Well here we are after 1 week as parents. By the time you read this Iris will be 1 week old! It has been quite an amazing week. There is something about this time of year that seems to bring amazing events into our lives. Iris was born 9/22 this year. 5 years ago on 9/23 we adopted a hurricane Katrina rescue, Soleil. If you don't think that changed our lives you have not met Soleil:) 38 years ago on 9/25 Alisa was born. On Oct. 5 we will celebrate our 13 year wedding anniversary. I am sure there is some numerology or astrology theory about why we are blessed with so many wonderful celebrations in such a short period of time. (I am just trying to keep up.)
I had planned to take Alisa on a picnic on the beach for her birthday but we decided it was a little too soon for Iris's 1st beach day:) We had a quiet dinner with family at home and couldn't have been happier just looking at Iris.
I am amazed at how fast Iris is changing and growing. She has started to follow movement with her eyes. The stump of her cord fell off yesterday. She went outside for the 1st time on Alisa's birthday. Monday she went on her 1st car ride to her 1st pediatrician visit. While at the pediatrician she was weighed in the lay down scale for the 1st time where she promptly pooed all over it. Fortunately the diaper bag was stocked with wipes and diapers. She weighed in at 5 lbs 15 oz which is just shy of her birth weight. That means that she is getting great nutrition from the nursing. Yay! (Which is its own adventure that could fill this post by itself. And again I say to all fathers, stop what you are doing and go tell the mother of your children how awesome she is.) So Iris is growing nicely and should be at her birth weight by the end of the week.
Today we also received the furniture for the nursery. Yes, I said received. For those out there who are pregnant, "don't wait." We thought 1 week before due date would be plenty of time to set up the nursery before the birth. Wrong. It is much more difficult to assemble furniture while trying to keep up with demands of a newborn. Ditto for any preparations that need to be made before birth. Do it by end of 7 months.
Over the last few days I had some of those "parent realizations". 1st-This child relies on us completely for her all her needs. That is no small responsibility. 2nd- I love her more than I thought I could love anything besides Alisa. In the middle of the night I had a few seconds of panic. I woke up and looked over to make sure that Iris was breathing. And just for a few seconds I couldn't see her breathing. That was the longest few seconds of my life. And in those few seconds I realized that it is true what people say about parenthood. "It is like walking around with your heart on the outside of your body." I never understood before. It is one of those experiences that can not be seen or heard but can only be felt.
Photos from the weekend.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Special Guest
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today's blog will be contributed by the mother of Iris and Birthday girl today!
Reflections from Alisa Dawn Rasera-Holden's last moments of pregnancy &1st couple of days of motherhood:
In the spirit of technology, here is a recap from text messages on the early eve of
Tuesday, 9/21/10 -
stage notes:(Alisa's cell from home Alameda after an afternoon walk on beach to Wally's cell on Treasure Island as he was in final prep for huge production)
Alisa: 4:38pm-What time is your dinner break?
Wally: 4:51pm-How's rainbow?
Alisa: 4:58pm-Giving me low back pain:( but good! Mom may be en route back.
Wally: 5:05pm- That is what I thought am not planning on being here tomorrow.
Alisa: 5:08pm- U might be able to!Mom is going to leave in a bit from LA. U should be fine finishing out the night. Alarm will sound if needed. I'm sorry honey:(
Wally: 5:12pm- I want to be there to be your support. If your mom is coming then I should be there, I don't want to miss anything!
Alisa: 5:13pm-u won't!! only come if you feel like you can leave. I really seem OK.Im in touch with midwives. U r closer than my mom! When you can, call me k?
Alisa: 5:16pm- On 2nd thought...totally not opposed to u coming home:) I don't know how to time this mess!
(fast forward to 9/22/10 moments after midnight.. staring at the little rainbow dancing around on my tummy, while we sing "You are My Sunshine")
Did anyone check the gender? No rush, really! We waited this long!
These are the moments that change my life forever... in the MOST wonderful way!
I loved the blessing of being pregnant but while those 7 hours on Tuesday night were the hardest I have EVER worked, they were full of purpose, support, resilience, trust & love.
Iris Grace has already taught us so many life lessons in her brief time here on earth & out of utero. Heck, she taught us a lot while in utero! Today is my 38th birthday ( which I really did think I'd be literally sharing, but Iris was very committed to being a last minute Virgo girl instead:)
She is the result of every birthday wish I have made for a very long time! For those who are familiar with the mysterious journey to parenthood, the reward of a long wait with lots of twists & turns is that I have never been more certain about the desire to have this child, grateful for making the choice to desire her & that our souls were completely meant to be. Listen deeply to your heart as families come in soo many ways if you just stay alert to your call. "Being ready" for us, was being present & truly keeping the faith... whatever that can mean:)
Watching my sweetheart Wally, embrace being her Daddy is the other great reward of this week! He is (as I always knew he would be by watching him with our doggie!) a gentle , loving, protective
,nurturing, excited, humorous, kind, adorable & patient person in this exhilerating time for our family.
He was a dream birth partner & brought all of himself into those wild card moments with Iris & I & for that I am extremely grateful!
The outpouring of love from our families, friends & neighbors has been above & beyond ( and that includes but is not limited to facebook posts, emails, calls, texts, gifts, flowers, food, prayers & thoughts!)
Iris knew what she was arriving to... a world that has joys& sorrows;conflict& resolution; hope & darkness; a community with outstretched arms of love that will help hold her up when she needs holding & teach her to reciprocate. Her birthday makes mine have new meaning & has filled the space in my heart that has been vacant & awaiting her arrival for so long!
The spirit of my Grandma Schefers told me while looking at a full arched rainbow "not to worry honey, she is coming!" She was so right:)
Today's blog will be contributed by the mother of Iris and Birthday girl today!
Reflections from Alisa Dawn Rasera-Holden's last moments of pregnancy &1st couple of days of motherhood:
In the spirit of technology, here is a recap from text messages on the early eve of
Tuesday, 9/21/10 -
stage notes:(Alisa's cell from home Alameda after an afternoon walk on beach to Wally's cell on Treasure Island as he was in final prep for huge production)
Alisa: 4:38pm-What time is your dinner break?
Wally: 4:51pm-How's rainbow?
Alisa: 4:58pm-Giving me low back pain:( but good! Mom may be en route back.
Wally: 5:05pm- That is what I thought am not planning on being here tomorrow.
Alisa: 5:08pm- U might be able to!Mom is going to leave in a bit from LA. U should be fine finishing out the night. Alarm will sound if needed. I'm sorry honey:(
Wally: 5:12pm- I want to be there to be your support. If your mom is coming then I should be there, I don't want to miss anything!
Alisa: 5:13pm-u won't!! only come if you feel like you can leave. I really seem OK.Im in touch with midwives. U r closer than my mom! When you can, call me k?
Alisa: 5:16pm- On 2nd thought...totally not opposed to u coming home:) I don't know how to time this mess!
(fast forward to 9/22/10 moments after midnight.. staring at the little rainbow dancing around on my tummy, while we sing "You are My Sunshine")
Did anyone check the gender? No rush, really! We waited this long!
These are the moments that change my life forever... in the MOST wonderful way!
I loved the blessing of being pregnant but while those 7 hours on Tuesday night were the hardest I have EVER worked, they were full of purpose, support, resilience, trust & love.
Iris Grace has already taught us so many life lessons in her brief time here on earth & out of utero. Heck, she taught us a lot while in utero! Today is my 38th birthday ( which I really did think I'd be literally sharing, but Iris was very committed to being a last minute Virgo girl instead:)
She is the result of every birthday wish I have made for a very long time! For those who are familiar with the mysterious journey to parenthood, the reward of a long wait with lots of twists & turns is that I have never been more certain about the desire to have this child, grateful for making the choice to desire her & that our souls were completely meant to be. Listen deeply to your heart as families come in soo many ways if you just stay alert to your call. "Being ready" for us, was being present & truly keeping the faith... whatever that can mean:)
Watching my sweetheart Wally, embrace being her Daddy is the other great reward of this week! He is (as I always knew he would be by watching him with our doggie!) a gentle , loving, protective
,nurturing, excited, humorous, kind, adorable & patient person in this exhilerating time for our family.
He was a dream birth partner & brought all of himself into those wild card moments with Iris & I & for that I am extremely grateful!
The outpouring of love from our families, friends & neighbors has been above & beyond ( and that includes but is not limited to facebook posts, emails, calls, texts, gifts, flowers, food, prayers & thoughts!)
Iris knew what she was arriving to... a world that has joys& sorrows;conflict& resolution; hope & darkness; a community with outstretched arms of love that will help hold her up when she needs holding & teach her to reciprocate. Her birthday makes mine have new meaning & has filled the space in my heart that has been vacant & awaiting her arrival for so long!
The spirit of my Grandma Schefers told me while looking at a full arched rainbow "not to worry honey, she is coming!" She was so right:)
Friday, September 24, 2010
48 Hours
For those of you that are parents it will come as no surprise that this has been the most amazing 48 hours of my life. Iris has been teaching us to be parents the whole time. We are slow learners but fortunately Grammy JoJo has been tutoring us:). I have to say that no amount of reading and no stories could prepare me for this experience. Everyone has been right that sleep disappears and the days and nights blend. Iris Grace is all consuming and has taken all priority. It is wonderful and challenging and beautiful. And frightening to know that this little girl is completely dependent on us for everything. I am amazed at how much time it takes to care for Iris. There are 3 of us and we can barely keep up with the feeding, burping, changing, washing, and rocking. I have no idea how single mothers do it.
We have been completely overwhelmed by the showering of love from friends and family. We have such a great community of love. We are not really having visitors yet but the emails, calls, and facebook posts have been awesome. We are blessed to have a doctor, post partem nurse, and a priest amongst our friends. All of whom have made semi professional visits so we have not had to leave the house. (Iris has not even had to leave the bedroom). It has been fantastic to have great support built into our community.
Here are the photos from day 2.
We have been completely overwhelmed by the showering of love from friends and family. We have such a great community of love. We are not really having visitors yet but the emails, calls, and facebook posts have been awesome. We are blessed to have a doctor, post partem nurse, and a priest amongst our friends. All of whom have made semi professional visits so we have not had to leave the house. (Iris has not even had to leave the bedroom). It has been fantastic to have great support built into our community.
Here are the photos from day 2.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
I witness a miracle
As most of you know I am very blessed in my life but this morning I witnessed a miracle.
Yesterday Alisa called me at work and said "I am having some cramps". We talked a little more and I told her that she was having contractions. I told her to start counting and call me back when she got to 8. About 35 minutes later she called so I told everyone I had to leave and drove home. When I get there Alisa was already well into contractions and the doula was on her way. Alisa was so strong she had been in early labor all day and ignored it. By the time Ellah, the doula, arrived Alisa was already 4 cm.
Alisa's due date was Oct. 4th so we were not really ready. And having a home birth means that we needed to have the bed made up and birth tub set up. We didn't have either. I made the bed in record time while Alisa labored with Ellah on the floor. In less than 2 hours Alisa went from 4 cm-10cm and ready to push. Now let me just say that I consider myself pretty brave and usually the rock when surrounded by fear.(Any father reading this needs to stop what your doing and go thank the mother of your child for being so awesome.)But seeing Alisa in that much pain scared me. Fortunately Ellah told us that everything was normal and it turned out that the worse part was when Alisa was in back labor. Alisa was a rock star. I am completely in awe of how powerful she is. Watching Iris be born was the most amazing experience of my life. It was exciting, thrilling, terrifying and wonderful.
Without further ado I present to the world Iris Grace Rasera-Holden. She was born at 12:02 am on 9/22 6lbs 1oz and 18" long.
Iris's 1st slide show
Yesterday Alisa called me at work and said "I am having some cramps". We talked a little more and I told her that she was having contractions. I told her to start counting and call me back when she got to 8. About 35 minutes later she called so I told everyone I had to leave and drove home. When I get there Alisa was already well into contractions and the doula was on her way. Alisa was so strong she had been in early labor all day and ignored it. By the time Ellah, the doula, arrived Alisa was already 4 cm.
Alisa's due date was Oct. 4th so we were not really ready. And having a home birth means that we needed to have the bed made up and birth tub set up. We didn't have either. I made the bed in record time while Alisa labored with Ellah on the floor. In less than 2 hours Alisa went from 4 cm-10cm and ready to push. Now let me just say that I consider myself pretty brave and usually the rock when surrounded by fear.(Any father reading this needs to stop what your doing and go thank the mother of your child for being so awesome.)But seeing Alisa in that much pain scared me. Fortunately Ellah told us that everything was normal and it turned out that the worse part was when Alisa was in back labor. Alisa was a rock star. I am completely in awe of how powerful she is. Watching Iris be born was the most amazing experience of my life. It was exciting, thrilling, terrifying and wonderful.
Without further ado I present to the world Iris Grace Rasera-Holden. She was born at 12:02 am on 9/22 6lbs 1oz and 18" long.
Iris's 1st slide show
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