Favorite Photos (So Far...)

First Bath


















Ray is doing OK - this is a picture of him as we were loading up the car for Whistler (he couldn't come with). He seems a little dejected, but also seems to understand baby girl is a bit more needy than him right now.



















The cats are mostly just curious.
















Bright Eyes.










Favorite Nap Spot - Moby Wrap

Naptime

Week 2: Lyla Grace, International Traveler

To the amazement of many, but quite with ease on our part, we decided to join my family on our annual Whistler vacation this week. My family has been going to my mom’s time share condo in Whistler for the last 13 years, but it’s been probably 10 years since I’ve been able to spend the whole week up there; and Dan had never been before. So, with things at work already taken care of, and nothing else to do but hang out with the baby girl, we decided to make the trip. Lyla slept the whole 6 hours up, except for milk breaks in Bellingham and Squamish!

I am still in recovery mode (6 weeks total), and supposed to be limiting my activity to baby care and 1 short, slow walk a day. We are in a condo with my mom, sister Liz, and niece Daeli, 6 and nephew Caelan, 3 ½. Mom and Liz are a great help with the baby; and with Dan, the 3 of them are sharing the cooking and cleaning responsibilities that Dan would have been doing by himself if we were at home. Brother Andy and his family (Oliver, 7; Grey, 5; Simon, 22 months) are in a condo down the hill. Most days for me involve a couple of naps, a walk somewhere in Whistler, a bit of reading and lots of Olympics watching on the TV we don’t have at home – Michael Phelps, anyone? – as well as nursing and loving baby!

It is so sweet to see all the grandkids together (Ellora, 10 months is the only one not here) – they are so excited to meet Lyla, aka the teeny tiny baby; as well as play house/hospital, build forts, eat ice cream and go swimming. I have great memories of spending time with my cousins growing up, and am so excited to see the bond that forms between Lyla and our nieces and nephews as the years pass.

Week 1: Recovery and Getting to Know You

I think we made it out of the hospital in record time for c-section patients, especially with having a “high” temperature that needed to be monitored incessantly. It’s nice to be home, though I miss the hospital bed for assistance sitting up. I don’t miss being bothered at any hour of the day or night to have my blood pressure taken by a machine that doesn’t work half the time, or the IV monitor beeping until a nurse can take the time to restart it, or the stale air because none of the windows actually open.

I’m still working on my mixed feelings about how the labor and delivery went. Of course, I am so grateful that we are healthy, and have the medical interventions available to us today to thank for that. While I still strongly believe in the natural ability of our bodies to give birth, throughout history there have been complications in labor for some women. I just never believed I would be one of that small percentage of women that actually had complications that required the use of those interventions. So, the struggle is not necessarily about disappointment that I had a c-section and not a peaceful water birth at home, but that I am now part of a scarily high statistic in the US – and fodder for those who don’t believe homebirths are a safe option for most moms. We’ll just have to prove them wrong on the next go ‘round.

We were finally able to leave at 11pm on Friday, after a promised discharge time of 8pm. All the main doors to Tacoma General were locked, so it looked like we were making a fast escape, coming out the emergency exit doors. It wasn’t a stealth escape, though, as Lyla screamed the whole time (the photo is just before the screaming began), the flowers spilt and got everything wet, and the carseat didn’t fit (who knew we’d actually need to use it on day 2?). Luckily, home was less than a mile away, so we were able to wake all the neighbors just before settling in ourselves for the night.

It’s amazing what a great communicator Lyla is. She smacks her lips when she’s hungry, squirms her body when she needs to poop (along with the “occasional” grunt), squeals when tired but trying to stay awake just a bit longer, and has these awesome side grins when trying to wake up and is content. It’s safe to say we are completely smitten, as the entirety of our days are now spent baby ogling.

WORDS!!!

Lyla Grace Hulse

For the first time since Tuesday afternoon, Kim is finally able to get some good rest. But not before she tries to feed Lyla once more and finishes off the last of the 7-layer bar that Mary brought to Kim while she was in surgery. It’s been more than 72 hours since we first arrived at the hospital and the surgeon has just put Kim on a conditional discharge. As long as her temperature doesn’t elevate above 100 at any point today, we can go home at 8:00.

The most important thing is, of course, that baby Lyla is healthy and Kim is having a strong recovery. The actual birth, however, could not have been more different than what we had expected: going from our bedside to the hospital for an epidural, and then into the operating room for a C-section. Our birthing team – daddy, Dawn (midwife) and Michelle (midwife’s assistant) upstairs; Grandma Carol and sisters Liz and Chris downstairs – gave Kim all the support she needed for the 17 plus hours she labored at home before we finally went to Tacoma General. There, Kim was given the anesthesia and dad passed out while Grandma, Dawn and Cami (nurse) worked with Kim for another 5 hours as she continued to do everything within her own power to push baby girl out into this world. At 6 the news came that there was enough concern for the baby’s health as well as mom’s that the hospital staff wanted to go into the operating room. Additionally, Lyla was in an occipitoposterior position, meaning that her head was skewed such that the impossibility of an unassisted birth was all but guaranteed. The cesarean is a much friendlier alternative to the forceps and plunger method that, fortunately, has been phased out of use in births almost entirely.

The vitals on Lyla Grace:

· 9 lbs, 10 oz

· 21 inches

· Full head of dark hair

· Dan’s eyelashes, chin and nose

· Kim’s eyes, cheekbones and hairline (Thanks, Carol, for pointing out the hairline. I never would’ve noticed that myself.)

· The sweetness and lovability of Kim and Dan combined

We want to thank all of you for your encouragement, love, prayers and support throughout this entire experience. We took to adapting a line found at the end of the Dr. Seuss book (Baby, Oh Baby, The Places You’ll Go) that we read to Lyla while she was in utero, depending on the situation. So, in this case, it reads: “And as for Lyla, well, she can’t wait to meet you.”

PHOTOS!!!