On the name "Xochitl"

First, a pronunciation guide. The "X" is just an "S" sound. The hard part is is the "tl" combination. It rhymes with "beetle," except that the "T" remains a true "T," and isn't softened to a "D" sound. However, if you still find this tricky to say, don't get too hung up on it. The emphasis goes on the first syllable, which means that even if you can say the ending properly, it's barely audible. In fact, every time I've heard this name in Latin America, the "tl" at the end has been dropped altogether. So, the conventional pronunciation is "SO-chee."

Second, a bit of explanation of why we chose this name. I first heard the name "Xochitl" in Nicaragua (where I lived for five years), and liked it immediately, both for its sound and for its historical connection. It comes from the indigenous Nahuatl language.

Actually, it's more accurate to say that Nahuatl is really a family of multiple languages, with scores of dialects, and yet the community that was actually called the Nahuatl people were minor players on the Mesoamerican scene. Their more famous cousins to the north, the Aztecs, never ruled them, but certainly influenced them culturally.

"Xochitl" means "flower." The verb form is "xotla," and means "to bloom," and also "to catch fire." Interestingly, it was also the name of one of their days, and as such, appears on the famous Aztec calendar as a highly stylized flower.

Today, Xochitl is known (though still not common) as a girl's name, but centuries ago, it was more common as a boy's name.

Belly pictures: epilogue

And here's how the series concludes... and a new chapter begins!

Days three and four

Day three: more friends come to visit -- Dan and Shawna Guinn. They're 32 weeks pregnant themselves!

Day four: Caretakers come to visit. First is our doula, Hannah. She says Eve is doing very well. She's begun to gain weight again, and continues to be highly responsive. Also, Sandra and I have both noticed that her hair is starting to fill in.

Next to visit is Julie, Juscha's chiropractor. She says that Eve is "wise," but also "has a stubborn streak." Neither came as a surprise to us, but it was interesting to have someone else say similar things about her to what we've been anticipating.

Bonus: our friends Frank and Amy had their second child early this morning. She, and Mike and Eva's son (born on the 6th), Yogesh and Jodi's daughter (born about two weeks ago), and Dan and Shawna's daughter (to be born in January), will make up a whole new generation of Madisonians.

Reaction from Nicaragua

Here's what our friend Edward, from Managua, had to say...

Felicidades, felicidades, felicidades.
Xochitl, hija de la lluvia,hija de la creación.
Bienvenida al mundo de los hombres y las mujeres
del planeta tierra. Te recibimos con abrazos, un beso
y una flor. Salud, Salud, Salud.

Translation:

Congratulations, congratulations, congratulations.
Xochitl, daughter of rain, daughter of creation.
Welcome to the world of men and women of planet Earth.
We receive you with hugs, a kiss, and a flower.
Cheers, cheers, cheers.

Flashback to the old days (a week ago)

Here's a short(ened) video I took of Juscha's belly before Sprout was born. The upload dilutes the effect, but you can still get the idea, particularly at the end. (There's no sound.)

Day two, continued

Grandad and Marme gaze at Eve.

Olivia Parry, another good friend and Eve's "dharmama," meets her for the first time.

The happy family.

The happy extended family. Steve's parents are coming for Thanksgiving, so look for more extended family pictures after that.

A close-up. Notice how long her fingernails are!

A classic pose. We're trying to expose her to sunlight, as she has a mild case of jaundice. Turns out that's more common in newborns than we thought. Breastfeeding and sunlight are the best treatment.

Eve's opinion of having a spongebath.

Our favorite picture so far.

Hannah, our doula, makes a house call to check Sprout's progress. She's actually lost seven ounces since birth, but it's nothing to worry about, as some of that is poop, and she has "good reserves" to tide her over until she starts gaining weight again. Hannah says Sprout is doing very well, and is quite responsive for two days old. She also approves of the set-up of Sprout's room (and ours, where she actually spends most of her time).

Days one and two

Here she is, at roughly an hour old. We asked the nurses not to bathe her right away, so she still has vernix all over her. Vernix is a lotion-y material that protects babies' skin in utero. It also does a good job protecting them for the first hour or two of life, and can be rubbed in instead of wiped off.

She worked her fingers right from the get-go. She also has surprisingly big yawns. Here she is, doing both.


Our friend Amy Mondloch holds Eve for the first time.

Daddy and baby, sleeping on her first morning.


Marme (Juscha's mother, Sandra) holds Eve. She knitted the hat Eve is wearing.

Juscha puts Eve in her car seat for the first time. Steve got to close the latches.


Eve Xochitl, bundled up to go home for the first time.

Mommy and daughter sit on the futon.

Eve snoozes in her chair as everyone else eats lunch.

Day two: Grandad (Juscha's dad, John) shows up, and meets his granddaughter for the first time.

Drumroll please

Steve and I are proud and absolutely tickled to announce the birth of our daughter, Eve Xochitl Robinson Herrick.   She was born November 18, at  9:54 a.m. after exactly 12 hours of labor.  She weighs 7 lb 7 oz, measures 19.5", and is nursing well.  We are all doing well, and very much in love. 

Here are two pictures to tide you over until we get home to a better internet connection. 

 

We are very grateful for all your love and support throughout this process.  Eve's birth was beautiful, in large part because of that.  We are thrilled to bring her into such a loving community, near and far, family and friends. 

November 17 update

Well, the bottom line is there is still no baby on the outside.  But I'm doing well and Sprout's doing well where she is.  We keep explaining to her how nice it is out here, and that she really should come check it out for herself.  

I had a trifecta of appointments today - chiropractic with Julie, acupuncture with Laurel, and routine OB visit with Dr Vohmann.  Everything looks good.  And we're hopeful that the birth is near, at least within a few days.  I woke up Monday morning and just felt different.  Sprout dropped even further, the mild contractions I'd been having on and off became more serious, and I've started rocking (standing or sitting) without thinking about it.  As of right now, I'm still having contractions and weird twinges.  I'm very glad I stopped working when I did, this would be pretty miserable and distracting sitting in an office chair all day. 

Mom has worked her way organizing and cleaning through most of our kitchen cabinets (she's sorting and labeling my spice jars just now), and taken care of the baby's room.  Steve has cut back on his hours, so has been around home more and been able to come to my appointments, which has been great.  Brother Adam and his lady, Kristie, drove through Madison on their way from Florida to Minneapolis, and stayed with us for a night.  We hadn't seen them since Christmas, and had a great time. 

Otherwise, we're taking long walks every day and doing a bang up job of distracting ourselves in productive ways.  I feel rested and relaxed, and definitely ready to get this show on the road.   Thanks for all your love and thoughtful messages over the last few days.  It's been very encouraging and a constant reminder of our community. 

40.5 week belly pix . . .

We hope these are the last in this series!   If you compare to last week's, you will note how much further down she is.

 

Still pregnant

There's not really any more news, but for those of you for whom this is your only source of update, I should probably update! 

Mom arrived on Thursday night.  We've had a pleasant few days.  She tackled the baby's room yesterday and made it less overwhelming.  (A lot of the stuff moved into our room, so that's the next project!)  The baby's room is in great shape, everything is washed and ready for an occupant (hint hint, sprout).

We've been taking long walks every day, and enjoying some beautiful fall weather (50s and sunny).   I went in to acupuncture three days in a row, and while each time I got cramps and it felt like early labor, it petered out.  I'm thinking of it as conditioning.  Someone suggested a castor oil compress, which I did last night, and that had almost instant effects, but again petered out.  All of which suggests that Sprout is just not quite ready.  I trust that my body knows how to birth this child, just like it knew how to grow it.  I haven't a clue and am just the host.  Actually very relieved that I'm not directing any of this, come to think about it.

Sprout is not ready, perhaps, but she is more of an entertainer than ever.  She has gotten so big and is still so active, that her movements are visible across the room.  To the point where Steve actually set up the camcorder the other night and we got some good footage of her rocking out.  This is test driving the camera, actually.  He's in the process of learning how to download and edit it, so when he's successfully finished, we'll upload it here for your amusement. 

D Day minus 1

We're officially due tomorrow, November 13.  Mom arrived this evening, prepared to hunker down with us for the duration, probably two weeks or so when the rest of both families show up for Thanksgiving.  We celebrated with what is becoming the traditional first night in town Glass Nickel pizza. 

Hopefully we'll have a baby *well* before Thanksgiving!  I've been having contractions on and off since last weekend, including a six hour stretch on Sunday.  I called the doula, Hannah, after 5 hours, to ask if this was it.  She said if I could talk through them (yes) then it wasn't, and recommended I get a good night's sleep.  Wise woman.  Five days later, I'm still pregnant.  Although things are definitely shifting and I think I'm close.  I went in to my acupuncturist, Laurel at Red Sage Health, tonight, and she did some points to help things along.  We'll see if that does the trick.  Had a completely uneventful, even pleasant OB visit this morning, too.  Dr. Vohmann declared that I have a "happy camper in there".

Finally, today was my last day at work until January.  I have some very important nesting to do.   I am profoundly grateful to my partners and the staff, who are handling my clients and files in my absence and making it possible for me to take 8 weeks off!!   

Your turn: guess the date, weight and length

Aunt Pam suggested we take bets on Sprout's timing and dimensions . . . if you're game, please add your guess as a comment to this post.  We'll come up with some good prize for the winners. 

Pam's guess:  7lbs.8oz.  20in. 11-19-09

Links to full progression of belly pictures

For those of you tuning in now, Steve has been taking belly pictures of me from front and side every Sunday night since we first starting noticing a bump.  It's funny now to look back and remember how significant it felt.  Little did we realize how big the belly would become!

Anyhoo, here are the links to the full series:

Front progression belly pix

Side progression belly pix

And after this, I promise, you won't be seeing pictures of my bare belly for awhile!

39.5 week belly pix

Here are the latest and greatest installments to our series of belly pictures . . .

. . . and the question is, are these the last?  Stay tuned!

Juscha has started having irregular contractions. However, all the literature says that kind of thing can go on for days, or even weeks. The countdown has been begun, but we don't know quite where it stands.

Meanwhile, our friends and neighbors Mike and Eva had their baby night before last, and we're looking forward to meeting little Max Emiliano.

39 week OB appointment and office shower

I met with Dr. Rebecca Bull today; she's the other half to my OB team (Dr. Monica Vohmann is the other, and our main care provider and Sprout's to-be pediatrician.  They're both family practitioners).  They job share, it seems like, so depending on what day of the week I go into labor, one or the other is on call.  Anyhow, Steve and I are very pleased with both of them and I will not be trying for any particular day of the week. 

Dr Bull confirmed that I'm carrying Sprout very low, but that everything else (i.e. cervix) is still very high, so I've got a ways to go yet.  I have been having contractions in front and low, and some discomfort from ligaments stretching, but nothing too exciting.  It all just shows that, as Dr. Bull put it, I will have a baby out of this at some point.  Surprise!  I'm pregnant. 

In other news, my firm threw me a very sweet baby shower last night after work.  The staff, the people from the title company that shares our office, and all the partners were there, plus Steve.   They fed us spicy chili and carrot cake (trying to get things moving, no doubt), and plied us with very thoughtful gifts.  Special thanks to Jade, Thuy and Eric.  It was a good reminder of how lucky I am to work with you all and what a special community we have in our little office family.  

38.5 week belly pix

Well, Sprout dropped Tuesday night to Wednesday.  I can now feel the lower ribs (lost them weeks and weeks ago) and generally have more room to breath.  Fortunately, my bladder hasn't taken the brunt of the shift like I had anticipated.   She's still moving lots, and making me look even more lopsided than usual.

Steve and I spent a pleasant weekend cleaning up outside for winter and putting together minor projects on the Sprout list.  Almost done!

21st century baby

We've been sending updates about our pregnancy via email to a small group of family and far away friends, and have gotten requests to continue with it once Sprout is born. Seeing as how she is a child of the 21st century, it seems appropriate to switch to a blog format and the web 2.0, so more people can access it.

Please let us know how this works, and we'll do our best to keep it up to date!