Merry Christmas!

A Taboo Topic

There are certain things you just don't discuss publicly and weight gain is one of those taboo topics you don't mention to a hormonal, sleep deprived new mom. But my six week postpartum check up was last week, I've been cleared for all physical activity, and it is time to face the music. I gained about 50 pounds with my pregnancy. (Sigh) I had such good intentions to keep the weight gain to a minimum. I had after all just lost nearly 80 pounds over the previous 18 months and I didn't want to undo all that hard work. Blame it on the emotional stress of the pregnancy, blame it on the PIO injections, blame it on the ridiculous swelling I endured from early in the pregnancy, blame it on my sheer laziness...the fact remains I need to work on losing those pounds all over again and quickly! Over the past six weeks I have come to the unfortunate realization that I am not one of those women where the weight melts away due to breastfeeding,etc. I have this one comfort: deep inside, beneath the dark circles under my eyes, below the belly bulges (yes there is more than one), under the (gulp) layers of FAT, is my inner athlete. I know she is still there ready to lay claim to my body once again. (Dr. B and Dr. C when they were doing my c-section had a discussion about my great set of ab muscles and I told them how I used to be in triathlon shape.) So to begin my renewed effort to bring out my inner "Athena" I have summoned a little help from some old friends:

Body Media Fit Armband - Knowledge is power and this armband helps me track my daily calorie burn, steps, and other such important information.  As Bob Harper says: "It's calories in, calories out!".  

Spin Class - It is not the activity that burns the most calories for me (running is) but I attend on Tuesdays and Saturdays and that serves as "anchor" days for my exercise week.  Attending spin motivates me to do my other workouts and even if I don't do them I never go more than three days without a good calorie burning session.

The Bosu Ball - This funny looking bubble thingy punishes my abs more than any other activity.  It is fun to workout on and helps me tone muscle without having to go anywhere.  Key for a new stay at home mom!  I will also get a little SAHM workout help from my Biggest Loser DVDs.  I love Bob's weight loss yoga video the best.

The BOB Stroller - Jogging is the activity where I burn the most calories.  Right now I put Lena's car seat in the the attachment and we take the BOB out for 5k walks every week.  Eventually when Lena gets older we will jog together!

The Keurig Hot Beverage Machine - I LOVE sweets.  One of my tricks is to replace high caloric desserts/snacks with hot beverages like hot chocolate and various teas.  The Keurig makes this all too convenient. 

Farm Fresh to You - In general Dan and I have been working to get more vegetables in our daily diet.  Now that I am a SAHM I have lots more time to cook.  We are getting a fruit and veggie mix box delivered once a month to encourage me to try new recipes and foods.  This month's challenge was fennel, bok choy, and white turnips. 

Vitamix 5200 - One of our most favorite purchases this year was our Vitamix blender.  It is the same blender that Starbucks and Jamba Juice use.  We use it mainly to make healthy smoothies with fruit, protein powder, flax seed, and veggies!  My personal favorite is: blueberries, bananas, vanilla protein powder, milk, and tons of green veggies like spinach and kale.

I am also planning on entering a few races this year. I think my first race back might be the Knott's Berry Farm 5k/10k in March! I definitely want to do the Long Beach triathlon again next September and a half marathon as well. Getting physically healthy is something that I have always had to work at but it has been extra on my mind now that we are "older parents" in our later 30s and we need to take care of ourselves so that we are around long enough to care for Lena Joyce and see her grow up. Here is to unleashing my inner athlete, meeting goals, and never giving up!

Me after finishing my first sprint distance triathlon in Sept 2010

One Month Old

(Actually Lena is almost six weeks old but here is her one month picture that I took two weeks ago...)

These last few weeks Lena has been transitioning out of preemie clothes and diapers and into newborn stuff which gives us many more dressing options. Her hair bows are fitting now and we have had tons of fun wearing her Babylegs newborn leg warmers. She is a great baby and only gets gassy occasionally. She is changing constantly and quickly putting on her baby fat, which I LOVE! She is over seven pounds now which is up nearly three pounds from birth. She has been gaining around 1 to 1.5 oz per day! She guzzles her food and I think it is hilarious how she sounds like a cross between a gremlin and a piggy when she takes her bottle. She seems to be keeping her head of lovely brown hair and her eyes seem to be staying a nice grey blue. Purple is this little girl's best color!

I have been LOVING my new job as a stay at home mom. My days as a high school teacher already seem like a distant past. We are so blessed to have our Lena and are just drinking her in and cherishing each precious day.

What's in a name? - The tale of two Grandmas

At our baby shower in October one of my lovely hostesses asked me what my hopes were for our baby girl.  Up till that point I hadn't been intentional in thinking about that topic.  My thoughts were more pragmatic like:  I hope that our baby girl is healthy.. I hope she doesn't die.. I hope our baby girl is really a girl since I bought all girl clothes... etc.  Once I began to reflect on this question more deeply I realized that we had considered our hopes for baby girl in the selection of her name.  So this is the story of the people and the meaning behind Lena Joyce's name and what we hope for our new little baby girl.

Lena

This is Lena Chessie Dykstra Shackleton (1891-1955).  She is Dan's paternal grandmother who was born in Iowa in 1891 to Dutch immigrants.   She was mother to four boys who all grew up to serve the Lord and live lives committed to Christ. 

Joyce

 This is Joyce Crabtree Hurst (1918-1996).  She is my maternal grandmother who lived most of her adult life in San Francisco where I visited her a couple times every year.

Precious Moments: Part Two

Lena in the NICU and Coming Home 

Lena's First Visitors

Precious Moments: Part One

Lena's Labor

The C-Section:  Lena's Arrival

Lena's First Week Home!

"My name is Lena and I am this big!"

Early last Tuesday morning we got a call from the NICU.  The neonatalogist wanted to let us know that he was happy with the progress that Lena had made in the last few days and was writing her discharge papers!  My emotions were all over the place.  I was excited that Lena was coming home but I was so nervous that we would mess her up.  Dan was great.  In my insecurity he reminded me that we knew how to change her and feed her and God would help us take care of the rest.  As each day has passed this week Dan and I have gotten more and more comfortable caring for little miss Lena.  On Thursday we went to our mother well baby appointment at St. Jude and Lena had already gained three ounces since she came home with us on Tuesday morning.  It was a nice affirmation that we were doing all the right things so far.  My blood pressure was still incredibly high and the swelling quite bad so I had to rush over to the OB office to see Dr. B.  He doubled my medication and ordered me on bed rest for a week.  I am to do nothing but rest, attend my Dr. appointments, and care for Lena.  On Friday we met Lena's new pediatrician for the first time and again we were blessed with a great report on little Lena.  The doctors are all in agreement that while Lena is small she is incredibly healthy and for that we are sooooo thankful.  Lena has beat great odds to be born into this world.  Her little life is a miracle and her story will never cease to amaze me. 

Me and miss Lena in the special rocking chair.

Pop does a great job feeding his little "peanut".

So this is love...

Daddy and his little "Lena Peanut" as he calls her.

Last night we came home after Lena's 8pm feeding and bath.  It was hard to leave her in the NICU but we know they are taking good care of her and we were glad to get some needed rest before today.  We are headed out to the hospital to spend the day with Lena.  The NICU nurses have been great working with us on caring for her, breastfeeding, etc.  The doctor hopes to send her home with us either today or tomorrow.  We will see.  

Little Miss Lena Update

 Lena in the NICU
We had to place Lena in the NICU the morning after she was born.  While she was small at four pounds, three ounces, she was well developed.  We were able to breastfeed and supplement with formula in the first hour of her life and she took to both really well.  She just had trouble maintaining her body temperature.  The doctor said that Lena had the cord wrapped around her neck when they took her out during my c-section.  That would explain why she wouldn't drop during the labor process.  Also, her cord was unusually short and "scrawny" both indicators  that I had been secretly struggling with pre-eclampsia for awhile before I was actually induced.  I have been able to pump colostrum and deliver it to the NICU several times a day for Lena.  They said she has already gained back her birth weight in 48 hours when it usually takes babies 7 days to accomplish that.  The NICU is hoping she can go home with us Monday night.   Having her in the NICU has allowed us to be able to work on getting some extra rest before taking Lena home.  They are having trouble keeping my blood pressure down and most likely I will have to go home on blood pressure medication.

Lena's Labor
On Monday when the doctor decided to induce it was our wish that we give our best effort to have a vaginal birth unless my life or Lena's life was in danger. From my previous posts you learned that the first several days of induction were spent trying to open my cervix.  It never did open on it's own.  One doctor "popped" it open to 1 cm.  The next day another doctor used a cathiter balloon to force it open to 4 cm which was quite painful to say the least.  My water broke shortly after that procedure.  Then another doctor forced me open to 5 cm.  I had 9 doses of gel and pills to soften the cervix and I was on the maximum dosage of pitocin.  At 4 cm I asked for an epidural to deal with the labor pains.  It worked for about an hour or two and then it deadened my legs but not anything else including my abdominal area where the labor contractions were.  I labored for about 14 hours (induced for a four days at that point) when the doctor on duty finally suggested we turn to a c-section.  Baby Lena's heart rate had weakened slightly due to all the induction drugs and we were out of time to get my body to cooperate.  I was exhausted from four days of this and quickly agreed to the surgery. Once we were in the OR things moved quite quickly and thank goodness because it had been really difficult to experience active labor for so long without being able to move around because of IVs, cathiters, and the not so helpful epidural.  

It has been awesome to celebrate the arrival of Lena Joyce with everyone who has prayed so long and hard for her over the years.  I am so thankful for her.  Dan and I are so excited that we get to be her parents and take her home with us soon.  I love her to pieces already!

Meet the Newest Shackleton!

 

Lena Joyce Shackleton born November 3, 2011 via c-section at 8:57pm. 4lbs 3oz 17 1/4 inches long and as cute as can be! Thanks for the well wishes everyone. We can't wait to bring her home!

Still trying to induce...

Well what can I say, I have a very stubborn cervix.  They have been trying for the past 36 hours to get it open with gel and pills.  I just received my 8th dose.  The good news is that with the help of medication they have been able to safely stabilize my blood pressure and baby girl is looking really good.  This gives us time to work on my cervix rather than rush to a c-section.   I have an IV with three meds, take an oral blood pressure medicine, get blood drawn every 6 hrs, a blood pressure cuff for regulated checks, a cathiter, and belly monitors for baby's heartbeat and my contractions.  Even with all that it hasn't been too bad being in the hospital.  I am resting, visiting with family, and looking forward to meeting our girl. Once in a while I hear a loud baby crying and I know a mom in another room down the hall has just delivered.  I am excited for my turn soon!  We may have to wait days rather than hours for the cervix to cooperate.  We shall see...

FYI: Several nurses have commented on how patient I am.  Oh if they only knew how short a few days is in the whole scheme of things.  I know many of you out there know exactly how I feel!

Induced

Well, my blood pressure kept rising and the doctor has decided to induce labor tonight.  We will begin with some gel to soften the cervix and then on to petocin in the afternoon tomorrow.  Baby Girl Shack should be arriving sometime Nov. 1st or 2nd!  Exciting!

Baby Girl Shack Update!

 Guess where I am? After a great ultrasound appt this morning (baby girl is in the correct position and doing well - weighing about 5 lbs) I was promptly admitted to labor and delivery at St. Jude for preclampsia. By tomorrow night we will have an answer from the doctor about what to do: go home on bedrest, stay in the hospital on bedrest, or be induced for an early delivery. We are ready for anything but praying we can stay home on bedrest for a week or two longer before Baby Shack makes her appearance.

It is not a pretty sight folks...

I made the mistake of wearing socks tonight.  My legs and feet are soooo swollen!  It is a good thing I am on maternity leave after tomorrow because I am not sure my body can take another 11 hour work day.   I tried going to several drug stores to purchase compression stockings to help with the swelling but they 1) are soooooo expensive!  2)  don't have my size or style in stock.  Oh well.  I've gone without them this long a few more weeks won't matter.  I am 36 weeks tomorrow and getting more and more excited each day to meet our baby girl.  I love the suspense of not knowing when I will go into labor.  Last night Baby Girl had the hiccups for the first time.  It was a little freaky at first seeing my belly tick and twitch at a steady rhythm.  I had heard about babies getting hiccups in the womb but I had no idea how strong they could be.  Today she has been moving a ton!  Waaay more than normal.  We go for our last ultrasound on Halloween to check what position she is in and I am really excited to see how much she has grown and changed since our last ultrasound in June. 

Baby Shack Belly - 35 Weeks!

Heroic Hearts: Kristen

My brother Sam ran the half and Kristen ran the full marathon.

Last April my sister-in-law, Kristen, received some sad news.  Her dad Mike, a retired firefighter was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.   Mike, among many other things, was an adventurous guy who loved staying active and being outdoors.  Several family members and friends decided to train and run the Long Beach Marathon on October 9th in support of Mike in his battle with cancer.  Sadly he wasn't able to see this race because a few weeks ago after a long and arduous battle with cancer Mike passed away.  

Tears at the finish line: Kristen and her mom.

It was an emotional and victorious day as "Team Mike" ran their races in their purple shirts to honor Kristen's dad.  Her mom was waiting at the finish line where they quickly learned that Kristen had not only managed to finish the marathon, but managed to finish in the Boston Marathon qualifying time of 3 hours and 37 minutes!  Quite an impressive finish. So today I want to honor my sister-in-law and all of the "Team Mike" members for their heroic hearts as they endured miles of exhaustion in the midst of their grief to honor a great man who was so deserving of such an amazing tribute. 

Mike was a hero himself!

Baby Shower #2!!!

A few weeks ago the ladies from my church threw me a baby shower!  It was great to celebrate the soon to arrive Baby Girl Shack with my friends who have supported, encouraged, and prayed for Dan and I as we have struggled with infertility and pursued embryo adoption.

My lovely shower hostesses: Mindy, Lindsay, Sheryl, and Laura!

The theme of this baby shower was vintage ABCs.  Very cute and very appropriate for a teacher and avid children's book collector like myself. 

The rooms were filled with little vignettes of vintage ABC toys.

More cute vintage girly decorations by my sister in law Lindsay.

Me with my sister in law Lindsay who did all of the decorations.

It was such a fun tablescape full of yummy treats.  I especially enjoyed the cheese platter.

Check out this masterpiece!  It was as delicious as it looks.

Me with my Mom aka Grandma who has played such an important role already in our baby girl's little life.

I had fun making these fun goody bags filled with my Bath and Body Works favorites for my hostesses.

Our Unexpected Tour of Labor and Delivery

I had my 33 week OB appointment yesterday and Dr. B says Baby Girl Shack is doing well.  It has been rough to be back a work.  Today was particularly challenging.  A few weeks ago I blogged that my blood pressure had gone up since I returned to work and the doctor asked me to come in to labor and delivery to be examined since he was on duty at the hospital.  We checked in and they brought me to a delivery room where I put on the gown and got all hooked up to the monitors and blood pressure machine.  They did blood tests, urine analysis, and blood pressure checks every twenty minutes for about three hours.  The hospital is so nice and the nurses were especially kind and helpful.  I was lectured for not being hydrated enough so I have been working on drinking more water.  The tests all came back negative for preclampsia which was great news!  My blood pressure was elevated but not dangerously so.  Dr. B wanted me to cut back on my activity so since he said I could still continue working I have decided to take Mondays off and hire a friend to help me with my grade record keeping for work.  It has helped a ton and last week I had a good work week.  It was neat to get to see where I will be in labor and make my whole pregnancy seem that much more real to me. 

Yesterday at my Dr. appointment though my blood pressure was 140/100 again so they had me lay down for 5 minutes on my side and took my blood pressure again.  This time it read 130/80.  When Dr. B came in he was satisfied that the number had gone down so I should be able to finish out my last two and half work weeks before my leave begins on Oct 28th.  I am slightly concerned that when sitting up/standing up my blood pressure is so much higher than when I am laying down.  I hope Dr. B realizes that I don't lay on my side all day- I actually drive in heavy traffic several hours, stand on my feet most of the day, and deal with teenagers all day.  I don't mind finishing my work weeks.  I just want to make sure the baby is okay.  She certainly moves a ton and that is a good thing.  =)

"The Baby Shack Belly" at 33 weeks!

A Special Chair

When we began our adoption journey a few years ago we came across this wonderfully funky orange rocking chair in Dan's parent's house.  It was the rocking chair that Dan's mom and dad used in the 1970s to rock him in when he was a baby.  As a "first baby" gift my parents traditionally purchase a rocking chair as a gift for the family.  My mom offered instead to help us pay to have our special keepsake rocking chair reupholstered.  We had the chair in storage for two years and this past August it finally came out and I shopped around for the perfect fabric.  Just this week we got it back from the upholstery shop and we were so happy with the results!  It is such a comfy chair and I love how wide it is.  The shop owner's son said it had been sitting in their showroom for the past week and people had been ogling it.  It was so fun to put it in the near finished nursery and picture myself rocking our baby girl to sleep in it.  Thanks Mom and Dad for such a special gift that will always remind us and our kids of both sets of their grandparents! It is a great way to honor Dan's mom and dad who would have loved to meet our little girl if they were still with us. 

This chair has seen a lot of love

A better look at the fabric and the new hammered nail brads.  We also added black pipping for visual interest.

A close up of the fabric we chose:  funky, vintage, whimsical, and timeless.