takin' walks

Grandma Taylor sewed the flannel bundle bag underneath. Jack and Shannon wove the wool blanket. Josh donated the wool hat. Grandpa and Nana Nelson gave Oona the stroller.

Keely sewed her hat.

I like all this baby stuff.

one week old today!

photo op

quiet and alert.

proud poppa!

proud grandpa too.

visits

There nothing much more fun than showing off our new daughter. We've already had quite a few visitors. Mostly friends and family dropping off food so I don't have to worry about cooking on top of the other duties. Which by the way is the greatest gift. Charmaine, Weston, Jimmy, and Ava first dropped off homemade multi-grain cinnamon rolls, then tonight brought by a wonderful barley chicken soup. Polly and John showed up the night of the birth with a car load of groceries then two nights ago brought us sushi take-out from the city (yum!). Mika brought us more groceries and our neighbor Rene stayed with Keel while Mike and I ran to the drugstore for a couple needed items. Jack, Shannon, Sedge and Ojiah stopped over yesterday with a big dish of Jack's famous spinach lasagna and an organic cotton blanket hand woven on the loom in their living room! With a community this good it's no wonder we are growing such a healthy baby. I might start growing a little too!

Ojiah is only 7 weeks old but already 16 lbs. Is Oona really going to blimp out like this? I hope so. Keely is feeding her as much as she'll hold and we are going for puffy baby. I'm not sure anyone can compete with Ojiah though. It must be that Stone Barns food.

No really, I can't believe the size of this kid!

Grandpa and Nana Nelson visit on Day Zero.

Taking our first walk with Mika.

christmas in february

I don't get to see my good friend Andrea (one of my best friends during grad school) very often. We met up for coffee two days before Oona was born and I came home with a mountain of Oona gifts. I've been meaning to post an update on the wonderful holiday gifts Oona received which basically met all our needs. Thank you to everyone! We received many hand sewn blankets, a car seat, toys, dolls, books, clothes, etc. We haven't been short of anything this first week with Oona. And then Andrea gave us a whole new holiday. Thanks for everything A!

The little mermaid is perfect since Oona is a water baby, born underwater in the big tub. Notice also Keel's newest quilt on the couch.

The little mermaid occupies a coveted position in the co-sleeper next to Oona all night.

I can't wait until this baby mug is actually used. For now it's a kitchen display of piggies.

And let's not forget the all important diaper bag. I think I'm going to pack it tomorrow since the move from upstairs to down is starting to require 21 too many trips.

oona plum mcphearson: day 3 update

you always know a mcphearson baby by the full head of hair.

big little hands

We took our first walk outside today (very slowly) since we had that strange but wonderful 47 degree super sunny day in February. Keely finally had the moment she has been dreaming of, pushing her new baby around Campwoods in the Chameleon (better known as the stroller).

Our midwife, Anne, made another home visit today (she's the greatest) and Oona has already gained weight. She of course lost half a pound since birth, but Keely's milk has come in quickly which means Oona will start putting on that baby fat. I can't wait to take macro photos of baby fat rolls.

day 2

snug as a bug.

All is well in our little home. Oona is getting better and better at breastfeeding, and we both got a little more sleep last night. We haven't taken many photos yet as we are still taking care of the other priorities (feeding and sleeping mostly).

She's Here!!!

Well, Oona has the punctuality thing down already. She came right on her due date. Oona Plum McPhearson was born yesterday at 3pm. She weighs 7lbs, is 19 inches long, and has all her fingers and toes and whatnot. She is already nursing like a pro and slept most of the night last night (thank you god). Keely was amazing! We spent the day laboring at home until Oona was finally ready for her grand entrance. We tried to make it as gentle as possible. So when the midwives arrived, Keely got into the tub and Oona was out an hour later (labor from start to finish was just 10 hours). The doula and midwives all said Keely labored like a second time mom. She's a natural. Oona was born into warm water where we held her for a half hour just letting her and mom adjust. She is a very healthy baby. Keely is doing great too. No complications and feeling pretty good all things considered.

I'll post more photos a bit later and try to make a few phone calls later today. We are going to have a quiet day at home today to catch up on our rest.

Walking and waiting

Yeah, well, we are still taking our walks every day (here at Stone Barns), eating our spicy food, driving on bumpy roads, and I'm jumping up and down for Keely and Oona both, but it hasn't resulted in a birth. It's back to another work week now. And I was looking forward to those 2 weeks off work to stay at home, play sleep deprived but proud papa. Maybe next week?

Inducement exercise

Well, it's 39 weeks and we are all wondering when Oona is going to make her grand entrance. Don't worry, we'll let you know when the moment comes, but in the mean time we are doing all we can short of shaking her out. Keely is ordering spicy food every day. Tuesday was extra spicy Indian food. Last night we made a stir fry with jalepeno chilies. She's doing her yoga every night focusing on those poses most likely to coax Oona farther down, though I can't imagine how she can get any lower without coming out.

We are also taking daily walks. I encourage Keel to jump up and down, but she is sticking with simple exercises for now. Our neighbors, Mike and Rene, just rescued a 10-month old yellow lab mix named Bailey. He's super chill and not jumpy. Our cats haven't gotten used to him yet, but I'm sure Oona will love having a dog next door. We also get the bonus of taking our turns dog walking while they are at work. It's a great excuse for us to get out, but it's even better to pretend we have a dog for 20 minutes without any of the work of owning a dog. Thanks Mike and Rene.

37+

Pre-labor appears to have begun. Keely's contractions are a little stronger than before and other typical pre-labor signs are also showing up. Pre-labor can last anywhere from a day to weeks, so we'll just keep waiting. We aren't anxious yet, but we are ready.

We borrowed an infant car seat from Keely's brother, Raney, yesterday which means one more item crossed of the list. Thanks Raney and Jenny and Zoe (they are pregnant with twins now! Wow!) Believe it or not, the list is actually getting shorter.

Nursery

Occasionally the line between a post for Oona's blog and one for our main blog becomes completely unclear. I've made an executive decision though and posted the little nursery update on our main blog site. Take a look if you haven't already.

That belly

Well I promised a picture and after Keely killed me for posting the last one, I forced her and Oona to hold still while a snapped a couple new shots. Here you have the official 37 week old belly. Mom and kid are changing daily now. Bigger and better.

Full Term!!

Well, the moment we've been waiting for. Drum roll please.... Keely is officially full term today! That means Oona can live outside the womb whenever she feels like coming out. I hope she comes this weekend, but that would be on the early side. First time mothers tend to be a little late, so we are saying anytime in the next 4 or 5 weeks. Today is 37 weeks. Nice going Keel. I'll try to post a picture of the Big Kahuna Oona Belly soon. It is soooo much bigger than the belly posted below.

We also finished our last birth education class last night. Thank god. I'm getting a little tired of all the appointments and running around. Keel too. We've had a busy couple weeks getting the little details for home birth and postpartum, stocking up on food and household supplies, trying to work ahead on our jobs, and otherwise preparing to stay home for a few weeks. Come on Oona, come on out already.

The Business of Being Born

A couple nights ago Keely and I watched a screening at our favorite Westchester theater, Jacob Burns Film Center, of "The Business of Being Born". BBB is an intense documentary of childbirth in America by Abby Epstein (actor, director) and Ricki Lake (actor, producer), yes, of The Ricki Lake Show. The movie was just released in New York yesterday at the IFC and is running for a couple weeks there. There is also a recent review in the New York Times. And there are screenings happening all over the country this month including New Jersey, Seattle and Indiana, in other words, near my family. After the Jacob Burns screening Ricki and Abby answered questions from an audience that was dominated by the Hudson Valley Birth Network, which means a bunch of doulas and midwives. It was amazing to see so many strong confident women in one little theater. The house was packed with people turned away and the back hall full of standers. And the film was great. I loved it. It was incredible to see live home births that are so wholesome and loving. I've learned so many things in the last few months, but I learned still more in this film. The film is obviously targeting the broad American public since the perception of all the birth and pregnancy professionals we've talked to is that most people just don't know much about home births and what midwives do.

There were a number of criticisms of the film by the midwives and doulas in the audience at Jacob Burns. I wasn't really surprised since the film is directly representing midwives by showing in explicit detail midwife assisted births. You would expect this particular audience to be more sensitive than your average movie goer. For example, the director Abby, plans a home birth in the film but has a series of complications that require a hospital transfer and a C-section. The audience all thought that event was critical to include because it shows that midwives can make good judgment calls on when a hospital birth is necessary and facilitate a speedy transfer. However, one midwife questioned the placement of this event as the closure to the film. It has the potential to mar the overall message because in this rare case of a necessary medical intervention, the white man (Abby's very nice and gentle backup doctor) comes through as a knight in shining armor (instead of the midwife). However, I personally think the main point of the film, that midwives provide safe, affordable, enjoyable births, came through perfectly.

We've been exploring the various issues affecting birth for months as we've gone from a doctor, to a home birth midwife, to a group of birth center midwives at Full Circle (which means birthing in a hospital with midwives instead of doctors) and back to a home birth midwife. We are big fans of our Full Circle midwives, but the real reason we went to see the film is because we decided to try to have Oona at home instead of at Phelps Memorial with our Full Circle midwife (even though Phelps has decent statistics compared to other hospitals). Because of malpractice insurance issues, our midwives in the Hudson Valley can't do both home births and hospital births. Malpractice insurance is just too expensive. So, we had to leave Full Circle for the birth and are now back with Anne Margolis, where we started after deciding to leave Keely's former OB/GYN. Anne is great and just delivered our friend's, Jack and Shannon's, new son, Ojiah, at their home a few weeks ago (he is doing great). We are certainly interested in a natural home birth with little to no medical intervention, but of course we'll have to see how it goes. As long as Oona and Keel come through it ok, then I'm happy.