Tom & Clea's Adventures

Climbing with Aina

Its pretty hard to find activities that everyone can do with a newborn -- usually we end up trading time away from Aina and each other in order to get a bike or run in.

But, last week we went climbing with grandpa, and managed to enjoy a great climbing session, along with Aina (see photos). With three climbers, its easy for one person to take care of the baby, one to belay and one to climb. The only painful part is being humbled by a climb your 66 year old father in law made look like a flight of stairs.

And unlike hiking, there are bathrooms for changing and feeding, it's entirely weather independent, and it's no big deal to take a break to deal with a baby meltdown while the other two continue on.

Yesterday we repeated the activity with Mark Shahinian. Even though Aina was a little under the weather, things went fine and everyone got a great workout.

So if you're around on Saturday's at Planet Granite Sunnyvale, look out for us.

Aina's first Thanksgiving

We enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner with our neighbor and adopted Grandmother Annie Bergman. With both our families away, it was great for Annie to welcome us, as well as other friends into her home (photos are here).

There's nothing quite like having four women across the street doting on a two month old. We actually took AIna over at noon, and she proceeded to sleep on Annie's niece Leah's chest for a full hour and a half.

Meanwhile, Mom and Dad snuck out for a little time on the bikes. Clea's still getting used to the bike again, but I struck out for a full three hours. Tons of bikers were out, and I managed to catch up with both Dave and Ashley as well and Mark and Alicia. It was great to be out on a long ride again. Nothing like building up a solid calorie deficit before the turkey arrives.

 

We returned home, put Aina in a pair of riduclous tights, and a very cool Japanese dress from Tea (Thanks Tami and Jack!) and headed across the road.

I shook up some Martinis (recovery beverage of champions) and we settled in for a pleasant and very social thanksgiving.

Aina was passed around the room, and as her norm these days, quickly got overwhelmed and just went to sleep. Which was perfect for a leisurely evening with friends, good food, and a lot to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Introducing: Aina Janis Arnquist

For those readers that know us as last minute kind of people, I'm happy to report that parenting has changed us for good. The birth certificate forms were due at 2pm Saturday, and we arrived at 12:15. Plenty of time to spare. Yes Frank, we have known for quite some time that we were having a baby girl.

Names are tough to choose. So many options. So many considerations. We knew we wanted something short, something unique, and something that would recognize our families.

The middle name Janis was an easy choice and picked months ago. Janis Sarnquist was Clea's mom, lost to cancer six years ago. I personally never met her, but from the stories and tales I have heard over the years, she truly was a special person. A fifth generation Californian, she grew up in Santa Rosa on a farm, and met a certain climbing bum/doctor in training Grandpa Frank at UCSF.  Together they took a journey together that we greatly admire: fantastic family trips in adventurous locales, a love for the mountains, and a passion for athletics. And all with a loving family. Janis was a big part of that and we hope a little of her name will rub off on our little one.

The first name comes from Clea's swedish great aunt. Born on September 30th, just like our little one, she was the matriarch of the extended family, living with full faculties well into her nineties. She's famous for, among other things, using real candles on her christmas tree. Aina is used across Scandinavian and means forever in the original Finish.

The last name is an amalgamation of our two last names Arnold and Sarnquist. We're hopeful that this recognizes both our families and creates our own path forward. Arnquist also turns out to be a Swedish last name, which is convenient.

Our journey continues

Kate Davidson said wisely there was no way I was continuing the blogging pace and she was right. As soon as the little tyke was with us, and needed us, well...lets just say we focused on other things besides futzing with the blog. But after a nice dinner (thanks Grandma) we're pulling up for air and updating everyone on the last few days.

 

The hospital stay was better than expected. We had heard the staff at Lucile Packard was brilliant, but lacked the creature comforts and bedside manner of other facilities. We were pleasantly surprised -- everyone on the maternity ward was very kind and helpful with the typical newborn issues. The nurses could not have been more helpful and considerate of our preferences. Similarly the lactation consultants and the pediatrician were just amazing. At this point we still hadn't picked out a name -- our pedetrician even brought a long print out of the meaning of one of our candidate names!

We had wonderful visits in the hospital from Grandma and Grandad Arnold, Grandpa Sarnquist, and Jim Freeman (in scrubs!). The photos from the rest of the hospital stay are here.

We were discharged at 11:30 on Thursday morning (see photos). She's still a little small for the car seat, but we managed to drive 10 miles an hour the entire way home without any problems. Winslow, our cat, was initially a little curious, but promptly freaked out at the new visitors. He still hasn't quite recovered, but we're confident she'll be pulling his tail in no time.

The first night started off just fine. We had a great lactation appointment at PAMF and with the help of Joanna Koch, the baby had a massive feed, and gained a full 2 ounces during the feeding. Promptly put into a milk coma, we enjoyed the rest to swing by our favorite sushi place and have a nice lunch date, all to ourselves.

Mom and baby returned home, while I had a quick meeting (complete with flowers and a great collection of books, thanks Erin), and then jetted to the Subaru dealer to get a rear safety gate and pick up Annie from the airport. When I got home, Grandma helped hold the baby while I cooked pasta carbonara. I could leave you with this impression of our wonderful new peaceful life with a newborn:

But then, I'd be lying. Shortly after Grandma left, we had non stop crisis from 11pm to 4:30am. In hindsight, its no big deal, but its definitely a requisite part of the journey.

Welcome Baby Sarnquist

At 7:07am, about 22 hours after being admitted, we welcomed a new baby girl into our world. Weighing 7 lbs 10 oz and measuring 19 inches, she has Clea's beautiful blue eyes and cute nose. This photo was taken a minute or so after delivering, where the staff quickly hands the baby over to Mom and Dad.

Mom and Baby are doing fine and very healthy. If you want to see more photos, we have some after delivery and the bath posted.

We don't have a final name selected yet, we're still working on figuring out how she fits into the last few selections.

We look forward to introducing you to the new addition to our family.

Oh so its an Ironman, not a marathon

After a initially very strong reaction to pitocin, things leveled off this evening, and our fast progress has slowed dramatically. So it seems that this won't simply be a marathon event, but something a bit longer. Presumably our child will share Clea's taste for long distance triathlons?

The good news is that Clea got some more rest, and I was able to sneak out to Andronicos for a quick bite to eat. It looks like maybe the baby won't share out wedding anniversary for a due date after all.

We did an enjoy a visit from both Clea's dad Frank and my parents tonight. This is Frank's first grandchild, and he was positively beaming. For my parents, this will be their second grandchild of the year, and third overall (all girls!) and from their excitement, becoming a grandparent just doesn't seem to get old:

Celebrating Grandpa's profession

Grandpa Sarnquist is an anesthesiologist.

About 3:45pm, we both celebrated his career and this ancient art, as the friendly attending put in a epidural with efficiency and aplomb. What was fairly unbearable (for Clea) and stomach churning (for Tom) pain with every contraction has turned into manageable pain. Clea is resting now, as we approach seven hours in the hospital.

Thanks for all the comments, calls and texts. We're very excited to bring you more good news.

Contractions have started!

Wow, this Pitocin stuff is working its magic. At 1:45pm, we are officially in labor. See one contraction below.

A note to future fathers -- don't marvel at the size or shape of the contraction curve. A "Wow honey, that's huge!" does not communicate anything she doesn't already know and is not met kindly.

A random rumination of rural childbirth: How exactly is this done?

Happy Wedding Anniversary

We had an appointment for inducement at 8am Monday morning, coincidentally, our one year wedding anniversary. We wisely called before leaving for Packard, and they asked us to hang back for another hour or so. We were admitted at 9:30am.

Neither of us slept really well. An initial feeling a of release yesterday that at least we knew when this would happen, quickly gave way to panic of all that was about to change.

Clea was placed on Pitocin, a synthetic version of the hormone Oxytocin used to help labor along about 10:30. They are starting a very small dose now, and then will gradually increase it during the day. She's napping now, trying to rest a bit for the big event.

We're in Room 10 and the phone is 650-498-3872, although both our cell phones work here as well.

Last dash to the beach

With a Monday morning appointment looming, we made one last Saturday outing to the beach, taking Grandma and Grandad to Pescadero, for a hike in the Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve. Wildlife sightings were few and far between, although I did catch a glimpse of Western Pond Turtle before he jumped in Pescadero Creek. Yes, this pond turtle rarely lives in ponds. More photos are up on smugmug.

We enjoyed a great picnic afterward of sandwiches and artichoke bread in the garden behind Arcangeli Grocery, complete with a bottle of Barefoot Pinot Grigio that Clea stared at longingly.