Photo Shoot with Juniper

Juniper, I can hardly believe you are my baby. Your daddy and I look at each other and then at you and are speechless, incredulous that you are here with us.

You are so damn cute! And you have the sweetest personality. You are really starting to make more sounds now and interact even more as you grow bigger and bigger.


The midwives are calling my milk haagen-daaz (um actually I prefer Ronnybrook ) because of how fast you gained back your birth weight. They say you're not a small baby anymore and that you are well on your way and out of any danger that being a small baby can bring.

You have this cute little toe that wants to do its own thing. I just want to nibble on it all day and in fact that's what I couldn't wait for: for you to be born so that I could nibble on you and smell you and feel your warmth. mmmmmmmmm


We love you little Juni, June Bug, Juneberry, Juniper. You are one special baby.

P.S. The quilt in these shots was made by the wildly talented Amber Gayle. Isn't it gorgeous?

Small but Mighty!

We welcome you Juniper Amie Faust!
Born at home in Ellenville, NY July 15th 9:34pm
The frogs were croaking when you stepped into our dimension...

We'll I've started about three other posts and haven't gotten them up for one reason or another (hmmm what praytell could that reason be???) I was trying to post some videos of little Juniper but they were taking forever to load and the whole process was deeply unsatisfying! So I decided to just post some photos and get back to recapping my labor experience and also our trials and tribulations within the medicaid establishment at a later date.

On with the show!

Most of you don't know, but Juniper was born weighing 5 pounds and 2 ounces and was 18 inches long. No one knows why she didn't grow bigger. My midwives think that maybe the two fibroids that I never knew I had but then grew during my pregnancy might have interrupted her flow of nutrition. We went for an ultrasound on the 10th of July to make sure that the placenta was cool and that she was getting good blood flow because of her small size and past ultrasound history (more about that later). The doctor alarmingly told us that she needed to be induced that day because she was so small. Our midwives called us as we were somberly making our way to the car and said that of course the doctor wanted to induce me. That's what doctors do! But an induction is exactally what NOT to do to a small baby. Way too much stress and it could/would have led to a C-section. They said that they just wanted to make sure that the placenta was in good shape and that blood was flowing well and that she looks healthy. They really reassured us that they knew she was going to be small and they just wanted to make sure that she would be able to have the blood flow and oxygen she needed during labor. She may be small but she's mighty! That's what I tell her. She packs a punch that's for sure.



Here we are 9 minutes after her birth staring at her totally stunned and in shock and in love. Her umbilical cord was really short which my midwives said was yet another important reason why she was NOT induced. I love those amazing, earth moving, baby birthing, life changing and world saving midwives of ours!



Here she is all wrapped up in double wool after a scare we had with her staying asleep for way too long.

When she was just a day and a half old, and after feeding quite well on my colostrum, she wouldn't wake up and had to be fed milk by dropper that I expressed by hand. Only then she had the energy to latch on and feed. This lasted a day and a half and by the time my mom, Grandma, came to visit (I can't believe that I don't have a single photo of the two of them!!!) she was nursing like a champ. So much so that she has surpassed her birth weight (weighing in today at 5 pounds 4 ounces!) well within the 2 week time frame that newborns are given to gain their weight back. Breaking all the rules Juniper!




Here's a shot of her getting weighed.
Sack of potatoes or baby??? It's a baby silly.



Here she is the day after my milk came in. She is two and a half days old. Can you see that cute dimple? It's actually a double dimple. The other side has the usual single style that both Andrew and I have.


I am counting my blessings and I am one of the blessed, yes it's true, because everyday I get to wake up to this (sound of heart shattering into a million million pieces).


Stick 'em up!



My little bebe you own me, heart and soul.



I'll sign off with this one of daddy and Juniper. Andrew got back from three days away in the city to teach the first session of our PDC and troubleshoot a water catchment system that he built for a community garden. I was really feeling the postpartum emotions (WOW!) and couldn't wait for him to be back home in our little nest. Besides thinking that unbearable things might happen to him I was bawling about bad boyfriends that she might have and even though I would laugh about the thoughts I was having the tears would just come pouring out. I had to put cucumbers on my eyes one night at 4am because they were swelling from above and below. Lovely!

Well as long as I can still gaze upon my babe I'm doing just fine!

Early Labor Day!

Not a bad day for starting labor.



Sitting out on the deck and watching the clouds get pushed on by ever so slowly. The sun is warm and all around it's slow and peaceful. Country life.




I'll be glad to get my ankles and feet back! Hell, I'll be glad to get my clothes options back. My closets are like museums of my former body. Lots of cute things inside but Do Not Touch becuase You Cannot Fit! A tip of the hat however, to the Salvation Army and American Apparel for all of my awesome pregnancy gear.




Today it really feels better to wear nothing at all.





Although a bra helps for the ginormity of the present situation.



Quick look! Perhaps the last glimpse you'll have of me before I morph into a mom.

Growing the Future

Here I type two days after my due date and my "Future" is still an unknown.



Not like unknowable, just hazy and vague. I know what I'm getting into, it just hasn't taken the form of a little human yet.

When oh when dear baby are you going to make your appearance? Andrew and I've been upstate "nesting" for two weeks now and it feels so right and relaxed to be here. Everyday I get to go walking to our stream and check in on what nature is up to. The apples on the trees are getting bigger and redder, the blueberries are swelling and beginning to ripen, mysterious flowers are making themselves known by exploding into blossom. Metaphors for my experience are all around.

Speaking of nesting, right underneath our sunporch there are three different species of birds nesting.

There's the robin who only fledged one brood (usually they have two broods)...


...and the House Sparrows who are relentlessly chiding their brood to fledge. I think the parents want them the hell out of the nest. The mom sparrow will hold a morsel of food in her mouth and make inviting sounds to try and lure them out of the nest and into the open sky, or at least the backyard. They still seem pretty young though.


And my favorite of all three is the Eastern Phoebe which is a species of flycatcher.


She is an excellent mom and unlike the sparrows who live next door and sound like they are some white trash family always dragging their arguments out into the street, she is graceful and refined and poised. A beautiful bird who has raised two broods in this finely crafted nest. If you could only see the details of lichens and moss that she has attached to the outside of it. I got really attached to her during her first brood and put a sign on the door leading to the deck over her nest that said "Use other door! Birds nesting."

I think I have gotten attached to all of these nesting birds who are using our nest as a nest. Here I am Growing the Future with all of this new life springing up and learning to take wing before my eyes. It's really inspiring and awesome in the true sense of the word to feel a part of the cycle of nature and life.

Ok Future Baby! I've got all of your wool soakers and blankets cleaned, lanolized and dried and I'm ready for you to take wing before my eyes.