Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Little Tortuga Arrives!!!

Sorry we've slacked off a little. Life has been busy with the new arrival.  It turns out that Little Tortuga is a wonderful baby girl. We named her Gabriella Victoria (but we will call her Ella).  For a blow-by-blow of what happened we will start with the day Ana went into labor and update from there....Ella (not Gabby) would like to thank everyone for all the emails, calls and texts. We had a long week with some minor bumps along the way, but the Kolodzinski family is happy to report that both Gabriella and Ana are doing well.


Without going into too much detail, here is a quick synopsis of the day Ana went into labor:

(Todd’s version of the story) On Friday morning, September 17 we woke up early in the a.m. and the Mrs. sprung a leak and did not have any contractions. We quickly called the doctor’s office and were told to book it to the hospital. With the mandatory calls into the grandparents, we made our way to the hospital. Sure enough her water did break, but the slow leak did not progress and the contractions did not start.  So began the induction….

I’ll cut to the chase. Once you get induced it is evidently very painful. Ana started active labor around dinner time.  I’m just the coach, but by 10:00 p.m. the contractions were fast and furious. We were trying to do a natural birth, but once you get induced, evidently it is too painful to not get the epidural. Sure enough before midnight, the contractions were one on top of the other with no breaks in between.  Also, it was “back labor” which is evidently extra unpleasant.  Ana described the pain to me as “I felt as though my spine was going to snap from the pressure." Some time after midnight she called for the drugs. Tune in tomorrow for the next episode....




Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Due Dates

The funny thing about a due date in pregnancy is that it is more of a fluid guesstimate than an actual finality. As a perpetual student and a Type A Communicator, my life has been built around due dates and deadlines. I have made a career of getting the right project/product to the client or teacher on time. Now that I am the one waiting for the “project”, the due date is slipping.

As you may have guessed today is little Tortuga’s due date. Yes for the last nine months or so, Todd and I have been looking at this date as the day our baby will arrive, yet here I sit in our apartment writing a blog post. I guess this will be my first lesson in motherhood, patience.

The good news is there have been signs of progress. My “pre-labor” contractions are coming more frequently and getting stronger. It is only 7:30am, the day is still young and we could have a little one by midnight. We will be sure to keep everyone posted.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Slow Going

For those of you who are ready to meet little Tortuga, Todd and I are, you are going to have to wait a little longer. My doctor visit yesterday revealed that he/she is has no plans of making an appearance any time soon. However, as is the case in any pregnancy, that can all change at any moment. I will be sure to keep people posted if anything changes.

However, I do have one big change to report. Today is my last day at CLS. I am sad to say goodbye to such great people. We have had some good laughs and some stressful moments. To all the CLS-ers, I thank you for a wonderful year and a half. Adios

Monday, September 6, 2010

Mother Nature’s Little Tricks


Over the years, I have heard about all the ways Mother Nature prepares us for a child. The women I worked with at Target Communication’s “baby making machine” provided me with more information on pregnancy, childbirth and babies than anyone. Plus with some close friends recently having babies, I have been able to use them as a resource. However, even after all these tutorials, I still didn’t know about the lack of sleep that comes right before the big day. At 40lbs over my normal weight and with limited lung capacity, I have trouble staying asleep for more than a few hours. To prevent myself from going mad, Todd and I took a drive to the beautiful Shenandoah Valley yesterday to enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature.

What a wonderful day! The humidity was low, the temperature hovered at 80 and the sun was high in the sky. We stopped at our favorite road-side-dinner, Spelunkers, for two delicious malts and a great burger. After Spelunkers we headed for the Virginia State park in the Shenandoah Valley to find a swimming hole for Cali and I.

Autumn has already arrived in the Shenandoah. The leaves have started to change and the air is crisp and clean. We walked for about two miles on a nice path and then off the path several times to find the right swimming hole. Once we found it, it was beautiful. Cali played for hours and I simply sat in the water allowing the cool Shenandoah river to wash over all the aches and pains of carrying a 7.9lb baby. Little Tortuga loved it too. As soon as my feet touched the water he/she went crazy kicking and punching away. He/she is going to be a swimmer!

Here are some pictures of our day out in the Shenandoah and of Todd with the dresser, which is corresponds to a previous posting.

Thanks to everyone who sent in comments. It is great to know that others are reading.   

Friday, September 3, 2010

T-11 Days and Counting

Todd and I have our weekly doctor appointment today with Dr. Armstrong, where we are going to try to strong-arm him into our wishes for a natural childbirth. He has the highest rate for cesarean sections in the practice, so we are going to take this opportunity to “kindly” remind him that we have decided to have a natural childbirth: no pain medication, little to no intervention and avoiding a cesarean section unless necessary! I will report back on how it goes.


Tortuga is making progress and growing at rapid speed. I wake-up each morning to a bigger belly. At our last visit, Dr. Hennessy predicted he/she was about 6lbs. Today we will find out how much more the little one has grown in a week. Seeing that I have grown a ton in one week, I am guessing so has the little one.

I promise to post pictures soon!!!