Sam's First Trip To Manhattan

See more photos here.

We traveled into Manhattan on Sunday to take a stroll through Central Park and to practice navigating the subway with Sam and his stroller. Overall, it was successful, but having the stroller was a little difficult. Not all of the subway stops we use have elevators, so getting underground requires going down stairs. Needless to say, I don't plan at this point to take Sam on the subway alone with the stroller...

Although Sam slept for most of the trip, it was a beautiful day.

We are settling in to our new apartment and getting to know the neighborhood. We've already found some good diners, a decent Indian restaurant and several spots to have falafel.

Our apartment is smaller than our New Haven place, but I think we are maximizing our space well. I finally got curtains on all the windows, which makes the apartment feel more cozy. Although the brownstone was built in 1905, it does have new windows, hopefully making for a draft-free winter.

Sam is now 10-weeks-old and wanting to put everything in his mouth. He hasn't quite gotten down the grasping of objects, but if he does get a hold of something, he is sure to suck on it.

He also is more and more vocal each day, and I am proud to say that we are down to one feeding at night. After we put him in his crib, he will sleep for about six or seven hours. We then feed him, and he sleeps for another four or five hours. We are quite lucky to be at his point!

I'm adjusting to the stay-at-home-mom role. I've joined an online parents group from the neighborhood, and I hope to get together with some of these moms. Sam and I also make trips to the library, which is just a few block away.

Dave is getting a hang of his commute. Getting home has proved to be more difficult because of the reduced number of trains running when he gets out of work, but regardless, he is home so much earlier. And he is getting more sleep.

I hope to post photos of our new apartment and the neighborhood soon. I also hope to get a video up soon of us reading a book to Sam. He usually babbles and coos every time we read to him. So cute!

So much to tell you all....

First, Sam went to the pediatrician today for his first round of vaccinations. We've never heard him cry that loud! But he calmed down quickly and is now napping. Hopefully, he will not get a fever.

He now weighs 13 lbs 4 oz and is 24 inches long. That means he is in the 85th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height.

Now, to last week.....

My Aunt Sue traveled east to visit for a week. It was a great time -- good conversations and it was nice to have someone home with me while Dave as at work.
My parents also dropped by for a short visit. They hauled some stuff back to Wisconsin for us, including our canoe. It was a good excuse to come see Sam.

Here are photos and three videos my Dad took while they were here: The Great Canoe Trip

And for those of you who don't know yet, WE ARE MOVING AGAIN!!!! On Oct. 1, we are packing up a truck and moving to Brooklyn.

I am leaving my job at the Hartford Courant to be a stay-at-home mom. And Dave's commute will go from 2 1/2 hours to about 50 minutes!

Our apartment is the top floor of a brownstone in southern Brooklyn in a neighborhood called Bay Ridge.

The next several days will be spent packing, and Dave is taking next week off.

Also, we traveled on Sunday to Wethersfield near Hartford to visit my co-worker Jim, his wife Chris and their 3-week-old son Reid. My co-worker Leeanne, who is getting married Saturday, also was there. It was great to see everyone and to trade baby stories with Jim and Chris. Photos: Sam Meets Reid

Sam Meets Uncle Nathan & Uncle Kyle

Uncle Nathan and Uncle Kyle drove up from Virginia this holiday weekend to meet their nephew. More photos: Sam Meets His Uncles

Sam: A Video

Here is Sam in his bouncy chair, just hanging with Mom. He is starting to be more vocal with breathy vowel sounds. You can kind of hear it in the video. (The chimes in the background is our clock.) It's nothing too exciting, but I wanted to play around with the video function of our camera.

Sam Meets His Great-Grandma Monico & Great-Grandpa Monico

We traveled up to the Berkshires on Sunday to introduce Sam to his great-grandparents. We hope to get a photo soon that includes Dave's mom, so we have that four generational photo.

The Monicos recently sold their home of 30 years and moved into a condo, so we first stopped at the house to show Sam this wonderful home that is full of memories for his dad. (Dave plans to write more about this soon.)

Here are photos from that trip: Monico visit

Here are some more photos of Sam working on his head/neck strength in his new Bumbo chair (thank you Courant webstaff!!) and during tummy time on his Boppy: Sam's Workout

Mom & Sam

More Photos Of Sam

My Boys

It has been a week already?

Time flies when you aren't getting any sleep?

It's hard to believe that a week ago our little Sam was born! And it has been quite the week.

We are getting the hang of feeding, diaper changes and how to calm a restless, crying baby. Dave and I, obviously, are sleep deprived, but I don't think we'd want it any other way at this point.

Sam is full of fun expressions, especially when he is sleepy. Enjoy these photos Dave took: Sleepy Sam

BABY!!!

We apologize for not posting earlier, but as you can imagine, we've been busy.

Samuel Putnam Paulsen was born Monday, Aug. 3 at 2:33 p.m. I was induced Monday morning and labored for only six hours before our little man arrived, weighing 8 lbs 11 oz and 21 1/4 inches long.

We are home from the hospital now with baby Sam. My parents are here with us enjoying this time of excitement and change.

We have tons of photos to share on my Picasa site: http://picasaweb.google.com/eputnam97

Another Update

We are scheduled for an induction on Monday. We don't have a time yet. The hospital will call us Sunday night to let us know what time to come in.

There is a chance, however, that we will get bumped. The hospital might push our induction back a few hours or a day, depending on how many women they have in labor. Those in active labor obviously are the priority. (Fun fact: More women give birth in August than any other month, according to the August issue of Rachael Ray's magazine -- Rachael was born in August.)

Again, baby may surprise us and decide to come in the next four days on his own.

We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning to see how the little guy is doing.

We are anxious to say the least. Excited, too, knowing that it's a matter of days....

Friday was my last day at work, so I've been at home this whole week, trying to keep myself occupied -- this has not been easy.

I finally went out yesterday and bought a novel to read. I can't read another baby-related book. My mind can't absorb much more. Plus, I feel like I need to distract myself in order to stay calm.

It's been hot and humid, too, which hasn't helped during this waiting game. We have one a/c unit for the bedroom, but it doesn't cool down the whole apartment. I bought a new fan yesterday to circulate the air a little better in the living room.

Dave is still working, taking the train to NYC each day and hoping that I will call with news of contractions or water breaking. Unfortunately, it's usually a call from me complaining how hot it is in the apartment.

But this will all be a distant memory soon, washed over by the joy of a baby boy.

Baby update

So here's the latest---

I went to the doctor this morning. They did a nonstress test to evaluate the baby's condition. He's doing fine.

The concern, however, is that he is still very high. Apparently, this wouldn't be a problem except all other signs indicate that I'm ready to give birth, i.e. I'm nearly 4 cm dilated.

Doc thinks that perhaps the baby hasn't dropped because he won't make it through the birth canal. There's a chance my pelvis won't accomodate his size -- baby is big -- likely at least 8 lbs by now and growing. (But luckily, the doc says, I'm tall and "big boned.")

Dave and I have a couple of options. The doctor said I could be induced at the end of the week -- when I'm at about 41 weeks. Or we could wait until early next week to induce. But waiting means the baby would be even larger.

Basically, it's a crap shoot on whether the baby will drop far enough for a vaginal delivery.

We are torn about what to do. I don't want to be induced nor do I want to have a c-section. Induction at about 41 weeks is something they usually don't do, so I'm surprised that the doc put it on the table.

So, that's that. The big hope is that I will go into labor naturally and baby comes out fine.

Due Date

We made it to July 25, the estimated due date of our little chick. We are hoping that the little guy will now make his arrival!

When the baby comes has been one heck of a trial for us.

Before my first internal exam at the beginning of the month, I had it in my head that little chick might not make his big debut until August.

But during an early July visit, my doctor examined me and determined that there was no way I would make it to July 25. At that visit, I was already 2 cm dilated and about 60 percent effaced.

But alas, the weeks passed.

On Tuesday, the doctor told me I'm 3 cm dilated and about 80 percent effaced. (No doubt I'm lucky here. It can take women hours of painful labor to get where I'm at -- and I have yet to feel a contraction.)

We temporarily scheduled another appointment for Tuesday, the 28th -- doc said there's no way I'd still be pregnant by then. We shall see!

These optimistic doctors - I see a handful of rotating docs - are throwing us for a loop, and I'm to the point where I refuse to trust what they say.

This is my first child, afterall, so it only should be assumed that I would go past my due date. Most women do. And despite such progress with my cervix, the baby hasn't dropped.

And yes, I'm absolutely sick of people asking me if the baby has arrived. You will no doubt know when he arrives, people! Dave and I will be shouting it from the mountain tops, a.k.a. Facebook, e-mail, phone calls.

More Big Belly

Twice today strangers have mentioned to me how huge I am.

I was walking from our apartment to my car this morning when a nearby woman said, "Wow, you must be having twins." I replied, "Nope, there's only one in there." Her response: "Must be one big baby."

Later, I was taking the elevator at work when a maintenance guy said to me, "Looks like you are working up to the very end." My response: "Well, I have about five weeks to go." His reponse: "Oh. Wow."

I'm definately big. Dave says people just forget how big women near their due date get. You be the judge:

Car Seat Now Included

Eight Wheels of Power

Look out world, here we come! And many thanks to the folks who gave us Target gift cards at the baby shower, as your generosity has made possible this purchase of full-throttle, baby-moving muscle. Vrooom!

Big Belly

Here's a photo of me taken today, May 4. I'm about 28 weeks pregnant.

Baby Returns to Wis. (by Popular Demand)

Let me get the bad news out of the way first. We broke three rules of travel on our vacation: Never fly into Newark, never fly into Newark on a late flight and never fly into Newark on a late flight when a snow storm is sweeping through the Midwest.

Our flight Sunday out of Madison got delayed several hours, to the point that there was no way we would have made our train connection. So we got a hotel in Madison and left early the next morning, without further problems.

Otherwise, our vacation last week and brief trip to Wisconsin was a big success, culminating in a wonderful baby shower thrown by the two Sarahs. Many thanks to them, and to everyone who braved the surprise snowstorm in southern Wisconsin on Saturday.

It was baby's second trip to Wisconsin (the first being Christmas), and we can only assume he enjoyed it. (We were sure to give him a taste of brats and cheese, but no beer just yet.) Click on the photo below for a photo gallery of the shower.

January is over?

January has just passed us by with only writing two blog entries. We are bad bloggers.

But we have lots to tell you all.

First, for those of you we have neglected to tell: Dave and I are expecting our first child! The baby is due at the end of July.

I have been feeling much better since the start of the new year, and we hope to learn the sex of the baby sometime in March.

I also started teaching my class on online journalism this past week at Southern Connecticut State University. It's going to be a challenge. I have 15 students, who are all juniors and seniors.

I rambled through the first class because of nerves -- only to find that I still had 30 minutes left after reaching the end of all of my material. I improvised and held a discussion about the future of newspapers.

The second class was cancelled due to ice! New Englanders aren't as tough as Midwesterns.

This past weekend, we celebrated my birthday -- the big 30! Nate and Kyle took the train up from Washington, D.C., to be a part of my birthday bash on Saturday night. Dave graciously hosted the party. About 20 friends, family and co-workers helped to usher me into my 30s.

Unfortunately, Dave and I didn't take many photos, but my brother did. Check them out here.

We both are looking forward to spring and to the further growth of my belly. Our little chick is doing well.

We hope all is well with all of you.