Lane Catherine Mandel

Hello World! I am emerging from my bubble of new-motherhood... to blog...of all things. I am supposed to sleep when the baby sleeps, but who can do that? It's 11 in the morning and we just got back from baby's first doctor appointment - (all is well says Dr. Ramos).

Lane Catherine Mandel is now 6 days old. She was eventually born via c-section after a lot of labor and different attempts to chemically and manually dilate my cervix (I will write my birth story but it is long and arduous and I don't have the energy right now). My husband, midwives and doula (much more to come on all of them) were amazing. I could not have made it through without them. I was lucky to have a fantastic surgeon (who was my father in another body - very strange) and a great team of nurses to perform the surgery, and the baby and I were never in any jeopardy, it was just the right call for us. Thanks to all of the hypnobirthing practice and my doula I was able to talk and laugh through the surgery and labor. Thanks to the midwives, I worked hard to have my baby and feel good about every decision that was made. Thanks to Dave, I felt loved and empowered and supported. He is my rock and I think this experience has brought us closer together already.

Her name: Lane got her first name for a couple of reasons. First, the name is an old one in my family, going back to a Confederate General in the Civil War (James Henry Lane). I suppose James Henry is her great great great grandfather? The family historians can correct me if there are too many greats in there. Don't worry, this isn't a redneck shout-out to my Southern Confederate Roots, but it is a shout-out to standing and fighting for what you believe in (even if you're on the wrong side!). He did a lot of other interesting things in his career as a civil engineer, and I suppose he'd be happy we used his name. Lane has moved through the generations of my family, and is the middle name of Lizabeth Lane, the Aunt who introduced Dave and I. Lizabeth (Beth) thought that we should meet when I was in California during an internship in 2002 - so we did- in the hospital hallway where Dave was working (she was his boss). We have been together ever since. If you would have told us at that moment that 10 years later we'd be having a baby - we would have both shot out of there faster than our dog can steal a diaper wipe out of the diaper pail. So thank you Beth, and I hope you don't mind our borrowing your name! Dave's great grandmother, whom I have heard nothing but wonderful things about, was named Catherine. From what I hear she was generous, warm, and put family above all else. Most of these comments have come from Dave's Grandmother (who would have been her Daughter in Law - so we know she is telling the truth). We were driving cross country shouting out family names on both sides and when he said Catherine, we knew that was it! It is also on my side (my other Aunt - known as Kate - on Dad's side who I love dearly and who has been so excited about the birth of this little girl).

Her stats: Lane arrived at 41 weeks and 6 days, on May 23rd 2012 at 10:47 PM. Just four days after my birthday and two days after our wedding anniversary. She weighed in at a respectable 7 pounds and 14 ounces, 20 inches long and has a head full of sandy blond hair and blue eyes. I don't know if the color will stick, but those big eyes completely melt me when I catch her gaze.

How we're holding up: Dave has created a baby suite for us in our bedroom - complete with a cooler for drinks so that I can minimize trips up and down the stairs. We got no sleep for the first couple of days at the hospital, but have gotten more since we got home when the baby allows. She gets feisty around 1 to 3 in the morning, and we're learning an ever-expanding plethora of baby soothing techniques. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, but I think that is parenthood.

Funny things: I have been trying to figure out what motherhood feels like, and I think the other night, it came to me as I glanced at myself in the mirror at 330 in the morning. There I am, breasts dangling, trying to calm a fussy baby in my underwear, and as I turn around I notice there is one of the pieces of the breast pump stuck to my leg. Glamorous, I know. But at that moment I realized that my priorities had changed- there is nothing I wouldn't have done or stuck to myself in an effort to make the baby happy. Speaking of making the baby happy. We have discovered the mysterious calming effects of the vacuum cleaner. At 130 this morning, there Dave was, in his banana boxers, vacuuming the carpet. It worked. She was calm and happily nursing in minutes.

Friends: Our friends have brought us food, visited with us, decorated our door and house, and been absolutely fantastic over the last week. We are so lucky to be surrounded by good, loving, supportive people. Jade and Matthew even came to the hospital and took some pics there (those will be in the video I will eventually put on here).

Family: Everyone has been so excited. We have gotten so many emails, calls and texts from all of our loving relatives. Dave's Mom is coming to stay with us for a week starting Saturday, since Dave will be going back to work next week.

Much much more to come, but the baby is waking and I will need to put my Mommy Hat back on in just a few. Back to the bubble.