Week Five ... 3 June - 9 June 2012, Still Waiting for Baby

As the week began we found ourselves settling into a natural rhythm of living. With most of the tasks completed -  settling into the house and preparing for baby - we got down to the day to day stuff.

There was one last task scheduled to be done this week, but it didn't involve any of our own labor. We had hired a company to install a gas line to the house so we could then have an on-demand water heating system installed. It took the installers two days to complete this task. They had to cut up the concrete going up the entire driveway from the road to the house in order to install the gas line. At the end of the job we had a nice long open trench that was to be refilled with concrete at a later date. It was shallow in some spots and deeper in others so it became an artful and creative endeavor to get in and out of the drive. The next step was to get the pipe fitter and electrician here to hook up the gas lines to the house and put in the on-demand heating system. This was to happen the following week. This was all a minor distraction for us, our minds were really more filled with anticipation of baby's arrival. 

This surely had to be the week for baby to arrive. Heather had a couple of midwife appointments to go to and it soon became apparent that if she didn't go into labor by weeks end she would be induced. Noreen, Heather's midwife, had told Heather all along that if she gets near two weeks over her due date that induction would happen. Heather was well over her due date so she resorted to tactics known to help bring on labor...climbing up and down the stairs, going for walks, going four-wheeling...(joke)... among other things, but without the wanted result. On Thursday 7 June Noreen performed the first of three techniques used to start labor. Friday early morning Heather started feeling contractions and by time Niels and I got up in the morning she was timing them and using the TENS machine (used to ease labor pains). Of course we were excited, but we were also anxious for Heather to get through this part...she worked really hard for many hours to bring baby into this world .... finally Sebastian was delivered by c-section on Saturday 9 June 2012 around 10:20 am weighing almost 9 pounds! 

Glimpses ...

Heather in labor at home, Loren at her side - through to the end

Heather timing contractions, talking to midwife on the phone, and pushing the button on the TENS machine

Heather meets precious Sebastian for the first time

Checking Sebastian out and cleaning him up

Holding Sebastian for the first time

Happy family

Tutu meets Sebastian

Grandaddy meets Sebastian

Beautiful, Precious Sebastian Christensen

Life is good, so rich, so precious ... and right now, never better!

Week Four ... May 27 - June 2, 2012, Waiting for Baby

Things slowed down this week. With the house set up and the baby things ready we could all take a breath and slow down. The week took on a more leisurely pace, mixed together with the excitement and anticipation of baby's arrival.

Niels and I needed some exercise and wanted to explore so we did both at beautiful Titahi Bay which is about a 10 minute drive from the house. The skies were an intense blue and the sun was out, but the air was cold. We walked toward, then around, the boat houses on the northeast end of the beach. After exploring that area we turned back and walked along the beach toward the southwest end. Behind the boat houses on the southwest end there was a trail that led us uphill, then down, around several curves, and eventually ended at another bay. From this bay, looking south, we could see the South Island. Turning a bit to the west we also could see Mana Island which is closer in. We turned to one another and exclaimed that this is where we would take our walks ... such an amazingly beautiful place! And, as we would later discover, this was not the only trail along this coastline. As we walked back to the car along the beach Niels became certain that this bay could produce some rideable waves...we'll keep an eye out for that!

Boat houses at the northeast end of Titahi Bay beach

Beyond the boat houses on the northeast end of the beach

On the trail behind the boat houses on the southwest end of the beach

Views from the trail

 Views from the trail, Mana Island mid-ground, South Island background
 

Landing at the end of the trail

Beach at the end of the trail, South Island in the background

Looking back toward Titahi, from the trail

There was one last-minute thing that needed to be done - getting suitcases packed. Heather and I made lists then spent some time packing her and baby's suitcase for the trip to the hospital. Of course, this was great fun for us; the excitement and anticipation of meeting this little baby was definitely in the air... but for Heather, it was co-mingled with a bit of anxiety as well with the thought of the upcoming labor...a real unknown for her at this point!

Getting Baby's suitcase ready

 

Baby's things

Mama's suitcase is ready

Mama and Baby's suitcases ready

Heather had been given two due dates; June 2nd and, later, May 29th. As such, the baby should be born this week....May 29th came and went, no baby. It was then that Niels turned to astrology...he declared that the 2nd of June looked promising, not only because it was Heather's second due date, but because there would also be a full moon that night. He was certain the baby would be born on the full moon and he was certain the full moon was on June 2nd .... it turned out that the full moon was on June 4th ... can't blame you for trying Niels! It was an amazingly beautiful night, certainly a beautiful night to be born, but no baby. The next theory he proposed was that the baby would be born on Heather's birthday which is June 5th...nope! Then he reached for the next astrological event - the Transit of Venus on June 6th - a rare and special occasion for the birth of a special grandchild. Unfortunately, on that day we had stormy weather and the skies were not visible ... baby did not come that day either. The last prediction was that baby would be born on Levi's birthday (Heather's cousin) which is June 7th - but, it didn't happen. Baby was going to have his/her own day! The following photo shows the full moon just after rising over the hills as viewed from our dining room ... it speaks for itself

               Full Moon on June 4th in New Zealand                 

                      Week 40

The wait continues ....

Week Three ... 20 May - 26 May 2012, Preparing for Baby

The first two weeks were busy and this week was going to be busy as well...but who could complain? It's a happy busy - setting up our life in New Zealand. We had some loose ends from the previous weeks to tidy up but mostly this week we needed to get ready for baby!!...Heather and Loren had bought very little up to this point because they were waiting to get moved and settled first. No need to move things twice. 

At the beginning of the week Niels and I started setting up a space on the ground floor. We already had the home gym and art space set up, but we needed a space where the two of us could disappear. We decided to purchase a love seat and television. This would give both us and Heather and Loren some personal space when needed. Once the couch and tv were in place we purchased a Play Station 3, on Heather and Loren's advice, so we would have a way to watch free tv programs, listen to music and also play movies on DVD. It is nice to have this space set up for ourselves ... it works! 

We met the photographer at the Retter Street house early this week. He was taking the photos for the Realtor's listing. Fortunately it turned out to be a gloriously sunny day and as a result it made for some beautiful photos. There has been three very favorable open houses. The "tender" closes this Thursday and we're hoping that one or two people have made an acceptable offer. If so, the house will be sold by the end of the month!

           Let the sun shine in!

On Tuesday Heather and Loren and we hosted Tuesday Night Dinner which happens every week. Tuesday night dinner was started by a guy in Wellington who opens his house up every Tuesday night for whomever wants to come. He posts online the theme for the evening and whoever comes brings a dish or cooks something at his house for everyone to share. Last year he moved and no longer had the space to host it. Most of the people who attended his dinners now take turns hosting at their houses. It was a lovely evening with some interesting people and really good food! The theme: winter warmers...following are scenes from the dinner.

We had a few car issues to sort out this week also. Since there are two foreign drivers (Niels and I) and one learner (Loren) we decided it best to get some car insurance, which isn't mandatory here apparently. We didn't care so much if our cars were insured but did want to be covered in case some other car was involved. The insurance was really inexpensive in comparison to the states so it didn't seem too cumbersome. Then we took the Toyota for a servicing and according to the kind mechanic the car looks really good! We were set to do the hospital runs...safely! Just need to get the baby car seat!


Niels and I were given a delightful task which we happily took on. Heather had bought an older bassinette (cradle) which she wanted sanded and painted and asked us if we would do it. It was fun working together and thinking about the little baby that would soon occupy it. Below are some photos ...

             The bassinette, "Tea Ceremony" green

I plan on painting some designs on the bassinette at some point. Heather is thinking about something to do with the year of the dragon!....hmmm, I'll have to think about that! Since the bassinette was older Heather ordered a new mattress which was delivered this week!  Baby now has a place to sleep ... getting closer to being ready.

Once the bassinette was ready Heather and Loren wanted to get the cot (crib) purchased and set up in their room. The idea is to set it next to the bed so at night the baby is right with them and they can get to baby easily.  So we went cot / other baby things shopping ... and the baby car seat was hired.

           Week 39

The baby's room: 

 

This week also brought the heat pumps installers!  The house would now be nice and warm for baby (and all of us)! We had one installed in the living room and one in the downstairs. It took two days to install and is so worth it! Winter weather soon followed and we were happily prepared! Heather claims we have the downstairs set at 'tropic' temperatures ... We also had the electrician install some new electrical outlets and put in double outlets all around. Some rooms had only one single outlet. Our home is now set up! Baby things ready, heat pumps, household put together, art space, tv and couch downstairs, gaming space, computers and home gym... Time now to wait for baby's arrival...

Week Two ... 13 May - 19 May 2012, Preparing Old House

Happily mostly-settled into the new place we now had the challenge of getting Heather's "old" house ready to put on the market.  She and Loren met with several realtors and found one that really impressed them. They deduced that because this realtor was so good at selling his services to them, he would be great at using those same skills to sell their house.  They met with the realtor a few days later and signed a contract with him.  By then Heather was getting tired and a bit stressed out so much had been going on. I told her I would take over everything else for her and that her only concern was growing the baby.  If anyone called she was to give the phone to me and let everyone know that I was the main contact.  And so, happily, she did.

At first, Niels and I thought we would do all the work ourselves. The realtor's plan however was to have the house on the market by the following week and have it sold within four weeks. We knew we couldn't do everything that needed to be done in one weeks time. The realtor suggested that we arrange for a painter to spruce up the interior and some of the exterior as needed, a gardener to work on the yard and to wash the exterior, some trash haulers to take away everything that had not been included in the move, a handyman  to repair a few windows and someone to shampoo the carpets.The realtor gave me some names of people he works with on a regular basis that know exactly what he wants done to get houses ready for sell.  I called them all, met them, individually, at the house so they could assess their particular task, gathered their quotes, then hired them all immediately. Fortunately, they were all available that week and by weeks end their work was done. In additional to all that, on Thursday and Friday Niels and I did all the interior cleaning of the house ourselves. By time the week was out the place was looking absolutely beautiful....

        

 

The following week the house was on the market and that Sunday was the first open house...which was well-attended. The hope is that by the end of June the house will be sold!  

This week was also spent gathering a few furnishings needed for the new house. Of particular interest to all of us was a couch and a couple of comfortable chairs for the living room. Although Loren and Heather already had a couch, with four of us now living together there weren't enough places to sit when we wanted to watch a little TV or a movie in the evening ... especially when Heather wanted to lie down after a long day of carrying the baby weight around! We ended up buying a couch and two rocker/recliner type chairs. Having a rocker was especially important, I felt, with a baby on the way. We moved the older couch to the dining room and the new stuff into the living room and we are all very happy with the choices. In fact, the rocker/recliners have become the favorites...and the baby is not even here yet! You just never know!

Week One ... 4 May - 12 May 2012, Moving to Linden

On Friday, 4 May 2012 we landed (smoothly, I might add) to a beautiful clear blue-sky day in Wellington. We felt it was a good sign. We were sleepy from our overnight flight but, oddly, or maybe not surprisingly, we were hyped up for the adventure that lay ahead. As we gathered our luggage we could hardly contain our excitement to get to Heather's house, hug her and her big baby belly and to get moving into this new phase. We had spent so many months talking about, preparing for and putting into action everything we needed to do to get this adventure going, it was pure joy to have it finally happening. We could go a long way on this adrenaline rush...

A few hours after arriving at Heather's home she suggested we go to the new house so she could show us around. Of course, that was exactly what we had been wanting to do, so that is what we did. It was so much fun coming up the drive for the first time and to have her take us immediately down the paths through the yard. At one point the path ended at a vegetable garden plot with raised-bed planting boxes. Being the end of fall and start of winter most of the vegetables were done producing but it is a great garden with so many possibilities. We'll have a while to think about what to plant there. None of us being gardeners presents a challenge but we'll get there. As we were leaving the garden area we almost stepped on the cutest little creature, that Heather informed us was a hedge hog. It was so tiny and adorable Niels instantly fell in love with it.  He and Heather picked it up and inspected it while I watched, so reminiscent of Heather's earlier childhood days.


After that we went into the house and we were so excited by the layout of the house, the excellent condition it was in and all the possibilities there as well. Loren was going to meet us at the house after work so we hung out for a while and explored the house talking about how we were going to set it up. Loren showed up with take away food and wine so we spent the first evening in New Zealand eating our first meal in the new house.  We were all so excited and happy. It was a great way to start this whole adventure. After a while Niels and I were feeling very tired so we reluctantly left our new place, went back to Heathers house and went to bed!

We spent the next two days helping Heather and Loren pack up the rest of their house for the move on Monday, May 7th.  First thing Monday morning the movers pulled in, loaded up the furniture and the boxes and drove away.  We hopped into the car and off we went ... hoping to get to the new house before they did.  Within two hours the contents of Heather's old house were safely ensconced into the new house...kind of a funny feeling, it happening so fast as these things do. At that point we all sat down and, even though we were tired, basked in this state of excitement and disbelief all mixed up together....and we were all smiling! Working together we had made it all happen and it felt good!

On Tuesday, May 8th, Niels researched and bought a car! Heather, Loren and I were pretty amazed at how quickly that happened!  We each bring our own specialties into this mix and he is the one we always rely on in the car department. We needed to get a larger car as Heather's two-door Honda would hold the four of us but didn't leave room for a baby car seat and a baby! We felt happy to know that we could comfortably get Heather to the hospital and, later, safely bring the baby home also! Below, the 2001 Toyota:

     

Also during this week, Niels set up our mobile office. We each have a laptop which we brought for just this purpose.  His is loaded up with all the survey programs he needs to do the survey end of things and mine with QuickBooks in the Cloud to do the business end. He set up Magic Jack and Skype so we can keep in touch with our office staff at any time. It was incredible that he had it all up and running within one day. He started working immediately. On Tuesday, May 8th we had our first Skype session with office staff and everything worked really well.  With Magic Jack we can call any clients that we need to work with on survey related issues and that makes them feel more confident about our business...like we are still around and involved.  So far so good!!

 New Zealand branch of The Independent Hawaii Surveyors

While Niels did all that I started the task of unpacking...with Heather's direction on some things. By Thursday, May 10th I had most of the unpacking, sorting, organizing and putting away done in preparation for the baby shower on Sat., May 12th! Whew...quite a feat! There were some boxes still to unpack (non-essentials) but they got stashed into the baby's room and will get dealt with later. What a rush! By Friday we were all pretty tired so we took a down day and caught up on sleep and relaxed, still a little dazed that we were all actually together in our shared home...at last. We're still pinching ourselves to confirm that it is all true and really happening.


Heather's friend Kat put the baby shower together with Heather's input and arrived early Saturday afternoon to help us set up. Not being one much for silly baby shower games, Heather decided to have her friends put together a scrapbook filled with their words of wisdom regarding birth, babies and the art of child-rearing.  Each person got a page (or more if needed) in which to express themselves.  Heather also sent out emails to aunties and friends with children that weren't here to send their words. As she receives them she is putting them into the book as well ...it turned out to be a great project!! Following are some photos which will tell more of the story ... Enjoy!

               Kat and Heather setting up the scrapbook

                             Sweet and savory goodies

     Liz, Michele, Heather, Alice, Emily, Kelly, Angela and Kat

      Angela and Michele working on their scrapbook page

                               Opening gifts