Thigh creases

Goodbye chicken legs

Hugo has this one sleep stage where he's not quite awake but not in deep sleep either. During this stage he squeaks, grunts like an old man, smiles, whimpers and flails his arms and legs. Some say we should just swaddle him, but Houdini here can get out of the tightest blanket. He lifts his legs straight up and then bends at the knees repeatedly, then pulls his arms sideways and upwards until all appendages are free and the blanket is just loosely wrapped around his middle. Last night I slept with Hugo downstairs on a mushy futon so he kept rolling towards me. I'd wake up to little arms flailing and tiny legs kicking me. I tried to hold his arms and legs down but he just grunted and wiggled more and tried to straighten his legs over and over and pull his arms from my grip -- all while in this not-quite-awake stage. After a while he'd finally relax and I'd fall asleep again, only to wake to noisy sucking. Yes, he's discovered that his little fingers are just the right size for sucking, sometimes several at a time. I'll have to try to get video of this sometime.

Speaking of other things I don't have pictures of, about a week ago we got a Baby Bjorn (chosen over other carriers because Hugo likes to face out). Joe had it on and we were trying to get the baby situated in it, but apparently Hugo still had some gas bubbles because as I was fixing a burp cloth over the front of it, he let loose with a fountain of milk. As quick as I think I am with a burp cloth, I couldn't get to it before he sneezed. That's right, burped up milk sprayed all over my face and a little bit in my mouth. Joe was calling out "get the camera!" but it was too late, I was already at the kitchen sink washing it off. Now I wish I had that picture.

Vampire baby

Shielding his face behind a cloak, baby Drac waits for the perfect moment to strike.

RRAAAwwwwrrrr!!!!

Ha ha! I rediscovered these gems while going through pictures on the computer.

I recently changed my Facebook picture to this shot we took while walking at Greenlake one night. Come on, what a sweetie!!

hee hee

Tummy time

Hugo is 6 weeks old today and is growing bigger and getting stronger. His legs have been super strong ever since he was in the womb, and he often pushes himself up to standing (sort of) when being held over the shoulder. He's also getting a little more head and neck control.

Here he is having a little tummy time. He successfully turned his head from one side to the other about three times before getting worn out.

Holding on with just the big toes

His hair has definitely gotten lighter in the last few weeks, and his cheeks and legs are starting to pudge out a little bit.

Sonja visited this week and went to Zoo Tunes with us and helped take care of Hugo.

Pictures!

startle reflex

sneezy

grandma rank

Swirly has a name

The Ohsiek swirl lives on to delight and torment another generation.

Deciding on a name has been more difficult than I thought it would be. We've known for the last 6 months that it would be a boy, but still left the hospital without a name. Lots of contenders though-- Hank, Frank, Jesus, and Zebedee, among many others. To some he'll always be known as Moe, Mountain Man or just Baby Boy. But officially (once we get the birth certificate form filled out) it will be Hugo Paul Jitsudo Rank.

Paul because he was born on the same day as Joe's dad Paul/Popper, plus it's a good name and Joe's middle name.
Jitsudo because that's my grandfather's name, and many Ohsiek girls have Japanese middle names, but why limit it to just the girls?
Hugo because it just fits him. I personally don't know anyone else named Hugo, as I'm sure is the case for most of you, but that's what I can see myself calling him... more than Jesus (that's the Spanish pronunciation mind you). There are other Hugos out there (besides Hugo Chavez) -- Hugo Weaving, Hugo Peabody, Victor Hugo. But now when I think of the name Hugo I'll think of my sweet little baby.

Thank you to everyone for the warm wishes and happy thoughts. It's been great reading through the comments and emails and hearing from you. We're lucky to have such good family and friends.

Welcome Baby Boy Rank

July 11, 2009







Yes, July 11 was a momentous day for Maria. This is my bystander view of the events.
11:55 pm July 10 - Maria's "bag of waters" broke. "Gushing" is how she described it. Every term pregnant woman's fear of gushing waters came true. Fortunately, she was in the bathroom brushing her teeth, after sitting up talking to her niece Crystelle, who made a quick trip to Seattle and spent the night. More on that later. Really, the bathroom is probably the best place in the world to break your "bag of waters". This happened only days after reading the reassuring words in "What to Expect...", which state that the waters really hardly ever "gush" when you are standing, so being in public is safe. The baby's head acts as a sort of cork and the "gush" just doesn't happen. Well, Maria may have an opposing opinion to declare.

After checking our sources, we found several suggesting we call the midwife and possibly go into the hospital. We gathered up the things we wanted to bring with us. Maria had her bag all ready to go two weeks ago. We didn't hear back from the midwife for over an hour, because she was delivering the baby of one of the other couples in our Centering Group. When she called back, she had checked the status of Maria's Group B Strep culture. The culture was positive, so we knew that she would receive antibiotics and probably be induced if labor didn't start soon. The midwife called us in to the hospital and we arrived a little after 2 am.

We learned that Swedish hospital has a new policy of inducing labor almost immediately for Group B Strep positive women with premature rupture of membranes. At this point Maria was not having contractions, didn't seem even close to labor. We were given options. 1- get some rest, and induce labor in the morning (rest includes a shot of morphine in Maria's tush). 2- induce now and get labor going. Naturally we chose option 1. We had been up all day most of the night and had both worked a full day on Friday. Within 30 minutes of getting the morphine shot, Maria had started contractions that kept going, keeping her awake through the night. So, after a refreshing 15 minute nap, we were in the middle of "having a baby" time.

The short story is that Maria's labor progressed steadily and rapidly. By 4 am she was at 3 cm. By 5:15 am she was at 6 cm. By 6:30, after a stint in the jacuzzi, she had only a "rim" of cervix left on the anterior side. It looked like she would deliver before 8 am, but things slowed down at this point. That last rim of cervix was stubborn and did not go down quietly. She tried different positions, squatting, standing on her head etc. The labor became more intense during this time, and it was frustrating that the increased pain did not produce better or faster results. (Like any of this makes sense or should happen a certain way) Finally around 8 am the baby's head made it over the rim of cervix and she could start pushing. The pain of pushing, the contractions and progression of decent of the fetus combined to make that last hour the most painful and the loudest. Yes, Maria managed to get a few words in between contractions. "It's stuck, not moving" were among the vocalizations.

However, Hercules was a wimp next to Maria, and she just hunkered down and pushed and pushed and pushed that baby out.

A dark head of hair was emerging. When he finally made it out, the prominent cone head and bruises told the story of head butting the pubic bone, maybe he is bound to be a rugby player. However, uncomfortable to all, to say the least.

The baby had Apgar scores of 9/9, and we are sure this will get him into Harvard.

The placenta was delivered later with a somewhat "short" cord and looking very normal- I should know, I have looked at lots of them.

Besides the headache of staying up all night, the whole experience was a blessing. This baby is beautiful. Maria is AMAZING. I am in awe.

I was also able to bring Teo to see her new little brother. Nothing is as pleasing as the true excitement for life of a seven year old.

Baby takes first bath.

So around 11 am Maria called Crystelle to tell her she had a new cousin. Evidently, Crystelle had not remembered Maria waking her at 2 am and telling her we were going to the hospital. Crystelle woke up, wandered around the empty house wondering why we had ditched her there, gone off to breakfast or some wild tour of Seattle chicken coops. Crystelle was truly pleased to be the first of the Ohsiek side to hold the baby.