AND NOW WE MOVE!

More soon, from our new home on Canon Ave.

SO MUCH!

Ack! We are moving! We bought a house, we are packing, Jason is working, Ivy Cat is nursing, Buzz is sleeping, Henry's spazzing. Barbara and Doug are helping, Aubs is touring, painter is coming, floor guy is coming, we are learning, resting, multitasking. Why spread out major life changes when you can do them ALL AT ONCE?!

In other news: Ivy Cat's best friend has been born! Lara and Mitch welcomed Io Augusta Trale into the world on August 6—just over a week ago! Ivy and Io have hung out a few times, but have yet to really get deep.

Now I will go get Jason and go buy kitchen floors—Marmoleum!—and then pretend to pack for a while. Sigh. I hate packing. But I am beyond thrilled for our new home!

5 Weeks

And 5 weeks has passed since this child was born. Almost exactly, in fact—it's 3:08pm, and she was born at 3:26. Amazing. It's seemed like forever, and it's flown by. She was born a million years ago and she just arrived yesterday. We're used to her, we know her, she is a total mystery. She is big—11 lbs now, and even taller, and her neck is getting stronger and she sleeps well at night and loves to eat and she smiles at us.

And we bought a house. We are moving in a month. This will be a very very busy month. I feel good and calm but very aware of all that we have to do. I love being home with Ivy, though it's hard to get much done.

How do those mommy bloggers do it?! I guess it gets easier and you settle into a routine and your brain gets less addled and mushy? I am getting good at using my feet to pick stuff up off the floor when I'm holding her so I don't have to bend down. If only I could pack with my toes...

Right now she's in her bassinet and I'm rocking it with my right foot. She's kind of napping, kind of grunting.

She Smiles!

Magic

Precious tiny creature. In the swing making sounds—like grunts and coos and a kind of squeak. Waving arms. Startling, the Moro Reflex, this primitive thing you do to protect against beasts and dinosaurs. A pure remnant of a long time ago. Little moving mouth, little moving eyes. I sat down to write here, finally, and then she began to cry in her swing and I cannot let her cry in her swing and so the writing was put off, and she laid in my arms and nursed until she fell asleep and I let her stay there, warm and soft with her mouth still open around my nipple. I spend a lot of time in this blue chair. The Giants game is on. We took a nap today, the three of us. She likes to sleep on her side and curl against us, her arms folded in front of her, one leg straight and one bent, the same way I like to sleep. The Giants score. The cat stares out the door. A stack of Thank Yous to write and oh how daunting that is. She squawks and tells me she'll soon tired of the swing. And so I'll stop this and scoop her up again. I am more than happy to do this. Here I come.

I Don't Even Know Where To Begin

That's the problem with blogging, I guess. When you stop for a while, for whatever reason—say you had a baby, and couldn't do much but stare at her for several weeks—it's hard to start back up. You start to fret about what to write, how to catch up on everything, whether you need to detail all that's gone on or whether you can just skip a bunch of stuff. And really, it hasn't been that long—Ivy Cat is only 17 days old. We have had her for 17 days. We've been parents for 17 days. But oh how amazing these 17 days have been. How long and magnificent and unlike anything we've ever known. How quickly one can slide into an entirely new role, a new life, a completely new way of being and orienting and thinking and loving. 18 days ago I did not have a tiny creature rocking placidly in a swing next to me. I did not get up in the middle of the night to nurse a sweet sweet cooing baby (instead, I got up to pee). I did not know how unbelievably good babies smell, or how much we would love laying in bed with her in the morning, watching her make faces as she slowly wakes up. And I most definitely did not know how big my boobs would get, and how important those Lansinoh breast pads would be!

And there's so much more. This is such an amazing time of learning, both on our parts and on Ivy's part. Everyday is new information, new movements, new expressions, and new discoveries. Her poop changes, her coos and grunts change, she uses her hands more, she grabs at her toes. We get to know her better every day. Two nights ago we discovered that playing loud classic rock provokes instant calm and shut-eye in Ivy—so far Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti and the Stones' Exile on Main Street have put the kid to bed in like 3 seconds.

She's a good sleeper and she's not much of a crier—I mean, she cries, but she calms quickly. She's remarkably alert when she's not sleeping, and is an enthusiastic nurser, to say the least. She's getting perfectly chubby. Those cheeks and thighs. Sigh.

We can't stop taking pictures of this child—I'm putting them online at my Picasa site and also on my Facebook page.

So, Dear Readers, I am back, and ready to update you on every single development in Ivy Cat's life.

I'm kidding. I mean almost every single development.

Leave of Absence Due To Extraordinary Circumstances

Dear Blog,

Extraordinary indeed! I'm sorry to have abandoned you, but I'm basking in the wonders, curiosities, discoveries, and challenges of brand new motherhood. A quick update is this: Ivy is 10 days old and totally amazing; we're in escrow on a house; our dear cat Stevie Nicks was struck and killed by a car; and I'm currently on psuedo-bedrest, due to prolonged post-partum bleeding brought on, most likely, by the fact that I have not 'taken it easy' since the birth. I've felt great and have been out and about, up and around, and that may have been too much. So this weekend I'm couch and bed-bound. Boring, but I'm trying to make the best of it while my mom and Jason wait on me and hold the Dear One.

Anyway, I'll be back soon, with so much to say.

Love,

Kate

SHE IS BORN

And we are in love. More soon. Much, much more. But for now, just know that after a long, hard labor full of unexpected twists and turns, Ivy Catherine Schatz Pontius was born on Wednesday July 1, 2009, at 3:26 pm, weighing 8lbs 13oz and measuring 21.5 inches long. She is beyond gorgeous, has tons of light brown/blondish hair, and stunningly long fingers with fancy lady nails. We cannot get enough of her.

This Is It

I am in labor! Early labor, to be exact. My mom just arrived—wait hold on I'm having a contraction—ok. Kim is here massaging me, Jenn brought delicious food, and Aubrey's walking Buzz. The cats are mellow. Oh my god Kim is massaging my feet. Joanna Newsom is playing. I'm having contractions every 4-5 minutes, lasting about 30-40 seconds. Had 'em all night. They're not too bad—I mean I don't love them, and they definitely hurt, but they go away. Amrit was here for a while earlier and is pleased with the progression of it all. Ivy's heart rate sounds great. I've received so many amazing loving supportive texts and Facebook comments and tweets and oh how modern is this? I am live blogging labor. Kim is rubbing my feet with coconut oil. So far, so good.

I will try to write more later...

I can't wait to meet this baby.

XO

What We Are Doing

Dear Ivy Cat,

Guess what tomorrow is? Oh, what? You can't guess, because you are still inside me and that makes cognitive processes like guessing quite challenging? Ok, fair enough. I'll tell you.

Tomorrow is June 28th, your due date.

Now, your dad and I haven't put much stock in this date—it seems arbitrarily decided, based as it is on the first day of my last menstrual period (September 21st, 2008—so long ago!) and not on the day we're pretty sure you were conceived (September 28th or Oct 1st, one of the two). But it's still a date that's been in our brains for some time now, and though we've never expected you to come on your due date (a very small % of babies arrive on their actual EDD) we do know that you're coming very soon. You're snuggled way down low, and you've been that way for some time now. And for the past few days, I've been getting increasingly less comfortable, and am experiencing more intense pre-contractions, more shooting inner thigh pain, and more frequent and intense pressure and pain on my cervix (it feels like getting a PAP smear, but in reverse. Ivy, that will not make sense to you until you're a teenager and you start getting annual exams. OMG you will be a teenager. Eek!) I get tired faster and don't last as long on my feet. I just also just feel...different. In a way I can't quite describe. A way that seems to indicate that you're getting close to coming on out.

(Also, today is June 27th, which means it's been 9 months since your dad and I got married. Best 9 months of our lives.)

So, I thought I'd let you know what we're doing while we wait for you to arrive.

I am resting and sleeping a lot, conserving my energy for our labor.

I started sleeping on the guest bed, in the back room, because it's a lot softer than our bed, and it's much easier on my hips. I can sleep in late now, which is fantastic. Your dad sleeps in there with me, on the floor on a bed I made him, because even though I want to be in the bed alone, we like to be near each other when we sleep. Plus I find the back room a tiny bit scary at night.

We went to IKEA and bought you a stuffed crab, because you are going to be a Cancer. This crab has been a favorite of ours for a long time (Una has one) and it is very soft and squishy (unlike real crabs, which are hard-shelled and pinchy).

We've seen some movies. Star Trek and The Hangover and Away We Go, which was pretty much made for us, for this point in our lives.

I send emails and read blogs and check and update Facebook and Twitter. Those things might seems incredibly antiquated to you by the time you can read. As will this blog. You should see the big, huge, heavy laptop that I'm typing this on.

I am reading my favorite children's books to your dad, as he is less well-versed in the wonders of these books than I am.
We are watching lots of Giants games.

We go for walks, and sometimes I swim.

We watch TV, but we also listen to music, and sometimes silence.

We talk on the phone and hang out with our friends and family members who are very, very excited for you to arrive. Everyone's asking about you.

I am keeping your dad posted on all sensations and twinges and pains and movements.

We are listening to lots of Michael Jackson, because he died very unexpectedly and we both love his music and grew up listening to it.

We are practicing diapering and swaddling on a stuffed elephant. It's about the right size (though you will not have a trunk).

Your dad is helping me tremendously by doing things around the house that I can't really do on account of being about to have a baby and all.

He's also cooking me dinner right now, which is excellent, as I'm really hungry.

On that note, I'm gonna go help him along. And pour myself a glass of wine.

See you soon, love.

XOXOXO