Still No Baby.....

Two weeks later, and still no baby. But things happen for a reason, right? Maybe the baby needed to wait for Cally to recover from a rotten cold or maybe the baby is waiting to for us to get all our little "projects" done or maybe the baby is just taking his/her time to come into this world.

Last week, I got a huge sucker punch regarding what it is like to be a part of this world and its been a pretty emotional time. A student at the high school where I teach walked into school on Tuesday with a gun and ended his life in a bathroom. I feel like I've gone through the gamut of emotions in the aftermath of this tragedy-- sadness for the student, his friends, his parents, and our community; anger towards the media for their coverage of this horrific event and people in the region who want to blame schools and teachers for anything they can; frustration that our sense of safety has been shattered; and relief that this student didn't have the desire to bring anyone else down with him. The whole situation has made me think so much about what it is to be a kid today.......... relationships are so different. Instead of communicating with your friends face to face, you text, twitter, and state your status on public Facebook posts. Kids have so many more "friends" these days, but I wonder if they really have people with whom they can open up and talk? This whole week has made me scared for the future of my students and child(ren). But, waking up to the beaming smile of our little red head and then seeing the community of our school come together in the subsequent days has given me hope. I hope that my students will learn from this tragedy and listen to friends, ask for help, and open up a little more. I hope that Cally will have relationships with friends, family, and teachers where she feels comfortable opening up and being who she is. Right now, Cally is open to almost anyone and anything. She loves to talk, she loves her relationships with people of every age (and animals, too), and when I ask her if she's happy, she say, "I'm SO happy". That gives me hope.

(Cally with "the boys"-- Scott, Tom, & Dad)

(Giving hugs to Zephy)

(seeing the joy she gets from skiing)

(Cally recently introduced to the wonders of Skyping her Nana and Grandpa)

Maybe baby has been waiting for me to process these events with my colleagues, be there for my students, and be hopeful?

Cally's Going to be a Big Sister

Cally arrived 11 days past her due date. That waiting game was one of the most miserable mental exercises John and I had been through. The literature says you are "to term" anytime after 37 weeks and there we were well past week 41, twiddling our thumbs, doing everything anyone told us we should try to get the baby out before unnatural means/induction would be attempted (and trying not to have her birthday fall on Christmas day). But she came and she was healthy and happy. So, we just assumed that Babbott (Baby #2), will likely take his/her time, as well.

When John arranged his plan to teach his annual Winter Skills trip in the White Mountains for this week last summer (I'll be 38 weeks on Thursday), neither of us were particularly worried. But, as departure date got closer, I'm not going to lie, I did start to worry. In fact, last night, I grilled him about a) how I could communicate with him if I were to go into labor b)how long it would take him to get home and c) if he would be bummed if he missed the birth of his second child, he looked at me like I was some neurotic pregnant lady.

This is how the conversation went:

"What if I go into labor? How will I get in touch with you?" I asked
"You can call Pinkam Notch and they can radio up to the hut", he answered.
"Do they answer the phone at night? Does the "hut guy" answer the radio during the day? How do they find you if you guys are climbing miles away in a gulley?" I inquired.
"Good questions," he responded.
"And assuming they do find you at the cabin or on a climb, how long will it take for you to get back to Vermont?" I asked.
"Well, if I bring my skis, it'll take me 20 minutes to ski down and then 3 1/2 hours to drive back" he said calmly.
"But what about factoring in the time to get the word, pack up your stuff, etc.?" I asked.
"It's just not going to happen. You aren't going to have this baby early," he stated even more calmly.

So, when I went to my weekly appointment today, the nurse asked if I wanted to have a pelvic exam. During my pregnancy with Cally, folks advised me NOT to have the pelvic exam b/c it doesn't really mean anything. Of course, I had several pelvic exams before Cally was born (because I was late) and each time they told me that I had no dilation of my cervix. This time, however, I asked for an exam and explained our scenario. Upon examining me, the doctor, who had worked at the huts in the White Mountains said, "How important is it that your husband go on this trip? Because you are 3cm dilated and 80% effaced. Your body is ready to give birth and I wouldn't be surprised if you go any day".

At that point, John walked in the door. The doctor explained that some women walk around like this for a week, others give birth really soon, but whatever is the case, this second labor is likely to go a lot faster than the first (it took me 10 hours to get to 4cm with Cally). We all wish we could have crystal ball and could tell exactly when this baby is going to come, but our doctors words of advice were, "John, if you could live with missing the birth of your child, then go. If you couldn't live with it, then you should stay".

After some discussion, we decided that John will teach the class here in Burlington tomorrow and maybe go to Willey's Slide in New Hampshire for the day on Wednesday, but he won't be staying over night in the backcountry. There will be no radio calls, ranger hide and go seek, nor stressed out mothers.

Who knows, it may be another week or more, but you don't get to be there for the birth of your kid a second time. Plus, can you imagine the ammunition this kid would have as a teenager when he's mad at John and he says, "Yeah, but Dad, you weren't even there for my birth!"

Cally's Skiing By Herself

Everyday this week, Cally has asked to go skiing or simply put on her ski boots and walked to the door. It's been amazing to see her get so fired up and see how much better she's gotten in just one week!

Happy New Year!

Here's to a happy and healthy 2011!

We ended 2010 with some great visits with family. First, Nana and Grandpa made it up from the blizzard down south for a couple of days of celebrating with us. John and I both agree that we are knocked down to second and third draft pick when Nana comes into town. She indulges Cally in all the books she wants to read, adorable gifts, and lots of hugs. Meanwhile, Grandpa did lots of drawing with Cally on her new easel. And most amazingly for us, her grandparents indulged us by bringing up a home cooked dinner, letting us sleep in for two mornings in a row, encouraging us to go on a ski date, treating us to a celebratory dinner out, and later letting us go on a rare date to the movies!







Check out the new shrug that Nana knit for Cally:


On Thursday, Cally got to go back to the Swimming Hole with her cousins and exchange more Christmas presents. That afternoon, while she was supposed to be napping, before heading to Stowe, she was practicing singing "Happy Birthday" to Kesley. Kesley and Jameson couldn't be nicer to Cally. It's such a treat to be able to see them regularly.


New Years was spent at our house-- five couples, five kids, and four of the ladies are pregnant. The kids ate early and were put to sleep in every room available upstairs (including a bathroom) and the adults had a delicious meal which included salad, a rib roast, scallops, salmon, asparagus, various potatoes, and two delicious pies.


And most of us even made it up until midnight:

And the best news for Cally was that two of the families spent the night, so she got to play all morning with her buddies:


And, in between all these visitors, we've had some fun times in the snow, while it lasted.....