bundino

lukas goes a little farther

2008-03-02T13:37:00.000-08:00

lukas tries walking

2008-03-02T13:17:00.000-08:00

Feed me!

2007-07-13T20:15:00.001-07:00

Lukas chills but not for long...

2007-07-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

Rasberries

2007-06-16T21:45:00.002-07:00

Precrawl

2007-06-16T21:45:00.001-07:00

Lukas laughs

2007-05-19T19:32:00.000-07:00

This is one we'll talk about forever.

Labor: how it happened

2007-01-25T20:47:00.000-08:00

On the day after her birthday N's water broke. In the kitchen.

While she was making eggs.

So on the morning of january 14 we went to the hospital.
How fun! I thought. The baby will be born the day after her birthday!

How wrong I was—it would take much longer than that.

She wasn't in active labor so they started to give her Pitosin to get things moving.

And then they began to increase it because nothing was happening.

Still increasing. Still nothing.

This is starting to look like it might take a while.

Might as well get some sleep.

Checking in with the parents: nothing yet.

And then: contractions (and the pain).

The freaking pain!
("breathe. Don't forget to breathe"
the nurse says to me.)

And then the epidural gods came and took it all away.

And before we knew it (like 17 hours after we arrived) it was time to start pushing.

N was not doing badly at this point (thanks epidural!) so I decided to grab a seat.

And at about two o'clock in the afternoon we had what we came for—a baby boy.

Lukas!

2007-01-25T10:19:00.000-08:00

Lukas Sy Levine was born 6 pounds 5 oz on Jan 15.

We won't be posting an overwhelming number
of images to the blog, which will probably be O.K. for most.

Unless you're a relative—in which case you'll want to see more.

accessory

2007-01-12T21:15:00.000-08:00

J: Not the kid's accessories, the kid as accessory. Even if buying myself clothing is no longer in the budget, I can still buy the baby some great street wear. I'm starting to see the potential here.

focal point

2007-01-10T22:13:00.000-08:00

J: Almost there. Not unlike other moments in our life, we've decided to take a few photos. Jill is the amazing photographer behind the camera. www.photojill.com

Bucco

2006-12-29T12:02:00.000-08:00

J: That's his nickname. Pronounced BOO-KOE.

We've been calling him that for a few months. He's actually Bucco Junior (N calls me Bucco). Bucco came from Boca, as in "besame boca".

It doesn't make a ton of sense, but thats just the way pet names go, I suppose.

clothing becomes difficult

2006-12-24T22:51:00.000-08:00

J: Four weeks to go.

Four weeks to go? That was fast. I can't believe I'm going to have a baby in less than a month.

N is feeling the strain of pregnancy. Up until now it's been easy—that's all over. The past month been less walking and more waddling, less sleep and more toilet trips, less spunk and more funk. But above all, the biggest problem seems to be clothes.

Every morning I walk into the room and N is standing half naked leaning on the chest of drawers either exhausted or exasperated. "I can't put anything on," she'll begin. Followed shortly by "all my clothes are uncomfortable", or "all my clothes are in the laundry", or "I'm tired".

To be honest, I'm surprised I haven't been recruited to help her put on more than just her socks.

Has she enjoyed pregnancy? Yes. Is she ready to retire her maternity clothes? Absolutely.

Birth U

2006-12-07T14:39:00.000-08:00

J: Six weeks to go.

N and I spent the past two nights at Birth U. To those who might be dubious as to the need for such a class, doubt no more—you really don't know what you don't know until you've seen an actual birth on a 12 foot projection screen.

It wasn't all gory—we practiced breathing, too. (Here I learned I'll probably be passing out from hyperventilation somewhere along the way.)

Did you know the time to get to the hospital is when the woman can no longer walk or talk during the peak of a contraction. Well good to know. I probably would have been one of those guys who shows up and is told to go home. How embarrassing. You probably lose all your credibility with the nurses right there.

They still use those metal forceps! Metal. Forceps. Hello? There's been significant advances in medicine, there's been advances in monitoring, there's even been advances in the crappy pillows they give you—they haven't gotten any further than metal with the forceps?

Cooplah, R.N. told me when someone actually tries to perform CPR in the real world, they never remember the details of what they learned in the YMCA gym two years prior. What makes the difference is doing something. Anything. Breath, compression, breath. It doesn't matter, just do something.

This is how I see my role. Don't get me wrong, I'll do my best, but holey moley was there a lot of information to absorb. I don't think I'd remember it all on a test in a quiet classroom, let alone when N is actually giving birth.

I think the most important thing I can do is just be there with N.

That, and ask not to be filmed for the next Birth U.

big little black dress

2006-11-29T20:27:00.000-08:00

n: Here's us Thanksgiving day. If you can't tell from the picture, my dress is super tight. I would never have worn anything like this before--go figure.

Why am I more willing to show off every inch of myself now?

It must simply be because I am honored to be carrying around this blessed soul and because I have so much respect for my body and all that it is capable of producing. Who wouldn't want to flaunt that?

(not) a secret

2006-11-22T08:30:00.001-08:00

baby's first halloween

2006-11-02T20:35:00.000-08:00

i was a pod and baby was a pea (a sweet pea)...

28 weeks

2006-10-31T18:06:00.000-08:00

for the visual learners

2006-10-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

Questions preggies ask

2006-10-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

n: Preggie ladies have non-stop questions running through their brains. They vary greatly from "What do I look like from behind?" to "Did I just smush my baby?" (not to mention a lot of daunting ones we try not to think about). Here are just a few questions that just don't seem to stop:

-Would I be able to write a short, yet profitable book about heartburn?
-Where is the closest public restroom and how disgusting will it be?
-Exactly how smushed are my internal organs?
-How will I ever find enough room to eat Thanksgiving dinner?
-Why do I suddenly have a pimple on my eyelid?
-Where can I buy tennis shoes without laces?
-Will these broken blood vessels on my face ever go away?
-What exactly is taking so long? (this refers to just about anything, anywhere.)
-Did I forget something? (again, this refers to just about anything, anywhere.)
-What is the word I am looking for...?
-If I could eat anything for dinner what would it be?
-Tums or Rolaids?
-If I don't continually put oil on my belly, will it just suddenly crack open?
-How am I going to be able to breathe in a couple of months?
-If I can't lay flat on my back, is the backstroke bad too?

and naturally,
-What is my baby going to look like?

little miss giggle

2006-10-13T09:23:00.000-07:00

J: Not that she wasn't before, but N and I have noticed that she is laughing more. A lot more. How's that for an unexpected symptom of pregnancy!

She laughs over dinner. She giggles in the morning. She even chuckled a bit when I found her in the kitchen taking a swig of lemonade from the bottle at 2 this morning.

She told me she thinks its how her body is releasing tension. (This is infinitely better than the crying-to-release-tension tactic her body was testing out the first few months.)

I can't even begin to express how deeply I appreciate this.

And really, its too bad this pregnancy thing has to end—I'm starting to really enjoy it.

sonogram #2—video

2006-10-09T18:26:00.000-07:00

J: Who wants to see a movie?

Old wives say

2006-10-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

J: We've been threatening to write this for a while. So, without further ado:

HOW TO DETERMINE THE SEX OF YOUR CHILD
as told by random people and relatives

"If you're carrying low and wide its a girl, or high and narrow its a boy"

"Tie a gold ring on a string and let it hang over her stomach—if it swings in a line its a boy, if its a circle you've got a girl."

"Listen to the heart rate. A high heart rate usually is a girl."

"If you crave fruits and sour items its a girl. Want junk food? Its a boy."

and then there's the chinese calendar—not even close to understanding how this one is supposed to work.

Hey people: if I wanted to know, I would've found out.

Preggie Top 10

2006-09-26T17:53:00.000-07:00

You know you are pregnant when:
1. You cannot decide what you need to do more urgently: eat or nap.
2. You cannot, for the life of you, remember the word "parenthesis".
3. TUMS becomes your after dinner mint.
4. You hold the hand rail going up AND down the stairs.
5. You wonder if anyone else at work has noticed how difficult it is to push the doors open (& you just may have to speak with someone higher up about this).
5. Your feet are sore after walking to the car.
6. You are more comfortable snuggling the body pillow than you are your husband.
7. The day is not complete without a cookie or frozen yogurt (or both, preferably).
8. You have seriously considered sleeping on the toilet.
9. 6pm seems like a reasonable time for bed.
and of course:
10.You can't wait to hold the little one!

23 weeks!

2006-09-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

n: It's the third week of month 5 and what a kicker! J thinks its very cute that the baby is rocked to sleep while I am most active; and is most awake when I am asleep. Fortunately the kicking doesn't keep me up just yet.

I must be showing now for sure since a couple of days ago a stranger touched my belly. Then she proceeded to tell me some ridiculous advice which I am learning will become quite common. We've gotta start a list of the things strangers say, since they are mostly absurd and are more revealing about them, then helpful to me. (Plus, I have never really listened to peoples advice before, so why start now?).

Advice like, "Don't worry if your husband isn't into the baby as much as you are. They just wont really get it, so don't be alarmed if he'd rather read the newspaper than hold your newborn".

Wow, obviously this woman doesn't know Josh, who is already very envious that I get to be with it all day long. He also informed me that, once it's born, I'd be lucky if he lets ME hold the baby!

kickin' it

2006-09-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

J: For weeks now, N's been very eager to feel you-know-who move. (The books say she should about now.) She finally felt something last week and is now constantly saying things like, "the baby's awake" and "come feel this". It sounds like it's doing more than just kicking--swimming and sommersaults is more like it. It definitely still has room in there for the back stroke, but not for long. Things are getting bigger and moving on up --just like the Jeffersons, except it's the North side were talking about here. (When does the belly button pop anyways?)

Regardless of what it's actually doing in there, it's absolutely adorable how excited she gets when she tells me it's awake and moving. All this excitement—I can't wait until I can REALLY feel it too.

20 weeks!

2006-09-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

n: Monday begins week 20! Almost into month FIVE! Last week was the first week of school and what an adjustment that has been! There are so many potential hazards at work- kids with scissors, backpacks on the floor, tables sticking out, heavy objects that I am tempted to lift and plenty of opportunities to stick my hand in something toxic. I have definitely slowed down... I do not move as quickly and I look carefully where I am going. What an adjustment.

At 3:30, I am just exhausted and cannot get home fast enough. An important lesson we have learned this week: A pregnant lady in my status as queen does not deserve to be taking public transportation!

Heads up

2006-08-25T15:26:00.000-07:00

We got the thumbs up—guess that means everything is going well in there.

18 Weeks

2006-08-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

J: We had the 18 week sonogram this morning and everything is progressing well. We sat in the room watching the monitor, looking at the little one dance around—and i do mean dance. lots of movement. I'm not sure how to even express what i felt. Incredible. Absolutely incredible.

What a looker

2006-08-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

Cute nose—already taking after its mom.

We got good blood

2006-08-16T20:54:00.000-07:00

n/j: Just a happy note to say that we got the results from the battery of tests that doctors use to determine the health of the baby.

Without boring you with the details, the bottom line:
This is one healthy (and incredibly loved) little baby.

Another milestone successfully reached--we can't wait to feel it kick!

The ABC's of Pregnancy

2006-08-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

n: If you are grossed out by changing bodies, skip this entry.
If you are intrigued by the real changes that occur during this process, do read.

We are moving up from the belly and into the boobs, cause, well, everything on the front side of my body is in full bloom. As if changing my entire wardrobe wasn't expensive enough (thanks for the help, parents!), I finally took the plunge and went bra shopping. I gotta start work tomorrow and only so much of my body can appropriately be popping out! Thanks to Mary at Nordstrom, I was properly "fitted" and was told my new bra size. She may as well have told me that I went from a 4/6 pant size to a 12/14. "Um, a what size?". If I grow anymore I will move beyond the ABCD we all know and love (and onto more obscure letters in the alphabet).

With some hesitancy, I welcome this change--because after all I AM PREGNANT, duh!

Yup, it's good to be pregnant. Pass my mint Oreos.

baby debut

2006-08-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

n: Week 16, just shy of 4 months. I can't help but look at every reflective surface as I walk by.

that's what I like about you!

2006-07-27T10:48:00.000-07:00

n: Dear little one, I can already tell some things about you:
- You do not like the heat! You get too hot in LA, dizzy when we go on long walks and (I do agree with you when) you throw a bit of a fit in Palm Springs in the 122 degree weather!
-You are a good sleeper like me!
-You like attention in the middle of the night- preferably in the form of food from the fridge.
-You love when I take you to the pool and out swim the other preggie ladies! (Gosh, you are just like your daddy)
-You like yoga, but think it's wierd
-You LOVE hearing your daddy's voice, but especially love when he puts his mouth on the belly and vibrates it! (you must be doing summersaults!)
-Pasta, pasta, pasta- is that all you think about?!
-You love hanging out with your mama.

down under

2006-07-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

n: I just got back from being gone all weekend, so j and i were enjoying just hanging out together. He was lying on the floor playing guitar and i thought he looked cute (like always) so i took a picture of him while I stood on our coffee table. He got a great view of my belly from down under and was now very sure at how much it had popped in only a few days. While posing, I asked if he wanted to get directly under me to get the "full effect", to which he replied, "uh, trust me, i got the full effect from here".

The sex talk

2006-07-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

j: Usually I'm all for talking about sex.

But when someone asks: "are you gonna find out?" My response is something like: "I don't know, I just heard the heartbeat—let me enjoy that first."

Why is everyone asking? It's not like you really _need_ to know to prepare.
"Is it a girl? Becuase there's a huge sale at barrette world."

I've heard reasons for and against finding out the gender. We've talked to friends—those who have, those who haven't; those with children and those without.

Lumpy said too many things in life are predictable. I agree, but I think theres a more compelling reason to wait.

When we were dating: "when are you getting engaged?"
When we got engaged: "when is the wedding?"
When we got married: "when are you getting pregnant?"
and now that we're pregnant: "When are your due? What's the sex? Have you thought of a name?"

We don't know boy or girl, and I really relish thinking about N and how much she's enjoing this. I really love thinking about our process. I really enjoy just being where we are right now. But I know as soon as we (and everyone else) finds out we won't be able to help but think about you know who post-delivery.

People will start asking about names, and carrying on about what a great _____ he/she will be. I suppose the thing is language is powerful. Pronouns, particularly—and being able to use the correct one removes the mental wall between pre and post pregnancy, and like water flowing downstream, everyone's attention is focused on the future and not the now.

We only have nine months to enjoy pregnancy, but our entire lives to think about what a great ____ he/she is.

I think I'll just be here and enjoy a conversation about someone else's sex for now.

week 13 factoid

2006-07-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

n: Woah!
"Intestines initially develop within a large swelling in the umbilical cord outside the fetal body. About this time (week 13) they withdraw into the fetal abdominal cavity".

Preggie pops

2006-07-17T21:57:00.000-07:00

n:
"are you showing yet?"
mmmhmmm!

infinitely butter

2006-07-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

j: One of the best parts so far has been an increase in appetite. When I ask if she's hungry, the answer is almost always yes—and that is infinitely more fun than no.

Breakfast? Eggs and toast. Yup.
Mid-morining snack? A mango. Uh-huh.
Lunch? Chicken mole burrito. Awright.
Mid-afternoon snack? Carrot juice and an apple. Yessir.
Dinner? Pasta. (I can't believe it, she wants pasta!)
and a late night Frozen Yogurt.

Now thats some good eatin'.

sonogram #1

2006-07-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

j:This was one of the highlights of my life. I'm certain this process will give me a few more before we are finished, but seeing the little thing move (jump even!) was spectacular.

Two arms, two legs and an incredible heart beat of 161. We are on our way.

high-activity alert

2006-07-07T16:03:00.000-07:00

j: When N feels things a-happenin' I get the High-Activity Alert—as in "Whoa, lots of activity today!" At this point I become very aware that she might spontaneously combust at any moment.

Like Tuesday—we were in LA packing up to go to the airport and N had been saying that she might start puking. (She'll often say it, but rarely do it.) This time she did. I stuck my head in the bathroom and everything was fine. A few minutes later I checked back—she was completely balling! Full on tears. "I'm sad..." she choked out. It broke my heart. I've never seen her in such a state. When I asked why she blurted "I don't know..."

I should have known it—I mean she did warn me.

So that was the start of the latest High-Activity Alert week. Every day since I've gotten the alert—and every day since I've been aware of the reason behind the grumping, crying, or puking. Its now official: our cup runneth over with hormones.

almost there!

2006-07-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

n: We are almost at week 12 and that is good news! We get to see our bundino-thanks to sonar and a very full bladder- at the doctors next week (Wed, July 12th). If everything looks a-ok, we get to officially spread the news. It has been very difficult not to say anything for so long!

84 degrees

2006-06-22T14:19:00.000-07:00

n- it is so hot! Good thing I don't live anywhere else, like NYC or the South (sorry Lev and A2). I was at the laundrymat today waiting for my clothes to finish the spin cycle, reading a book, when I noticed just how round my belly is, not just that but it is so big! It is starting to get to the point where my clothes don't button closed or if they do, I look like I just had Thanksgiving dinner and we all know its JUNE. Thank goodness I am going down to LA next week cause my mom and I have a date to go maternity clothes shopping! (what a dream!).

I was thinking how cool it is to know that, although all of this is beyond our control, j and I really did pick the exact time that we wanted to conceive. It's pretty amazing to have sparked this whole production and then with tremendous trust, passed it along to something/one else to make it all happen.

And one last thing: though this blog is somewhat self-indulgent, I am thinking of it more of an "awemage" (homage) to the little one. Keep going strong-we believe in you!

week 9

2006-06-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

j: N is really into it. She not only brought home three more books, but is blowing though each in record time. Also, on the fridge a new public proclimation has been posted of what to eat—it rigorously details how much of each item to consume by day and why.

N's really lovin this, and I think that is so cool.
Here's to the process.

my contribution

2006-06-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

n: Today was the closest I have come to the highly trendy throwing up predicament. Don't get me wrong, I have been pleanty queasy and usually just gag for a bit, unsuccessfully. But today (the last official day of work before the summer!) I pulled into the parking lot and felt the full effects of "I am about to yank right now" and had to make a decision fast! Quick- I can vomit over there behind the car... or how 'bout the trashcan near the entrance of the school (not a good idea! keep thinking!) or... and then I saw them-nice green compost recyling bins and only 10 feet away! (Quick like a bunny!) And well...that's where I did my part to keep the planet organic. xo

8 weeks

2006-06-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

j: We flew in from LAX exhausted but happy now that we've told all parents. (no one else can know, we've emphasized.) I'm happy with our decision, but truthfully still cautious that all may not go as planned. Who would've predicted worried parenting began so soon.