Over to you, Piper!

World News Now aired the spot about our stay at the Parrot Mill Inn this morning at about 4:00 a.m. Any other nursing new moms or dads out there happen to see it? If not, try this video clip of the segment from ABC News.

Ready for Our Closeup!

I ended the last post with the call from Maria Parlapiano, the owner of the Postpartum Place in Chatham (pospartumplace.com is the website, but it's coming soon, so check it regularly). Last week, Kristin had just missed a call from her to be in a New York Times article about a service they perform at the Parrot Mill Inn bed and breakfast next door to the Postpartum Place. Kristin was crushed because we would have been guests in the Mommy Nest Suite at the inn, and Maria would stay in the adjacent room to help all night with feedings, and she would take Piper when she was cranky so we could both sleep.

I didn't even show Kristin the article when it came out, but we hit the jackpot when ABC News called! We were invited to stay at the inn for the night, and we were going to be interviewed for a spot on ABC News! What a delight the visit was! I slept to my heart's content, and so did Kristin. Maria took excellent care of Kristin and Piper. At every feeding, Maria came into the room and helped Kristin with Piper. She even gave Piper some pumped breast milk at one point, so Kristin could sleep a bit longer.

I had the good fortune to sleep through it all, so I've got enough energy to add to the blog again, and Kristin is feeling so much better with some rest and extra consultation time.

We had a lovely breakfast with Toby, the son of Betsy Kennedy, the owner of the Parrot Mill Inn, and then we headed back to the Mommy Nest for the interview. I know that it can take a long time to shoot just a few moments of film in the movies, but I had no idea the same was true for network news. The spot we'll be in may run between 90 seconds and two minutes. The shooting took four hours.

Of course the excitement of being on national network news helped us get past the hunger (we missed lunch). So would we be on Good Morning America? World News Tonight? 20/20? Uh, no. World News Now. Every morning--just at 2:00 a.m.

Okay, so that's what they make video recorders for. We can set the DVR for that. The reporter must have seen our faces sink a bit because she said this was actually the best place for the spot. WNN has a huge new-parent following since so many parents of newborns are up at that time. We also found out that the irreverent news show has a cult following. Apparently, people record it and watch it in the morning instead of GMA or the Today show.

Hey, we're not complaining--we slept!! So set your VCR, DVR, or TiVo for World News Now every morning next week (she didn't know what day the spot would air). Maybe you'll catch us on TV!

The Rest of the Story

Whew! Now we know how that cow in the movie "Twister" feels. The past three weeks have been a blur as Kristin and I stumble through life as sleep-deprived zombies, but while I usually forget where my keys are and whether the milk goes in the cupboard or the refrigerator, I never forget how beautiful Piper is and how delightful and peaceful it is to have her sleeping in my arms.

Our trip to the hospital was unexpected: Kristin had an ultrasound appointment on Friday afternoon, and the doctor told her to go home, get her bag, and go to the hospital right away because her amniotic fluid was a little low. Even though we didn't rush, we still sat for 45 minutes before being admitted since the hospital was swamped with 15 deliveries in one day and we arrived right before the shift change.

Eventually, Kristin got settled in, and was induced around 3:00 a.m. Saturday, December 29. Her drill sergeant, I mean nurse, stomped in around 7:00 a.m. to begin checking on her--only a little dilation, but by 2:00 p.m., Kristin was ready to push, and push she did--for two hours.

It wasn't looking good. The doctor had that "Hmmm, maybe a c-section is in order" look about her, but when she saw our faces, and Piper's head so close to coming out, she whipped out the vacuum. With some suction and more pushing (not to mention an episiotomy with scissors so big I thought she could sever bridge cables with them), Piper joined the excitement in the delivery room in a flash.

After a few minutes with the pediatricians, she was cleared for takeoff, and we had her in our arms. I was sent off to the nursery with Piper for processing, and Kristin was being sewn back together by the doctor.

Giving birth the weekend right before New Year's Eve isn't optimal. Over-caffeinated baby nurses and missing lactation consultants made the weekend a struggle (apparently babies don't breastfeed on weekends). We were being discharged on Monday at 11:00 a.m., so a lactation consultant was supposed to see us first thing Monday. In hospital-speak, this means 11:30 a.m. To be fair, the woman was lovely, but it was too little too late, so we went promptly from the hospital to the Postpartum Place in Chatham for the first lactation consultation.

Maria, Dawn, and Sharon at the Postpartum Place have been wonderful as they guided Kristin through some tough breastfeeding times the past couple of weeks. Things started out well, but Piper developed some thrush in her mouth, so it was tough going for a few days.

Fortunately, Kristin's mother was visiting, so she took care of cooking, cleaning and laundry, so Kristin could get a little rest, and I wouldn't feel too guilty about going back to work after my "generous" five days of paternity leave. This was very nice since everyone at work felt that since the holidays were over, we could now do five months of work in the next two weeks.

As all of you parents know, the killer has been no sleep. Piper is a lovely baby whose cries we have mostly figured out, and who has a relatively predictable schedule, so we are blessed by not having any true worries.

We didn't even have to worry about how Lily would react. Lily initially seemed to be unaware that Piper was even in the house, but now she's sniffing the bassinet to see what that smell is (diaper #18 no doubt), and wondering which stuffed animals are her toys and which are Piper's.

We're settling into a bit of a routine, and work has calmed down a bit, but we needed some rest somehow. Then, two days ago, we hit the new parent lottery when a call from Maria Parlapiano, the owner of The Postpartum Place, called. See the next entry for more information!