Things are pretty good! (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

So far Marlijne has been showing a miraculous recovery since her operation! We got home almost two weeks ago and she's already up to little trips outside. She can even drive the car for over an hour! On Monday she came with me to the Snow office (to help me get back home after returning our lease car) and today she got a few groceries by herself. I'm truly impressed by her fortitude.

Actually, I wanted her to make the short shopping trip today because I thought she could use some off-time. She's been at home and with Dana 24x7 since the 17th and she hasn't been alone at any one moment.

Dana is doing fine as well. She'll let us get a few hours of sleep every night, so we're doing alright. Dana's very healthy so far and only cries and bickers for a few hours a day.

So far things are going pretty well! :)

Posted in: baby , health , marli , operation , recuperation

Being a parent changes a lot (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

Of course it speaks for itself that becoming a parent brings on a lot of changes. All of a sudden you're responsible for another person who's wholly dependant on you! However, the past few days I've also noticed a lot of subtle changes, a lot for the better and some for the worse.

+ Our cleaning regimen has never been this good. We're washing dishes every day, as opposed to every two/three days. The lavatory, kitchen and bathroom get daily sanitation and I'm using our nightly awake-time to run laundries during the nighttime tariff.

+ Our eating habits have improved. Marli has taken to drinking at least three liters of fluids every day and I'm cooking whole meals again (as opposed to just meat and some veg).

+ I've become a lot more friendly in public. I don't know why, but these days I'm very polite and rather chipper around strangers :)

- Unfortunately the both of us can get a bit grouchy during our nighttime bouts with Dana. Luckily we know -why- this is happening and we can deal with it, but it doesn't make it more fun.

- I'm still a bit more hyperactive and forgetful than usual. I keep forgetting small stuff like my car keys, my wallet or closing up Dana's romper suit.

- Waking up in the middle of the night is confusing for me. It's happened a few times that I wake up from a dream that involved Dana or Marli and that I got confused and agitated that neither was where they were in my dream. I'd get up from bed and wonder where the heck Dana went, because "I was just holding her". Of course this is rather annoying to Marlijne as well...


Posted in: baby , changes , household , parent

It's great to be home again (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

Sssh! I'm quietly typing this on my iPhone, while Marli is asleep next to me :)

Yesterday Marli was dismissed from the hospital and we were allowed to go home. Of course I was the stereotypical, wishy-washy father so at first I forgot the parking slip, then I forgot my wallet and then I didn't have any cash for the hostess' bill. All in all it took an hour just to get out of there :D

Around two we were greeted by our temp homecare nurse Anouk, from Partula. Anouk got down to business right away and was a bit of a whirlwind about the house. While I was away doing some much needed shopping with my mom, Anouk helped Marli with the feeding and bathing of our daughter, meanwhile dispensing huge amounts of useful information. It was a bit too much to take in, but since Anouk's a loudish and cheery woman it was fun nonetheless. :)

Tonight went better thAn expected. Where the nights in the hospital were irregular, iratic and filled with crying, tonight had a steady rhytm to it! *glee* This rhytm feels good and allows us three hour periods pfsleep between one hour blocks of baby-maintenance. All in all I reckon I'll be able to get five to six hours of sleep on working days. I guess I'll manage that for a while.

Now... It's time for breakfast! >3

Posted in: awesome , baby , bed , home , sleep

OMG, it's started :) (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

well, at least our daughter has learnt to be on time for an appointment. We were scheduled for a c-section around 0700, but at 0150 Marli's water broke. So here we are, at the hospital, feeling anxious but OK.

Wish us luck!

Posted in: baby , delivery , hospital , omg

How exciting! Is it almost time?! (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

This reminds me an awful lot of what my boss-man Nico told me just a few days ago...

He recounted the story of a friend of his who had taken a few weeks off before the birth of their child. Thinking that he'd still have at least a week left before the kid'd get there he was relaxing, putting around the house and so on. And just when he started washing his car his wife appeared in the door opening and loudly proclaimed that they were going to the hospital. NOW! :D

As I mentioned I pushed my holiday forward by a week and worked my last day at $CLIENT today. This in itself turned a few heads and (AFAIK) pissed a few people off. But right now I'm expecting this decision to come to an ironic outcome, with our kid appearing sometime this weekend.

Why? Because all of a sudden, since yesterday, Marli's body has been giving off signals. Yesterday she hesitantly asked me whether "Honey, is this what they call a 'hard belly'?" and yes it was. And today she's been having on and off pains that could very well be practice contractions.

How exciting! :D

Posted in: baby , contractions , exciting , hard belly , pains

A slight baby scare (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

Around 0630 this morning we paid a three-hour visit to the hospital for an additional checkup. The baby hadn't moved noticeably for a full day leading us to worry a bit.

Two heart films and an echo later we had learnt the following:
* The baby's probably been sleeping a lot.
* The baby is moving less than before.
* The amnion is getting tighter and is losing amniotic fluid (ie moving space).

The fact that there's less amniotic fluid than a few days ago could be a signal that the placenta's decided that enough's enough and that the baby's almost cooked. Based on this the gyno warned us to expect an early delivery; at least earlier than originally predicted. In the mean time everything seems to be okay with the little lady.

Posted in: amniotic fluid , baby , not moving , scare

Breeches, caesarians and labor training (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

Marli's in her 37th week, meaning that she's about ready to pop. In about a week the baby's completely done and she'll just be waiting to come out. We'll be having gyno appointments each week from now on, to keep monitoring the baby's health.

This morning's appointment confirmed something we'd been "fearing" for a few weeks: the little one's sleeping in a breech positing and she ain't budging either. While everything in there is in perfect shape, it seems that there isn't enough amniotic fluid for her to move around in. Compare it to sleeping bags if you will: it's easy to move around in a big one, but if the bag's tight around you, you ain't going nowhere. As I suggested this isn't anything to worry about and mom + baby are totally healthy.

It does look like we'll be doing a Caesarian, though we still have some time to make the decission.

In the meantime we've enrolled at an uber-short labor training with Van buik tot baby. Normally these trainings take a few weeks, with numerous sessions. Unfortunately all of those were either booked solid, or they'd start way too late (due to the vacation season). It took a lot of haggling, but we managed to convince one of their trainers to take us on for two two-hour sessions, so we can at least get some basics down.

Busy busy busy! ^_^

Posted in: baby , breech , caesarian , labor training , status report

This parenting deal? Yeah, it's going to work out. (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

Would you believe that I spent the past two to three hours investigating diapers? Diapers of all things! And I'm honestly quite intrigued by it all! ^_^

Over at GoT the lovely Llewella introduced us all to the Kaatje Katoen website. KK is one of the Netherlands' main proponents of washable/reusable diapers, as opposed to the plastic throw-away stuff churned out by Huggies, Pampers et al. their products look pretty damn good to me and we'll soon be ordering one of their trial packages so we can try some of the stuff out. The genius of these cotton diapers is that one can invest between 450 and 700 euros and be done with it all. We wouldn't have to spend 100 euros a month on disposable diapers :)

This is definitely something we'll be looking into. Of course we -will- be buying disposable diapers for daytrips and such, because it's no fun carrying stinky diapers around an amusement park ^_^;

Posted in: baby , diaper , father , mother , parenting

What a weekend! Shopping, shopping, shopping (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

*phew* What a weekend...

Yesterday and today were spent shopping, shopping and shopping some more. We bought at least four hundred euros on essential baby stuff, like clothing, other textiles and bathing goods. Aside from that we also went to check out some better fitting clothing for Marli, though that didn't turn out too well. Our lunch at Ikea was alright though :)

Posted in: baby , busy , shopping , weekend , wow

The baby's kicking up a storm (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

Since there are less than seven weeks to go before the delivery it's to be expected that our offspring will move into its "take-off position". Put your tray tables up, your feet in the air and plant your head firmly into the pelvic bone. Stuff like that.

I guess that's what she's doing right now, because she's kicking up a storm in there. I put my hand on Marli's belly just now and there's all kinds of wobbles and prods going on in there. So either she's bored in there and trying out a few sports, or she's trying to get more comfortable :)

We'd actually be very happy if she got into the aforementioned position, because up to a few days ago she was sitting down on the pelvic bone. Let me tell you, an ass-first labor is NOT what we're looking for as it's either very painful or it requires a caesarian. :/ Here's hoping!

Posted in: baby , kicking up a storm , moving around , ouch

Baby stuff's been delivered (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

About a month ago we went shopping for the first load of baby stuff. The things that we ordered then came in today. Joy oh joy, everything's in order and there are no defects to be found :)

The Mutsy 4-Rider stroller we ordered is as good as I remembered it to be and the cot was easy enough to assemble. We're now stuck with three big boxes of garbage, but those'll luckily be picked up on Friday.

So... We'll need to make a bit of a list to decide what's left...

* A bath, plus the required odds and sods.
* A shelf or two to put on the wall.
* Diapers, both cotton and single-use.
* More clothes.
* ...

Oh my... We're not nearly done yet :D

Posted in: baby , bed , cot , mutsy , stroller

Small update on the mommy-baby situation (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

So far things look alright. The bleeding has gone down to a trickle and this morning's test with the heart monitor also proved that the baby was alright. The doc had a rather intrusive test planned for this afternoon, which got rescheduled to this evening and then till tomorrow.

Since Marli really hates the test and since she's feeling awfully alone in the hospital I've taken tomorrow off from work. Instead I'll be with her in the hospital, helping her through the day. With any luck she can come home tomorrow. *crosses fingers*

Posted in: baby , mommy , scare , situation , update

Shopping, shopping, shopping: more baby stuff (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

Today my mom and her husband came over to Utrecht so we could go shopping for more baby stuff. She'd very graciously offered to help us out in the acquisition of the bigger/expensive stuff, which we are -really- grateful for! It goes without saying that we greatly appreciate the help of all the (grand)parents as well! Without them, we'd be having a hard time getting everything set up. Thank you Janny&Dirk;, Anu&Erik;, Fred&Dymphie; and both grandmas! ^_^

Anywho, thanks to their donations we bought some more great stuff today, including a sturdy playpen and a bunch of bathing things. One of the stores we visited was Ikea and it's always hard for us to leave without buying a little too much. In this case we left with a whole bunch of new bed covers, to replace the aging ones.

A very tiring yet greatly rewarding day :)

Posted in: baby , baby stuff , bathing , playpen , shopping

Balticon Baby's Unusual Locomotive Process (Punkadyne Labs (Punkwalrus))

I made this video from a clip at Balticon. Someone must remember the kid's name ("Willow?") as well as the parents. I want to give them credit. Posted in: baby , balticon

Babyroom ready for decoration (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

*phew!* It took me a few days, but the baby's bedroom is finally ready for decoration and the furniture.

As I said, it took a few days, mostly because I had to make a few runs to the city dump. There was all kinds of crap that we needed to get rid of, before we could even think about cleaning the room up. The storage room in the basement needed to be cleared out as well, in order to make room for the things that we were going to keep.

Some furniture went to welfare, a lot of stuff (among them old belongings of their father) went to Marli's brother and two car loads of "stuff" went to the dump and welfare.

Now that we're done, all we need to do is wait for the furniture to arrive. Well, that and order loads more furniture and other things for the kid, since we're not even half done yet. *panic* Ah well, one step at a time :)

In the meantime I spent most of the day cleaning the house and doing all kinds of household chores. I think a well-deserved shower is in order ^_^



Posted in: baby , babyroom , cleaning , decoration , trash

I haz a face, but I hidded it (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

As I mentioned earlier, yesterday we had an appointment for our the baby's third ultrasound. Yet again, everything seems fine though she was being very difficult and decided to hide her heart behind Marli's navel. $DEITY, she is -so- our child! ^_^

Anywho... The good news is that we caught a glimpse of her face, even though she was hiding most of it behind her arms again. But yea, she has her mother's lips :D

Posted in: baby , echo , face , ultrasound

Shopping for baby-stuff (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

Our little girl's expected to "arrive" at the end of September, so time is of the essence here. We only have three months left to get everything in order, which at times can become a little panic-inducing.

Yesterday we went on our first shopping trip, to order things that will take a lot of time in arriving. We headed over to Baby Dump (yes, it's a truly odd name if you think about it) who're very close by, in Utrecht. To get our bearings we made our rounds through the store, not focussing on anything in particular. Funnily enough I immediately stumbled upon a cot that would be ideal for us and Marli agreed. So that's one down!

The cot is part of a rather beautiful bedroom set, called Turijn. Matte white, mixed with mahogany accents and silver handles. Were it not for the silver handles, it would fit perfectly in with the rest of our deco :) Anywho, the whole set costs a whopping 1100 euros (down from 1600 on a sale! WTF!) and we refuse to get the whole set. For starters, we'll be getting a comode for free, since it's the old one that Marli and her brother were changed on 28 years ago. Aside from that we also refuse to pay close to 500 euros for a cabinet, which can be had at Ikea for a fifth of the price!

Now, I mentioned "panic-inducing" before didn't I? The sheer amount of prams, pushseats and carseats is exactly what did Marli in. I have to admit that it all looked quite confusing and none of them looked the same. How on earth would we find the right one?! Well, it turns out that each row actually consisted of only one specific model, with different cots on them ^_^ That takes care of the confusion!

Given Marli's height we immediately settled on a pram by Mutsy, since their handlebars are very easily extendable and they reach to the proper height. In the end we went for a 4-Rider, which in my eyes is a marvelous piece of technology. These days a tech-geek won't have to be bored in a baby shop! There's so much cool stuff in there and it's almost unbelievable how much things have changed in the past twenty years! :)

Anywho... We ordered the cot and Mutsy and they'll arrive in a week or four. In a few weeks my mother will be visiting the Netherlands again and we'd love to take her on another shopping trip! I gather that she's looking forward to that very much and I would really appreciate her input ^_^ I also can't wait to show the Mutsy to her, so can tell if our judgement was alright.

Posted in: baby , bed , cot , mutsy , pram

Second echo: good stuff! (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

Wow! These modern ultrasound gizmos are amazing! It's a miracle what you can see with these things! ^_^

Friday we had our first ultrasound at the gyno at the Oudenrijn hospital. She could confirm a lot of good things :)

* We are indeed 26 weeks along.
* The baby's complete: two arms, two legs, a body and a head.
* The organs seems to be developing fine.
* She's got her mother's mouth.
* And as the previous line suggests: it's a girl! /o/

EDIT:
I realise that the above picture is quite abstract :D Let's see how far everyone'll get in decyphering it. First hint: she's lying on her back and the head's on the right side.

Posted in: baby , echo , good , pregnant , ultrasound

Echoscopes are cool ^_^ (Kilala.nl (Cailin Coilleach)) by Cailin Coilleach

It's official, the baby's got a head! /o/

We just had a quick visit to the local maternity clinic to get a first echo of our kid. Since the pregnancy had gone unnoticed up to now, we really needed to know how far along we were.

According to the first, admittedly slightly inaccurate, measurements using the echoscope (that's "ultrasound" for you USAdians) the baby's head measures around 23cm. According to the computer's estimates this coincides with the 25th week of pregnancy.

25 weeks! o_O WTH? So we've been pregnant for about five to six months, without knowing about it :D Later this week we'll get the official measurements and echos, so details will follows.

Posted in: baby , echo , echoscope , echoscopy

end of an era, again and again (Never melts (meef)) by jen

You know how you do stuff. Maybe for convenience or maybe what you were doing before wasn't quite working out? And then you realize, hey, I can't go back from here. That your baby just grew up a little more? Sleeping in the bouncer on my desk wasn't quite working out because the other children kept bumping and jostling and throwing stuff, and their toys made noise, and J's a little more aware now. Plus I noticed he's been getting restless, like he seems annoyed when I put him in there. So Today I tried putting him to sleep in here. This is his 2nd nap there. I'm insane being in a different room from him. I put a baby monitor right there so I can hear him snorfling and sniffling and squeaking and clicking and all thsoe other things he does, IN STEREO. I hear this louder than I would if he was right next to me, so that's something. Anyway I'm glad I didn't take this down. We'll see how it goes. His morning nap was in the one upstairs. That's D's doll keeping him company.

Posted in: baby , j , pics

don't you hate posts about blog posts? (Never melts (meef)) by jen

I know I do. It's a nice segue though. And I'm completely unfunny lately. (OK maybe I ever was. But I do amuse myself sometimes.) J is just the cutest most content baby ever. I think he's even calmer than L was, but we'll have to see how he does at a party. Of which we will be going to many in the coming weeks. I am paranoid. Not so much about colds and flu - well yes I am. What kind of mental reject not only holds a baby knowing they have a cold, but STICKS HIS FINGER IN THEIR MOUTH?? No, wait, let's back up a bit. Why would you stick your finger in someone else's mouth? Why do people do that? Does this really happen to other people or do people do it to me because they like to see me all ruffled? Anyway I'm also concerned about the cleanliness of some people. Then I get to thinking I've become quite a germophobe in some ways. Then I think, Gee, J, That's kind of selfish! Stop being such a prude! It's wrong to not fully enjoy your toddler's running-start hugs because you're thinking about the snot they are wiping all over your shirt (never mind you've been wearing this shirt for 2 days straight and it's got paint and spitup and your own food droppings and god knows what else all over it.)

I'm not a germophobe in other ways. I dont' get TOO bitchy when your kid has a cold. I have accepted that when children come together, they will all walk away sick even though none of them was sick before the union. And I don't remember the last time I washed my floors. Because it reminds me of an amusing conversation I had with my MIL recently where she was telling me this story about one of her imaginary girlfriends whose house was SO CLEAN the doctor finally figured out why her kids kept getting sick, and it was because her house was too clean. I stopped listening at that point but I think the ending of the story was that she stopped cleaning and let the sewage back up into the kitchen and the kids stopped getting sick, but I'm not sure. I like my MIL but geez. I bet she was probably just trying to make me feel better about the fact that my floors haven't even been washed of .. well nevermind.

T and I painted the kitchen last night. At first I wasn't sure of the color but when it dried I loved it. We're not done yet because some areas still need a 2nd coat and it was slow going. But we'll be done this weekend. Today I cleaned (with bleach!) and cleaned down all the stuff thats' allowed back on the counters. It takes a fresh paint job and a massive decluttering to make one realize that one's toaster oven is positively grody and holy hell how did I have PEOPLE OVER at my house with that thing? Or the gross walls, for that matter, since you never realize how nasty your walls have become until you're painting them and are up there all intimate with every imperfection, scuff, and snot farm.

After we're done with that we're going to paint the living room. Which is kind of fun because I don't know how many of you can say one of the things you moved in order to paint a room was a fully decorated Christmas tree. But I am so excited, the house looks so warm and home-y finally. I'm going to take this even further and actually hang stuff on the walls! Imagine that.

Then maybe we can have some parties here instead of going somewhere else... do do de do... Posted in: baby , house