Author Archives: Rebecca

Island Girls

fff|ppp|At the Beach

At the Beach

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Catherine and I had a splendid week on Martha’s Vineyard with my Mom. We missed Peter, of course, and were very happy to see him when he came back down on Friday night. Here’s what Catherine did during the week.

*Waved the Dads off on the “Daddy Boat”

*Bought some zucchini with Mom and some limeade with Peter at the West Tisbury Farmer’s Market

*Belted out some songs at the Community Sing with Mom and H

*Watched glass bowls being made at Martha’s Vineyard Glass Works.

*Ate her fair share of an “Oink” with some family members

*Attended her first parade: the annual Festival of the Holy Ghost parade

*And she took a dip in the Ocean.

*She was so lucky to get to spend time with a ton of people! Grammy, the Delisles, H and E, Allison, Cindy, Auntie Marcia, Uncle Kevin, Matt and Christine, the Homoleskis, Uncle Corey, Beth, Auntie Susie, Nancy and Casey, Grandpa, John and Roberta, Craig and Edie, many, many others, and, of course, Mom, and Dad!

A multitude of photos from the week can be found here.

Holiday Weekend

fff|ppp|Becky and Catherine|ppp|fff

I was tempted to name this album “Catherine’s First Trip to Boston”. It didn’t take me long to remember, however, that it was her second visit to the city. This time was just her first time outside!

Peter and I decided to take in some of the Holiday festivities in Boston on Saturday. The city holds Harborfest every Fourth of July weekend. There are all sorts of events ranging from concerts, tours, harbor cruises, and such going on. We didn’t really want to spend money, so we stuck to strolling City Hall Plaza (and watching the Military Band playing there) and people watching on the Common.

We also treated ourselves to some yummy ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. This particular ice cream shop is two buildings over from the Otis House and for the whole time I worked there had an “OPENING SOON” sign in the window. They finally opened the week I stopped commuting! So, two and a half years after seeing that it was opening we finally got our tastebuds on some ice cream… and it was worth the wait!

[more pics from the day here]

Sunday was a bit less exciting. The three of us did a little shopping at Babies R Us, Joann Fabrics, Bob’s Store, and Market Basket. Some was for fun and some was for necessity, but we had a pretty good time.

Peter doesn’t have today off, so he’s headed to work. Catherine and I are taking a little road trip to Worcester to visit my Grammy. We’re not sure what the actual holiday holds for us tomorrow. Maybe we’ll do something exciting. Maybe we’ll catch up on our sleep. Stay tuned!

On Catherine’s Behalf

Catherine would like to tell the world how great her dad is. She’s a bit frustrated that she can’t type yet, so she is allowing me to pass along her message.

She says that her dad is awesome. He changes her diapers without complaining and always has a little song to sing in the process. He loves her so much and never misses a chance to cuddle.

Catherine loves that her dad is such a quick study when it comes to ‘daddy-hood’. Three weeks into his new job and he’s already a pro! And he thinks that pink is cute, too.

ppp|Catherine and her Daddy|ppp

Happy Father’s day to the best new dad that we know! Keep up the good work!

Love, Catherine and her Momma

Things That Went Right

I’d like to thank everyone who offered up prayers for our little Catherine. I know that her recovery was not only due to having fantastic doctors and nurses, but also due to your constant prayer.

Several people have asked me about my labor and delivery experience. Without going into the super personal or gory details I thought I’d let you know how things went.

Catherine was born with a severe case of Meconium Aspiration. Despite the complications that arose due to her condition my labor experience was almost enjoyable. It would be easy to focus on all the things that didn’t go as planned that day, but I’d like to tell you about the good things.

Continue reading

Be bop a rebop…

…Rhubarb Pie!

Last night Peter and I took advantage of the hospital’s “free babysitting” and went out on a date.

We weren’t the youngest people in the theater, but we brought the average age down considerably. I’m guessing most folks in the under 40 age group aren’t interested in seeing A Prarie Home Companion at 7:05pm on a Friday.

Being a long time fan of the Prarie Home Companion radio show I was excited to see this film which shows the ‘final broadcast’ of “a celebrated radio show”. We see backstage antics as well as onstage performances. Some of the PHC actors are in the movie: Garrison Keillor and Tom Keith play themselves while Sue Scott and Tim Russell have other roles.

The comedy was hokey and groan inspiring; exactly what I expected and hoped for! Many of the radio show’s characters showed up, notably the cowboys Lefty and Dusty… and Guy Noir. It was good old comedy at it’s best.

One Last Night in Boston

Catherine is currently enjoying what should be her last night at Brigham and Women’s. She is scheduled to make the trip back to Beverly tomorrow morning. Though she has come a long way since last Friday, she still has a ways to go recovery-wise. She’ll stay in the hospital until she can eat on her own. Hopefully that won’t be too long!

ppp|Catherine|ppp

We had a great visit with her today and were able to hold her the whole time we were there. The change in her in the last few days has been so wonderful to see. Every day she is so much more improved. Take a look at the pictures from today and see for yourself!

CatherineWatch: Day Four

We had a great day at the hospital today! Grandma and Grandpa Wood and Aunt Kirsten and Uncle Mark came in to say their farewells before heading back to Ohio. Catherine rose to the occasion and was without the breathing tube in her lungs. She now only has a little help from a tube in her nose. What an improvement!

She is also off the sedation medication, so she was moving around a little more like a newborn; waving her arms and legs and sticking her tongue out. Because she was no longer using the breathing tube we were finally able to hold her! What a great feeling. She and I settled into the rocking chair and were quite content for a while. By the time Peter got his hands on her she was a little frustrated with the tubes and decided she’d rather be back in her little isolette.

ppp|Mother and Daughter

Mother and Daughter

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ppp|Father and Daughter

Father and Daughter

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More Pics are here.

A Dramatic Arrival

As many of you have probably guessed, our lack of posting this week was directly related to the birth of BabyWood.

So here she is!

ppp|Our First Family Pic

Our First Family Pic

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ppp|Catherine's close up

Catherine Elinor Wood

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(More pics [here](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/baby/catherine_day_1/).)

Stats:

* Born: May 26, 2006 at 4:32 a.m. at Beverly Hospital
* Weight: 7 pounds, 2 ounces
* Length: 20 inches

Labor and delivery went totally fine. We got down towards the end and the doctor broke my water and discovered that the baby had passed her meconium (first bowel movement) in utero. After she was delivered she was taken right up to the Special Care Nursery where they found that she had aspirated much of it into her lungs. They evaluated her and decided that she should be transferred to Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston. She’s there now receiving oxygen and some medications to clean out her lungs.

Peter and I are doing well now that we’ve had a bit of sleep. The grandparents, aunt and uncles will be in and out this weekend and although I wish Catherine could be with me here, I know she’s in the best place for her now.

Feel free to call or email and I promise we’ll be in touch. Thanks for all of your love and prayers!

Some Rain, a Bee and a Baby

Please don’t hate me for this: I am thoroughly enjoying the week of rain we’ve had here in Massachusetts. Yup. I love the sound of the rain, the cool air, the quiet atmosphere… Of course, I haven’t had to deal with the problems that most of New England has. We haven’t been flooded, there are no rising rivers nearby, our cars haven’t stalled out in the middle of a puddle… I also haven’t really had to leave the house. We’ve been lucky.

That luck allows me to enjoy the dark, rainy days at home. The coolness and the pitter patter of the rain makes it easy for me to curl up and actually get some decent sleep. I’ve been sleeping better this week than I have in months.

My heart goes out to everyone who has had their lives upended due to the unending rain. Under normal circumstances I might complain about the weather with them. This time around however, I just like it.

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On Friday Peter and I went to see Akeelah and the Bee. It was a fantastic movie. Cute, upbeat, serious at times, and overall; entertaining. I even cried at the end. You should go and see it.

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Last, but not least, we’ve entered week 40. I was at the doctor today and she said that everything is looking good. That’s what she’s said at every appointment so far 🙂 There’s really nothing too exciting to report on the baby front. Try not to be too disappointed!

Blackberry

I started a pretty ambitious knitting project last fall. It was intended to be a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law, Kirsten. Unfortunately, my first trimester nausea was worse while knitting, so I didn’t quite finish it in time. So what does a good crafter do? Make it a birthday present instead!

I recently got pictures from Kirsten of her modeling it. I’m glad it fit so well. It’s hard to measure a gal that lives several states away!

ppp|Kirsten

Kirsten

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The pattern is Blackberry from the great knitting website: knitty.com. (That first link has a great shot of the sleeve detail)