My afternoon nap routine

We're all amazed at how big Palesa can open her little nap to yawn.  Thursday we took it easy, and Palesa and I took many naps together.  All of the jet-lag combined with inadequate sleep and mamma was feeling a bit under the weather.  But luckily, thanks to Grandma, who was more than willing to hold Palesa, and Daddy, the famed baby-whisperer, I was able to catch up (in theory) on sleep and soon felt much better.

15 Days old

Palesa was helping Daddy type.  Actually, she was distracting Daddy from typing

 Our big accomplishment of the day was Palesa's first bath!  I wanted to hold on to that newborn smell in her hair for as long as possible, but the sour milk smell from her neck indicated that it was probably time for her first bath.  Osei handed her to me while I was in the shower.  At first she was surprised at suddenly being wet, but she seemed to enjoy it after a while.  However, though I splashed her body with water, I completely forgot to pay attention to her milky neck.  Oh well.

When she nurses, she'll easily grip whatever is around her.  Her fingers are still so tiny.   

We also had a visit from Audra and Catherine, two of our midwives.  They loved getting to see her again, and confirmed that she's gotten exponentially cuter since their last visit.  She's gaining wait like a little champ, and according to Audra's scale, 7 lbs, 13 ounces.

She made us a mamma and a daddy!

Last night, part of me was so saddened to realize that Palesa will never be one day old again.  She'll never be two days old again either.  I can't stop staring at her.  I am so in love.

Update from Daddy- she has a name!

Amy and Osei have chosen a name. Our daughter shall be called Palesa Sela May. Palesa (pah-LAY-sah) is an African name from the country Lesotho meaning "flower." Sela (SEE-la) is a biblical name/word meaning "rock." Our little daughter is preciously beautiful as a flower and strong like a rock. She has might in her hands and a strong grip. She can lift up her neck already and she can suck like a Dyson. Her name suits her features and personality. We wanted to get to know her first before naming her. You can see why we waited.

It's a girl!

Yesterday afternoon (October 24, 2011) we gave birth to our beautiful daughter.  She was born at home in our bedroom after 24 hours or so of labor.  I was supported by my amazing husband Osei, and a team of 3 midwives.  It was intense and absolutely the hardest thing that I've ever done, but worth every moment.  Osei and I are head over heels in love her.  I remember seconds after she was born looking at Osei, shouting out, "We had a BABY!" and feeling overwhelming love for Osei, that I couldn't possibly love him any more than I did, and then overwhelming love for our new baby.  It was absolutely incredible.  We feel so blessed.

She is 7 lbs 4 oz, and 20.25" long and was born at 2:18 pm.  Apgars were 8 & 9 and she is now latching very well.  We wanted to get to know her a bit first before giving her a name (but she is no longer just "Omee" the fetus).  Baby is healthy and in our opinion, absolutely perfect. She was born with a beautiful full head of hair and both Osei and I just want to kiss her all over.  

We are still pretty exhausted after laboring all night long (Sunday night).  Sunday during the day I was in pretty easy early labor, and things started getting intense (active labor) in the middle of the night Sunday night, going into Monday.  I was in active labor for about 12 hours, and pushed for an hour.  Somehow I went through transition twice (at least it felt like it)!  A few different times labor slowed down enough that I could lay down and fall asleep between contractions, but overall I don't know how to describe it besides intense (think projectile vomiting).  But somehow the moment I first held her on my chest I instantly forgot everything about how challenging labor was.  Osei was an absolutely incredible birth partner.  I could not have done it without him.  He is smitten with our baby girl.  Our midwives were also fantastic.

We will send an update shortly with a name (and another picture, hopefully we can get her to wake up and show her beautiful brown eyes!).  For now, we're trying to get some rest.  Though we went to bed early last night, I could hardly sleep because I just wanted to look at her and listen to her breathe next to us.  

I'm working on the detailed version of the birth story and am more than happy to share.  Please email me back if you are interested in reading though.  :)

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.  We are truly, truly blessed.

Love and blessings,

Amy, Osei, and baby girl May

34.5 weeks

Hello all,

For the second weekend in a row, I was back in Vermont this past weekend. This time, I was there for a Childbirth Educator Training course in Montpelier, which was a great time! It was extra special as well to see a very special newlywed couple, who was gracious enough to host me!

Osei spent the weekend representing the May family in NYC at our Goddaughter's 3rd birthday. I wish I could share the video of her enthusiastic WOW reaction to the floor puzzle (a map of the USA) he gave her! I got choked up when Osei told me about the gift, mainly thinking how much I loved my nerdy husband for selecting such a cool educational toy. Thinking about it makes me very excited to see Osei with his own daughter or son.

Pregnancy is chugging along at an alarmingly quick rate. It is shocking to think that I'll be considered "full term" in another 2 weeks (but full term means the baby will likely be born anywhere within the next 2-7 weeks, but hopefully closer to about 5 weeks). Osei and I are planning on a homebirth and slowly preparing to get ready for birthing.


Finally, I wanted to share an interesting pregnancy tidbit you all might want to know! Even if you're not a Patriots fan, you have to admit that Tom Brady is an amazing quarterback. In fact, he and Osei definitely have a lot in common (especially the good looks). Tom Brady and his wife (who happens to be supermodel Gisele Bundchen) also live in the Boston area and also had a homebirth. Just thought you would enjoy knowing how much Tom has in common with Osei!

Hugs and blessings to all!

XOXO,

Amy, Osei and baby Omee

31.5 weeks

Hello,

I know what you are probably thinking. No, I did not swallow a soccer ball!

We're now inside two months to go until the expected due date! Happily, the baby now has a place to sleep! Here is also a picture of the finished co-sleeper. Over the weekend we sanded the wood, and then finished the wood with beeswax. I made the mattress out of old 100% wool Swiss military blankets, which I washed and cut into panels and sewed together with yarn. The only thing left to do is make an additional mattress pad (the same wool panel treated with lanolin to make it waterproof), as well as sew the bedding. The sheets I will make with some fabric given to us by my Aunt Rosemary (thank you again, Aunt Rosemary!). The co-sleeper is now attached to our bed (there are handles underneath) and it is ready to go. It only took 7 months, but I was finally able to convince Osei to switch sides of the bed with me, so now I'm also 4 steps closer to the bathroom. At this point in pregnancy, those 4 steps are definitely important!

Osei and I are doing very well, and getting more and more curious to meet this little baby constantly doing hula and breakdancing moves in my belly!

Hugs and blessings to all,

Amy, Osei, and baby Omee

29.5 weeks... and counting

Hello all,

Here is a picture from last weekend when I was still back in my "20's". As of this week, I'm now 30 weeks. Or 75% there!

Major highlights from this past week include putting the legs on our cutsom-built co-sleeper. We will "finish" it with a non-toxic beeswax, and then just need to drill a few more peg holes so that the shelf the mattress will sit on is adjustable. We are also still working on the mattress, which will be sewn by us out of 100% wool blankets treated with lanolin to be waterproof.

Osei recently got me my first sewing machine! It is an older model, a Singer 457, and super sturdy. We've both been studying and learning how to use it and are excited to use it for real projects! So far, one of Osei's old undershirts has been our practice cloth, but we also have some lovely flannel waiting to be sewn into a few baby blankets and burp cloths.

Love and blessings to all,

Amy, Osei, and baby "Omee"

25.5 weeks

Hello all,

Here is a picture from this past weekend, at about 25.5 weeks. It has been quite hot here, and I'm thankful to be working in an air-conditioned office building! Not too much new to report, except that baby Omee is, as usual, moving around nonstop.

Hope all is well!

Love,

Amy, Osei & Omee

17 weeks 5 days

Hello all,

This has been an exciting week in the May household. Osei is working very hard finishing is final thesis paper (the thesis he already presented a few weeks ago). He will graduate next Saturday, woo hoo!

Not that the days matter very much, but this picture is from today, 17weeks 5 days. The shirt actually says "Smith" and is in honor of Smith College Commencement, which happened this weekend. Unfortunately, I missed my 6 year class reunion, but I was there in spirit. Who knows if we're growing a future Smithie too!

I've been feeling the baby (who we call Omee right now) moving a lot. On Friday, I could feel thumping from the outside, just placing my hand on my belly. It kind of feels like a goldfish you buy at the pet store hitting into the side of the plastic bag. Please promise to never tell our child that we often compare it to a goldfish. :)

I hope all are well. Hugs to all!

Love,

Amy & Osei

16.5 weeks, and the Proud-Parents-to-Be

Hello and Happy Mother's Day to all!
This weekend felt extra special for us- today we had a picnic in the Arborretum across the street from us and saw all the blooming lilacs. It was nice to be pampered today by my adoring husband for Mother's-to-be Day.. :)

This picture is from yesterday, so 16.5 weeks. We thought we needed a picture of the proud papa-to-be as well. I'm feeling wonderful, loving the new curves of my growing belly, and really really enjoy being pregnant!

Much love and hugs,

Amy

All is going really well- 15.5 weeks

Hello everyone!


I hope all is well. Here is a picture from 15.5 weeks- sorry for the delay! Last week we had another prenatal visit, which was awesome. We met at our house with our amazing midwives, and the visit was 1.5 hours, most of the time just talking about our feelings about the pregnancy and answering all of our questions. She said that the baby is measuring right exactly where it should be!

I've felt the baby kick a few times now in the past two days, which is really exciting. It felt sort of similar to a gas bubble, but not really.

Other very exciting news from last week is that we presented our thesis! Actually, Osei did all the presenting and all of the work. Again, this is for his Masters in International Education Development, and his thesis looked at the academic achievement gap and proposed a social enterprise solution involving human milk donations and related services to fund enriched early childhood education. Here is his website for anyone interested: www.pumpandjump.wordpress.com.

Big hug to all of you!

Love,

Amy

14.5 weeks

Dear all,


Osei and I are both amazed to see this growing belly! We're now nearly 15 weeks, and I feel really great. I no longer have to pee every 20 minutes, and my energy level is back to normal, and outside of one fateful Tuesday a few weeks ago, I've not been sick at all. I feel like myself again- just a hungrier version of me!

Thank you all for your kind notes and encouraging words- I can't tell you how loved this makes me feel, and how much I appreciate it! Osei and I really wish we could share this time with you in person, but I guess a weekly picture will just have to do.

Hugs and blessings to all!

Amy & Osei

13.5 weeks (April 18)

Hi all,


I hope you are all well. This is from yesterday, just over 13.5 weeks. I'm continually amazed to see my belly growing, and more recently this week, it has sort of hit me in a new way that wow, we're actually going to have a baby! Not that I didn't realize this before, but it hit me differently!

Big hug to all, and I miss you all!

Love,

Amy

How time flies- 11.5 weeks

Hello all,

This is from 11.5 weeks. This week we had our first prenatal this week with our lovely midwives. I can feel the top of my uterus, which is a finger or two higher than my pubic bone. Right now my belly feels (looks) really pointy, and the fetus is about the size of a small lemon. I finally feel like myself again, and I feel like I have my energy back. I still cry at cute pictures of little kittens, but that is another story!

Love to all,

Amy

Because my mother asked me to send a picture- 10.5 weeks

Hello all,


I didn't send a picture this week because we took the picture in a rush and it wasn't my favorite pic, and though I'm wearing maternity clothes, the outfit certainly doesn't highlight the growing bump. So I'm not sure this week looks any different. My mom asked me about the picture, so I am happy to send anyway. But isn't it a cute maternity outfit I found from a mom on craigslist?

Love,

Amy

What a difference a week makes- 9.5 weeks

So, this isn't a month, but a week later. Things are a changing!

Hugs and smooches to all.

Love,

Amy
 

* Okay, confession to all.*  When I sent this email at 9.5 weeks, I was convinced my belly had suddenly just popped overnight.  It actually hadn't.  For a few weeks, I'd parade around the house showing Osei how pregnant I looked, and how big my belly was getting.  And naturally, when it came time to take my picture, I stood tall, engaged my core, shoulders back, and well, made sure no belly of mine was hanging out!  At 9.5 weeks, after I took the picture and relaxed by abs, Osei finally caught on and we re-took the picture.

8.5 Weeks (from March 15)

Hi lovely ladies,
First, this picture is for your personal use only. No internet reproductions please! (And definitely no facebook!)

Osei and I have been taking weekly pictures since 5 weeks to eventually make a little album, and we thought that every month, we'd do a more formal picture, so those of you living far away can see the bump start to grow. I'm definitely starting to notice a difference... it is more obvious in comparison to the other pictures. And by 7pm, I look like I'm 5 months at least. Yay for major bloating! This picture is from 8.5 weeks. I'll send you another at 12 weeks.

Anyway, enjoy, and thanks for all being part of my life and letting us share this exciting time with you!

Love,
Amy
 

The worst kept secret ever

So, I haven't posted on my blog since mid February.  It has been a busy spring.  In fact, it was a busy winter.  What with all the back-to-back blizzards that hit Boston this winter, apparantly Osei and I found other creative indoor activities to keep ourselves busy.

A few days after my last post, we learned we had a little bun in the oven, expected to make its debut somewhere around the middle or end of October.

Though I've been slacking on keeping my blog updated, Osei and I have been quite diligent about taking weekly pictures of the pregnant belly slowly growing.  At 8 1/2 weeks, we began sending a weekly picture to a few very close friends and family, who all live far away from us.  We wanted to be able to include them in our pregnancy even if we couldn't see them in person.  The list has grown since then, and finally, at 27 weeks, I just had the great idea to post these little updates on my blog.  I'm going to start from the beginning and work my way forward.  Hopefully I will catch up before October rolls around!