Uhntsa, Uhntsa.

Because leading experts say, "Mozart makes babies smarter."

Strong Man

One of the first things Simon's nurse commented on when she saw Simon was how strong he looked. And he is a strong one. I have never seen an infant with such amazing neck control, and he seems to be able to wrestle his way out of even the best swaddling job. The first time we put him on his stomach it honestly looked like he was about to crawl away--it was only the size of his head that was keeping him in place.

It looks as though the little guy has taken the nurse's comment to heart, and, as you can see by the satisfied look on his face, he is pleased to show off his huge arms in whatever way he can. I just hope he gets it out of his system before he hits the teenage years.

Now That's Entertainment!

Warning: The following silent film may not be suitable for anyone who is not either a small child or a woman. It contains 40 seconds of a newborn baby moving his arms, moving his legs, scrunching up his face, and yawning. Please use discretion when viewing.

Speaking of Babies. . .

Because Simon slept fairly well last night both of us felt pretty well today, and thus we spent a bit of time getting our apartment back into order. As I was picking up the living room I happened to look into a small nook by the stairs and came across these eggs. I thought it odd because I usually don't not come across eggs in our home unless I'm cleaning out the fridge. Huh.

The eggs are rather small (about 3/8") and they where stuck to each other. One of them was broken and the other is still in tact. I am slightly embarrassed to say that my first thought was, "Oh no, cockroaches." I quickly remembered, however, learning in elementary school that roaches, and bugs of all kinds for that matter, don't lay eggs. And because we are fairly certain that we don't have any super small birds living in our apartment the only logical conclusion is that they are gecko eggs.

We definitely have geckos for roomies, but this is the first time I had ever thought of them coming from eggs. I rather like the idea and I think it makes our cockroach/ant/moth/other bug-eating friends even more endearing. I wish them the best and I hope the other egg will hatch soon. I believe I will name him Rex.

The Birth Story

I know there are some of you who are curious about Simon's birth story and I am eager to share it. Sorry it has taken me so long to get around to it . . . I'm kind of on a new feeding and sleeping (or not sleeping) schedule. But first, an introduction. Having a natural childbirth was really important to me, and I began my preparations early by reading as much as I could about childbirth (if anybody is interested, I'll make a list of what I read) staying in shape (Micah and I went running the evening before I went into labor), and practicing breathing and relaxation techniques I read about. Even though I felt really prepared, there were still a few things that scared me about labor, like getting into the "bite me" zone, like I did when we were running the marathon, where I would be so annoyed at Micah that I wanted to trip him--even though he didn't do anything (those thoughts did cross my mind at about mile 17 when we were in Alaska). I was also afraid of being so tired or hungry that I just wouldn't want to go on. Luckily, neither of those things happened.

Labor started early (at around 2:00) Tuesday morning. I didn't sleep much, but I didn't really think I was in labor. I just thought it was prelabor, that the contractions would stop any time and the baby wouldn't come for a few more days. But I wanted to get as much rest as possible, so I called in tired to work and told Micah I would call him to come home if I needed him. By 10:00 I had some more signs of prelabor and was starting to get excited that this was the real thing. I spent the time sitting on the birth ball and distracting myself in other ways (including blogging about buying our plane tickets . . . ) until Micah came home for lunch at around 1:00. We decided it was best if he stayed at that point, and we started reading The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman, which we got especially to keep me laughing, and which, fortunately, arrived at the post office the day before. It worked really well and while we were timing contractions we read it and laughed and then I would relax and breathe deeply through the contractions and then we would read some more. I had back labor, and although I tried a few positions for moving the baby and easing the pain they didn't really work, so when the contractions got worse Micah massaged my back through the most intense parts. By 5:00 we decided it was time to get serious about coping techniques, so I took a bath. It really felt great and did so much to help me relax even more. We were planning to go for a walk after I got out of the bath, but I was starting to feel like maybe we should hurry our little selves down to the hospital. So I did my hair and got all prettied while Micah packed up the car (in between contractions, of course). Our landlords were borrowing our laundry facilities as Micah was packing up, and since the washer and dryer are right by our door, they got in on the action, too. Sister Hurst, like a good neighbor/Relief Society President, packed us up some dinner (a lifesaver at 3:00 in the morning) and Brother Hurst came over to help Micah give me a blessing before the long ride down. And then we were on our way.

It was about 8:00 by the time we got to the hospital and it certainly felt good to get out of the car. I kept up the deep breathing and relaxing (especially focusing on keeping my face relaxed), and tried to smile between contractions to remind myself that things were going well (which Jamie suggested). My body was starting to get really tingly, which I hoped meant I was to transition. We checked in and they took us to a room for evaluation, where they left us for like ten minutes. I was shaking pretty badly at this point, partially from the cold, partially because of the strain on my body. I was getting kind of annoyed that they thought they might send me home, even after I told them the contractions were coming every two minutes or so. When they finally did get around to checking me they were surprised (but we weren't) that I was dilated to an 8, and they got me into a delivery room post haste. Ha! The nurse said I would probably be ready to push in an hour, and after a half hour of monitoring and a few minutes in the bathtub (which didn't feel nearly as good the second time) I started to feel pushy. This may not make sense to those who have not given birth, but once you start to feel the need to push, it is really hard to not do it. It's like if you are going to throw up, there is only so long you can procrastinate it before it's going to happen anyway. I really wanted to push slowly so my body had time to stretch and I wouldn't tear, so I tried to maintain control as best I could even though my body seemed to have a mind of its own. After about half an hour of pushing the nurse thought she could see the head coming down, so she called Dr. Shimizu who arrived a few minutes later and realized it wasn't the head, it was the bag of waters, which broke with the next contraction. I was using a squatting bar so gravity would work its magic and help bring the baby down, but after another hour of pushing (or trying to control the pushing) I was pretty well tuckered out and a little bit discouraged. At this point they were monitoring Simon's heart rate constantly and it was dropping into the 80s during contractions and they were getting really anxious to get him out. They started giving me oxygen for Simon and all of a sudden there were like five people coaching me on my pushing (which I wasn't very good at, apparently). It wasn't until Micah told me he thought it was okay if I held my breath through the pushes that I started making progress. There was so much going on in the room and I kind of lost track of what was happening. When Simon finally came out, they found that his cord was around his neck, and he was turned to the side a bit, which is probably why he was having a hard time coming down.

I can't really describe what it was like to see him for the first time. There was definitely a sense of relief, and I remember thinking that it sure was taking them a long time to bring him to my chest, even though it probably wasn't more than a second. And even though I just pushed a 7 pound 7 ounce person through my body, I felt great, I had a rush of energy and excitement and happiness and love. Dr. Shimizu stitched me up and all of the hospital people left and the three of us sat and stared at each other for a few hours.

Honestly, the labor was not that bad for me. I felt very much in control, very much like I could handle everything. I felt like I was doing a good job. I could have passed on the two hours of pushing, which started to get really discouraging after I found out the water bag was not his head and I had to push him down a second time. And even though I didn't get much sleep two nights in a row (or the two nights in the hospital, or the two nights since we've come home . . . ) I have felt really good. Tired, obviously, and a little sore and anxious about my stitches, but I have been surprised at how energetic and happy and awake I have been feeling. It was really a great experience and (except for the stitches) turned out to be everything I hoped for and more from my first birthing experience.

More Pictures

Just to warn you all, the Green Wallet will temporarily (and unofficially) be changing it's name to "Check Out Our Cute Kid". But don't worry. 100%* Simon is, in fact, a realistic representation of our current lives. We promise to get back to a nice variety** (which will also include Simon) when our lives do.

With that said, check out our cute kid:
And check out his new drawer!
*To be fully honest, we did manage to watch the last episode of Lost (Catch 22) and we liked it.
** If you are painfully bored, here is a small project my friend Becca Shim put together. It is kind of interesting.

Simon Henry Heiselt

Okay, here are the stats:

2 weeks early
April 17, 2007
11:20 pm
7 pounds, 7 ounces
19 inches long
Simon - classic, but not too common
Henry - Lizzie's grandfather's middle name
Heiselt - sorry, no options there
wrinkly - not too bad at all
bags under eyes - yes
coned head - already gone
cute - yes

Here is what he looks like:And here is what he looks like while giving us the evil eye:And this is his drawer:More to come.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

We have officially bought one-way tickets to fly away from our island in the sun. And as much as I have been looking forward to moving on, it is sad to think that we won't be able to see the ocean from Indiana. Not that I am really attached to the ocean or anything. However, Hawaii is the place where Micah and I got to be us, to really come together and become one, so it will always have a special place in our hearts.
We leave Independence Day night and arrive in SLC the next morning. My favorite part of the ticket buying experience was giving them the name and birthdate of our infant. Hmmm . . . Baby Heiselt? May 1st, 2007? I don't know what his birthdate is, for heaven's sake. It could be tomorrow for all I know . . . .

Yes, the picture is a repeat, but I thought it fitting.

What is a Hoosier, Anyway?

Well, we didn't get into NYU. But, the good news is that we just saved $21,000. Also, we get to live near Adrian & Jodie in Indiana during grad school. Bloomington is a beautiful town and Indiana's journalism program is really good. In fact, Wikipedia (which is always right) does say that the IU journalism program is one of the very best in the nation. It may not be as glamorous as NYU, but we can deal with that. Besides, Bloomington has an Ultimate league and rock climbing, both of which we have been missing terribly since moving to our island in the sun. (NYC has a league as well, but they play on Sundays.)

We did, however, really want to go to NYC, but it looks like that plan will have to wait for a bit. Slightly disappointing, yes, but it is kind of a relief knowing that we won't be paying for my graduate education for the next 20 years. And also that we won't be in our fifties before we can buy a house. It is a bit sad that we didn't get our first pick, but we are trusting that the Lord is still watching out for us and that this is the best thing for our family. We are really excited to be around family and to pay less than $4 for a gallon of milk.

Peep Show

Okay, why didn't we think of this? I feel so silly that the Washington Post thought of it before us. I'm pretty sure we're going to have to have a contest next Easter . . . like a gingerbread house contest, only not. Who's in?

What will they think of next?

So, because I am a supportive husband and I love my lovely, expectant wife I decided to make her day last week and fork out $11 at Ross on a birth ball. Now, to those who are not up to speed with the exciting world of the stork, a birth ball is a big rubber ball that a laboring woman can sit on, lean on, bounce on, roll on or throw at her husband. Birth balls are becoming rather popular and take up sizable real estate in almost every book and class concerning embryonic sporting.

It turns out, however, that birth balls do not actually exist, but are the marketing brain child of some guy out there in the exercise ball industry interested in padding his retirement fund with an extra $11. And to really rub it in our faces, he didn't even bother changing the packaging.

Luckily for us, though, he also left us little gems of modern fitness such as this:And this wonderful safety advice:

New Beginnings and Old Habits

Don't you think Easter is the most important holiday of the year? If any holiday really lives up to being a Holy Day, I think Easter is it. Not that Christmas isn't important, but without the atonement and resurrection, what is the point of life? With the atonement and resurrection we can start fresh everyday. We have hope in the future. We know goodbyes are not forever. We can become clean again. We hope you enjoyed your Easter with the colorful eggs, the blooming flowers, the coming of Spring and new life.
We celebrated by dying eggs, as you can see, and inviting friends over for a delicious feast, as is our habit. I've been wishing for more than two years that they would serve potatoes au gratin at a ward party, but they never do so I finally made them myself. They were well worth the effort. But Micah's summer rolls (above) stole the show. He's always outdoing me.

Nothing like good food and good friends and a few rounds of The Loser Game to really make a day special.

NYU and a Muumuu

You may have guessed that we are still waiting to hear from NYU (for those of you who are interested in that sort of thing). Well, everyday should be the day, and everyday the magic mailbox disappoints us. The stress of the situation has led to more than one dream, but there is just one that is especially amusing/confusing. In the dream, we went out to the mailbox and there were three things from NYU. One of them was a package that never got opened. The other was a letter that didn't say whether I got in or not (but since it didn't say no, we assumed the best). And the last thing was the front half of a pink muumuu. I couldn't make any sense of it, but in my dream I told Micah I was going to post it on our blog to find out what everybody else thought. So I thought I would make at least that part of my dream come true. What do you think? Why does NYU think I need half of a pink muumuu?(By the way, I have recently discovered that muumuus are the most comfortable thing in the world and I can't figure out why I haven't been wearing them throughout this pregnancy. I highly recommend them to all pregnant women . . . especially those in hot, humid climates.)

The Tally

Thanks everyone who participated in our March Madness competition. It is now April and our little tyke is due one month from today! We aren't going to post the winning bracket yet as that might give away the huge secret that is (or at least has a good possibility of being) his name, but we thought you might enjoy some stats. But first, you have to know that Micah and I each did our own brackets, so we matched everybody up with both of ours, so everybody has two scores. Also, nobody--not one--got the name that we have tentatively chosen, although we did have one or two that came pretty dang close.

Another interesting thing we found was that as we went through the brackets some of our own preferences changed. I had Mitchell going to the Elite Eight, but after a while it just didn't appeal to me as much and probably would have lost in the second round. Micah had Finnian beating Elias, but if he were to do it again Elias would have gone on to the Elite Eight.

One person's bracket did look surprisingly like Micah's, and although I'm not going to name any names . . . We had 29 formal entries, plus a few informal submissions, which did not get included in the tally. Sorry to all of you who just told us what names you liked but didn't submit a bracket. If you want to, you can still submit one, you just won't win anything.Congrats to Jamie and the Bassetts for getting the high scores. We need your addresses so we can send you sweet Hawaiian goodness in the mail.

John Peterson and Tyler Bingham get honorable mention for submitting Micah's favorite Wild Cards: CashMoney and Blaze Firestormer. A few people actually matched our Wild Cards (even in the same place on the chart!) including John Levesque, the Huishes, and Alan. In a few weeks (or whenever this kid is born) we will post our charts, along with the winning name.