Happy 1-month Birthday!

Wow. I can't believe it's already been a month since Mr. Evan joined the Bilek clan. In some ways it feels like it was just yesterday we brought him home, but in others it feels like he's been here all along. Here are some things I've learned in the last month:

--Boys can pee really high in the air. Always keep the "hose" covered with something during a diaper change. Even this won't protect you, but you'll just be damp instead of soaking wet.

--It's possible to breastfeed your baby and play with your toddler at the same time. Awkward, yes, but possible.

--Newborns are much easier to take out in public than 2 year olds. Why we didn't realize this with Lauren, I'm not sure.

--I hate baby acne. It looks like it hurts, and there isn't really anything I can do about it.

--I bought about 400 diapers on sale about a week after Evan was born. They're almost gone, thanks in part to diaper changing sessions that go through 3 diapers. See item #1.

--Size 6 diapers (which Lauren wears) look like adult Depends next to Evan's size 1-2 diapers.

--Babies grow really fast. Evan's already outgrowing 0-3 month clothes.

--Baby toys become really interesting to a 2 year-old when she realizes someone else might play with them.


--I actually miss going to work. It's my one break from family life, and pretty much my only interaction with other adults.

--A long, hot shower will do wonders for your mood.

--Friends and family make life much easier. It really does take a village to raise a child.

Two great products. If you have babies/toddlers.

Just had to share my happiness over two products we found. First, the Brights Starts Infant Seat.


This is Evan's daytime home. With Lauren, we set up the gigantic pack'n'play, which took up about half of our living room, just to use the changing tray and bassinet. This time, we don't have that luxury of space...our home office is now in our living room to make room for Evan's bedroom. So, we found this gem. It's about 2 feet off the floor, has a storage bin underneath, and kickstands you can kick up and rock it with your foot. Once he's older, it can also sit up more, but right now it's fully reclined for a nice, baby papasan-type home. Love it.

I also just pulled out a book I bought awhile ago and never flipped through for some reason: Unplugged Play.


This book is full of ideas for fun with your kid, age 1-10, with regular stuff around the house. Other than making me feel stupid for not thinking of these things myself, it's awesome.

Lots of Evan pics in the Kodak gallery!

Welcome to the world, big guy.

Well, Baby Watch '09 did in fact end up with a baby. Things got a little crazy at the end, so here's the scoop.

Nationwide lets expectant mothers take off the 2 weeks prior to their due date. That meant my last day at work was February 13, the day after my birthday. Just as I was wrapping things up at work, Baby Boy Bilek decided to make an attempt at arrival. I was having contractions about 5 minutes apart for a good 2 hours, so I called the doctor at 3am on my birthday and then made a trip to the hospital. After a quick check and walking around the hospital for an hour, they sent me home. False alarm #1 over.

The next week we had false alarm #2. Again, contractions pretty strong and regular, so we sent Lauren over to Grandma's house for the night in anticipation of the big event. As soon as Chris got back home, the contractions went away. At this point, I was really frustrated.

Finally, my doctor scheduled my induction for 2 days after my due date. At 5am. Not really the time slot I would have asked for, but it ended up turning out just fine. We got to the hospital, completed our check-in and got settled into our room. At 6am they broke my water and started Pitocin to get the contractions going. Around 7am I got the epidural, plus a fabulous little drug called Nubain right before that. It made me warm and fuzzy and happy, like having a couple glasses of wine. I highly recommend it. Anyways, around 8am the nurse came in, checked my progress, and said, "We're going to have a baby by 10." Wow. That was fast. I was induced with Lauren, too, but that took 20 hours.

Around 8:30, something went a little funky and a bunch of doctors ran in and made me get on my hands and knees and gave me a shot of something in my leg. Turns out my uterus was hyperstimulated (going a little crazy, I guess), and little Mr. Bilek didn't like it so much. I knew it wasn't anything too serious when I looked back and saw one of the doctors still had a Tim Horton's cup in his hand. If it's not worrisome enough for the doctor to put down his coffee, I guess it's not that big of a deal. All this craziness apparently finished the "prep work," and I started pushing shortly after. Three contractions later, Evan Michael Bilek arrived.




Everyone was surprised by his size: 21.8" long and 9 lbs. 9 oz. Yeah, he was a big guy. Luckily I was still in pretty good shape, so we got to go home the next day. That was one of the bonuses of a 5am induction and only 3 hours of labor. The hospital stay was fine, other than the horribly uncomfortable bed and bad food. Grandma kept Lauren for one more night after we got home, and then it was on to real life.


Grandma and Grandpa Bilek arrived 4 days later, and they were a huge help with Lauren. She's fine with Evan, but has figured out that I can't keep her from doing things when I'm feeding Evan...one of the joys of breastfeeding with a toddler around. I didn't get the baby blues anywhere near as badly this time...only a couple of unexplainable crying fits to date. Evan is actually a pretty good sleeper, so I'm getting anywhere from 6-8 hours of sleep total a night. Not consecutively, of course, but I'll still take it.

So now it's been 2 weeks since he was born. He weighed 9 lbs. 14 oz. at his appointment yesterday, which is a gain of 11 ounces in about a week (he lost 6 ounces before leaving the hospital). It is pretty cool to realize that's entirely because of me. What can I say, he likes mama's cooking.


This time around is a little different. Boys can definitely put some more power behind their pee than girls, so we go through a lot of clothes each day. And diapers and wipes. Chris and I are much less frazzled. I think we just know what to expect and are more proactive at avoiding the crying spells we encountered with Lauren. There's also a sense of knowing that this stage will pass, and then we'll be on to the next parenting challenge, and the next, and the next. I guess it never ends.

Baby Watch '09--The Wait Continues

Yep, still no baby. At least not outside the womb. First weekly appointment was today, and while some progress has been made, it's not enough to actually have a baby yet. Darn. I am down to only 6.5 days of work left, though!

We did end up getting the room set up. Chris has a few painting touch-ups to complete, and we should probably put some sheets on the crib mattress. Clothes hanging in the closet would also be an improvement. But the major things are done, and the room looks really cute. Definitely worth a full day's work on Superbowl Sunday. I know, I need pictures.

I've started buying everyday things for the baby, like diapers and formula. I couldn't believe it when I opened the package of size 1 diapers (8-10 lbs.). There's no way Lauren was ever that small. It truly was a reality check on the size of the kid that's about to arrive. I'm also trying to remind myself what it's like to sleep in 45 minute spurts instead of 8-9 hours straight. The thought of feeding a child every 2 hours or so seems so foreign, and yet it was only a little over 2 years ago I was doing that with Lauren.

Stay tuned for more updates on Baby Watch '09...

Baby Watch '09

The countdown is on: just 4 weeks to go until the officially projected arrival date of Baby Boy Bilek (name still TBD). My weekly doctor's appointments start next week, and I'm technically considered full-term at this point, so pretty much anything could happen at any time. I'm just happy it didn't happen during Winter Storm '09 which has pretty much occupied this entire week in Columbus (2 inches of snow, 1/2 inch of ice, another 6 inches of snow, all in a 24 hour period).

We do have one slight problem. We're really not ready for him to arrive. His "nursery" is in a state of transition, to say the least, and consists right now of a futon, a lamp, 25 feet of cable, a laundry basket full of clothes, and two bags of clothes to donate. Not really the most welcoming environment for a newborn. The crib is in a box in the garage. His closet still resembles the junkpile it became over the last 4 years we've been in the house. Guess the nesting thing hasn't fully kicked in yet, although we did make good progress last weekend. Not to worry, though. We're planning on knocking it out this weekend. Note that "we" means a lot of "Chris" since my mobility is severely limited at this point. Maybe I'll post some pictures after it's all done. No promises, though.

And yes, I realize that I completely skipped the all-important months of December and January, including Christmas. In a nutshell, Lauren got a lot of presents that she's actually still playing with, we had a nice small family Christmas at home, it was cold, it snowed, and Chris and Lauren had a wonderful week visiting family in Minnesota.

Thanksgiving with the Bileks.

Getting close to a month without a post, so I guess it's time for an update. When we last checked in with the Bileks, Lauren had just gotten her new big girl bed...

The following week, Grandma and Grandpa Bilek arrived to help us celebrate Thanksgiving. And see their granddaughter, of course! Lauren was so excited to see them. So excited that she decided to get up at 4, 4:30, 5, 5:30, 6, 6:30, and on and on and on, just about the entire time they were here. Each time she'd get up, turn on her bedroom light, and open the bedroom door. Sometimes we'd hear, "Grandma B! Grandpa B!" Cute, but not really that cute when it's 4 in the morning. By the end of their stay, she was doing better, and now she's completely adjusted to the new bed. It really wasn't that bad in the end.

Since the Bileks were in town, that meant I was hosting my first Thanksgiving. I decided to use my own recipe (found on the internet) instead of one from either family, in an attempt to start my own traditions. Overall, I think it all turned out pretty well.


After lots of yummy dinner, I planned my day after Thanksgiving shopping. I just started shopping on Black Friday a couple years ago, and will only venture out for really good deals on something I already need. This year, it was a new flat-screen monitor for our home computer. I let the crazy crowds pass and got to Staples an hour after they opened. No lines, plenty of my monitor in stock, and I was out in 5 minutes. Then on to Target for some Santa shopping. I have to say, Lauren's going to make out this year. Hopefully she won't remember that next year when she doesn't get as much since she has to share with a little brother.

That evening, we decorated our Christmas tree. This was pretty much a first for Lauren. The last couple of years we've done it while she's sleeping since we didn't think she'd be much help. This year she was such a big helper. I got the ornaments organized on the dining room table, and she'd run them over to Chris to actually hang on the tree. I'm not exaggerating when I say she ran.


Other than that, it was a pretty low-key visit. There's not as much to do in Columbus in the winter, so we just spent a lot of quality family time together. Oh, and we started Lauren on the computer. It never hurts to learn how to type early.