Portrait by Dan Peebles

My friend Emily asked if we'd mind being the subject of a portrait for a friend of hers who wants to beef up his portfolio. He's doing a project on families, and wanted to do artsy-fartsy pictures of us around the house. We just did it yesterday, so I don't have the pictures yet.

We were super bummed because it was really cloudy yesterday, so we missed out on the really pretty afternoon light in the living room. Dan had tons of lighting fixtures though, so it was no biggie. He posed us just sitting around, no cheesy smiling. Just natural. Pete held the dog while I sat on the couch holding the baby. It was very nice. We did the same in the kitchen, but with Pete holding Maya and me leaning on the counter.

Emily is Dan's re-toucher, so as soon as she's done making them perfect she said she'd send me the good ones. Of course I'll post them here when they're in. I'm stoked!

Here's Dan's website. You can see his photography style in the Portfolio section. And yes...that's the midget from the HBO show Carnivale, and Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Pump-Pump-Pump-Pump It Up!

DISCLAIMER: The topic of this post is boobies. Tee-hee!

Babies are supposed to return to their birth weight by the time they are two weeks old. Well, Maya had an appointment on Monday, and she only weighed 7 pounds and 7 ounces. She was three weeks and three days old on Monday, and weighed 8 pounds, two ounces at birth. I talked to a lactation consultant, and she said I needed to bulk up my milk supply. So, I rented a hospital grade breast pump yesterday. It cost a pretty penny, but since Maya's food thus far has been free, I'm just treating it like paying for groceries. I'm just glad I didn't have to pop the $1,500 to buy one.

I got the Medela Symphony. It's pretty cool, and even has a suction control button to control how hard the thing sucks. I'm supposed to use it at least four times per day on top of her regular feedings, and this should theoretically increase my milk supply.


I feel like kind of a jerk for starving my kid. Poor little thing was pretty excited yesterday when she ate, and then 20 minutes later got to eat again when I fed her what I had just pumped. I didn't want her to have a bottle and get nipple confusion, so I just put her on the boob and fed her through an eye dropper that I slipped in while she was suckling. She slept so awesome last night, and only woke up once at 5am! (That actually kind of worried me, but I figure she would have woken up if she was hungry).

I pretty much feel like a cow hooked up to a milking machine when I use it. It's pretty bizarre. I figured out today that rather than doing both sides at once while Maya cries, I could pop in a movie and pump on one side while she was on the other side, and then switch up after 20 minutes. I'm pretty much sucked dry by the time it's time to switch, but Maya doesn't care as long as she gets to be latched on...her favorite place to be! Little stinker.

Maya's First Visit to AZ

I decided to spring for an airline ticket so Maya could meet all her relatives back in Arizona. We ere only there for four days, but it was really nice to catch up with everyone and show off my little angel.

The plane ride was great! I think Maya liked the white noise the plane made. Grumpa picked us up from the airport, and we decided to surprise Grandma T at work. She was really surprised and happy to see Maya! Next, we went to visit Maya's Aunt Dorothy, Uncle Ron, and cousin Mady. We hung out at their house, and then went out for a quick lunch. Next stop, Melanie's house. I'm kinda ticked at myself because I didn't get out the camera until I got to Melanie's place (grrrr). We ordered pizza and chilled out and watched Big Love and American Idol. It was nice to relax.
Here are Melanie and the boys holding Maya.

Nate wanted to hold her by himself.

He got the hang of it after a minute.

We slept over at Mel's, and then took her truck up to Prescott. Maya's G.G. wasn't feeling well, but she sure did enjoy holding her great-grandbaby!

Uncle Dan and Aunt Autumn were there, too.


After visiting for a bit and having a yummy lunch that Granny made, we went over to her new Prescott digs for dinner (domestic goddess much?). Dan and Autumn came for spaghetti dinner, and Maya's Nana and Papa (Pete's parents) came too. It was really nice to all hang out and enjoy each other's company.


Dan's new beast Patches O'Houlihan came, too. We got to enjoy the pleasure of his drool! This photo does not do him justice. The dog is HUGE!

The next morning my Mom and I went down to the square and hit up the antique stores. We were having a little too much fun...


I tried calling Pete's sister Hanna to see if we could swing by and see the cousins, but nobody picked up. :( I suppose I probably should have planned a little better. Oh, well. We'll definitely see you next visit guys!

Instead, I headed back down to Phoenix a little early and slept over at my Dad's house. He was kind enough to record Battlestar Galactica on his DVR for me! (What is the deal with Starbuck? So lame.) My girlfriend Mira came by to see the baby, and after she left Maya and I hit the sack. Terea gave me an "As seen on TV" tap light to use so I didn't have to get up and turn on the light to nurse, and it was awesome! I'm totally picking up a few. Anyhoo, I awoke to BSG and then got ready for the troops to arrive. Terea noted that my Converse Allstar's were well past their expiration date (they were tearing up my socks) so she bought me new ones! What a gal! We also went to Target and got some pretty headbands for Maya. Terea made burgers for lunch, and a plethora of people came b the house to see her. Hordes of aunts and uncles and cousins. It was awesome!





After everyone left, Grumpa dropped us back off at the airport where Maya proceeded to cry and cry and cry. I purposefully let her scream as I bounced her around the terminal so she'd get it out of her system. I got some glances from people waiting to board our plane, and informed them that she'd be eating, not screaming, on the plane. Sure enough, not one peep. Once we got to Albuquerque one of the ladies on the plane told me my plan worked great! She didn't hear her once. Luckily, it's a short flight!

We're home now, and all the pollen in the air is making Maya pretty stuffy. Poor baby was up most the night last night (which means I was up most the night last night). Thank heavens for booger suckers!

11 Days Old!

Maya's First Bath

A picture says a thousand words.....

Random Cute Pictures of Maya

Maya Juliana Ristig

Well, the acupuncture worked and I woke up in labor at 1:06am. We got to the hospital around 2:30am, and I settled into the labor and delivery room convinced natural childbirth would be tough, but not too bad. I changed my mind. After about 4am the contractions were intolerable. I had no concept of time, and what time I was aware of was measured in the time before the next contraction. I decided the epidural was the way to go, and got some interesting news. Somebody else was in surgery for complications during labor, and they had no idea when the anesthesiologist would be available. I made sure I was first on the list when she was done! Five hours later I was hooked up. The yuckiest five hours EVER. Here's me having my last really painful contraction.
After the epidural, I was a much happier camper.
In the next two hours I dilated five centimeters and was ready to push. Pushing lasted about an hour-and-a-half, and ended with Sweet little Maya being placed on my chest.
It was AWESOME! Unfortunately, she had swallowed a bit of meconium, so the moment was short-lived. They sucked out her lungs at the little station on the other side of the room, and Pete stayed with her while they did what they needed to do there.

Check out that cone-head!
I had to get stitched up (I'll spare you the details), and when the surgeon was all done I got Maya back and we stayed together in Labor and Delivery for the next few hours before being moved to the Mother Baby Unit. We decided that she is the spittin' image of her Daddy, and that she also looks a little like an old Asian man. Here are some of the pictures we took there.





Maya was born at 1:06pm; exactly 12 hours after going into labor. She weighs 8 pounds, 2 ounces, and is 21-and-a-half inches long. She has strawberry blond hair that shines really red outside. Pete and I are totally in love with her, and couldn't have asked for a sweeter baby!