Léna

Léna Eleanor Andrée Ouillade was born Tuesday April 28th at 2:54 p.m. here in Nice.
We arrived at the hospital at 2:18, I was down in the delivery room at 2:20, and 34 minutes later she was out. Holy cow, fastest birth this side of the Mississippi. Needless to say, no time for an epidural. OUCH. Good gravy, did it hurt. But man oh man it was fast and over with before you can say (in French) "where the hell is my epidural"? I was too busy saying "Where the hell is my husband?" Who was upstairs parking the car and handing over the paperwork and almost missed the whole thing. My obstetrician also arrive 2 minutes too late, and only got to deliver the placenta. Which, p.s. I insisted on have a look-see at. Here's me ordering somebody around a shortly after my Express Birth.

I have spent 5 days and nights in the hospital and just was released home today. I am thrilled to be home and so thankful for my long stay in the Clinique which allowed me to get my breastfeeding on the right track, which was not easy. Had a 36 hour window where things were pretty tricky with engorgement, cracking, you name it. But Léna (pronounced "Layna") gained back a lot of weight yesterday so we are on the road to success!
Here's Thomas giving the initial bath:

In this next photo he may look calm, but he just about passed out when it all happenned so fast. Plus I was literally screaming my head off which kinda freaked him out, understandably!
The bath:
Smile and say "No Epidural!"
This contraption below was my best friend for about 36 hours in the hospital - a suction breast pump that operated like a central vacuum. This thingy saved the day!

Here's Thomas visiting in the evening one time:
This morning (Sunday) getting ready to leave the Clinique, finally! My room was 163, a number I'll remember forever!

Bringing Baby Home, with a very proud and curious big sister.
Here I am after a great nap in my own bed, having my 4:00 cuppa tea (Amen!) just the way I like it with some lemon meringue tart and beautiful flowers sent by Thomas' parents.
Estelle is VERY interested in anything about Léna.....


To be continued!!!!!! Let the fun begin.........

Recent photos and Videos

Estelle doing some stenciling:Out for socca with some friends and their daughter Manon:
Wednesday night I was absolutely SURE after 10 hours of back labor off and on all day that my time had come. This is me saying goodnight to Estelle, sure that I would be off in the night. But no. Hallelujah!
Estelle's room in the afternoon:
Playing with Daddy:
A few videos to show that order has been restored to our apartment:
Last wkend when the painting work was still not finished we had moved the bare essentials back into the living/dining room so as to function. Here's Thomas documentation of it, whilst I count the change from my change jar. Hadn't done it since the night before Estelle's birth. Came up with 17.39 euros!

Now, after the painters finished and we put things back:

And here's Estelle's room after being changed around a bit with her new bed, etc.

Eleanor

Yesterday my Aunt Eleanor died, having never recovered from a fall 5 weeks ago. Having lost her kidney and spleen, and other complications arising from her fall, it all proved too much. At almost 85 years, she certainly had a full, rich life.
Below: a photo of my grandmother on the shore of Shadow Lake in Glover, holding Eleanor and my uncle Warren next to her. As someone on the edge of childbirth, I am moved by this photo of my grandmother as a young mother, and Eleanor, who was at great-grandmother two times over at her death yesterday, as just a young tot in her mom's lap; a whole life and decades of experiences to come unknown to her. Here she is just a girl by a lake, lovingly cradled.

My great-grandfather with Eleanor by his side, and that cherub-faced little boy hugging his knee would be my dad, my aunt Elaine the baby next to Warren.Warren and Eleanor, up to trouble.A long and lanky girl on a horse in a field in Glover, before the Depression robbed them of their farm and changed their lives forever.
The aspiring student - 8th grader and a spelling bee medal.
Here's my Dad rowing about Willoughby Lake with Ellie and my aunt Rebecca in between.
WWII brought an opportunity to serve and to be in the WAVES. Warren and Eleanor served, but my Dad and his flat feet (or was it a heart murmur) stayed behind.The war brought Ellie in contact with her husband of 60+ years, my uncle Jake. Starlets from the beginning. Look at the romance in this young Post-War couple:Ellie & Jake managed the Willoughvale Inn on Willoughby Lake for 9 summers. Here she is with the "Gap" behind.

How lucky her family was to get her out of the hospital for her last 4 days and nights, and to all be there with her. All my siblings in Vermont were able to see her one last time. The setting was all-too-familiar for them, so reminiscent of what we encountered 8 years ago right around now with my Dad.
I am grateful for pickles and egg-salad sandwiches she served me in late October for lunch with Thomas and Estelle and the lemonade we enjoyed on her back porch. I remember fondly the frankness of her demeanor, her ability to quote poetry after being an English teacher for 2 decades. I recall the sugar-crystal edible egg and chick decoration she sent to us one Easter in the early 1970's, which my mother packed away in a box in the freezer to keep it beautiful and took it out each year at the end of Lent. Wes and I enjoyed licking it when no one was looking "The Ellie Egg", we called it.
As a college student and adult I benefited from many a lunch out courtesy of her and Jake, at nice restaurants or Jake's country club. Many a cool folded bill was slipped into my hand at the end of these encounters - "just a little something from Uncle Jake and me". Her generousity towards our large family has existed for decades and came in many shapes and sizes.
In the 90's and after the Millenium she worked a lot in a church charity shop and we all have many many gifts and treasures that she procured for us there. There have no material value but now that she is gone I see them as a symbol of how she always tried to give.
On the eve of my own labor, I struggle with distance and the sense of being far from where I might want to have been, though of course I should be, and am, where I ought to be.
Ironically in my nesting phase yesterday I found recent letters from her to me here. It is nice to have, to not forget her voice.

One More Week Gone By

Firstly, here's some photos from Easter Monday the 13th. We were at an Easter Egg Hunt at Emilie & Jerome's house. Their son Noah is about 6 weeks older than Estelle.
Eliott, Estelle, Ava and Noah. Ava is the oldest of the 4 - born mid-May.
Estelle enjoys Easter stickers from Aunt Martha and immediately puts all of them on the same piece of cardboard.
This week has been one to remember. High emotions, fatigue, unexpected events and yet lots of joy have combined to make it memorable.
I slept poorly for 5 consecutive nights which made me feel like a walking zombie. Our living/dining/everything room was empty for 4 days as painters finally came to repair/repaint the ceiling and walls after a leak from an upstairs neighbor. Better now than after our baby arrives, we decided. They should have finished by Friday. They have not. We are living like gypsies in the 11th hour of this pregnancy. It is frustrating, bizarre, and comical all at once.
My father's older sister who fell in her home lowering a windowshade on Saint Patrick's Day has been in ICU for a month. She lost both kidney and spleen, simply cannot recover from this accident and has asked to die with dignity thus is home on hospice. There are many reasons why this is sad and hard, for many people. She is the first of his 3 sisters to leave. It is particularly hard to be far away, and surreal to be expecting life when another treasured one is ending.Enjoying some couch time with Estelle this wkend once we put our couch back in the living room so we could at least function for a few days (and sit down!)
Thursday I got my first taste of a contraction this time around and thought for sure the jig was up. Yet here I sit, Sunday evening, and still chugging along. Who knows!

This morning we hit the beach in Villefranche around 10 a.m. just to enjoy the beautiful weather. Who knows when I'll be on the beach again!
Walking down the lane to the beach.
A dog enjoys the water.
Boats in the bay:
Hanging out with a croissant:Making Stone Soup:

Playing a "flute"
A nearby chateau just above the beach:Sadly, we did encounter a natural disaster at the plage.....a beached whale:Cooling off in the water:
Estelle decided to get right in!Later, back at the empty living room ranch, we had some fun with a puzzle of the States. Thomas said 'I can do that no sweat." Here's what he came up with after a minute:
The block of states in the N.E. (of course VT), Florida and W-territory Texas. Then things got trickier. He kept trying to put Kansas where Oregon should be. Ouch.
This afternoon we went to visit our neighbor, an elderly widow who fell and broke her arm 2 months ago at a bus-stop and has been in a clinic ever since as she could not care for herself. I thought of how lucky my aunt is to be home with her husband and children and grandchildren surrounding her. Thankfully our neighbor is finally coming home this week.
And here's a little video from this morning:

Happy Easter

Our Easter weekend is full of fun. Look at all our goodies from Papy & Manou!
This chocolate plaque says "Joyeuses Paques", or, Happy Easter!
Amongst the goodies were these incredible works of art - all marzipan!
Thomas ate all of them, one right after the other, in about 4 minutes. We all have our vices.
Here's Estelle enjoying her Easter morning with a funny little cow egg cup from Cathy. The red egg you see on her tray is one that we dyed together yesterday.
Today we headed out at 10:30 to Mougins to Craig and Doug's Easter Feast. It was a warm day, not too sunny, but no rain. Here's a few shots of the grounds:

The new "conservatoire" or solarium recently built downstairs underneath the terrace.
Here's the cabana were I relaxed inbetween the meal and dessert.
I'm not the only one who needed a chaise lounge. It's a dog's life.
There were about 28 or 30 of us, including 5 kids.
A lot of super-yummy food, as usual. As you can't get hams here, one of the guests brought it over from London in her suitcase on Thursday so that Craig could cook it up.

Some poolside mingling.
Doug and Estelle take a stroll.
This used to be the back shed. Now it is Doug's office complete with Wifi - MELISSA, can you believe this was that old shed full of spiders?

And now for my traditional look at......the desserts:
Here's a flourless chocolate and almond cake covered in cream and fresh raspberries, decorated with chocolate eggs. Made by a British woman whose mom was a famous cook and had her own show.

Here is my cake, which is less stunning but a visual treat for all the children. I incorporated the chocolate plaque we got from Thomas' parents and several little decorations off an Easter package from sister Joan years back. 3 colors of frosting. And the children helped me decorate. Hence the crazy green lines (Martha, please note done with a plastic baggie for lack of a decorator's bag). Yankee ingenuity.
What you DON'T know is that I in fact made cupcakes last night, but as greasing and flouring just didn't work and they were not fit to bring as they didn't come out well of the mold. So I made a SECOND cake and went with the tried and true sheet cake. Mother, this is that Dairy Association 1956 cookbook recipe for the Fluffy Layer cake. But it wasn't fluffy! But Thomas has enjoyed eating about 14 cupcakes since last night since I just left them here.
Here's Doug's homemade apple crumble: whoah baby.
Here's the only store-bought dessert. It was loaded with cream and raspberries. Lucious.
Here's Claudia (Dutch), grating fresh chocolate over her Tiramisu. Thomas said it was fantastic. I don't eat Tiramisu because it always has coffee in it, which I don't care for. But it was a hit.
And if you just needed some fruit:
After dessert there was the big Easter Egg Hunt. These 2 little boys live in London but their parents are both American. They were all visiting C&D for the wkend.

Finding eggs in a tree.
On the prowl around the pool.
Estelle in hot pursuit of the older boys:
Estelle find some in the back next to the goldfish pond & fountain:
Little Dylan checks his intake:

My friend Philippe gives Estelle a hand while Craig looks on:
Estelle rakes it in:More running about:
The 3 littler kids comparing all the loot:
And then those boys took a dip in a chilly pool before going into the hot tub. Estelle enjoyed dipping her fingers and toes, under Daddy's watchful eye.
Meanwhile, before all this, Estelle's new bed finally arrived Friday:And here she is enjoying it:
Earlier in the week, my mid-wife and the other woman in my childbirth class came over and we had our class at my apartment as the center is having some renovation. Helene is one of the mid-wives who helped me during my first pregnancy - and here she is holding Estelle!

Here's Estelle, showing her affection:
Here she's trying to listen for a response:

All in all, a lot of fun and chocolate! And as tomorrow (Monday) is a national holiday, the fun continues - stay tuned!