Weekend Update

6 days old and she's as beautiful as ever! The weekend ended well with Rex, Steve & Kevin in town for the day and a Browns victory over the St. Louis Rams. It was great to see the boys with their new niece and Grandad in his new role as well. Kosar (Rex's yellow lab) entertained Sadie for a while and we even got outside to enjoy our patio for about a half-hour in the afternoon! I've got some pictures of that on our video camera, but I'm not sure yet how to get them off of the disc. In the meantime, I'll post a few more from the still camera...

Grandma Linda, Naomi & Nora:
GREAT Grandma Miller:
Lotsa family and creative use of the camera timer (we had three cameras lined up for this one shot!)
Uncle Steve:

Burp!

Naomi blogging and babysitting:
Uncle Kevin:
Grandpa Rex:
Naomi, Steve & Nora:

Nora called the touchdown with her eyes closed...Browns win 27-20!

Nora says "hang loose, dude!"

It was odd waking up this morning in our house with just the three of us (plus Max, Molly & Sadie). It was the first time in 6 days that we had no overnight guests. The past week was incredible for so many reasons and we were so lucky to have had so much family alongside us... both for the help they provided and the memories that we'll share. Plus, I've now started back at work part-time, so that's another change. It's not that I don't enjoy work; it's just that I'd much rather be home with my girls! It's going to be a tough transition for both of us, but we'll make it work.

Happy First Saturday!

It's been a great day here at the Bongorno estate. We've had a bunch of new visitors, some great photo ops and even caught a good nap! Uncle Steve is in for a couple days and Great Grandma Miller even made it over to meet little Nora! We'll post some of the pics later, but in the meantime, here are a few more that we've been holding onto...

The happy family on Day 3:

Nora & Daddy on Day 2:
And again on Day 3:
Mommy & Nora on Day 3:

Nora's first manicure:

Nora's 4th day

First off, thanks to everyone for your wonderful emails and voicemails. We feel so lucky to have such a fabulous community with whom to celebrate Nora's arrival. We can't wait for you all to meet her.

Chris described the birth really well. It was an absolutely amazing experience for me - nothing I could have possibly imagined and I can hardly put it into words after the fact. I couldn't have done it without the amazing support we had. And, most importantly, I couldn't have done it without Chris - he was amazing...beyond all my expectations...he never left my side and gave me exactly the calm, strong and loving support that I needed.

I'm feeling really good. I am more in love with my daughter than I ever could have imagined. It seems like she gets cuter and sweeter every second. So cute, in fact, that she hasn't spent more than a few seconds not being held by someone who loves her in her 4 days with us. I hold firmly to the theory that it's impossible to spoil an infant. :)

In other news, my milk started coming in last night. Woo hoo! The breastfeeding is going really well - I'm quite sore, but not as bad as I expected. Some slight discomfort on my part is well worth it knowing that I have the perfect food for my baby and the ability to make her feel calm and safe in an instant.

So far, Nora mostly just sleeps and eats. She's a champion at both. We're trying very hard to not get used to her sleeping through the night (yep, she sleeps from midnight to 7!), but we'll enjoy it while it lasts! Here's a little video of her sleeping next to me (just minutes ago) and going through one of her typical "maybe I'll wake up, but maybe I'll just stretch and make funny faces and go back to sleep" stages. So cute.



That's it for now from mommy b. More pics to come!

You've been so patient

Hello all!

It's the end of day 3 with Nora and we're doing great! Hilary went home yesterday after more than 2 days here, during which time she helped with and photographed the birth and then added brightness to the house and the joy of another familiar loved one's voice. We miss you already!

Linda is still here, cooking, cleaning, shopping, laughing, and forever coming up with the next "big idea" for us to tackle. She's great with her new granddaughter, of course, and even helped us figure out how to adjust the car seat during our first trip with Nora earlier today!


That's right, today was the first day since Monday that either one of us left the house! More importantly, it was Nora's first time out in the wild... the concrete and green canopied streets of the "Forest City." We had an appointment today with our new family doctor and were, predictably, 1/2 hour late... First, it was the car seat (which works great now that we've figured it out - thanks Eden, Kevin & Eli!), then it was the fact that we'd forgotten our paperwork. Nevertheless, we arrived and both mommy & baby had some tests done and all is well! The best news of the day is that Nora has a bilirubin score of 5.9. That either means that she's the second coming of wonder woman or that she's not jaundiced. Take your pick!

In the end, the trip took much longer than we liked. We discovered, in the process, that driving her around in the car is not pacifying - yet. She doesn't mind being pricked in the heel one bit. And she's lost some weight - down to 7 pounds 1 ounce. Don't worry, mommy's breast milk is due to come in at any moment, so Nora'll fatten up again in no time!

What else have you missed? On Wednesday, Molly stopped over again with Will and they brought Maja and one-year-old Ellen, who came all the way from Sweden to meet Nora (not really, but they did arrive on Tuesday night!)

Linda made a fantastic lasagna, which we brought upstairs to our makeshift dining room on the second floor. Candlelight, champagne, and outdoor furniture on the second floor... who could ask for anything more?!

Yesterday, our midwife stopped by in the morning for a checkup and to take care of some paperwork. Naomi later snuck downstairs without us noticing (tsk, tsk) and we hung out at home all day and watched Knocked Up, a funny (and timely) Netflix delivery!

Joe came over with Sofia.



Deanna stopped by after work.

And my sister Beth stopped over with her boyfriend, Mario.


My mom came over again and brought some goodies, including banana bread and a diaper basket.


This evening, my sister Jen came over to play with Sadie and Nora (and stayed for dinner) and Joel & Ashley stopped by as well. Ashley's next in line, by the way, due in about 7 weeks!

Thanks for keeping up. We can't wait to see and talk to all of you!

More Pics!

Here are a few more cute shots!

mommy & sleeping baby:


Nora's head is returning to its natural state:


so sleepy!


Grandma Sikes:


Grandma Bongorno:


Grandma & Grandpa B:

Baby Nora!

Welcome to our world, Eleanor Keziah Bongorno! We are SO happy to have you!

Naomi kicked butt during 16 hours of labor (she just said it didn't seem that long, which is good!), starting at 2:30 AM on October 23rd and moving into active labor around 6 in the morning. She was an angel and didn't wake me up until that point, despite not being able to sleep herself. She told me she wanted me to be well-rested. So sweet!

We were alone until around 9:00, when Melissa (Doula #1) arrived. Naomi got in the tub and Molly (Doula #2), Will (Molly's 2-year-old son) and Kim (midwife) arrived shortly thereafter. Time of day was pretty much a blur the rest of the way, so you'll have to forgive me on that detail. Naomi was much more comfortable in the water and we were able to massage her back and keep warm water running over her, which was very soothing during and in between contractions.

We moved around a bit more and ended up in the guest bedroom, which we'd envisioned as an ideal birth room. Linda (Grandma Sikes) arrived from Yellow Springs, OH and Hilary arrived from Cincinnati around noon. Hilary took up a three-camera attack and Linda worked through some contractions with Naomi. Bobbie (Grandma Bongorno) arrived a short time later and worked with Linda, Molly & Will on some baking and soup-making.

Kim stayed in the background and eventually asked if we'd like to be checked, estimating from the contractions and length of labor that Naomi was probably around 5 cm dilated and that we'd be in labor into the night. Naomi decided to get checked and it turned out that she was 7 cm!

Soon after, we all buckled down and got into the serious business of active labor, which is where the heavy-duty pushing takes place. Naomi was a total rock star and pushed like hell for FOUR HOURS (that's really long) until finally, while sitting on my lap, Naomi helped little Nora find her way out and into the world at 6:23 PM! We held her to Naomi's chest and laid down on the bed, just taking it all in, her little cone head, her warm wet body, her wrinkled up face, the whole deal... it was amazing! It was about 2 minutes before anyone realized that we hadn't checked the sex! Everyone was all around, soaking it up with us. We wrapped her in blankets and weighed her a short while later: 20" long, 7 lbs 6 ounces. She's got blue eyes like her parents and a little bit of hair. Her ears don't stick out... yet. (though if it was a boy, we're pretty sure he would've had a soul patch and sideburns!)

As you'll see in pictures to come, her head has already returned to round form and she's enjoying some of her fresh new outfits! Naomi is laughing and walking around, tired & sore but feeling really good. Me? Thanks for asking! I'm well-rested, but my hip hurts for some reason...

We've had lots of visitors already and more are on the way. Stop by sometime!

Some pictures...39 weeks

Here's the belly in all its glory...

And one of Sadie lady cuddling with the baby...just wait until she gets to meet the real thing!

Still with child...

I was going to wait to post this with some new belly pictures, but I figured I could always add the visual aids later.

One of the most exciting recent pieces of news is that I'm FINALLY nesting (or, at the very least, I had two days of nesting and that might be it)! Chris and I cleaned the house and got the baby's room together all weekend...lots of scrubbing and laundry. It felt great to clean up the clutter and actually be able to imagine a baby being in that room! Very exciting. Chris seems to have caught the nesting bug too and is all groceried up and ready to make some yummy soups for freezing. :) Pregnancy is treating him well.

I'm feeling much larger than I ever thought it possible to feel, and am more than ready for baby b to come and meet us! According to the midwife, it could be any day now (a prediction that doesn't really take much medical training seeing as I'm less than a week from my due date!). I know I'll look back on this time and miss feeling the baby move and knowing it's safe and warm and taken care of in there with minimal effort from me, so I'm trying to soak up these last days/weeks as much as possible. Full moon this Friday...a girl can hope, right?

Pictures to come soon...maybe we'll even send a few of the nursery.

39 Weeks

In case you were wondering, our little one now has FAT! That's right, most of what's happening right now is that the baby is beefing up, getting ready for the world. So, Naomi's carrying this little chunker, who's ready to come out at any moment, and it's just getting fat off of her nutrients! What a punk! Ah, but we love the little bugger, no matter what. Here's another graphic from www.babycenter.com:

Ah Well

So, the Cleveland Baseball Team isn't going to win the pennant in 5 games. I'm bummed about that, but hey, we'll be back for game 6! In the meantime, our 38/39 week appointment with the midwives is tomorrow and who knows, it may be our last! It's really that time...and it has been for a couple weeks now... where any day could be THE day. And if you're like we are, you'll want to know as soon as it happens. So, tomorrow, we're going to make our calling/emailing list. It'll be a chain, so we won't be on the phone for 24 hours straight, but rest assured, you'll hear the news. And then we'll be posting pictures right here!

The early results are in... our polls are showing a 6-2 lead for Baby Bongorno being a girl and 4 out of 8 voters think that Baby B will be born during week 40. Have you weighed in yet? Sorry, there's no cash prize, but you'll gain the satisfaction of being able to say you knew all about the baby before it was even born!

We'll post more pics and news soon. So, don't be a stranger!

Ok, seriously...

Sorry we're so lazy! It's the damned ALCS that's got us all wrapped up!

Here are a couple shots from last weekend, including our new dining room table! Don't forget to weigh in on the right!


















Also, in the interim, if you want to see the belly progress over 38 weeks, we've been updated our shutterfly account:

Click Here for fun time belly photos
(password: may272007)

Day 264 - Or, the Day we Finally Got Around to Starting this Blog!

Well, it's about time! Chris (aka: daddy) here. Naomi (aka: mommy) had the bright idea to start this blog about two weeks ago, somewhere around the 35th week of her pregnancy. It hadn't even crossed my mind yet, which is odd, since I've got two blogs already! (Both are, sadly, dormant... someday to be revived, just like my radio show and professional baseball career.)

In the meantime, there's no news in our lives worthier of reporting than that of the development of our baby in Naomi's belly. We've got a lot of ground to cover and who knows, the little critter could start making its way towards the light by the time I finish typing this first entry!

As of Saturday, October 6th, we're officially "full term." There's a lot of guesswork involved in the wonderful world of gestation, but according to http://www.babycenter.com/, our baby should look something like this:

Of course ours is much cuter, but that goes without saying. Oh, and I could've drawn in sideburns, but as many of you may already know, I've got my money on the little one being a girl. That's not to say that I prefer one or the other. I've just got a feeling in my gut about this! (no pun intended...)

That said, this little "nugget" (also formerly known as "frijole bongorno") could be upwards of 6 pounds by now and could be a whopping 20 inches long! For those of you who partook in the betting pool that was part of the Yellow Springs baby shower, you may recall that I placed my money on the baby being 13" long at birth. I guess I was expecting a portly little bambina! Ah well, I live and learn every day...

I meant this post to be a nice little intro to bring you all up to speed and now look what I've gone and done... Wasted all this time without a single picture of the pregnant missus! Well, in due time, my friends and relations, in due time. You will get your fill of potbelly pictures of Naomi! (and maybe even one or two of me!)


We're going to try to see if we can get a poll going on here. We're going to post some pictures. We're going to keep you abreast of all the progress as it happens over the days (and weeks?) to come and maybe you'll even learn a little something in the process. I know I will!