Brunners in Brooklyn

Our new family

We’ve had a crazy couple weeks.  Of course, there’s the new baby.  We were fortunate enough to have Ericka come help out in the initial days.  She was immensely helpful in keeping our household in order, making us very comfortable and helping us get more sleep.  We tried to thank her by sending her to the US Open, but we ended up sending her to get soaked all day in the rain.  And we again came out ahead since she discovered that Wilson tennis balls sponsored the Open and she got us a cool “personalized” tennis ball shaped luggage tag for Wil!  We felt like there was a bit of chaos after she left since we had to fend for ourselves again.  We’ve had lots of help from friends but there’s nothing like a live-in caretaker!

Wil with Aunt Ericka

We spent the next week adjusting to Todd being back at work.  I got more into the mindset of tending to the baby and figuring out my day– keeping Wil happy while also trying to shower, eat and maybe even take a nap.  Fortunately for me, Todd was still leaving work early since we weren’t sure if I could handle Sam’s daycare pick-up and tend to both boys so soon after having the baby.

Last weekend we discovered that Sam had lice.  We treated his head, then decided it made sense to cut his somewhat shaggy hair to make sure we took care of it.  We spent the next several days doing many loads of laundry!  Last night we gave Sam the followup treatment so I think we can safely say we are in the clear, but the timing was horrible.

This week, Todd has become very busy at work so he’s operating on even less sleep than before.  I managed my first bedtime alone with both boys and successfully got Sam dinner and put him to bed while keeping Wil from crying for more food.  (Wil has had quite an appetite and has no tolerance for delaying feeding–he is a screamer!)  Fortunately, the night went much better than I expected and I was even able to play with Sam and read him a book with Wil in my arms.

Sam is a very proud big brother and has been very helpful.  Todd and I are a little sad by the compromises to his life that Wil has brought–Sam often asks us to come play with him when we are tied up with tending to Wil and often asks us to set Wil down (like several times a night).  We try and give Sam special time when we can and have fortunately had two kiddie birthday parties and have met friends in the park several times so he can feel like we are indulging him.  Sam has been so great throughout all this.

Posted by Kate

It was the 3rd of September*……and our second son was born.

Wilson Leon Brunner was born after a relatively fast and easy labor around 4:15 pm.  He’s 9 pounds 7 oz, 23 inches long.  The midwives were joking that he already looks like a 2-month old. We don’t yet have any great pictures of the boy, but here’s something to tide you all over:

It's Wil!

We were able to have a really wonderful labor and delivery at the Brooklyn Birthing Center, attended by two really positive and fun midwives and our very helpful doula.  We had a relaxing and homey recovery there for a little while, then spent the night back home in our own bed.   Fortunately, Wil was tired out by his adventure and we got a couple nice blocks of sleep.  Todd and I are both struggling with the reality of the sleep deprivation that is just beginning, but I know it will be easier when I’m more physically fit and can help out.  Sam checked my belly this morning and has already asked me if I can run with him again!

We were able to throw together a pretty great day for Sam last minute and it didn’t seem like he was too traumatized by us being gone.  First one of our friends took Sam and his buddy to meet some other friends at a gigantic portion of Brooklyn Bridge Park set up perfectly for toddlers–a slide area, a huge sandbox area and a splash park.  They came home, we put Sam down for his nap, and our friends Chad,  Mike and Christie hung out with Sam the rest of the day until we could make it home.  Sam seemed to love the new adult attention and they built some great Lego vehicles.

Posted by Kate

* “Papa was a Rolling Stone” by The Temptations

The earthquake was really nothing–I and all the people with me didn’t even notice it and there was really no serious damage done.   It felt like the rumbling from the subways –some of you may remember this from the regular shaking in our last apartment.

But now……Hurricane Irene is set to hit New York.  We live up on a hill (near the highest point in Brooklyn), and our windows are protected from the wind so we aren’t too worried about our apartment.  Our building doesn’t even seem to have a problem with flooding in the basement.  The problem for us could be downed trees and utility outages.  We are well stocked with food, water and flashlights, as are our neighbors. The nearest hospital’s labor and delivery is only 10 blocks away and we have lots of help within a couple blocks in the event of labor during the storm (including 2 seasoned doulas and many caretakers for Sam).  The “fight or flight” response tends to shut down labor in stressful situations so we’re banking on there being no action until after the weekend.

We’ll of course keep our friends and families posted when we can, but cell phone service is expected to be busy.  If there IS a power outage, we’ll be trying to preserve the batteries on our electronics so please don’t expect any calls or emails until this blows over.  The good news is, the forecast Monday is warm and sunny!

Posted by Kate