Holiday Happenings

Now that the holidays have come and gone let's re-cap!

Baby's 1st Christmas was amazing! When typically we would have a marathon of opening presents and gift giving; this year we were forced to take our time. The baby had to take a nap in between all the gift opening. Funny how a baby makes you slow down. Friends and Family all sent gifts for her too. We dressed her up in all kinds of stuff and when we were done it was already 2pm. Time for dinner making! I should also say that it was amazing having Grandma here too! It really blended our old traditions and the new one's we want to create! Definitely the best!

Don't think we missed an opportunity to do a bit of travel. We ended up going on drives to Norwich and to Winpole Estates for some post holiday walking detox. And yes, we forced Grandma out and about! We got some great shots of all the places we went. And then on New Years eve we had a Daddy, Grandma and baby all sleeping.  Mommy stayed up to wake everyone up for the big fireworks.  Which were outstanding in London. No Dick Clark or Ryan Secress just live footage of Big Ben almost being lit on fire. Best fireworks I've ever seen and we've been to DC during 4th of July. No comparison!

So here is to 2012! I know we're half way through January but may your 2012 be amazing!

Christmas in England!

So, I bet your wondering... What are Katie and Mike up to?!?  

When usually we would be preparing for some kind of vacation to a warm climate and a big old Holiday party. Now we are enjoying time with our little baby and soaking up all the Christmas cheer in England. For some reason Christmas in England is SO SO SOOOOO much better than in the US. I think it's because all those holiday traditions actually came from here.  Or maybe it's because they don't have Thanksgiving so they have extra time to get in the mood.

Whatever the reason they have things here that we don't have in the states. Like all those things that Christmas Carols talk about... Things like Roasted Chestnuts, Christmas pudding, Mulled Cider and Wine, Figgy pudding, Christmas Goose, Advent calendars a plenty, Partridge and Pears, Victorian dressed carolers, Trucks that drive around at night with Carolers (during the week at that!), and lights and trees only in the market areas.  Don't get me wrong, they are total consumers here. Buying presents and extra markets and the whole 9 yards. But only the American's have lights in the windows (probably because gas is so expensive here). There are parties every night for every group you belong too. And everyone is cheerful, except for the occasional Scrooge.  

So why does it feel different?!? Why does it feel more Christmassy?!? Well I don't know. But I do know that it's nice and that everyone should experience the old style Christmas charm once in their lives.  If you find yourself in a small village singing Christmas carols enjoy each moment of it. Whether that village is a real place or one that you collect and set out on your table for the season.

PS - They say... 

Happy Christmas! 

Merry Christmas to you and yours... May your days be Merry and Bright! 

Lots of love and light from us Rachanow's.

Traveling with a Baby! Aunt Mandy and Uncle Charlie visit!

Sophie, Me, Aunt Mandy and Uncle Charlie in York, UK

Us at some Ruins on the way to the North Sea

So Aunt Mandy and Uncle Charlie came to visit!  We decided to show them around as much as we could with the baby in tow. What a fun adventure!  Our song when the baby was sad was... "We are having a good time, we are having a good time..."

So where did we go and what did we do??? Well.. we hit up the North sea coast and York. York was Sophie's first hotel over night stay. And she really enjoyed it! We did pretty much everything (even breakfast in the morning)! Except when it came to feeding time. Me and Sophie would hit the car or a coffee shop or the York Minster to feed her. For some reason church is really accommodating to breast feeding moms. (see previous blog post for picture).

Charlie & Mandy on the York Minster  tour

Any way, travelling with a baby wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. We ended up driving everywhere since I wanted to always have the van available for feeding time. But really we could have taken the train and been fine.  Of course, we packed the whole kitchen sink. Aunt Mandy and Uncle Charlie only had one bag to the babies 5 or 6. :)  In any case, we really didn't need that much. Sophie was fine as long as she had a clean diaper, a full belly and a warm place to hang out. (the sling works perfectly for a warm spot)

Charlie's Ruins! York

So travelling with a baby is harder on me than on the baby.  She doesn't care where she is as long as she is with us. And that's how we like it!

Thank you to Mandy and Charlie for coming to England and helping us out with the baby! We hope you had a great time and will come back soon!

Adventures in Babysitting.. Oh, wait! I can't give this baby back?

1 month has passed! And here are some things I have learned...

1. Babies are the best! Mike says that this might be the meaning of life. I'm still trying to work that out.
2. Birth is not hard for all people.

Breast feeding at the York Minster

3. Breast feeding is tricky! Ask yourself... Have I ever seen anyone breast feed?  Probably not. Therefore it's hard to get a hold of how it's done and when and where it's okay to do it. Luckily, in this country it is illegal for someone to ask you to stop breast feeding in public. When your baby is hungry go ahead and feed her! For us, breast feeding was tough at first. I thought that it would be natural and normal and that the baby would get it but really it's a learning process for mom and baby. And sometimes it can be really frustrating. But we haven't given up! Our goal is to exclusively breast feed for the first 6 months. After that we can reassess the situation. I personally really like it.  There is nothing like seeing my baby in a drunk milk coma after she has been completely satisfied. We are going to try to have Mike give her a bottle this weekend with breast milk so he can get in on the bonding action. - Also... Mike says... "boobies are for babies not motor boating!" Hilarious!
4. Babies cry.  Sometimes for no reason at all. Maybe it's over stimulation but whatever the cause babies cry and it's okay.

5. Which than leads me to... Lack of sleep.  Which I have to say I don't miss much. Half the time I'm staring at this little human thinking what the heck is she dreaming about?  As a mom, I have been missing quite a bit of sleep and sometimes that makes me irritable but it's almost like I couldn't sleep sometimes if I tried. I want to be awake to watch her. I want to be there for every move she makes. So I guess I will catch up on the sleep in 20 years or so...
6. It's my job to worry! I worry about everything. I know she is perfectly healthy but I find myself worrying about how to keep this little human alive. I think that this just comes with the job of being a Mom.  le sigh
7. I must trust my intuition.  My Dad was worried that we were reading too many books and taking too many classes on babies. He told us that we would just know what to do.  Well for me, that wasn't good enough. I needed to take all these classes. But really when it comes down to it intuition rains supreme. Even Mike's intuition rains supreme over everything we learned. I know it's hard to imagine if you don't have kids but it's almost like a transformation that occurs. And then you know exactly what your baby needs and when.
8. Advice is Priceless and Worthless!  If I met a pregnant person right now this is the advice I would give them!  It's so true! Everyone has an opinion on what you should or shouldn't be doing with your baby. But really it comes back to that number 7! Trust yourself and your intuition!

9. Baby awake.  Best moment so far is watching Sophie's eyes light up and a smile cross her face. It happened at exactly 1 month. It was like she was in a fog and then all of a sudden woke up. She knew exactly where she was and who we are. And she was happy! That was the best!
10. Being a Mom is the best job I've had so far! 

Done and Done!

Introducing Sophia! A baby birth story

**Disclaimer - could be graphic. If you are easily offended or have strong feelings on birth then you should probably skip this post.**

From the mom's perspective:  

I have this theory: Pregnancy and birth are a natural and normal process. 

On Tuesday, October 25th at 11:30pm it started! Or at least I think it started. It could have started earlier but I was busy talking to my dad on Skype and fielding "Where is the baby?" messages. Any way, at 11:30pm I decided to join Mike and hit the hay! I had been practicing the Hypno Birthing relaxation CD since about 28 weeks pregnant and this evening was no exception.  The track is about 30 minutes long and typically by the end I would be fast asleep. But this night was different. I got through 30 minutes and was still awake. I thought that was weird. So I hit the bathroom and discovered some blood. Hummm... I thought. That is weird. So I woke Mike up and he reminded me to call the delivery unit at the hospital to see what we should do. (Under the British NHS system you call the hospital and they dispatch the local midwives) So that's what I did! They asked me if I was having contractions and honestly I didn't know. I was having period pains but it wasn't anything terrible. (and I have a low tolerance for pain - just ask my dentist) So the hospital told me to call back when the contractions got closer together.

In the meantime and to my surprise, Mike was setting out all our Home birth items. For some reason he just knew what was going on and I was still thinking we had a long time to go. In any case, he lit candles and put on my relaxation music. He set up my yoga ball, a chair and a blanket. He got our snacks together and lots of different beverages. I was busy trying out the TENS machine. It's a electric pulse machine that people use for back pain or labor pains here in the UK.  So with the bedroom all set up and inviting; Mike and I waited for things to progress.

Wednesday, October 26th at around midnight I knew that birth was on the horizon. The contractions seemed stronger and closer together. Mike was timing them. I would switch positions from standing to laying on the bed to all fours on the floor to sitting on the floor.  I remember my being really cold and then really hot all in the course of a minute. And in between the contractions I would focus on breathing and relaxation using all the yoga techniques and Hypno Birthing techniques that I knew of. Mike kept feeding me and giving me drinks and encouraging the whole process.  My body began to focus on elimination. I found myself in the bathroom every couple of minutes. By the time 3am rolled around I thought it would be a good idea to call the Hospital again. So I called them and asked them to send the midwife out. A couple minutes later the midwife called and we chatted. She said she was an hour away but that she would be here. So in the meantime, I continued to breath and relax and focus on the contractions. Eventually, I started getting the urge to push during the contractions. It was a truly primal feeling that I couldn't control (although I tried). During this time Mike was starting a bath and encouraged me that I was doing great. (I did say to him that I didn't think I could do it and that we should go to the hospital - typical verbiage from a lady in transition) I got in the warm bath and the urge to push was overwhelming. I was worried because I wasn't in labor long and that's when the midwife arrived. She was surprised to see that I was already pushing. She promptly called the 2nd midwife and told her to come asap with all the equipment. I tried to resist the urge to push but Sophia was ready to come. So with 2 contractions she joined us in the warm tub. She was born at 6:23am and Mike got to take the time.

Sophia and I hung out in the tub for a while until the 2nd midwife arrived. Sophia was perfect! During that time I tried to deliver the after birth but the position I was in just wasn't allowing that to happen. So when the 2nd midwife arrived they stood me up and gravity delivered the afterbirth. Then we walked over to the bedroom to get more light. There they accessed Sophia and I and determined that we were both fine! I had a labia tear so they advised to go to the hospital to have that stitched up. They also allowed Mike to cut the cord at that time. We ended up having a long time of skin to skin contact with both Mike and I and the cord was done pulsating before we cut the cord.

After all that we headed to the hospital where they stitched me up. Had it been a perineum tear they would have done it at our house but since there are so many nerves where the labia is they recommended local numbing.  So they stitched me up and took a look over Sophia to make sure she was okay. She was totally fine! Then we went home.

Looking back I was very vocal during contractions. I was able to tell Mike how I was feeling and what my thoughts were. This is why the midwife was so surprised when she came to our house to find me pushing. That meant that when I talked to her I was going through transition. I practiced Active labor and yoga techniques during contractions and practiced Hypno Birthing relaxation techniques during the down times. This allowed me to focus on resting, rather than pain. And the most important piece of this birth was Mike. He was the best birth companion I could ever ask for. He was calm, encouraging, smiling, force feeding me and just over all an amazing companion. Without his support I would have been scared but seeing his calm face told me that everything was okay.

Sophia Llewellyn Rachanow

Born: October 26th, 2011 at 6:23am

Weighed 7 lbs 8 oz

Born into our family at Home without intervention

Proving that birth (in most cases) is a natural and normal process.  

Due for what?

cute picture of Brian

So today is the day! dun dun dun... Due date! The doctors say that the baby should be here by today! Or should she... turns out in all the classes, reading, researching and everything; a due date isn't a real good judge of when the baby should be here. In fact, a baby can be born 2 weeks before or 2 weeks after this so called Due date. And some times the due date is completely wrong. So then, why do people get so hung up on it?  I think it's public pressure.

I personally haven't had a lot of public pressure. I think because everyone that knows us knows that we will do what we want. We try to stay off the grid (as Mike likes to point out - which makes me think of the Matrix). So I haven't heard a lot of this pressure but the things I have heard are: "Oh, you must be ready to pop!" (nopers!) or "You must be so uncomfortable." (double nopers!)  To me it feels like people just don't know what to say. And of course my degree takes over my head and I start analyzing why people do this...

Here are my rules to talking to a pregnant person:
1. Don't assume that you know how she feels. Cause you don't. We know each woman and baby are different.  So assuming will certainly make an Ass-out of-U and most likely embarrass Me (or the person your speaking with).
2. Don't assume you know her fears or plans or anything! You only know yourself and your fears, plans or anythings. So again don't assume.
3. Be supportive! No matter what this woman is about to go through a life altering experience. Support is needed.
4. Positive language! Even if you don't think pregnant women are particularly beautiful, women need to know that they are beautiful. Emotions, hormones and all those chemicals in her body are running like crazy. You don't want to make her cry.  So positive language is a key ingredient!

5. Save the horror stories!!!!  Everyone has got one or knows someone who has one. But save it till after she has the baby. Positive stories share away!!!

So if now your thinking... 'Well crap! What am I supposed to say now?' I would recommend and have loved when people simply ask me how I'm feeling.  It's simple, to the point. It shows they care. And it's easy to respond to.-------------And the answer is: Good!

---In the coming 11 to 14 days we will be welcoming Baby Rachanow into the world. We have lots of plans but plans are meant to be broken (as I learn with every yoga lesson plan I make). When she arrives I will be writing her birth story and I will let you know all those things you've been wondering about. We may need to compromise on our birth plan but no matter what our ultimate goal is to get her here so she can get on with her life. More fun info to follow----

Fall English Lesson

I bet you thought you knew English. You are so wrong! It feels like we are learning this language all over again and one encounter at a time. 

Did you know in England they call:
Diapers = Nappies
Vegetables or Veggie = Veg
Strollers = Push chair
Mutt (as in dog) = Mongrel
Crazy = Daft
Bacon = Rashers
Chips = Crisps
Fries = Chips
Trash = Rubbish
Trash can = Bin

The conversion rate right now is 1.6 pounds to the $1 US.  It is starting to get dark at 6pm. They don't go Trick or Treating here because of superstition.  So I hear. There are a bunch of Harvest type festivals though. They still do ghost tours too. Ghost tours are big tourist business here. Lots of people have died in England so I guess you can cash in with the tourists.  Which brings me to another fact, tourist season is in the summer so there are cheaper rates now if you come here.

English people do not like Pumpkins! They don't understand why Americans like pumpkins. They will carve them but they don't eat them! On a medium pumpkin here we paid 3pounds which equals $4.80 US. It was outrageous!

Here's a good picture of Brian enjoying the Fall. Mike keeps trying to tell him that he isn't going to be an only child in like a week but I don't think he understands. He's a good dog though.