Jack's "Story"

Our fourth and final child was born last week.  Jack Malcolm Ipson, born Wednesday April 22nd at 8:09 PM.  5 lbs 15 oz, 18 inches long.  Dark hair.  Absolutely wonderful.  The general consensus is that he looks like Dallin.  Which he does, just not a carbon copy like a great deal of my family is convinced.  :)

Jack was 12 days early.  At my 37 week appointment, I was measuring small.  This is not unusual for me.  My doctor was concerned and decided to schedule another ultrasound to check on baby's measurements.  This didn't worry me, as she had done the same thing with Ava, and Ava was measuring fine.  So I went in for another ultrasound.  The next Wednesday rolled around.  My mom came down to watch Ava while I went to the doctor, and then we had plans after to sew curtains and crib sheets to help complete the freshly painted nursery we had finished the day before.  I headed off to the doctor.  The first thing she said to me was that I was on her list of people to call today.  I knew what that meant.  Baby was measuring small.  The concern was that he wasn't getting the nutrients he needed inside the womb.  38 weeks is full term, so in the case of low growth, as this is called, the course of action is to induce and get the baby out where they CAN get the nutrients they need.  Before I could even fully wrap my mind around the idea of being induced at all, the doctor stepped out to call the hospital and I called Landon.  When she came back, she told me that the hospital said TODAY was a good day and to head on over.  Surprise!  Landon had worked from home that morning and was actually on his way to the office, so he turned around and I met him at home to throw some things in a suitcase (because of course I hadn't packed! I thought I had 12 days!) and then it was off to the hospital.  I felt scattered and unprepared.  The whole thing just was....surreal.  My babies don't come early.  I honestly thought I had nearly two weeks left to prepare.  Plus I really wanted to go into labor on my own for this last pregnancy.

The hospital was expecting us, and fortunately I had managed to get myself preregistered prior to this, so the paperwork part went quickly.  It took four miserable tries to get the IV in...my poor hand/arm is still bruised nearly a week later.  But finally, they got the pitocin going at 1:15.  Not too long after, I got my epidural.  And then I got pretty sick...nauseous (more so than I already was, anyway), throwing up and my blood pressure dropping.  The nurses turned off the pitocin for around a couple hours, Landon said it was, as they tried to get me settled.  I was on oxygen (the mask balanced lightly over my nose and mouth...I'm claustrophobic and having an oxygen mask on makes me panic) for at least an hour.  Once I started feeling better and the pitocin was rolling again, things started moving.  In some ways, it seemed like it took FOREVER.  But once my body finally reached the point of delivery, it kind of took me by surprise!  The nurse called my doctor and got everything ready.  My doctor came in and we all sat around talking about New York and food while we waited for the nursery nurse to arrive.  Once she did, I pushed for maybe 5 minutes from start to finish (probably 2 or 3 minutes of active pushing) and there he was.  I was obviously numb, but I could still feel the sensation of him slipping out of my abdomen when my doctor pulled him out after his head had made it out.  It's such a bizarre feeling.  And oh, the relief!  They laid him on my chest for a few minutes before weighing, measuring and cleaning up a bit.  I'm not going to lie, despite having it confirmed in three different ultrasounds, I was very relieved to see his parts and know for myself that he really was a boy!  (I wanted a boy so badly I was afraid it would turn out to be a mistake!)

He's a sweetheart.  And he is utterly adored by his siblings.  They couldn't come see him until the next day.  And then that evening when it was time to leave, Dallin cried because he wanted to stay with Jack and Mommy.  Both Dallin and Susie have been sweet as pie with/about their baby brother.  Ava is struggling a bit, which isn't surprising.  Incidentally, Ava grew exponentially from Wednesday morning to Thursday morning!  My baby girl seems enormously grown up now!

I wondered how I would feel at this point, knowing this was my last newborn baby, my last time giving birth, my final adieu to pregnancy.  I wondered if I would be sad.  Sad isn't the right word.  It's bittersweet, of course.  But I also know it's the right thing.  We feel complete.  I feel a sense of excitement and hope for the years to come, in which I can focus just on raising my children without the challenging interruption of surviving pregnancy.  I do feel like I didn't get the chance to really bid it goodbye, since my pregnancy ended sooner than I expected.  But it is sure nice not to be pregnant right now!  :)  The last almost nine months have been an incredibly challenging time for our family.  Months and months of Mommy being sick wears on everyone.  I had many moments of desperation and despair.  But the funny thing is, now that he's here, already the memories are fading.  Swallowed up in the beauty of my baby.

Still, it is a relief to know that I'll never go through that again.  :) 

I wouldn't call myself a foodie, but....

This might be silly, but I just really love food, and because of that, I want to record everything I ate on our NYC anniversary trip back in July.....

First night at the Trattoria Trecolori in Midtown. I had the Calamari Alla Luciana.  Fresh squid sauteed in it's natural ink, with red wine and onions; served with saffron-risotto.  Oh my.  That sauce was to die for.  Over and over.

Next night, Pesce Pasta on the Upper East Side.  I had linguine with clams.  Delicious.  Loved the small restaurant, though I will say my dish wasn't as memorable as most of the others I had on this trip.

Oh, also we stopped for cupcakes at Sprinkles a couple times.  Red velvet and pumpkin, excellent.

The next day, our big meal was lunch at ABC Kitchen.  I still dream about this meal.  I had two small items, the roasted portabello and celery leaves and the linecaught tuna sashimi marinated with ginger and mint.  Melt in your mouth delicious.

That night, we went to the Mets game.  I had some excellent food there too, actually!  I had the Carnitas tacos at El Verano Taqueria. Yum.

The next day we grabbed Chinese takeout from a place in the Financial District for a late lunch (we had to make it back to our hotel room for Landon to take a conference call for work), pretty good! and then went over to Landon's work away from work :), the American Express building.  They have an upscale food court, Hudson Eats, in Brookfield Place, which connects to the Am Ex building.  There I got a sandwich from Little Muenster.  Sandwich is such a menial word for such a transcendental experience.  Pancetta, leek confit, gruyere and goat cheese on sourdough bread.  The best "grilled cheese" ever.  I've recreated this baby at home, and though I'm sure theirs is still better, even at home it's amazing.  Sigh.

Wednesday, Landon had to work, so I hopped the subway up to the Union Square area to check out Eataly.  I had a Nutella crepe there.  Yum.  Wandered some more (a lot more, all the way to the Upper West Side), then hopped on the subway to go meet a friend at a bakery in Washington Heights, Carrot Top Pastries.  I had the pistachio cannoli, which was excellent, and a fruit tart that wasn't so great and a red velvet cupcake that might have been okay if I'd never had Sprinkles' version of it.
Then I hopped the subway again to meet a dear former YW leader and her husband for dinner,  They are in New York serving as mission presidents.  We ate at The Smith, just a block or two from the Manhattan temple.  I actually had a salad, the Mediterranean salad (cucumber, feta, red onion, chickpea, olive, tomato, romaine, lemon dressing), because I was feeling kinda gross after all the sugar!  It was good, but it was, well, a salad.

And that was my last night.  Flew out the next morning.  Still dream of the food months later....

Grand Adventure '14

I've had so many requests to post about my trip....I haven't for basically two reasons.  One, I am lazy.  Two, I feel a little....guilty, almost....that I got to do this.  But since I got another request, here goes!  Prepare yourself for tons of photos.

My mom and I flew into Rome.  My sister was flying from her home in Alaska, so she flew into Zurich and took a train down to Rome to experience the scenery.

So my mom and I had an afternoon to kill in Rome.  We went to the Borghese Gallery and Park.  Oh my heavens.  Not everyone knows this about me, but I'm an art history buff.  This gallery has some incredible art, but the most amazing pieces for me were four of Bernini's sculptures (see here, here, here and here...just know photos do not even come close to doing them justice)...I was almost in tears.  They were stunning, and it was such a big moment for me.  No photos allowed inside, but this is the outside of the villa, and the extensive grounds (which are now a city park).

Those are the city walls of Ancient Rome

We picked up my sister that night at the train station.  We were staying down the street just under a mile, so that worked out well, since her train came in late after the subway had shut down for the night.

Next morning, we ate at the little cafe right by our hotel, then waiting for our pre-arranged driver to pick us up and head for Civitavecchia, the port, about an hour outside of Rome.

My sister by my bunk...I was neither pregnant nor in my 60's, so I got the top bunk

We ate and explored the ship for the rest of the day.

Our first port was Livorno, which is the port about an hour outside Florence.  For our day excursion, we chose the Cinque Terre.  It is a series of five villages built into the cliffs of the coast.  It was amazing....one of my favorite excursions.

Our next port was Cannes, France.  Here, the port can't accommodate cruise ships, so the ship anchored off the port and we took the tender boat into shore.  It was kind of a terrible experience since I get so motion sick...

Once in Cannes, we were scheduled to head to Grasse and visit a perfume factory, then go to St. Paul de Vence, a medieval village which is now full of quaint shops and cafes.  The perfume factory was terrible.  We spent 10 minutes getting a tour of how the perfume was made and then another hour in their gift shop where they tried to sell everyone perfume.  St. Paul de Vence was AWESOME, but we had only 30 minutes there because of how much time we'd spent at the perfume factory, and the fact that the excursion was poorly planned...we spent half of the 4.5 hour excursion on the bus.  Should have made it longer.  But we managed to get some cool photos and stop to grab some macarons.

Yes, I totally dressed up for my day in France...

Up next was Mallorca.  We docked in the major city on the island, Palma, then hopped on a bus headed for the other side of the island.  We toured a pearl factory (Majorica).  Pretty sure the cruise line must get some kind of kick back for taking us to these places!  But I was sucked in this time....I've always wanted a nice pair of pearl studs!

Anyway, then onto the Caves of Hams.  Totally awesome.  My favorite part was when we reached a large pool of water, and they were playing opera and classical and projecting corresponding images and videos on the walls....I almost laughed out loud.

Then we headed into Porto Cristo.  Stopped at an old guard tower dating from the 1500's along the way, pretty cool.  And the views were incredible.

Porto Cristo was a darling town.  I loved it.  We spent some time in the shops, sitting on the beach, and eating a traditional Mallorcan meal: pa'amb oli (delicious).

Next day was Barcelona.  We actually chose to go outside Barcelona, up into the mountains to a monastery.  This was an odd one for me.  When I spent my semester in Romania, we went to some monasteries one weekend, and I was expecting at least a somewhat similar experience.  I wasn't expecting a tourist trap, complete with multiple gift shops, a big festival going on, a children's music boarding school, and rooms that could be rented out!  It was still an interesting experience, and the mountains were stunning.

We had a day at sea the next day.  It was nice to relax after going so much.  The three of us sat on lounge chairs on the deck with our Kindles literally all day.

Early, before it got crowded

Our last port was Naples.  We chose to spend our time going to Pompeii and Sorrento.  Pompeii was pretty cool!  It was kind of a surreal experience, walking around there, crossing streets that were crossed so many centuries ago by people long gone.  I love history, so this was right up my alley.

In Sorrento, we wandered through narrow streets lined with shops and cafes.

Lots of mopeds

Then we headed to a farm up in the hills high above Sorrento.  Had a quick tour (it had started raining) and made it into their little cafe for lunch (right as the deluge started!).

Olive trees

The next day we were back in Civitavecchia.  Another driver picked us up and took us to the monastery we were staying at in Rome.  That was great.  Affordable, central location, simple and spartan but with free wifi and our own bathroom.  11 o'clock curfew, so not for everyone, but perfect for us!

Entrance

Courtyard inside the gates

Door to the guest rooms

View from the steps...Colosseum is just up the street

That afternoon, we had our Vatican tour scheduled.  It was nuts.  SO busy.  We were lucky in that we paid for a skip-the-line tour, so we didn't have to wait long at all.  The Vatican museums are astounding.  I got to see some amazing art, AND we were allowed to take photos....so here are some of my favorites.

Laocoon and his sons...studied this one, it was incredible in person
(had a lovely time explaining to my kids why I took a photo of a naked statue)

The School of Athens, in the Raphael Rooms

One of many studies Rodin did for The Thinker

By far the highlight was the Sistine Chapel.  Again, a big moment for me.  I will admit to getting a little teary.  No photos allowed in there, which is completely understandable.  Just know it was....wow.
Now some photos of St. Peter's Basilica...the scale of this place was insane.

The next day was our bum around Rome day.  We wandered all around and saw the Spanish Steps, the Trevi fountain, the Pantheon, and then ended the day with a tour of Ancient Rome concluding the Colosseum.
On the metro on the way over to the Spanish Steps, we got our own orchestra performance:

It was pretty awesome, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
We got to the Spanish Steps....and we thought, "this is it?"  Yeah, that marvelous feat of architecture didn't really excite us.

Onto the Trevi Fountain.  Everyone I talked to recommended seeing it at night....but, we were there during the day...so the day it was.  Very cool.  My kids would have loved it.

Stopped for lunch at a little cafe...I had seafood salad.  They weren't kidding around.

Then the Pantheon.  Super super cool.  (I'm so eloquent, aren't I?)

All through Rome (at least Rome within the ancient city walls) the streets are cobblestone. I kinda loved it.

From there, we walked over to where our tour was starting at Trajan's Column.  Right next to it is a MASSIVE building known as the Wedding Cake.  It was designed in the late 1800's and completed in 1925.  In Rome, of course, that's practically brand-new.  And apparently Romans don't like it much.

Trajan's Column.  It is still standing because (like most of the Ancient Roman buildings that are still around) it was Christianized.  They plopped St. Peter on the top.  Anyway, yet another art history marvel I studied and was beyond thrilled to see in person.  And actually, of added interest to me now...it depicts the Romans conquering the Dacians.  When I studied it, Dacia had no meaning to me.  Now, it does, because Dacia is present day Romania.  Romanians are descended from Dacians and Romans, hence their Latin based language and heritage.

From there, we walked through some of the main ruins of Ancient Rome.  There was some newly excavated ruins that seemed to be right in the middle of the road...our guide told us that they were digging for a third Metro line and ran into them.  She doesn't know what they'll end up doing, because in her words, they will run into ruins everywhere.

And then we reached the Colosseum.  This gave the Borghese Gallery a run for its money as my favorite part of our trip.

Guys, this was kinda awesome.  We paid for an after dark hour, which meant that the Colosseum was empty except for staggered tour groups of around a dozen people each.  It was more than worth the money.
When we walked out into the arena floor, I wasn't even trying to hold back my huge goofy grin.  Another one of those big moments for me.  Not necessarily something I've always dreamed of, like seeing the Bernini statues or the Sistine Chapel, but it was just that incredible.

Aaaaaand here's a video for you...

Only part of the arena floor has been reconstructed, so you can see the crumbling chambers that once held lions etc.

We got to go down below into a small roped off area...

 In the hall, they had a model of the pulley system used to get the animals onto the arena floor.

Then we got to go up on top...WOW!

Our last day in Italy, we had arranged for a tour out in the country, which was a great way to end our trip after the hustle and bustle of Rome.  We headed out to Lake Bracciano to start with.  The whole trip out to the countryside was awesome.  There were hardly any people everywhere we went, and we felt like we got an authentic Italian experience since they weren't catering to tourists (well, other than our driver, who was catering to us!).
First, we toured Castello Odescalchi, a 15th century castle (where Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes got married, incidentally).  It was very cool...but it was also apparent that the owners just didn't care.  So much more could have been made of it.  No photos allowed inside, but here's some from outside.

From there, we drove around Lake Bracciano.  There are no motorboats allowed in this lake, and it shows.  Gorgeous clear pristine water.  We stopped in the village of Anguillara to dip our toes in.

We headed off for lunch in Ceri, a tiny tiny town on the top of the plateau.  Only one car at a time can go up or down.  People have lived on it since the days of the Etruscans (7th Century), but the town how it looks today goes back to when it was founded in 1236.  I had my favorite meal of the trip there.  Ravioli with sage butter sauce.  Sigh.

Then onto the Etruscan necropolises of Cerveteri.  I was really excited about and interested in this....but after going into one small dank creepy underground tomb, my claustrophobia kicked in big time (deep breaths, deep breaths, don't panic...).  I managed to drag myself into one or two more, then sat on a rock and read my Kindle while my mom and sister explored the rest.

The stone beds where the bodies were laid

Rows of tomb entrances

And that was our last day.  The next morning, a driver picked us up and took us to the airport, and we all headed home.  It was an amazing once-in-a-lifetime trip.  I still can't believe I went.