First Hike

We took Isaac on his first official hike this weekend. The "hike" turned out to only be a 25 min out and back on the running trails around Cougar Mountain. Either way, it sure felt good to us! I am still trying to figure out the logistics of getting out between 3 hour start-to-start feeding times but we are figuring it out, slowly. Baby steps ...



Also, wanted to share a cute video of little Isaac enjoying some playtime ... squeaky!!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all and happy 6 week birthday Isaac! Isaac celebrated his first Christmas Eve here at home with his parents. We made the traditional Hauge Xmas Eve dinner of brats cooked over the fire (or in our case, the grill), homemade baked beans, and potato chips! This tradition was started when my brother Kirk and I were little in an effort by my parents to keep us busy on the big night. I've always loved the tradition and plan on continuing it with our little family.

Christmas morning was spent trading the fussy baby back-forth between Nate and I so we could eat our breakfast feast and open presents. Thank you everyone for all the wonderful presents for Isaac and for the gifts for Nate and I as well! It was a lovely morning. Unlike Minnesota, we did not have a white Christmas in Seattle, instead, we had bluebird skies and 40+ degree temps -- a perfect day for a walk. After our Christmas day walk, we headed over to Nate's mom's house to celebrate Christmas with Dave, Yulia & Lynne. Here are a few pictures from the very Merry Christmas at Tutu's.

Isaac opening his presents (he got a onesie for his favorite NFL team -- Go Vikings)! sorry Nate ...

Auntie Yulia

Our family's first Christmas

Isaac enjoying Christmas dinner by the fire

This is so neat ... a picture of me burping Isaac and a picture of my mom burping me when I was his age. See the resemblance? :P

BIG smile :)

Isaac displayed his first BIG smile for Nate this morning!


We celebrated Christmas with Nate's family last night -- good times! Thanks Ian and Nicole for hosting!

Who's happier -- the grandparents or the grandchildren?

One month!

Isaac turned one month old on Sunday! He is growing up so fast and is so BIG already. We took him in for his one month doctor appointment and confirmed that he is over the 10 lb mark! Here are his stats:

Birth: 7 lbs 10 oz
Day 2: 7 lbs 2 oz
Week 2: 8 lbs 6 oz
Month 1: 10 lbs 9 oz

As you can tell by his weight gain, breast feeding is going well. He feeds every 2-4 hours during the day and every 3-4 hours at night. A couple of nights he actually went 5 hours which Nate and I enjoyed. Isaac readily took his first bottle from dad on Sunday; we plan to try again this week and make it a 3-4 times/week routine for now.

In the last week, Isaac's personality has really changed. He is much more alert and I swear I got my first smile from him yesterday (so cute!)! He notices the toys hanging from his swing and makes all sorts of new sounds when spending time chilling on his back. We also started tummy time to build up those neck muscles -- he's doing a great job but not so into that yet. ;)

In addition to becoming more active, he has also become a bit more fussy. His fussy bouts tend to occur mostly during the day versus in the middle of the night. It's made some of the days at home a bit rough for mom! Hopefully he is just reaching his "gassy/fussy" peak that we read can occur at 6-weeks and his fussy times will diminish soon (fingers crossed...).

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the last week:

First weeks on my own

I am in the midst of my second week on my own. Isaac and I are learning more and more about each other and each day is getting easier. Ohhhh ... he is so cute!! We are still trying to find a routine to get Nate into work before 10am ... gone are the days of waking up and being ready to leave for work within 30 min. ;)

We have been spoiled with sunny clear weather over the past week and a half so Isaac and I have been getting out for daily walks. The last few days have been cold by Seattle standards with a high of only 30 degrees. I hesitated for a moment about whether I should take him outside in the cold since he has only been out of the womb for 3 weeks but then I thought that I should start toughening him up to the cold ... his mom is determined to make sure he embraces his Minnesota roots. ;)

Here's a good "birth control" story that some of our friends may enjoy: The other morning as Nate was changing Isaac's diaper, Isaac let out a little gassy fart. Well, the gas turned out to not be gas but exploding, projectile poop that sprayed all over the carpet! In the shock of the whole incident, Nate jerked his hand which flicked poop even further around the room, including on our down comforter. Ahh, the joys of parenthood! I can only imagine what will come next. ;)

Some pictures from the week ...

Maria and Jasper came for a visit!

Our first family outing -- to a Xmas tree farm

"Drunk" off mama's milk

First pacifier

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Isaac's Grandma and Grandpa Hauge left this morning after a 2-week stay. We had a really great time with them and I can't express how much we appreciated having them here. I am sure I packed on a few pounds from all the food they cooked. But the best part about their visit was the hours of help and advice they provided -- we could not have gotten through those first two weeks without them.

Here are a few of the highlights from the first two weeks:

Isaac's first Thanksgiving (he also got to meet Great Grandma Riensche!)

Isaac's first walk

Tutu's birthday

Nate's birthday (what a great present for a CPA!)

A visit from cousin Mark from Massachusetts

This is just too cute

Thanks Mom & Dad -- we love you!

Isaac Anders Riensche

In our pre-birth meetings with our doula, she asked me to remember the hardest physical and emotional challenge I had ever overcome. The Watson Traverse immediately came to my mind. For those that do not remember, back in 2004, Pete, Becky, Nate and I climbed the Coleman-Deming route on Mt Baker (7,000ft of elevation gain to the summit), skied down the Boulder/Park Glacier on the opposite side, and traversed all the way to the Mt Baker ski area. The entire day trip took us 17 hours and crossed two USGS quad maps. It was by far the hardest thing I had ever done, both physically and mentally. She suggested that I remember back to how I overcame the challenge and use those tools during labor.

Here is the story of “The Watson Traverse, Take 2”:

On Friday, November 13th I woke up at 4:30am with back pain. It was a bit uncomfortable so I rolled over and went back to bed. This happened every 30 min, give or take, until 6am when I decided it was too uncomfortable and went downstairs to try to rest in the chair. At 7am Nate came down to ask how I was doing, I told him my back was still intermittently sore but that I didn’t think it was anything major so sent Nate off to work. As the morning progressed, my back pain continued; in greater frequency and intensity. I emailed work to tell them I was too uncomfortable to come in for the day. I also emailed my parents to tell them how I was feeling. In order to distract myself, I decided to put in a load of laundry and pack our hospital bags, just in case.

By 10:30, things were getting more intense and I started having to use some of the coping techniques we learned in our birthing class. Even at this point, I still didn’t believe that I was in labor. I was certain that I was experiencing “possible” signs in labor but that I wasn’t actually in labor. I had been emailing my parents all morning and my mom was convinced that I was in back labor and that I should call the doctor. I shrugged off the idea.

Meanwhile, Nate had been talking to his mom at work that morning about what was happening. Lynne was also convinced I was in labor but just didn’t realize it and told Nate he should head home to check on me. At 11am, Nate called to check-in. I remember being on my hands and knees as the phone rang and telling him, “I think you should come home now, things are getting a bit more intense”. I decided that maybe I should start timing my back pain – however, managing to use the stopwatch, while coping and writing down times was more than my mind could manage. At noon, Nate came home and took over with the stopwatch.

We timed my pain, which we now realized were likely contractions, for an hour. They were coming every 5-6 min and lasting for a full minute, like clockwork. At this point, we called the OB office. The nurse said it sounded like I was progressing and suggested that we come in to the office at 2pm to get examined.

We got in the car at 1:30 and of course, got stuck in traffic on I-5. By 2pm we were at the OB office and I was shuttled to the back of the office for a Non-Stress Test. Dr Johannsen, the OB on-call who coincidentally I had seen on Tuesday for my weekly appointment, came in to check on me after I had experienced 3-4 contractions on the monitor. She asked if my water had broke, I said, “I don’t think so. It would be obvious, right?” A few minutes after she left the room we heard a “pop” on the monitor and I felt a flood of liquid; it was very obvious that my water had broke. The two nurses who were in the room with us got really excited because they had never heard someone’s water break on a monitor before! This was at around 2:40.

The nurses sent me to the bathroom to clean up, where I had a few contractions, all the while Nate is knocking on the door asking if I am okay. They lead me to an exam room so the doctor could do an exam to see if I was dilated. My contractions (which I still only felt in my back) started coming in faster waves, every minute or so, and were suddenly much more painful. After only a few minutes of waiting in the exam room, I told Nate he should go get the doctor because things were happening WAY too fast. Nate ran out to the nurses’ station and told them to send the doctor in. The first thing Dr Johannsen commented on when she came in the room was that I looked much different than I did when she saw me the last time. She did a quick exam and was quite surprised to announce that I was 6-7 cm dilated.

A wheelchair appeared outside the exam room door and the nurses literally ran me, with Nate chasing behind, through the skyway system to L&D at Swedish Hospital. I remember the elevator doors opening a few times and the nurse frantically pushing the door close button to keep people from getting on the elevator with us, which was not successful. Those poor people! This was at about 3pm.

The L&D department was ready and waiting for our arrival and we were whisked into a birthing suite. Immediately when I entered the room, a nurse asked me if I wanted an epidural. Since everything had happened so quickly, we never had a chance to give the nurses/doctor our birth plan, in which we requested that I receive pain medication only if I ask for it. Having them ask me if I wanted an epidural was a bit stressful, a tough decision to have someone in my position make -- of course I said yes. The nurses helped me onto the bed and in between contractions, which were coming every minute or so, would get me prepped for the epidural. First, blood pressure; next, fetal and contraction monitors; next, try to start the IV; and so on.

Dr Johannsen suddenly appeared at the exact moment that I felt the urge to push; she told me to go for it. I remember saying, “really?!” because I did not think I could be at the point of pushing already. I went through two contractions of pushing and was told the anesthesiologist was ready. They asked me if I still wanted an epidural and I had no idea what to think. Dr. Johannsen said I should try two more pushes and see how I felt, so I did. At that point, everyone in the room was getting excited and exclaiming, only two more pushes and the baby will be out! At 3:43pm, 20 minutes after I started pushing, Isaac Anders Riensche was born; a beautiful, healthy, screaming baby boy. Nate and I were overwhelmed with emotion.

As you can imagine, the experience of giving birth to Isaac is not at all comparable to the Watson’s Traverse. Both are exhausting, physically and mentally, but it in very different ways. The best part about labor though, is that when it is over, instead of greasy potato chips and half of a beer, I got a beautiful and healthy baby boy (plus a grilled cheese sandwich and a chocolate milk shake). You could not ask for a better end to the day. ;)
 
Isaac Anders Riensche
November 13, 2009 at 3:43pm
7 lbs 10 oz
19.5 inches

Name Change

I think it is officially time to change my name. Nope, not to Riensche, but to Huge -- Kirsten Huge. For those that can't tell, that's Hauge without the "a". It is a perfect description of my current state and much easier to say/spell than Hauge, Riensche, Hauge-Riensche, Hauche, or Rienge. I think Huge sounds pretty good.

I am now considered full term (37 weeks) and the final countdown is on - yay!! I learned at the doctor today that the baby is locked and loaded for delivery (head down). Now ... we wait.

Last week my 9 year old nephew Carter sent me an email with my family's guesses on the sex, weight, and date the baby will be born. (Thanks Carter!) Here they are:

Carter: boy, Nov 17th, 8lbs 4oz
Grandpa (my dad): girl, Nov 16th, 7lbs 8oz
Dad (my brother Kirk): girl, Nov 22nd, 7lbs 12oz
Olivia (my 6 yr old niece): girl, Nov 19th, 7lbs 12oz
Grandma (my mom): boy, Nov 20th, 8lbs 2oz
Mom (my sister-in-law Angela): girl, Nov 14th, 8lbs 3oz

I'll take the earliest and the smallest please! Any other guesses out there? ;)

22 miles

They say that when you run a marathon, you hit the wall at around mile 22. Well, I think I've hit mile 22 of this pregnancy. Don't get me wrong, I'm still doing and feeling really well (as my OB tells me, I'm a boring patient) but things seem to have changed as I reach the 35 week mark (5 weeks to go!).

First, there is that whole breathing thing (no more space for my lungs!) and second, I'm tired, really tired. Could the tiredness be because I am putting in long hours at work, have something going on almost every night of the week, am dealing with the stress of some family health issues, and still trying to exercise 5-days a week, all on top of being super pregnant? Could be...

What?! Me? Overdo things?! Nah ... ;)

N8 and I took a tour of the hospital last week. The tour felt like we were scouting out the facilities before a big football game or something. First stop, warm-ups (OB triage), then off to the big game (labor & delivery), then back to the locker rooms for the game debrief and cool-down (post-birth suites). It was a bit surreal to know that the next time we are there, it will be because I am in labor. I sure can't wait to meet this little blondie. ;)

7 months down -- 2 months to go!

I have officially hit the 8 month mark -- only 2 months to go! Here I am looking stylish at 32 wks.



N8 and I got out for two really nice day hikes over the past few weekends -- N8 put up a post on EvilFungus if you like to read the details and see pictures. The hike to Lake Serene made me realize how pregnant I really am .... things sure do change when you hit that third trimester. ;)

Do I look fierce?

Here I am at 29 weeks doing my best ANTM pose while modeling our first baby purchase, a stroller! We got a jogger so lil Q8y will be able to join me on my runs someday soon.

N8 and I laughed last night because it seems as though every parent in Seattle owns this stroller. Now all we need is a Subaru and a pug and we'll *really* fit the Seattle stereotype.

Baby Q and Baby N8

I have had a strong urge recently to look at our baby pictures. Hmm ... I wonder why? :P Can you guess who is who?


Think our baby will be blonde?

Norwegian Power!

N8 and I (& our bug bites) are home from a week-long Hauge reunion in Northern Minnesota. Norwegian Power! We are very relieved to be away from the mosquitoes but are sad that we had to part with the family. Lil Q8y had a great time and got to meet the entire Hauge clan, shown here in our 2009 Hauge reunion t-shirts. This time even the non-Hauges got shirts -- we don't want them to feel left out. :P


Here I am with my cousin Shelley who is the BEST COUSIN EVER!

We spent the week fishing, boating, drinking, eating, relaxing, bird watching, and laughing. All in all, a perfect vacation (aside from those pesky mosquitoes). It was fun torturing the family by not telling them the names we have picked out for the little guy/gal ... soon enough.


Which brings me to my next picture: me at Week 27. The books say lil Q8y is 2 lbs and is as "hefty as a head of cauliflower" (?!) ... that's a weird one. Next week I will officially start the third trimester. :o Guess we should sign up for some birthing class and do some house prep soon, eh?


Lastly, we received our first gift for lil Q8y, a beautiful blanket from my mom & dad that was knit by my mom. We love it and we know Q8y will too. Thanks Mom!

I'm HOT

I don't want to toot my own horn or anything but I'm hot. Okay, I'm not Christie Brinkley sexy hot (that one was for Andy) but I'm temperature hot. Too hot. Today has been the hottest day on record in Seattle, a whooping 102 degrees. Being from Minnesota you'd think I'd think that was nothing. Well, here in Seattle it's something because 85% of the houses in the county do not have air conditioning, including us. Last night the temperature in our bedroom was 89 degrees when we went to bed at 10:30. It was a rough night and by morning our room had only cooled down by a few degrees. Tonight we plan to haul our guest bedroom mattress into our living room thinking it may be cooler -- we'll see.

So to mark today's milestone of 1) hitting 24 wks and 2) being the hottest day of the year, we took a picture. I'm HOT and so, one would assume, is the corn. This is my new name for lil Q8y who I just read is the size equivalent, in length, to an ear of corn. What a bizarre comparison but very appropriate since we've been loving the corn this summer. :)

Place Mat

Week 22 has arrived and we are just over half way! Things are changing by the day. My belly has expanded (alot!) and I have officially made the transition into maternity pants (ugh). My belly has become my own portable place mat meaning spills land on my protruding belly as opposed to my pants. I suppose the plus is that my pants will stay nice and clean over the next few months! I started to feel the first kicks and punches of the wee little babe about a week ago and just last night N8 and I saw my belly twitch from a big kick ... he/she seems to be having a good time in there. :)