover our midwife. Weird. But that was all I needed to set up an appointment at the hospital. Our visit reinforced how much I hate hospitals and the medical system but love the sweet nurses and technicians who make it work. The tech who did our ultrasound was incredibly nice and very well practiced. She breezed through our ultrasound, got us some great pictures, and though he was mostly modest and difficult, we determined that we're having a little boy!

We're very excited, but part of me is a little baffled since I don't know what to do with a little boy. I remember being a little girl and I can understand what Diana is thinking and feeling. I've been assured that little boys are sweet and love and need their mommies, though, so I think we'll have a great time. Here are some pictures of him:

Here he is in 3D with his little hand jammed up under his nose.

Baby's profile

To my surprise, several people alluded to the fact that I had been hoping for a boy or had wanted to have the first Sullivan boy. Thanks to pregnancy hormones, my memory is already worse than it has been, but I'm almost certain that's not the case. As the oldest child, the first grandchild on both sides of my family, and the first girl, I always resented the idea that having a boy was superior to having a girl. Sure, in most cases, the family name is passed on through a boy, but I don't think either one should be valued any differently for any reason. When I had Diana, someone mentioned that we may have lost our chance to have the first Sullivan boy, and that actually bothered me a lot. Who cares?? One day Diana may change her name, but she is just like her dad and in her manners and characteristics she is a Sullivan through and through. Some days I wonder if I shared any part of my genes with her!

So yes, we are thrilled to be having a little boy, and no, that wasn't what I was "hoping for," I just felt like we had a boy in there. Just had to get that off my chest. We don't have a name yet, but we're going through some family names (and some names that we just like). We may break the tradition of naming a baby after a family member. I was encouraged to consider some of the Cespedes family names like Eulalio, Atanacio, Leopoldo, etc. but I'm not sure how well that will work for our little guy. I will do everything I can to avoid having a child named Marcus Aurelius Apollo Creed Sullivan, which is Joseph's current top choice over Maximus Sullivan. It should be fun preparing for him in any case!

Reboot Days 4, 5, and 6: Attitude

Matt's colorful vegetable juice, Day 4

Well, Joseph's out of the race, but Matt's still going strong. After the first three days he'd lost 6.6 lbs. It's been six days now and Matt is down 10 lbs total!  He's even inspired some other people to try the Reboot, or at least to watch the documentary. He seems to feel fine. I hope that he'll get the time to write an entry on this blog about his Reboot experience, but in general he seems to be as energetic as ever and thinking clearly. His body seems to be doing just fine without caffeine, sugar, carbs, or even much protein. I imagine he must feel better too!

I've been struggling with the workload and having a good attitude. In addition to making 4-5 dishes/juices/smoothies each day for Matt, I have to make food for the rest of us. But I can't make the food until I've cleaned the mountains of dishes (have I mentioned we don't have a dishwasher yet?) and then put them away so that I can dirty them again making two separate meals, after which they need to be cleaned. Meanwhile, Diana is running around my feet very sweetly playing by herself, but that usually involves scattering her toys (and other things) around the entire house including all over the kitchen floor where I'm working. There's also the occasional bump on the head, pinched finger, need for snacks, dirty diaper, and clinging to mommy's legs just to see what I'm doing. Then I have to pick and sweep up everything that she's scattered around the house and do more dishes. By the way, that's why I fall behind on blog posts.

Now, I volunteered for this, and I'm still happy to do it, so it should be fine. But darn it if it's not a struggle sometimes to give to others gracefully and without complaining! To me, it highlights how very much humans are weighed down by a naturally selfish nature. God gives so much to us freely, people who could never deserve it, and here I am getting grouchy about the workload that I volunteered to take on. It certainly feels like a lot of work sometimes, but I know there are other people who do still more with a better attitude. Joseph has helped me with cleaning up and dinners, which is incredibly sweet of him since he has more than enough to do with his two businesses. I have figured out that when I stay on top of things instead of taking breaks when I want to, the days go much more smoothly. There's no rushing and stressing. That's probably something I should have learned long ago, but sometimes it takes a while for things to really click. I'm also trying to work on having a better attitude regardless of the circumstances. Some days are still better than others, and hopefully I'll continue to improve with Joseph's encouragement and lots of practice. (Oy.)