mother's day

Yesterday was my first time celebrating Mother's Day as a mother!  It was pretty uneventful, really, although Kyalo was kind to me and after his early morning feeding slept until 9:30. I'd say that's about as good as a gift as any!  I also got a pedicure in the afternoon with my friend Evelyn.  It was my first one since before my wedding, so I'd say it was overdue! At less than $10.00, I think I may have to treat myself more often.

I had wanted to get some photos of me with Kyalo for our first Mother's Day. We were running late for church (probably because of sleeping til 9:30) and Kyalo was ready for a nap so it wasn't quite what I expected.  Even so, I got this photo.  It is nice to have a photo where I look alive.

How excited does Kyalo look?

Even though the photo above doesn't look like it, the cooler days are coming to Kenya, or at least to Kijabe.  Today has been a weird day of clouds-rain-sun-clouds-sun.  It rains pretty heavy at night, for the most part.  I'm usually still able to get laundry out on the line, which I'm grateful for. 

Since today was so cool, I put Kyalo in this cute hat (made from reclaimed sweaters!) from a dear friend:

Lastly, I just want to say Happy Mother's Day (a day late) to my wonderful mother who has modeled grace and patience and friendship to me.  I hope to be half the mother she is to my children!

one month

Today, already, Kyalo turns one month! We have a lot of empty walls in our house, and I'm hoping to have a month-by-month display of the little man. It will be fun to chart his growth and the changes he makes from month to month. I'm amazed by how much he's changed already! I miss him in that floppy newborn state, but I'm enjoying watching him grow and change. He feels like a real boy to me now!!

This first month has been better than I could have imagined.  We had family here for a couple of weeks to help us ease into the transition.  Friends have showered us with love and support, and thankfully, I'm recovering well from the labor and C-Section.  Life continues on as we adjust to being a family of three. 

Kyalo had a clinic appointment last week, and all is well. He's growing right on track -- 9 pounds, 11 ounces.  Not bad!

I also captured a few shots while he was sleeping this afternoon.  I can hardly resist watching him sleep.

Don't you want to watch him, too?

time with Grandma

My mom left on Thursday after her two-week visit.  It was so great to have her here at this time.  Primarily because she had the chance to get to know Kyalo, but also because she was an extra set of hands to help me, and because she helped us get our house a bit more organized.  Oh, and she made us lots of good meals.

Needless to say, we'll all miss her.

I had wanted to do a little photo shoot with her and Kyalo one sunny afternoon, but somehow that never happened.  I think afternoons are when Kyalo has his meltdown time and so instead of happy, smiling photos, my photos look more like this:

Mom is trying hard not to take it too personally.  And really, it isn't. He just likes to scream. A lot.

The best thing to do when he has his afternoon meltdown is to take him on a walk. I throw him in the front pack and off we go.  I figure carrying an ever-increasing baby + the Kijabe hills = baby weight melting off! I hope so, anyway! 

Grandma brought a sun hat for Kyalo to keep the sun from beating down on him.  I did manage to get this one, great photo of the two of them...

Nice, don't you agree?

And, here are a few more miscellaneous photos of Kyalo who already turns three weeks tomorrow! Wow.

 in his new swing.

 getting to know Jenny

snuggle time with papa

Mom left on Thursday, and Dexter has Friday and Monday off for the Easter holiday, which has been great.  He seems to have the magic touch in getting Kyalo to settle down -- and sleep -- especially in the long afternoon hours.  This is great, except that he'll be back to work on Tuesday.  I'll have to work on my own magic, I guess.

Happy Easter, everyone!

family gathering

Last Saturday, just 6 days after Kyalo's birth, we hosted Dexter's entire family and my parents (who'd arrived on Thursday).  It might have been a bit much, but it was great to be all together again.  It was the first time the two families were together since our wedding two years ago.  A good time was had by all!

It is hard to believe that it is already two weeks since Kyalo came into our lives.  He's a precious little man!  We're enjoying getting to know him and to learn this new thing called parenthood.  Dexter has been on paternity leave for the past two weeks, but goes back to work on Monday.  My mom is still here until Thursday, so I don't have to go it alone for a little while yet. 

Here are some photos from the family gathering. . .

 the dads and the grill

Dexter's Mum with Kyalo

 Baby Andrew - 6 weeks - and so BIG!

Helen with the cousins

.preciousness.

 grandparents

everyone!

First photo as a family of three!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a few more photos of Kyalo...

 {dopey}

 {lip quiver}

{not happy}

Kyalo makes the most interesting faces when he's upset.  It is hard not to laugh. Is that terrible?  These are a few of the faces. I'll try to capture more!

Since Mom is here a few more days we'll be organizing the house and Kyalo's room. Maybe more photos will come!

Kyalo: a birth story

Let's get the important things out of the way first:

Kyalo Mutisya Mulandi

born April 3, 2011 12:01 am

8 pounds 1 ounce (3.7 kgs)

And now, I'd like to recap the experience we had to get him to this world.  This will serve as a good reminder for me in the years to come, so I apologize if it is a bit long. 

From fairly early on in the pregnancy I had decided that I wanted as natural a birth as possible -- no pain medications, no interventions of any kind, etc.  I would just let nature take the course.  While home in the US in November, we watched, The Business of Being Born, an interesting documentary about the history of the birthing industry in the US (I recommend it!), and I picked up a book about the Bradley Method of natural childbirth.  I read this book about breathing and relaxing and thought, I can do this!  I will do this! I exercised a lot. Walking at 7,500 feet I was sure would help to ease the pain of delivery.  And to top it off, we had a friend come two nights and teach us some Lamaze Breathing.  I was well prepared. I told my doctor I wanted to be as drug free as possible. I hoped and planned to be at the hospital just minutes before delivering, and heading home just hours later.

Yes, I was optimistic.

My contractions started early last week - Tuesday night, but they weren't so bad, and I thought, see, I can DO this.  But then they came again on Wednesday night, and Thursday night.  On Friday night they began in earnest, and I had Dexter helping me to breathe and time the contractions and how far apart they were.  All. Night. Long. I thought it might be a good idea at this point to be checked out by the doctor, so Saturday morning we headed down to the hospital.  As I walked in, my water broke, and my doctor said I was progressing nicely, and ordered me to stay put, assuming things would move along quickly.

They did not.

Several hours later, I was not progressing, so my doctor sent me out on a walk.  We walked all around Kijabe for over an hour.  But still, nothing changed.

{40 weeks. Trying to encourage baby to come}

At this point, my doctor put me on pitocin which is something to speed up the delivery.  It basically makes contractions harder and more frequent.  For whatever reason, it didn't seem to work for me, even though they increased it bit by bit every thirty minutes.  Around 7 PM (12 hours after arriving in the hospital) my doctor checked me again and assured me that I would deliver in the next two hours.  Oh the relief in that knowledge!  I thought I could push through the pain and the frustration for another two hours.

Two hours came and went, and no baby.  And after another hour, I thought I just couldn't do it any more. So about 10:30 or 11:00 I decided I should get a C-Section.  All my hopes for the natural delivery at this point had been thrown out the window, and I wasn't that disappointed. I had tried and then tried longer and harder. I honestly don't know if there could have been a different outcome.

And so, at 12:01 am Sunday April 3 (2 minutes after my Dad's birthday had come to an end!) Kyalo entered this world in a way I never would have imagined.  But he's so wonderful and beautiful that it just doesn't matter to me.

Now I'd like to take a minute to praise on Dexter.  He was a superstar throughout my whole ordeal.  I really could not have made it as long as I did without him.  It was especially surprising to me to see so many women in the labor ward alone.  No husband, mother, sister, friend, to help them through the most awful/wonderful ordeal of their lives. The isolation they must have felt!  Dexter was with me throughout -- holding my hands, rubbing my back, getting me to breathe, bringing me water, taking care of paperwork, etc.  And then, when he wasn't there, my friend Evelyn came to sit with me (she also made food for him to go eat at her house) and to ensure that I didn't go insane.  I feel exceedingly blessed by the love and support I got throughout the day.

In the end, when I needed to have a c-section at midnight, Francis and Evelyn came to be with us. They weren't in during the operation, but came in as soon as Kyalo was born.

where would I be without friends like these?

We were in the hospital three nights, and are now back home, slowly settling into life as a family of three!

 {sleeping guys}

I will leave you with my new favorite photo, taken yesterday - four days old.  Thanks to my sister-in-law Noelle for the great outfit!

last bump?

The "pains" started about 1 AM on Wednesday morning.  So far, it isn't so bad! After Bible Study last night, I decided it might be a good idea to just get checked out, make sure that things were normal and that Baby was okay.  So I called my doctor, and off we went to the hospital at 10:30.  It was reassuring to hear the strong, steady heart beat, and to have both the nurse and doctor say that things are on the right path.  I still have a long way to go, though! I am grateful to live on the hospital compound and was able to come home to sleep in my own bed.  I'll go to the hospital at the last possible moment.

I thought it might be a good idea to get a few more bump photos today. What if today's the day?  I want to be sure to remember just how big I got!

I have about 3 shirts I can wear these days, so I'm looking forward to expanding the wardrobe again in a few days -- even if it just back to maternity clothes I wore earlier.

Here are a couple of bare belly photos. Hope it isn't too much!

{39 weeks, 5 days}

My doctor estimates Baby is about 7 pounds, 8 ounces (3.5 kgs) so, big and strong and healthy. 

In a fit of poor timing, Dexter got sick about the minute my contractions started (hmmm...), and has not yet really recovered.  I need him to be strong and able for the big moments ("PUSH!" "BREATHE!") so if you could say a prayer for him to recover quickly, we'd appreciate it!

Next post could have Baby in it!!!

bump and bike

We're in the home stretch now til Baby comes - just nine days to the April 2nd due date, which is very hard to believe. I saw my doctor this morning and he thinks I still do have at least a week to go, but that things seem to be progressing steadily and normally.  It is always fun to hear the baby's heart beat!

There won't be too many more opportunities to get baby bump photos, so here are the latest:

{the view from here: 38 weeks}

 {38 weeks, 4 days}

{there's always got to be at least one heart on the belly photo!}

To say I'm big is a slight understatement! We don't have a full length mirror in our house, so when I see my belly - either in photos or in mirrors elsewhere - I'm quite surprised.  Even though I'm so big, I still feel good, and am trying to remain as active as possible in the hopes of making labor and delivery as smooth as possible!

I had this great plan of making food and freezing it so that when Baby comes we can still eat.  I've frozen a few things, but found that cookies are more fun to prepare! I've made my new favorite cookie recipe and hope to try this easy looking bread recipe soon (today?). 

In other news, Dexter got a bike a couple of months ago!

He's been riding it a lot, and has been quite pleased with his purchase. His big goal is to ride the 5 or so kilometers uphill to the main road. I think he's made it about halfway!

{and he's off!}

Lastly, we've been getting a bit of rain for our parched land. It is a very welcome relief especially as water storage supplies were running very low here in Kijabe and elsewhere in Kenya.  Here's a photo from a month or so ago, when we had a random morning of rain and fog.  Just to give you a sense of what it looks like when rainy!

 

My parents arrive in Kenya on April 7, just five days after my due date.  Say a prayer for us that Baby comes before they do!