Owen Christopher Boone was Born!

Hello Everyone,

We are so happy to announce the birthday of Owen Christopher Boone, on April 26th, at 9pm.

Owen weighed 7 pounds and 15 ounces, and measured 20 inches. He was strong as an ox through the whole labor, and his mom was no slouch either. It was a long day...after a very bumpy car ride to the doctor's office (I kept my eyes closed to manage my contractions with breathing exercises while Chris drove us efficiently to our appointment) the doctor said I was already 6 centimeters dilated, and sent me directly next door to the hospital, around 10 am. Owen was born at 9pm. We had several twists and turns, but in the end, everybody did what was needed to get the job done. I have new appreciation for all of the mothers I know; it was the hardest day I will never regret!

I will write more in the near future...for now, we have our hands full with trying to teach him to nurse. Tonight, we had our first major success!

We will post some pictures of our new sweetie as soon as this blog site will allow (it doesn't seem to be working tonight, unfortunately.)

Still home for now...but maybe not for long!

It is just after 3am, and I have been up since 1am. I was having steady but short contractions (every 15 minutes, lasting for only 15-20sec.) up until we went to bed at 10:30. Chris got home fine from Connecticut, but was really tired from the crazy hours he had to keep the last few days. I was able to sleep until around midnight, and then still able to rest in bed until I got up at 1am. Sitting up, watching some TV and snuggling with the squirrels is helping to pass the time. My contractions are moving into the 10-12 minutes apart, and now they are lasting nearly a minute. Oh boy!

*that was another one*

So, the rule of thumb is that I don't go to the hospital until contractions are 4 minutes apart, lasting for a minute, consistently for at least 1 hour. I actually have an appointment at my Doctor's office at 9am, so the questions is, will things progress slowly enough that I will just go to the doctor's or will I be walking next door directly into the hospital? Only time will tell.

I won't be posting any pictures...Jessie, you will just have to use your creative imagination!

Signs of Labor?

My friend, Heidi, was giving me a pep talk about going into labor last night, and apparently our conversation was persuasive enough that I am starting to have some signs of early labor today. I was awake for several hours in the wee hours of the morning (a little bit of a pregnant lady's humor there...did you catch it?) so I came out to our living room for some quality nap time with the squirrels. They are always the prescription for getting me back to sleep. The three of us enjoyed another couple hours of rest, but during, I was aware of having contractions/cramps like I have not had in years. There are other signs, but my water hasn't broken...which is good as far as I am concerned, since I wouldn't mind if this takes a little while to go into full swing. From where things stand right now, it could be a day or days...but the time is definitely approaching!

Chris is driving back from Connecticut as we speak, and I am going to see if my contractions progress in the next few hours, and decide whether or not to have my midwife inspect the situation later this afternoon/ early evening. I was trying to give Chris an update when he suddenly said, "Gotta go!" and hung up on me...only to call back about a minute later and apologize for needing to chuck his phone when passing a law enforcement official...no talking on cell phones while driving in Connecticut!

So...this may be the beginning folks. I'm going to use these few hours until he returns to make sure I am packed and ready to go if need be...

love to you all!
-jess

One week to Due Date!

Final preparations are in the works as we are just over a week from my due date. I am holding down the fort at home while Chris is out of town overseeing a load-in for work. He sent me some pictures that he had fun creating this morning, which I am posting above. The first is titled, "RockStar Hair" and the second is "I feel so blue without you."

It is a beautiful, warm day in NYC, and I ventured into Manhattan to shop for the last couple items on my "get for baby" list. I am still trying to line-up a diaper service for our first month of babydom. Sadly, there is too little demand, and the only three companies I have found are all going out of business between now and June. We may be washing our own sooner than we expected...but we are prepared to do that if we need to.

Chris and I had a lovely Saturday adventure going to Red Bank, New Jersey, to visit our friend Ann Marie's parents, Ena and Richard Pirchner. They cooked us a delicious lunch at their house, and gave us a driving and walking tour of the beaches and neighboring towns in their area. The weather was sunny and gorgeous, and our tour guides were great fun to visit and get to know better. We are looking forward to returning now that we know how close they live (only 40 minutes to get there from our place) especially when the weather is right for spending the day at the beach!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

I am happy to report that after 1.5 days and around 8 inches of rain, people are starting to walk about outside without umbrellas, raincoats, and hip-waders. When Jan and Tim came to town, Jan brought her raincoat for me to borrow until I am able to fit in my own again...that has been very useful to wear in the last week!

I am experiencing more Braxton-Hicks contractions in the last couple days...they are "practice" contractions where my uterus suddenly becomes hard and feels like there is a football helmet under my skin. It is not painful, but definitely a little strange and uncomfortable. I guess it is just another sign that my body is getting prepared for the real thing.

I am starting to lose patience with my awkward body these days. I drop things just as fast as I pick them up, and my stomach is where my lungs used to reside. Where my lungs have been displaced is anyone's guess. My midwife said I would experience a loss of appetite once I reached this stage. I haven't lost my appetite, but go from feeling 0 to 100% full without any state in between.

Chris has the opportunity to travel next week to Connecticut to oversee a load-in for work. He will be gone for three days. It is a good deal for him to have the hours, since they will make-up for the week he is planning on taking off right when we have the baby...but we are both a little bit edgy about his being away at this time. If I need him, he is only 2 hours away.

Now that it is drying up out there, I am going to venture out to the grocery store. Until next time!

A Trip to Boston

Yesterday, Chris and I went to Boston...for haircuts. And just for you folks who might imagine that it is my vanity requiring us to visit our stylist, Rogue, from the Mark Harris Salon on Newbury Street, let me assure you, I am not the instigator. Those sideburns of Chris's don't just magically happen on their own...

We rolled out of bed somewhere in the ballpark of 5:15 am, and were on the road by 6pm. The George Washington bridge is delightfully empty at that hour. We did arrive in Boston just in time for our late morning appointments, and Rogue worked her magic once again. I had not had my haircut since just before Christmas, so I was looking a little shaggy and in need of a new style. We have future "I just had a baby" pictures to consider...although I am not quite in the same category as the recently heard quote (who I cannot name to credit) that said, "My version of Natural childbirth is having a baby without any make-up on."

Following our haircuts, Chris and I met our friends, Lin and Julian, and their daughter, Alyssa, for a delicious lunch of Indian food. Lin is on the verge of having her second child at any moment! It was wonderful to see them and have an opportunity to visit. We can't wait to meet the new baby Chen when he arrives too.

Chris and I did make one more stop on our way out of town...a trip into Finale Bakery for triple chocolate cookies and one large Latte. They make the best chocolate cookie anywhere, and the best Latte to compliment it. We are those people whose travel is dictated by our favorite foods, it is true. Wistful of the clean streets and colorful Cambridge houses, we made our journey home to New Jersey. We were tired when we got home, but darn we look good!

Week 37 and counting...

This past weekend Chris' parents, Tim and Jan, came to the big apple for a visit. We ate a lovely Italian meal in Hoboken on Friday, and on Saturday, we went to the MOMA for a few hours of sculpture and paintings. It was Tim's birthday. We tried a restaurant recommended by a friend, called SushiSamba in the Village. It was a combination of Japanese, Peruvian and Brazilian cuisine...very interesting flavors and lovely presentation! -It was clearly where all of the hip young New Yorkers wanted to be for dinner, and everything we tried was an adventure that didn't disappoint.

After dinner, I suggested that we walk a few blocks to visit Magnolia Bakery, a place I used to enjoy a good cupcake from when I lived here the first time around. It seemed a good place to find birthday-celebrating sweets. When we were approaching the bakery, we noticed many people standing around out front of the store, as well as many people standing around inside. It is not a large place, and I was not at all surprised to see it crowded, knowing of its popularity. We went to open the front door, and were met with a barrage of "There is a LINE here!!" shouted towards us...and as we apologized and started to walk around the group standing in the front, it was clear that there was a line wrapped around half of the block out of sight from the direction we first approached the store.

Saturday night, about 8pm, and here were about 40 or 50 people standing in the brisk air waiting for 30 to 40 minutes for first-come, first serve cupcakes. We realized as we chatted with the two young women in front of us, and the folks directly behind us, that any notion of just getting one or two cupcakes was rather absurd after investing such a time commitment just to get in the door. Tim spoke with our neighbors about whether he could get an honorary birthday cupcake, and the girl in front of us said, "This isn't some TGI Fridays, sir...this is New York City!" With her wit, these two had humorous barbs flying for the rest of our wait in line! Inside the bakery is a sign, "limit one dozen per customer" which put all sorts of pressure on a person to buy more than a teaser cupcake. We enjoyed many laughs with our sugar-loving new friends, and nearly started a riot when it was clear the staff was more preoccupied with their carry-out Chinese food order than they were with making desperately-wanted chocolate cupcakes. Certain expletives were shouted from the outside towards customers inside, who were taking too long, taking pictures and annoying the locals by being touristy, or just taking too many cupcakes and creating a panic among the outsiders...but it was all in good fun. When we made it to the front door (the second time, ha ha...) our stoic Bouncer was Tim's last chance for a free birthday cupcake. The bouncer said, "Is it really your birthday?" and Tim responded with a hopeful, "Yes!" but all the guy did was say, "Well, Happy Birthday, man." and then told us that we were all having such a good time waiting in line, he could afford to let us wait a little bit longer. (Were we being punished for having too much fun?) When we assured him that we could turn on him at any moment, he finally allowed us entrance to the baked goods palace. The journey was every bit as fun as the destination. And my teeth are still aching from the butter cream icing.

Alfred Brendel was awesome!

Last night was truly a great way to spend a birthday. I met Chris for a quick dinner near his work, then we made our way uptown to Carnegie Hall. Since we had some extra time before the recital, I suggested sharing a piece of cake from the Carnegie Deli...just a few doors down from the Hall. The deli was crowded with folks there for dinner, and with the tables lined together in community-style seating, we giggled at the mound of pastrami on my left and the mound of corned beef to my right..."Quite a place for the vegetarians to pick for dessert!" I said quietly to Chris across the table. And, our waiter scolded us for only splitting a dessert during the busiest part of the dinner rush. Still, he brought us our lovely seven layer slice of heaven, and we ate with earnest delight. Perhaps he took a look at my pregnant belly and thought best not to argue, or he felt sorry for how cumbersome it was to get me seated in their tight quarters in the first place. We tipped him well and vacated our seats quickly enough that he didn't seem to regret accommodating our order.

The concert was wonderful. The balcony could easily induce Vertigo for the uncommitted concert-goer, but the great thing about Carnegie is that there is not a bad sounding seat in the house. Mr. Brendel played a Haydn Sonata, a Mozart Sonata, and several Schubert Impromptus. The most exceptional performance of the night was his late Beethoven Sonata. This man plays Beethoven in a way that makes you believe it is exactly as Beethoven would play it himself. The audience was appreciative, and would have cajoled him into one encore after another if he hadn't made it clear that he was done after one encore and about 10 curtain calls. The man earned his cake, as far as I am concerned.

Rainy Birthday

Today is the 34th anniversary of this picture. No, thank goodness, this is not the new baby Boone...it is me, on my birthday. This picture has been described throughout my life as "a Polish truck driver making an obscene finger gesture". (No offense to you Polish truck drivers out there.) I think it says, "Don't mess with me" but it could just be, "I'm cranky; I have gas!"
-Those two things are easily confused, from what I hear. I am glad that this picture was not destroyed, as my grandmother originally advised...it has provided years of laughs and family entertainment.

I am getting ready for the Boones to visit this weekend. I am looking forward to showing them our apartment, and all of the preparations for the baby. If my ankles will return to a width narrower than my feet, I will be in business to walk about and entertain too!

Tonight, we get to hear Alfred Brendel at Carnegie Hall. It is a rainy day in NYC, and I am hoping that some form of raincoat in this house still fits me right now. "Tarp" attire is just not the fashion statement I care to make...