Gruyere Castle and Cheese Factory

Cheese and Swizerland go hand in hand so one weekend we decided to check out Gruyere's Castle and it's cheese factory.

Lexie's first bath (at home)

She looks terrified but she was just so cute I had to snap some pics!

 

Venice, Italy

While Mom and Lexie enjoyed a weekend of peace and quiet, Dad, Kaitlan, Aubrie and Tarah headed to Venice, Italy. It was a 6 hour drive from our home. It was cold but not nearly as crowded as going in the middle of summer. The girls favorite part was the Pigeons! They also enjoyed taking the water bus and exploring Murano, an island that specializes in hand blown glass.  They each came home with a mask to remember their adventure by.

Stein am Rhein

The girls were feeling house bound so we made a quick trip one day to Stein am Rhein to show Tarah how beautiful it was.

New Years 2011

Just 4 days after her birth, Lexie spent the majority of New Year's eve catching some rays under the Phototherapy lights. Because she was 3 weeks early her liver was still developing and not yet able to remove all the bilirubin from her blood (aka Jaundice). Her body was storing this in her skin and the whites of her eyes. I found it interesting to learn that bilirubin is very similar to a pigment used by certain algae to capture light energy, and to the pigment phytochrome used by plants to sense light. So my little "flower" just needed some light to keep everything working well. Her jaundice required 3 weeks of going back and forth to the hospital every day or two to test her blood levels. I was happy when she finally got her "clean bill of health".

While Lexie was under the lights I got to leave the hospital for a couple of hours and enjoy dinner with my family. We ended up at a great Italian restaurant. Later, Ted and the girls did sparklers at home while Lexie and I watched the fireworks from our hospital window and listened to the church bells ring. Happy 2011 !!!

Quick trip to Luzern

First Introductions

The long awaited moment

After 8 months and one week Lexie decided to come into this world on December 28, 2010

"We have a secret in our culture, and it's not that birth is painful, it's that women are strong."

Laura Stavoe Harm

My birth experience:

Thanks to the nurses for giving me some sleeping medicine I slept a full 8 hours for the first (and last) time in a very long while. As I awoke that morning I was surprised the baby hadn't come yet. It wasn't very long though until I started feeling bad, the contractions slowly starting. The nurse gave me a "herbal" something or other, super small poke-a-dots. That did the trick, within minutes I was in full blown labor. It was so strong!!! No one even asked me if I wanted drugs. Looking back, I kind of wish I had had some. But at the time all I could think of was AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!! The birthing room in this hospital in Switzerland was all about this amazing bed. It could be turned into 15 different arrangements to help the woman find the right position for giving birth. My favorite was kneeling while pulling down on the fabric draped from the bar over head. Ted tried to get me comfortable on the birthing ball like when Kaitlan was born but it just wasn't happening. I swear with Kaitlan it was like 4 strong contractions and she popped out but not Lexie! The nurse never talked about how dilated or effaced I was, her English was marginal, but she was very compassionate and encouraging. As the minutes turned into hours I became more and more exhausted. In between contractions I would fall asleep or at least try until the OOHHHHH MAAANNNNN!!!! wave of pain would come crashing into me.  After 3 hours Lexie finally descended. She seriously got stuck right at the bottom and I could feel her distinctly right at the bottom of my tail bone. The cord was wrapped around her neck and the doctor had to help her free. I was in a kneeling position, looking down at Lexie, all purple and gooey, feeling sooo relieved that the pain was over. Dr. Pescatore cleaned the blood off and clamped her umbilical cord. Upon the examination of the placenta, Dr. Pescatore realized that the umbilical cord had not grown to be attached in the normal position.  Had anything more serious occurred during delivery Lexie could have easily bleed to death.  We were very grateful that things went as smoothly as they did. Soon enough I was holding her against my body for the first time. She was still covered with a white substance that I have come to learn is called vernix caseosa, which is hypothesised to act as an antibacterial barrier. This substance was left on her during the duration of her hospital stay, I had never even known of this with my other 2 daughters as it is quickly washed away in typical births in the United States. As my new baby lay nestled in my arms my husband and I still had the task of giving her a name. I had decided on Lexie a couple of weeks back, having just changed my mind, Ted wasn't sure though. He wanted to research on the internet more. I gave him a couple of other options but he didn't seem to remember them after just a half an hour. So by default, this little precious infant in my arms became Lexie Grace Parkin. Grace being a one syllable virtue that among many of its definitions means "seemingly effortless beauty or charm" and "a disposition to be generous or helpful" also " the state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God". All of which I would wish for my new child. The meaning of Lexie we have come to find is "defender of men". Also a good quality. So we "wrote it in stone" as it were when we signed the form identifying the name which this new, beautiful, baby will be known by. It is such a huge responsibility to pick a name. This time it didn't come as easy for us but I know now as I hold this precious daughter of mine in my arms that Lexie Grace Parkin is here to stay.

Surprise!

On December 27, as I was making sandwiches for my family to eat while enjoying a day of sledding (without me) I realized my water broke.  It wasn't a gush like in the movies but after a call to my doctor I realized that little Lexie was indeed on her way.  I wasn't expecting her for another 3 weeks and the shock of it happening soon left me feeling overwhelmed.  I hadn't washed the baby clothes or packed my bag but luckily I had completed and gathered all the forms that the hospital would need.  We were able to take these great pictures of my giant tummy.  It wasn't for a complete 24 hours after my water broke that Lexie would finally be in my arms.

Down town Zurich

The day after Christmas Ted, Kaitlan and Tarah headed into down town Zurich and got some great pictures!