The Guardian

We were very worried about how Loretta would react to a baby in the house. I was afraid she would try and eat Norah. However, she has become Norah's guardian. Wherever Norah goes, Loretta goes. Whenever Norah cries, Loretta runs to her side. Whenever I sing Norah off key lullabies, Loretta sits at my feet.

Bath Time

With the creepy umbilical stump finally gone, it was time for Norah's first real bath. She HATED it. Luckily, the second attempt was much better and I have high hopes she will enjoy bath time from now on.

Already Corrupted?

Norah and Grammy stayed up late together all week watching episodes of Sex and the City. As a thank you present, Norah got Grammy the box set of all the seasons so that they have lots more episodes to watch together. I shudder to think what Norah's first words might be....

Work Out

Grammy bought Norah a gym so that she can get in her exercise every day. She loves the blinking lights and little mirror and is already a champ at tummy time.

Norah the Fashion Model

We had professional pictures taken of Norah today at the house. Here are just a few teaser pics of a very successful shoot. She is quite the ham and may just have a future in photos....

The Crib

We thought it might be a good idea to let Norah try out her crib during nap time so that she isn't traumatized when we move her into it. She was dead to the world when we put her in, so I don't think we got a good gauge of how she really liked it.

She sleeps with her arms above her head when she is totally content.

The Bouncy Chair

Norah has gotten into the bad habit of wanting to be held all day and all night (it is our fault, she is just too damn cute). So, we have been transitioning her to other places during the day. Here she is trying out her bouncy chair.

Grammy to the Rescue

Grammy is here from Texas to take over night duty, do laundry, and cuddle Norah non-stop. She couldn't have gotten here at a better time!

It is hard to read, but Norah's onesie says it all: 'I love Grandma'

Princess Cranky Pants

Could this possibly be the same baby who just spent the past 12 hours whining, crying, grunting, fussing, and NOT eating???

New Friends

Norah got a house full of visitors last weekend when Karyl and Isaac, and Michele and Bonnie stopped by to visit. The girls brought lunch, Karyl and Isaac brought flowers, and it was a delightful afternoon for all (especially Princess N, who got 4 new sets of arms to nap in).

Loretta

Loretta has been adjusting to Norah better than expected. Although we still have to watch her like a hawk....

Opening her eyes

Norah is a vampire still, and hasn't been able to tell the difference between night and day. She is finally starting to be more alert and active during the daytime hours, and we are getting to interact with her more (although she is still much more interested in playing at night).


Although, the milk coma still knocks her out every time.

Grandpa Gene

Norah got her first grandparent cuddle last week when Grandpa Gene came out from Piedmont for a visit....


We all enjoyed a little cook out and then Norah learned all she will ever need to know about baseball.

Sleepy Baby

She has a beautiful crib, a gorgeous bassinet (on loan from Annmarie), a bouncer, and a swing, and this is by far her favorite place to nap one off.....

Happy Due Date, Norah

Thursday, July 10 was Norah's actual due date. We celebrated by taking her to her (almost) 2 week appointment at the pediatrician. She looks great. She has regained her birth weight, plus an ounce, putting our chunky monkey at 9 lbs, 4 ozs. It was unbearably hot again, so we drove 15 minutes to Half Moon Bay and basked in the ocean breeze that was at least 20 degrees cooler than Belmont. Norah dug her first visit to the beach, although I will have to admit she slept through most of it....

Norah's Birth Story

**Disclaimer: you may want to skip this one if you are at all sensitive to words like cervix, dilation, or vaginal canal**

It has been a very hot summer up in the bay area, and I was so over being pregnant at about 35 weeks. I suffered from a severe and debilitating pregnancy induced rash/hives, and hadn't gotten a full nights sleep in several months. Baby was due to arrive July 10, but I honestly didn't know if I could make it that long.

Thursday, June 26 was a totally normal day, and Friday was to be my last day of work before starting maternity leave. I was so looking forward to 2 weeks of getting things ready, pampering myself, and SLEEPING. That night we went to bed at about 11 and I was up an hour later to use to bathroom (something that happened at least twice an hour that last month). I went back to bed but realized that my pajama pants were wet. Sadly, I just assumed I was suffering weak bladder syndrome and changed my pants. I went back to bed only to get up a few minutes later to go to the bathroom again (still, not a weird thing). When I stood up I felt a HUGE gush of water soak my pants and spill out onto the floor. Now, we took the requisite childbirth class and they told us less than 10% of women have their water break in this way--its usually reserved for dramatic moments in made for tv movies. So, of course that would be what happened to me.

I woke BVZ up and told him that I thought my water broke (he didn't believe me), and we called labor and delivery who told us to come in. We had nothing packed and nothing prepared and threw some stuff in a suitcase and drove to the hospital. I had no contractions, felt no pain, it was the most surreal drive of our lives.

We got to the hospital and got admitted. I really wasn't this lumpy, there are just monitors under that robe checking out the baby's heart rate and my contractions.

You can't really tell from this picture, but the hospital room was quite big and nice (as far as hospital rooms go). There was a nice big window and private bathroom. Little did we know we would spend the next 6 nights there.

BVZ slept on a fold out chair. For six nights. The man deserves a medal.


They told us to sleep from about 2 am to 6 am to see what would happen with my contractions. I don't think either of us slept a wink. At 6 they let me shower and then started the drug pitocin because the clock was ticking (since my water had broken), and I wasn't making any progress. Along with the pitocin I got bag after bag after bag of saline through an IV which made me have to pee every 5 seconds.

After about 4 hours, it was determined that the pitocin wasn't doing anything and I got the first dose of Cytotec, an oral drug that is supposed to thin and dilate the cervix. Over the course of the next 24 hours I would receive 3 more doses, all to no avail. Finally on Saturday morning, pitocin was started again and things got moving. Now, when I say things started to move, I mean that I went from having zero contractions to having unimaginably intense contractions in a matter of about 10 minutes. It was like going from zero to 60 in just a few seconds. I couldn't believe how painful and difficult it was. One other thing they never tell you about your water breaking, is that it replenishes itself, so it keeps on coming out. Especially when you have a contraction. I was pacing the floor, stopping every once in a while to have a contraction and water would pour out of me. Really, it was so, so gross. After about 2 hours of this pain I asked for an epidural and received the sweet, sweet relief. At that point it was really more waiting for my cervix to dilate.

At about 9 that evening it was determined I was ready to push and so we began. I knew from the beginning of pushing that something was wrong. It didn't feel right and I knew there was no progress. Sure enough, about an hour and a half later my OB confirmed that baby's head was lodged in the vaginal canal and there was little to no chance she would come out on her own. Plus, I was going on 48 hours with broken water and I started to spike a fever. So, that meant a c-section for me. I was scared, but totally out of it on drugs by that point, so it is all just a blur. From the time they told us about the c-section to the time she was born was maybe 20 minutes. It happened really fast.

BVZ went with the baby as soon as she was born, and shockingly enough, remembered to take the camera!



She was 9 lbs, 3 ozs, of pure chunk! We would spend the next 4 nights in the hospital with me recovering from the surgery and learning how to be a family of 3.

She's Here!

Introducing Norah GVZ. Weighing in at 9 lbs., 3 ozs. (and that's 2 weeks early!), she bounded into the world at 11:43 pm on Saturday, June 28, 2008. She's just as cute as we knew she would be. Now if we could just get her to tell the difference between night and day.....

Baby Girl

She's a little smooshed in there these days and the placenta is in the way a bit, but check her out! Just about a month away now and we can't wait to meet her.

Spring has Sprung

One of the things I was most worried about when we moved into the house (besides the mortgage of course!) was making sure that we didn't kill all of the amazing flowers and fruit trees we inherited. We have (we of course meaning BVZ and the gardener Augustin) have worked really hard all year not to destroy anything and I am so pleased to report that not only is everything alive, but it actually looks BETTER than it did last year!