Vonnahme family blog

The intensity of this past week and of the birth has surprised me. Although my labor was very mellow until the last hour or so, (and I loved the freedom to spend so much time outside walking with Nate on a beautiful. warm…+20 degree… day, wow!) that last bit was the most intense experience I can remember. I don’t know that I have ever experienced such a powerful sense of relief- relief even greater than my joy at finally meeting our baby. Seeing Cirdan and carrying him in my arms, I understand so much of what I experienced better. I will always remember our wonderful midwife, Vanessa, (who also delivered Liliana 2 1/2 years ago in this house), holding up the sling scale over our bed as she was weighing Cirdan, and saying quietly to herself, “Oh, dear.” She rechecked his weight again to make sure, just as surprised as we were at our 9 1/2 lb. baby! We also discovered soon afterward that the bones of his head are almost completely fused already, leaving only the tiniest imaginable soft spot. It truly feels like he arrived with a helmet on, ready to take on his older siblings! The fusing of these bones meant NO molding of the head. My first truly painful birth experience. It has been hard to be patient with myself with the rest and recovery that has been necessary despite the fact that, remarkably, neither of us have any visible birth trauma. Except, the fastest 17 lbs. I will ever lose. What would we do without our family nearby to help us during this transition?

I have realized I am also recovering from the pregnancy itself, from the emotional roller coaster it was with so many events of the past year that came unexpectedly. It is good that it is hibernation time here, dark, cold, and just right for cozying up by the fire with a sweet baby, wonderful husband. and two cuddly kids who love good books! With all there is to get done, this is what is important to enjoy. Grandpa Vonnahme told us that the night Cirdan was born there was a lovely aurora (northern lights display), which we will enjoy looking for expectantly each year on his birthday from now on. I have sensed God’s care for us in many ways, and want to be more aware of what is continually present and real even when I am too preoccupied to be grateful, or even to notice at all.

Beren, after watching some other sledders at the big UAF hill,

If you watch carefully, when they go down, these things go out behind the sled. It’s either snow, or a special kind of sled exhaust. But I think it’s snow.

Lily, to Heidi:

But you and Wick didn’t get mawwied. For a long time.

Cirdan:

Baaaa. Yaaa, yaaaah, YAAAAH! Weeeck!

Lily:

He makes hedgehog sounds.

Cirdan (KEER-dan) Elias was born a few minutes ago, 5:43 pm at home. He is 9 pounds 6 ounces and 20 inches long.

Betsy started laboring in earnest around 8 this morning, but her water didn’t break like with her first two births. We spent the day resting and watching videos of the previous births, and we walked around the mile or so loop three times and enjoyed the beautiful, short Alaskan daytime. When she was ready for some more action after a slow afternoon, the midwives broke her water around 4:30 pm. Things happened much faster after that, and after 18 minutes of pushing I got to catch my second beautiful boy! He has a lot of hair and is bigger than the first two, and seems very healthy.

Now (11:30 pm), we’ve already changed two very messy diapers and he has nursed a lot. Beren and Liliana came for a visit and were both really excited. Lily seems a bit insecure even though she is very proud to be a big sister. Beren seems to be taking it in stride so far. I am thrilled to have a chance to spend more time with them this week.

We hope you enjoy the few pictures we’ve put up so far. Thank you to those of you who have already left your congratulations on the blog- what a hip way to hear from you! And we want to thank our wonderful midwives for another beautiful home birth, and of course for our parents, who have all given us so much support already and on whom we will continue to rely for years. We thank God for all of you, and for our sweet new baby boy!

Betsy is having contractions in earnest now, I’ve come home from work,
and the midwives are on their way. More news later today probably!

At our Suzuki parent class, one assignment was to share our ideas for making instrument practice fun for our preschool kids. One of the parents mentioned she was surprised she couldn’t turn up more ideas on the web, so here’s a start - please add your own to the comments section on this post !

One of the most daunting ideas conveyed in the parent class is basically “if your child doesn’t succeed it’s your fault (or the teacher’s) for not providing the right environment”. It has been interesting to think about what really motivates my son, or me for that matter.

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