What we've been up to: Ruby 4 days-15 days old

Life with Ruby: 10/19-10/30

Enjoying lots of visitors and the occasional trip out of the house. Ruby had her 2 week check up on Tuesday, at which she has gained 12 oz in 8 days. Good work, baby!

Quiet Day

Just a quiet little day at home. Yesterday Ruby's umbilical stump fell off, so today she enjoyed her first bath. And, actually, I really do think she enjoyed it. She was very still and quiet until it was time to get out. After that, we enjoyed a fun visit from my co-worker Meghan who dabbles in photography. These are a few of my favorites wearing her "cousin" Claire's beautiful yellow dress, but my most favorite one will be arriving in your mailbox for Ruby's birth announcement. Stay tuned :)

(Ruby at 11 days old)

Retro Fashion Show: Celebrating 1 Week Old!

To celebrate Ruby being 1 week old today, Carl and I arranged for a mini retro fashion show.


In this photo, Ruby looks stunning in the ultimate of 1979 fashion, terry cloth blue with a lovely multicolored detail on the collar. This outfit was previously sported by her Daddy.










In this photo, Ruby is radiant in the height of 1980 fashion, pink poly blend with lace detailing on the collar and a single floral embroidery. This outfit was previously sported by her Mama.

Our Birth Story: How Our Doula Made the Difference

As many of you know, I have been sick my whole life. My undiagnosed Celiac Disease had lead to a bitter stew of diagnoses, many requiring multiple prescription medications to manage. The day I found out I had Celiac disease, my life changed. For the first time I felt like a normal person, even a healthy person, and slowly began to regain trust in my body and shed the prescriptions that had been weighing me down.

When Carl and I found out we were expecting a baby, many choices regarding prenatal care quickly needed to be made. It was important to me to have a natural childbirth to reinforce my new found sense of normality—after all, what is more natural than having a baby? I have often admired the work of Midwives and Doulas, so we began to pursue meeting some Midwives. To our disappointment, our insurance does not cover any Midwifery care in Dane county, and we felt forced to choose a medical provider that was covered locally by our plan. The MD we picked was nice and knowledgeable, but we sometimes felt we weren’t on the same page. We agonized over our decision to have a hospital birth with an MD and desperately wanted to fill the gap between our goals for birth and current culture of hospital deliveries. That is when we were inspired to research Labor Support Doulas in our area.

I spent several days reading over Doula profiles as listed on the Doulas of South Central Wisconsin website. A friend gave the advice to find an individual that made me immediately feel comfortable and whose philosophy is in line with our goals. One of those goals was finding an individual that could not only support me, but also support Carl to feel confident in his abilities as a coach. With that in mind, we felt an instant connection with Labor Support Doula, Betsy Woods.

We made an appointment to meet Betsy at no charge. She’s a petite blond who radiates a calm and positive energy. She listened to our hopes and fears and knowledgably addressed each one. She was patient as I rambled and filled me with a renewed hope that we could have a beautiful birth. Not only is she a Labor Support Doula, but she is also a certified Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth instructor. Carl and I did not hesitate to hire her as our doula and were fortunate enough to receive an abbreviated course in the Bradley Method as well.

Over the course of several evenings, we carefully reviewed natural childbirth techniques, practiced labor coping strategies, and sometimes just talked. We developed a birth plan together, which emphasized having no medical interventions as I developed faith in my body to know how to birth a baby.

In the weeks leading up to the birth, we kept in contact with Betsy regarding doctor’s appointment updates and a few phone calls as my body started to show signs of gearing up for the event. Each time she had suggestions for keeping my mind focused and body relaxed.

On Tuesday night, my contractions began to work into a pattern and I started the work of laboring at home. I was doing great until the wee hours of the morning, when I started having back labor. I panicked. Even at this moment, I knew this was a turning point where many women would opt to head to the hospital for medication. I opted to pick up the phone and call Betsy. Even though I woke her, she talked to me for 20 minutes and gave me suggestions for coping. Carl woke up shortly after that and started helping me work through each contraction. By the morning, my back labor was more intense and we called Betsy back for more advice. She suggested I get in the tub as water has a magical effect on pain. I found this to be true, but my tub was too short, too shallow, and without enough warm water for true relaxation. Carl called her back and she offered to come at that time. We labored at home as long as possible trying lots of different positions. Even though I wanted to continue to labor at home, I realized that our house did not have adequate amenities. At noon, I decided it was time to go to the hospital, as their whirlpool tub just kept calling my name.

When we arrived in Labor and Delivery Triage, the news was devastating. I had not yet started to dilate! My mind immediately started to swirl with thoughts of how long I had been enduring the discomfort and how long it’s going to be. I was crushed that I’d been laboring for 14 hours at home without dilating. Betsy encouraged me to walk the halls and make a plan for what to do next. She knew my hopes of a natural childbirth would be crushed if I did not start to dilate in the next 2 hours. We brainstormed ideas, like going for acupuncture or just leaving the hospital and coming back later. Unfortunately I felt that without their tub, my composure would falter. At that time, my dear friend Hillary arrived and I felt even more relieved that my full birth team was with me. When we got back to triage after a 2 hour walk, I had dilated to 4. This was the magical event that got me admitted to the hospital and into the tub.

Betsy strung Christmas lights in the bathroom to create a dimly lit mood and I relaxed in the tub for an hour while listening to Car Talk. I couldn’t focus on what they were saying, but enjoyed plotting a letter to Click and Clack about how their obnoxious voices made my baby come out quickly so that she could turn them off.

They checked the baby’s heart rate intermittently with a doptone and it never waivered from a strong, normal range. I got out of the tub and was checked again. I had dilated to 7 and we were feeling good. Betsy had an overflowing grab bag of ideas for laboring and I tried each one to see how it felt. The only thing better than the tub was a slow dancing position with Carl. We’d exchange loving, encouraging words with each other when I was between contractions, and he would hold my full weight and sway as I sunk into his arms during the contraction. Betsy grabbed a fancy pool noodle to massage my back and give counter pressure to my back labor. My friend Hillary would take turns with Betsy doing this for me, and soon every one was a fully participating, invaluable member in the labor process.

My team constantly reinforced my efforts and kept a diligent eye on my attitude. Before I would even be able to verbalize a concern, Betsy was able to read my actions and come up with suggestions. At one point, the nurse and doctor wondered if the baby was in a funny position causing my progression to slow. Betsy whipped out her reference book and immediately had suggestions for positions to try with the next contractions to encourage the baby to move.

For me, the first temptation at an intervention came when I was checked and the doctor offered to break my water. From literature review and discussion with Betsy, I knew this on average only speeds up the process by 15 minutes. But 15 minutes seems like a lot when you’ve been laboring for 24 hours. Fortunately, I also knew the baby was handling labor beautifully and leaving the bag intact helped me feel progress which was so much more important than 15 minutes. An hour later, my water broke on its own.

My contractions seemed to be transitioning to feel the need to push. I remember Betsy encouraging me to lower the tone of my moaning to match the new sensations I was feeling. When I started pushing, I had no idea what I was doing. It was difficult to feel if I was doing it correctly. My team rallied around me and encouraged me with every push. After pushing for 2 hours, the nurse discovered a stubborn cervical lip holding back my progress. I was instructed to relax and not push with the next few contractions. This felt like torture, but I was encouraged this was the best thing for the baby and me. I was checked again and was completely horrified to hear the lip hadn’t resolved and I needed to rest through several more contractions. Rest is not the word I would use to describe the next half hour of my life. I was miserable, and more over, completely discouraged. I lost my composure and sternly informed the nurse we had to figure a way to get this baby out. I attempted to resist the urge to push, but my body starting pushing on its own. I suspect this is when the nurse knew that something had changed and checked me again. Amazingly, the baby was nearly out. With a renewed energy and surge of adrenaline, I began pushing. Carl and Hillary stood on each side of me rubbing my hair between pushes and holding me up. I could hear Betsy’s encouraging voice as she helped me focus my pushes. In what felt like only a few moments, the entire medical team was in the room setting up to deliver the baby. Betsy was reading my mind, explaining the sensations I was feeling so that I wouldn’t become fearful. And, suddenly, the baby was out!

Carl and I looked down and discovered for ourselves that we had just given birth to a baby girl. Even though the room was full, it felt amazingly intimate. I didn’t know it until later, but Betsy had our camera and was documenting our first meeting. Her photos were beautiful and captured the sheer joy of the room.

Time seemed to fly by as I was taken care of by the doctors, then the baby was back in my arms as we learned how to nurse together. Betsy and Hillary stayed for an hour while we marveled in the awesomeness of what we had just accomplished. Then, the reality of 4:30am and 30 hour labor started to sink in.

I still can’t believe I did it. I completely reached my goal of a natural birth without medical interventions. But I couldn’t have done it on my own. I truly feel that without Betsy, things would have turned out very differently. Instead, Carl and I both continue to be amazed at what we accomplished and the beautiful, healthy baby that we made. We were successful because we surrounded ourselves with information and the most supportive people we know.

Carl, Hillary, and Betsy—It was amazing to share this with you and I couldn’t have done it without you. My love and admiration will forever be yours.

First Day Out

We've been home for a few days and things are going well.  Ruby is sleeping longer and eating well.  Monday was her first doctor appointment and they gave her a thumbs up as well.  Here's a few pics from our recent adventures!

Monday with Ruby

Welcome Ruby!

Last Thursday, (October 15th) at 3:23 am, Katherin and I welcomed Ruby Sebion Rozas into the world. She weighed 8 lbs 1 oz and was 19 inches long. It was a very long labor for everyone involved, but everything turned out perfectly. She is perfect.

Here is an album of Ruby's entrance to the world as well as her first visitors. Beware: cuteness ahead!

Ruby Sebion Rozas

A Watery Death

Why does cellular technology hate me?

Exhibit A: Motorola V2288
This was my first cell phone ever. After several years of reliable usage, my girlfriend flushed it down the toilet at Wandos. I kept her around anyway.


Exhibit B: Sony Ericsson w580i
This was a more recent acquisition. With features such as a music player and pedometer, it was great for running. Until I ran Crazylegs 09 and it poured. Sheets. Buckets. Dogs, Cats, and other mammals. Amazingly, the phone still worked except for a few of the important keys, such as zero.





Exhibit C: Nokia 6230
This one just happened. I was setting it on the window sill above the sink (the only place I get more than 1 bar in my apartment) and it slipped. The water was running and it got a nice bath. Thankfully the garbage disposal was off. It's currently drying out, but I'm not hopeful. Katherin tells me "at least the screen is clean now".

Baby 39 weeks

We are definitely reaching the end of this chapter and trying to wrap our minds around starting the next. Baby is doing great and is clearly getting bigger. I am also clearly getting bigger and for effect, asked Carl to take my photo in the same outfit as I wore at 12 weeks.


I have been feeling mostly well. Other than uncomfortable and not sleeping, I'm doing great ;). I am constantly attempting to muster up the ability to enjoy these last few days to weeks, but sometimes I'm more successful than others. Days that are especially hard are the ones that I actually need to leave the house. Since it has officially changed to fall, I have exactly 2 pairs of pants that fit and are warm enough to wear outside.

All of my pre-baby arrival projects are complete and I've actually been kinda bored and searching for more. But then I get tired and unmotivated, and struggle to stay moving. I am excited to note that we will get our first delivery of cloth diapers from the diaper service this week, which is crazy because I've been keeping in mind they will deliver a few days before the due date... and that's already here.

Total Cuteness

It's hard to be the auntie of such cuteness!




Leif at 2 1/2 years old








Ingrid at a few days old