Margaret Ellen Oliver

 This was written over several days. I'm finally getting it posted.

Margaret Ellen Oliver was born Tuesday, May 10, 2016, at 8:19 a.m. She was 19 inches long and weighed 6 lbs., 11 oz.--not small at all! All her measurements--including her 13-inch h were in the 45th-50th percentiles for her gestational age, just short of 37 weeks. We are calling her Maggie.

We thought we were going to have a scheduled C-section, but this one was unscheduled. Maggie decided that May 10 was her birthday and started coming. My water broke at 4:30 in the morning. The only warning we had was that my mucous plug came out exactly 24 hours earlier. (That was a little dramatic because it had fresh blood in it, but a call to the hospital told me it was OK.) Matt had recently gone to bed but got in motion quickly when I turned on the light on my way to the bathroom and returned a minute later with a towel announcing that my water broke. Lucy was asleep between us and didn't even stir. Shawn and Susie came over right away to stay with Lucy. We got to the hospital around 5:30. They admitted and started prepping me, and then we waited for the doctor to arrive. Surgery went quickly: I was in and out in about an hour. I bled quite a bit because I've been on aspirin, but the bleeding stopped well. Maggie cried long and loud when she was delivered. I got to see her before and after she was cleaned a bit. Matt went to the nursery with her while I went to recovery. We were both in really good shape.

The doctor looked up my latest toxoplasmosis numbers and told us that they had gone down. The first result was a false positive after all. We heard from Louisville on Wednesday that the result of their test was negative for live parasites. Maggie is just fine.

She nursed as soon as I got to hold her when I got back to my room. With my experience and her natural talent, it went really well. She nursed again a couple hours later. Then she went 8+ hours without eating. She just wanted to sleep. Eventually, her blood sugar started decreasing, and we convinced her to eat a bit. Four hours later the nurse brought a very alert Maggie to me, and she ate like a champ again. Sometimes she really eats, and sometimes she just wants to snuggle. She's very sweet. She's lost only 7 oz. since birth. She's had no signs of jaundice. Her hearing, vision, and circulation tests have been perfect, especially impressive because she was born before 37 weeks.

I don't remember exactly how we came up with Maggie's name. I did look for a saint name so that she gets a name day like Lucy does. St Margaret's day (Nov.16) doesn't have traditions like St Lucia's day, but we can make our own. St Margaret was an English princess raised in exile, who married illiterate King Malcolm of Scotland. She read the Bible to him, converted him, and had a great civilizing influence on Scotland while caring for the poor. Her story isn't as flashy as Lucia's, but she was a devout woman who changed a country by reading and caring for those in need. Those are traits we'd like Maggie to have. Margaret is a Persian name that means "child of light." Ellen is a Greek name that means "light." I've been thinking of the meaning of her name as "light from light," a phrase from the Nicene  creed describing Jesus. Ellen also happens to be Matt's mom's first name, although she goes by her middle name, Kay. And Maggie shares Matt's initials (MEO), my doing not his. I don't remember how those pieces came together, but it shows the kind of thought we've put into both of the girls' names. (Both of our girls are little lights.) We also think Maggie is a cute nickname.

Lucy came to see us around 4:30 on Tuesday. At first, she was a bit shy. She's never been in a hospital before, and seeing mama in a weird gown and attached to multiple machines was probably strange. She sat next to me and looked at "baby Emmie." We'll get her used to the name change eventually. I'm still getting used to it myself. Eventually, Lucy got close to Maggie and repeatedly called her "sweet baby." She didn't touch the sweet baby the first day, but it was a successful first meeting. Lucy had a busy day with Shawn and Susie. She handled our being gone when she woke pretty well, and Susie sent me a message that dinner, bath, and bedtime at their house went really well. Matt went home with Lucy for a while on Wednesday. When they came to visit us at the hospital, Lucy was willing to hold Maggie. She wanted to hold her again and again. While Matt or I held Maggie, Lucy rubbed her hair. At least one of those times, Lucy's fingers were covered in Cheetos. Lucy is going to love her baby sister to cheese-dust-coated pieces. Lucy told a nurse "that one sweet baby is Maggie." Lucy watched me nurse Maggie, and she's been told that Maggie only drinks mama milk and can't share the ice chips and Cheetos that Lucy has tried to share. When Maggie cries, Lucy motions for her to go to me and says "come eat." Lucy also told another nurse that baby Maggie "eat mama armpit." Well, it's something like that. The nurses got a kick out of it.

I'm doing as well or better than I'd hoped. By Wednesday I was already moving better than I did when we left the hospital with Lucy. The anesthesiologist put something in my spinal to manage pain for 24 hours. Whatever it was worked terrifically. I got out of bed twice with assistance to sit in the rocking chair in the first 24 hours, and walked the halls on Wednesday. Percocet has managed the pain well, and the doctor said Motrin can be even better if taken regularly. We're heading home on Thursday.

Lucy's 2nd Birthday

Lucy's birthday events were spread over a week, from the first card in the mail until the 2-year check up with the pediatrician. Here's how we celebrated Lucy.

Monday, Sept. 14
Lucy received a card from Gram and Papa (my parents) that plays the Pointer Sisters' "I'm So Excited." The card also has a cardboard cut-out of a dog that twirls around during the song. Lucy LOVES that card. She plays the song over and over and dances, sometimes with her dolls. Lucy's word for music is "doo doo," which makes sense if you sing "doo doo doo," but she doesn't sing it. She is starting to put words together and calls her singing card her "dog doo doo." So thanks Gram and Papa for the "dog doo doo." :)

Tuesday, Sept. 15
The local bouncy house play space is free for kids under two, so we went one more time while she was still free. There were no other kids that morning, so I jumped and climbed and slid with her. She had a good time.

Wednesday, Sept. 16
On Lucy's birthday I tried to do things she wanted to do. I took her for a pastry at the local coffee shop. I let her pick a seat, and she picked one right next to a man that may be homeless. He didn't look dangerous, so we say there. I still haven't figured out how she judges people. Some people cause her to hide and run, but this man was someone to sit next to. I must admit I was kind of proud. Lucy refused to eat either pastry I bought, but she agreed to drink a little chocolate milk. Then we went swimming at the university pool. Lucy has been refusing to wear a flotation device in the pool, but she agreed to try a pool noodle. And she swam well with just a pool noodle. Since then she's started using a smaller noodle and has even tried swimming without support. She went under water and I had to pull her up, but she's brave and will keep trying. After we went swimming, I asked what she wanted for lunch, and she responded enthusiastically for chicken strips, so we went to Dairy Queen. There she discovered the white gravy that comes with chicken strips, and dipped her french fries (and her fingers) in the gravy. She refused to eat the chicken strips. [Have I mentioned that she turned 2?] She randomly decides what she will or won't eat at any given meal. She still likes a wide variety of foods, but she's likely to declare something she likes is "blech" at every meal. When Matt got home from school, we let Lucy open her gifts from family members. Ashley got her cute clothes. Grammie and Papa (Matt's parents) sent a card with money, which she was very excited about. Rick, Cathy, Drew, and Katie got her a couple of Curious George books, for which Matt was also grateful since he reads at least one Curious George book every night. Gram and Papa got Lucy some puzzles, which she likes but is still growing into. Grandma Tanner made Lucy a princess play dress that velcros so that Lucy can put it on and fasten it herself. Matt and I gave her a package of reusable doll diapers to go with a combo doll changing table/cradle/bathtub that I got at the Peddler's Mall. I am happy to report that when the two naked babies received diapers, they also wanted clothes, and they have remained diapered and clothed for a week now. If only I had known what the formerly naked babies really wanted, I would have gotten diapers sooner. We ended the birthday with ice cream at Baskin-Robbins with Shawn and Susie. It was a good day.

Saturday, Sept. 19

 We had Lucy's Curious George birthday party at the church. Several friends came, so Lucy had plenty of kids to play with. Susie painted Curious George for us. Other than that our decorations were plastic table covers and some Dollar Tree balloons, but it looked like a party. I splurge on a huge George balloon on Ebay, which you can see near the presents. It's almost as big as Lucy. We ate a sub sandwich from Wal-Mart again this year with chips and veggies.

Lucy doesn't like it when groups of people sing, and she doesn't like the "Happy Birthday" in particular, so we didn't sing. (Oddly enough, she's fine if I sing the church "O Happy Birthday to You" that I grew up with.) And she refused to blow out the candles on the Curious George cake I made, so Matt blew them out. [Have I mentioned she's two?] She got a lot of nice gifts, including a puzzle, Play-Doh, a doctor's kit, clothes, sidewalk chalk, a Marvel story collection, and a Curious George story collection.

I had gotten a pinata on clearance at Dollar General the week before, so we ended the party with that. It took amazing effort to open an already-banged-up clearance pinata.

Eventually, it did open, and the candy, bracelets, fruit snacks, stickers, and whistles inside were enjoyed by about 10 kids.

Monday, Sept. 21
Lucy's check up went pretty well. We had to wait for about an hour for our appointment. Lucy seemed to think the fun people were all in the "sick" side of the waiting room, where she wanted to crawl and roll on the floor. At times I had to hold her upside-down and swing her to keep her entertained. She played a few games on the Kindle, but what worked best was reading her a Curious George book on the Kindle. She sat still for the whole thing. She did not sit still for her exam. She resisted everything they did to her. I had to hold her and twist her this way and that so that the nurse could take her temperature and the doctor could feel her belly and listen to her heart. [Seriously, can she be any more of a two year old?] But as soon as the doctor was done and her clothes were back on, she started smiling and waving at him in the hall. She actually likes Dr. Mike from a distance. :) Her growth and development are on track. She is now 34.5 inches tall (76th percentile) and weighs 26 pounds, 7 ounces (47th percentile).

It was a good birthday week. Lucy seems to learn something new everyday. She's repeating words and putting words together.

Garden 2014

This photo pretty much shows what has happened in my garden so far this year. My daffodils came up again this year. And Lucy sometimes joins me as I try to get a little done. I've already introduced her to my barefoot and big hat gardening style.

I do have plans for this year's garden, but nothing like the great expansion last year. I'm adding a couple of blocks of width to the Ghetto, and I'd like a stand for my water barrels so that I get better water pressure, but that's all the building I have in mind. I bought some broccoli and Brussels sprout plants to transplant into my garden. I didn't get seeds started in February, so I'm taking a shortcut. I am starting seeds for tomatoes, beans, and squashes that won't be planted for a while. One of my strawberry pots broke, so I'm transplanting the plants to the front bed where I plant snap peas. I plan to plant root veggies, hearty greens, and snap peas this week. Ater that I'll finish cleaning and prepping the Pea Haven, Annex, and Squash Ghetto for planting later this spring. And I'll probably remulch the blueberry patch, which is looking even more promising this year.

Lucy, Matt, and I are going to have to negotiate how much time I have to garden this spring and summer. I will garden. Not only do I enjoy it and benefit from the exercise and the produce I get, but I also read that there's a study that shows that digging in dirt helps with depression symptoms. That seems like plenty of reasons for my gardening time to be a family priority.

Late June Garden Pictures

Green Beans to pick

One day's harvest of basil and green beans

My squash is blossoming

Our front yard garden and walkway

The basil I transplanted to the front garden is hanging in there.

The squash I transplanted from thinning my vegetable garden is blossoming.

The lettuce and herbs that have sprouted in the planter that got knocked over.

The vines and flowers growing on the side porch.

Bees (like the one in the center blossom) love our flowers.

Check out Dr. Oliver!

We ordered Matt's academic regalia last month hoping it would arrive before graduation, and it came today.  I had him put it on immediately and took pictures. We love the hat.

The blue on the hood is the color for philosophy: Ph.D. is a doctorate of philosophy.  The red, or "cardinal," is the color of the school at which he earned his degree.  Some schools have two colors.  For sports, UW's colors are cardinal and white.  For academic regalia it's just cardinal.  I'm glad.  A red, white and blue hood would make him look like "Dr. America" (Captain America's over-educated cousin?).

A New Pre-Neil Picasa Album including Video

I have some photos from the last few weeks.  The video Matt took of Neil kicking the fetal monitor is in this album.  Matt's camera work is a little shaky, but the bumping and rolling of my belly is all Neil.  Any other pregnancy pictures I take will be put in this album.

Partial Home Tour

We've finished the nursery and the study, so I thought I'd share some pictures of a few rooms.



Home Tour Slideshow

Campbellsville Photos

Hi, everyone.  It's Matt.  I'll be posting from time to time with information about my new job and my own thoughts on our new home.  For today, I just wanted to post a few pictures that I took around campus when we visited back in July.  It was kind of gloomy that day, and I'm sure I could take some better ones now, but this will give you the general idea of where I'm working.

Here's Carter Hall, the building where the English Department is located:

Here's a closer view of the clock tower (lying on its side--sorry):

And here's a closer view of Carter Hall:

Here's their new chapel (in case you haven't been told, it's a Baptist school):

And finally, here's a historical landmark placard for you to read (the school's over 100 years old).  I might have more to post later, but this gives the general idea.