Category: Updates about Sylvia

Feb. 17:  It’s been so much fun these past days to look at little Sylvia and to call her by her name.  I’ve been writing her baby announcements, and it feels sort of crazy to write her name over and over.  Sylvia.  Sylvia.  Sylvia.  We could have given her any name, but that’s the one we chose.  That’s what people will call her for the rest of her life.  It’s a big thing!  I have no previous context for the name Sylvia, so now I’m creating the association with this new little member of our family.

Joe did a post on his blog with musings about her name: http://platosfootnotes.net/2008/02/13/sylvia/.
I found the name in December when Bryan and I were pouring through The Baby Name Wizard book. They said, “Concentrate hard on this one.  Put aside your preconceptions, close your eyes, and really listen to the name.  Lovely, isn’t it.”  In the 1910s, it was #73 in popularity.  These days it is #561…pretty uncommon.  I think the nickname Sylvie is really cute.  And I like spelling it with a “y” since Bryan is spelled with a “y.”

I think my favorite part of the name is that it means “from the forest.”  So there’s a lovely link to nature, and it also happens that Bryan’s maternal grandpa’s name is Forrest.  To me, Sylvia makes me think of a quiet forest painted lavender in the moonlight.

According to one of my mom’s name books, “Sylvia is from the Latin silvanus, meaning ‘forest.’  In Roman mythology, Silvanus is the good of the woods and fields.  Silvia is variant spelling.  In ancient times, Sylvia was a favorite name for a shepherdess.”

When I did some web research on the name, here are some fun things I found:

There was a good discussion on the Baby Name Wizard discussion board about why Sylvia hasn’t become more popular in recent years.: http://thebabynamewizard.ivillage.com/parenting/archives/2007/11/who-is-sylvia.html

Here’s a poem by William Shakespeare to a Sylvia of alternate spelling:

Who is Silvia? What is she?

That all our swains commend her?

Holy, fair, and wise is she;

The heaven such grace did lend her,

That she might admired be.

Is she kind as she is fair?

For beauty lives with kindness:

Love doth to her eyes repair,

To help him of his blindness;

And, being help’d, inhabits there.

Then to Silvia let us sing,

That Silvia is excelling;

She excels each mortal thing

Upon the dull earth dwelling:

To her let us garlands bring.

Feb. 15: It’s a sunny morning, and the world is feeling a little clearer to me.  Sylvia has been napping for longer stretches – during the day she’s been asleep for nearly three hours.  At night, I don’t think she’s gone for more than about 1 1/2 hours of sleeping at a stretch.  One major improvement since the prior nights is that last night she would eat for 10 -20 minutes and then go back to sleep rather than just pretty much nurse constantly.  That gave me the opportunity to get some much-needed sleep:)
This morning she’s been snuggling in her little chair under her beautiful, soft pink blanket from my Aunt Kate.
Andrew spent much of the morning listening to a Fantasia 2000 CD we got him for Valentine’s Day.  He just loves Fantasia, and it’s neat to sit with him, curled up under the blankets and talk about what is happening during each part of the music.  He gets a far-away look in his eyes, and you can just tell that he is visualizing it all in his head.  “What happening now?” is his oft-repeated question.  He likes to be held during the scary parts and sometimes sings along or clucks his tongue in time to the music.  What a neat kid:)
Sunshine and sleep.  A good combination, I think!
I just copied all the photos that Granny Lu took over the last couple weeks, and I added them to the last few albums in the gallery.  Enjoy!

Feb. 14: Happy Valentine’s Day!  I’d intended to post loads of new photos this morning as a Valentine’s Day treat for everyone, but I entered a new state of exhaustion and just didn’t have the energy.  I wonder why?  We came home from the hospital on Tuesday afternoon, and it’s felt great to be back at home.  Bryan’s mom has been terrific…I’ve been so pampered and catered to these last few days.
What a treat!
Sylvia’s main interests right now are eating, sleeping, and eating.
Last night, I think she nursed or was asleep while nursing almost all night.  Unfortunately, that meant that I didn’t get as much sleep.
Today we’ve found that if we can amuse her (jiggling, walking, swaddling, holding) for a while, she’ll eat a full meal and then sleep for a couple hours.  I’m hoping to employ that technique tonight to try to get a couple hours of solid sleep!
Andrew has been doing really well.  He’s having a blast playing with Granny and Daddy, and he’s so sweet about wanting to hold or kiss or look at baby Sylvia.  I just love that boy:)
Sylvia had her first doctor’s appointment today, so Bryan and I made our first foray into the world since our drive home on Tuesday.  Sylvia is back up to her birth weight (7 lbs, 9 oz), and she passed all the healthy baby tests.
She’s currently sleeping on my chest while I type, and her little fingers are curled around the edge of my shirt.  I’ve uploaded new pictures to the gallery, so enjoy!

Feb. 11: We settled on her name, Sylvia Dotzour this morning. No middle name for this little miss. In my mind, her “silent” middle name is after me and my mom…no middle names there either:)
Sylvia was born at 12:55 am on Monday, February 11, 2008. She was 7 lbs, 9 oz and 19 inches long. Labor lasted about eight hours. It’s hard to believe that 24 hours ago was when I was really starting to go into labor! And now she’s here:)

Andrew got to meet Sylvia this morning. He came in bearing some cut out cookies that he and Granny made. His interactions with his sister were so sweet. Bryan encouraged him to sing her a song, so he did a boisterous rendition of “Old McDonald Had a Farm.” Before leaving, he also sang her “Rock-a-Bye Baby.” We gave Andrew the Bitty Baby that my mom had picked out for him as a big brother present. He really liked how its eyes opened and shut.

The little one has been nursing well and sleeping lots on this first day.
Photos of her and of our steady stream of visitors are in the gallery.

Feb. 11: I’ve so been wanting to write a post like this!  Our sweet little girl was born last night around 1 am.  The labor was powerful, and positive.  We’re still confirming a name for the little one, and we haven’t gotten much sleep this evening (it’s now 6 am), but I’m so full of joy and excitement that I’m having a hard time sleeping:)
I felt so loved and supported through this whole pregnancy…especially this last week of wait, wait waiting.  Thanks for being part of the circle of people who is welcoming out little one into the world.
Jessica shared a song with me last week that was so poignant that it made me sob to listen to.  If this baby news makes your emotional barometer go haywire, listen to this wonderful song for a little push over the edge.  It’s song 6 – Welcome to this world.
With love,
Althea

Feb. 10: It’s chilly here in Madison today.  I think the thermometer is hovering around -10!  Michael and Lisa came over for a waffle breakfast this morning, and Bryan and i are thinking about heading out to the mall to walk around for a while.  It’s just not a day that I feel like walking around outside!
LuAnn is putting Andrew down for his afternoon nap, and I’m calmly hoping to go into labor.  I was having some mild contractions through the night last night, but when I got up in the morning, they stopped.
I’m taking that as a good sign that my body is heading toward labor.
Thanks to everyone who has called and written with wonderfully supportive and loving thoughts.  I feel like we’re wrapped in a warm community of support.
Stay inside today!

Feb. 8: Well, here we are!  I think that since Andrew came five days early, I really had it in my mind that this baby would come early too.  I go to bed each night hoping that I’ll wake up in labor, but I keep sleeping through the night!  Each meal I wonder if it’s my last pre-baby meal, but nothing has happened yet.  My 20 week ultrasound put the due date at Feb. 14 rather than the 8th, so there’s always the possibility that the baby isn’t even actually late yet.  Yet, the waiting…especially knowing how the risks to the baby increase as time goes by…isn’t super easy!
Bryan and I sat together and talked to the baby a lot as she had a rollicking party in my belly.  Hard to imagine that we’re so close to holding her:)
I had my 40 week midwife appointment.  She did an ultrasound to confirm again that the head was down and to to make sure that the baby had a good amount of amniotic fluid.  Baby’s heart rate was good, and she was pretty active.  I continue to have lots of non-painful contractions, but there’s not much sign of progress toward labor.  But you never know…maybe tonight!

From BabyCenter.com

How your baby’s growing:

It’s hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds (a small pumpkin) and is about 20 inches long. His skull bones are not yet fused, which allows them to overlap a bit if it’s a snug fit through the birth canal during labor.
This so-called “molding” is the reason your baby’s noggin may look a little conehead-ish after birth. Rest assured — it’s normal and temporary.

How your life’s changing:

After months of anticipation, your due date rolls around, and… you’re still pregnant. It’s a frustrating, but common, situation in which to find yourself. You may not be as late as you think, especially if you’re relying solely on a due date calculated from the day of your last period because sometimes women ovulate later than expected. Even with reliable dating, some women have prolonged pregnancies for no apparent reason.

You still have a couple of weeks before you’ll be considered “post-term.” But to be sure your baby is still thriving, your practitioner will schedule you for testing to keep an eye on her if your pregnancy continues.

You may have a biophysical profile (BPP), which consists of an ultrasound to look at your baby’s overall movements, breathing movements (movement of her chest muscles and diaphragm), and muscle tone (whether she opens and closes her hand or extends and then flexes her limbs), as well as the amount of amniotic fluid that surrounds her (important because it’s a reflection of how well the placenta is supporting your baby).

Fetal heart rate
monitoring (called a nonstress test or NST) will generally be done as well — by itself or as part of the BPP. Or, you may have what’s known as a modified BPP, which consists of an NST and an ultrasound to assess the amount of amniotic fluid.

If the fetal testing isn’t reassuring — the amniotic fluid level is too low, for example — you’ll be induced. If there’s a serious, urgent problem, you may have an immediate c-section.

Your practitioner will also check your cervix to see if it’s “ripening.” Its position, how soft it is, how effaced (thinned out) it is, and how dilated (open) it is can all affect when and how your labor is induced. If you don’t go into labor on your own, you’ll be induced, usually sometime between 41 and 42
weeks.

Jan. 26: My dear friend Anne came over this afternoon…driving all the way from Milwaukee on a snowy Saturday to paint my big belly.
Anne painted my belly a few days before Andrew was born (see a photo here), and she has bedecked the bellies of a slew of other friends in the past several years.  It’s a fun way to honor and commemorate my largely enhanced size, and the baby seemed to be tickled by the light brush strokes.
We decided on a snowy/starry night theme, and it turned out really well.  Anne is such a fun friend!  Photos for those who enjoy such things are in the gallery🙂

Jan. 25: This little baby is at 38 weeks!  I had an appointment with my midwife today, and the good news is that there’s not much to report:)  Baby flipped earlier this week, so she’s lying along my left side now.  The flipping process wasn’t fun on my part.  It took her about half a day to get re-situated in her new position.  She’s still head-down, though, so that’s what matters!
I’ve gained 25-30 pounds since June, and I’m definitely feeling pretty heavy these days.  My blood pressure is still low (110/64), so that makes my care providers happy.  My tummy only grew by a half-centimeter this week.   It now measures 35 1/2 cm from bottom to top.  I’m carrying this baby much lower than I did with Andrew.   Oh, and I got the good news at my appointment today that my Strep B test was negative, so I don’t have to have antibiotics administered during labor. A good thing!
We met with Laura, our doula, on Tuesday, so she’s ready to come over to help support me and Bryan when I labor at home and then when we move on to the hospital.  I’m excited to birth and meet this little one!

How your baby’s growing:

Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she’s over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you’ll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

Wondering
what color your baby’s eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she’s born with brown eyes, they’ll likely stay brown. If she’s born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she’s 9 months old.
That’s because a child’s irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she’s born, but they won’t get “lighter” or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

Jan. 22: We took a tour of Meriter’s birthing center on Sunday afternoon.  It was actually a sibling tour, so Andrew got to hold some warm blankets, learn how to make the bed move up and down, and see where the snacks were kept down the hall.  I think that at this point, we’re close enough to the baby’s arrival that he’ll remember the hospital when he comes back next time.  It’s kind of awe-inspiring to imagine him coming to the hospital to meet his new sibling.  I feel a little nervous…like it’s a blind date.  Most of me is entirely sure that he’ll adore his sister, but isn’t it a bit weird to imagine saying, “Hey Andrew, come over here and meet our new family member. She’s here for keeps!”

The best thing I learned is that Meriter has wireless internet access, so that means that I’ll get to post photos and updates after the baby is born.  With Andrew, I couldn’t send out an email until we got home, so there was a 3-day delay.  I don’t promise to send out anything hours after the birth, but it’s nice to know that I can send an update whenever I want.
Michael is my Andrew-care-taker-in-waiting for the next ten days.  After that, Bryan’s mom is coming up from Texas and staying with us to help out for two weeks.  So I feel pretty good about my Andrew-coverage for the birth and hospital stay.  You can usually stay for two days after a normal delivery, so that’s probably what we’ll do.
Here’s a link to some information for visitors to Meriter.  The Birthing Center is on the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors, and you take the North elevator to get there.
My “due date” is February 8, so I’ve probably still got some time, but the big event is coming.  And I think that’s a good thing:)