The Blog!

Reflections on the Summer

Tue, 8 Sep 2009 08:34:11 -0400

Wow. The summer really flew by. Baby Bobby Bruosta was born July 4th, so now Cooper has a little partner in crime. We have had a great summer. We went to Acadia national park in July, Rad has been working hard at building us a new deck off of our mudroom. Cooper has been growing and learning like crazy. His new party tricks are “SO BIG,” high fives (he’s been doing that one since about 8 mos), clapping, and just as of this weekend “dancing.” His dancing is more like bopping but he does it on command. He also says “mama” and “dada” frequently and both are seeming more and more intentional and directed at us individually each day.
He is a TON of fun, as you can see in all of our pictures he’s a pretty happy child. We also don’t ever take pictures of him crying, so the sample is a little biased.
Enjoy! Hope to catch up with everyone soon. I’ve been quite delinquent this summer in updating the blog and keeping in touch with old friends. Between residency (which is going well) and Cooper I have my hands full.
Love,  Landrey

Reflections on May (and april!)

Sat, 30 May 2009 20:19:50 -0400

Wow! So much time has passed since I’ve updated this. April and May have both been a blur. After getting back from the DR work has been pretty consuming and every spare moment I’m home with Cooper. We’ve taken a big leap of faith finally and hired a nanny, things are going well so far. Cooper seems to like her a lot and she adores him, so we’re happy. Rad and Cooper are off in NH this weekend visiting Rad’s parents so I’m a little lonely at home tonight...the perfect time to update the website and stare at pictures of them while I eat dinner by myself! Hopefully when I’m done I’ll be able to have a more flexible schedule...supposedly it will all be worth it.
I was so excited when I got the picture above. We were out on a hike and I managed to get Cooper smiling at the perfect second. It is so hard to get babies to smile consistently.
Now Cooper is consistently sitting unassisted and grabs at everything. He turned 7 months this week which just amazes me. I wont say that it seems like yesterday that he was born, but it definitely doesn’t seem like 7 months have passed. He eats almost all foods now, and is a very demanding little eater, you can hardly shovel food in his mouth fast enough before he starts banging on his little tray. We’ll have to work on manners later.
Otherwise everything is pretty good. I miss my men, but they’ll be back tomorrow they tell me <sigh>

Cooper Napping on the Beach!

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:26:49 -0400

Rad is in FL for Shai’s wedding (a friend from college) so instead of cleaning or working on my clinic notes while Cooper sleeps, I thought I might update the website instead!

Our little Coop got his adorable little passport stamped for the first time last week. We got back from the DR last Friday. This is Cooper napping on the beach. (many more pictures posted under Albums)
We travelled with my whole residency class down to Santo Domingo for a few days, then to Las Terrenas (on the north of the island) to hang out at the beach as a group. Cooper was great. He wanted us to have a vacation too, so he slept great at night and napped well during the day. We were often reflecting on whether or not he even knew he was away from home! It was so fun to travel with so many helpful people and so many other kids. Thankfully he did great on the planes too. On St. Patrick’s day he rolled over for the first time! Trina was the only witness to his first roll over, but he performed for mom the next morning. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get him to roll over since then!

Otherwise things are good, it’s tough being back at work since vacation, but all and all we’re doing ok. Tomorrow night I start a week of nights which is too bad. The only good part about it is that I get about 4 awake hours with Cooper in the afternoons which is nice.

Hope all is well!

I bid farewell to having a part-time job

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:29:41 -0500

Cooper is napping...and it’s my last day of working part-time. So sad.

Things have been going well, though he did have his first fever this week...to 102! I was probably more upset by it than he was. He seems to be recovering well, he didn’t have any other symptoms...though now he has a little cough and runny nose. He’s back to his normal playful self. These are some of my favorite recent pics. He loves his bouncy seat (up top), his little chair (he is just now figuring out how to make the little toy spin), his mobile (you can just see the feet of the toy in his “my dad is Rad” t-shirt), and being naked! The last two on the right are both from his 3 month birthday (Jan 26th). I can hardly believe it’s almost been 4 months since he was born. Time seems to be literally screaming by at record pace. While I’m going to miss this teeny-tiny baby stage I’m really looking forward to his first meals, and first words. It is just so much fun being Cooper’s mom!

Reflections on the past few months and Yesterday

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:42:05 -0500

So, I’ve clearly been neglecting the website. I really mean to update it often, the blog is always on my “to do” list, but somehow each day manages to slip away without my little commentary on our comings and goings (mostly Cooper’s). Today though I resolved to post! Cooper just got his first set of shots today, I was a little late in getting them for him (but I figured since I’m a doctor I can break the rules...doesn’t it work that way? Just kidding!). I finally gave in to the pressures of reality and he got vaccinated, which was much worse than I had imagined, but he seems ok now. It just struck me as so cruel to stick needles into a perfectly happy smiling baby, but I suppose if he got polio or something he would find that to be more cruel. Anyway, Cooper has been getting more and more fun to play with by the minute. He is always smiling and giggling now. He also sometimes tries to have little conversations with you. I think he really means to be telling us something, but hasn’t quite figured that stuff out yet. He is delightful to watch. It’s been hard being back at work part-time, but the working is made infinitely easier by my Trina (Rad’s mom) who is coming to our house to watch Cooper for 3 days a week (I know, I’m the luckiest woman in the world!). He will eventually be going to Kinder care (which is just 1/2 mile away) for 2 days a week. So far so good.

My blog would not be complete today without adding my 2 cents about the inauguration (if anyone cares). Don’t get me wrong, I am incredibly excited about the new administration. I also thought it was awe inspiring how many people showed up to watch him be sworn in (though I am grateful I wasn’t in that massive crowd), however, he has not actually DONE anything yet! I feel as though we’re just overanalyzing and being awestruck by history that just hasn’t happened yet. When Lincoln freed the slaves, when Roosevelt brought us out of the great depression, when Kennedy gave his great speeches, they were all just doing their jobs and living in the moment. Those moments were seen as great moments in history looking backward, not the other way around. Let’s just live in the moment and see what happens. I think Obama is a great guy, I hope more than anything that he is successful in reforming healthcare (hopefully nationalizing it), getting us out of war, and improving the economy, but let’s just give the guy his job and see how he does with it. I’m thrilled that Bush is out, couldn’t be happier, but I am sick and tired of treating Obama like the second coming (or first or third depending on your perspective). Let’s just chill out and let history unfold in the normal way. I’m sure we’ll look back on this time as great, but we have to let it pass first before we put it up on some pedestal it may or may not deserve.

Reflections on THanksgiving

Tue, 2 Dec 2008 13:37:17 -0500

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I have never had more to be thankful for than this year. On Thursday we had a fabulous traditional meal at Leah’s with a great mix of Fagans, Bruostas, Fays and Browns. It was the first time I’ve ever had fried Turkey and it definitely lived up to its reputation. The food was great and probably could have fed double the people there. On Saturday Rad and I hosted my family (above) which was also wonderful. We had an unbelievable gourmet meal thanks to my parents and aunt Ilo, and finished with an orgy of desserts, the best of which was Rochelle’s homemade cheesecake. All of my family who are currently state-side made the trip, including Alisa who trekked all the way from Atlanta, GA. We were able to Skype with Cindy so she could get a glimpse of the new addition and touch base with the whole fam. We ate, exchanged gifts and played Apples to Apples (thanks to Alisa!) late into the night.
Looking back over the year we have been through some pretty extreme changes!

Things we are thankful for 2008:
January: Finished residency interviews (including Lawrence at the end of January)
February: Found out I was pregnant!
March: Match day!
April: Bought a new car for Rad.
May: Graduation from Med school, house shopping, bought our first house! First official sonogram, found out we were having a boy!
June: Started residency at Lawrence.
July: Closed on our house and moved in.
August: Rad got a job up in Mass and was able to move home with me.
September: Baby shower, getting ready for baby.
October: Cooper was born! (this was the best part of the year by far!)
November: Home with Cooper! Thanksgiving with everyone at our house.
December....we’ll just have to see what happens next...

I think Rad and I are up for a mellow 2009... Cooper will keep us plenty busy!

Cooper’s Birthday!

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:23:04 -0400

Cooper David Fagan was born on 10/26/08 at 12:40 pm.
He weighed 8lbs 3oz and was 20” long.
Apgar’s were 8 and 9 :-)

I hardly know where to begin...the days have flown by!
We’re finally starting to settle in at home, it’s been harder than I imagined but everything is good.

I’ve already forgotten most of the details of my labor (which is not entirely a bad thing...) so maybe I can get Rad to fill in what’s missing later.
Roughly here’s what happened:

-Last Tuesday night I began having regular contractions every 5 mins. Not horribly painful, but definitely time-able.
-Wednesday I was checked at least 3 times at the hospital (abusing the system...I know) and stayed at 4 cm with no appreciable progress.
-Contractions continued off and on, sometimes as frequent as every 3 mins, but sometimes disappearing entirely for hours.
-Friday, same story, no progress.
-Saturday night my water broke around 9:45 pm. We got to the hospital around 10:45. Sadly still no progress in my exam.
-Sunday @ 6 am still no progress so we started Pitocin...
-Then the action began! -I had two hours of (what I thought at the time were...) really intense contractions.
-Kelly came and helped us move me around and change positions to make things more bearable.
-8 am I was devastated to learn that I was only 5 cm. I had a little breakdown...
-Immediately following I went into transition...I had no idea transition was so brutal. I felt completely out of control. Rad was amazing, he helped me move around and change positions. He, Kelly, and Kate at this point were my dream team. They kept me as calm as reasonably possible and helped me from birthing ball, to birthing chair, to shower, to bed, and back again. They helped me breathe and move and overall deal with the situation.
-Dr. Tabit was also there the entire time, willing to check me in whatever random position I found myself in begging for news of progress...
-By 11am I was complete and begging to push. I thought I would be able to breathe through more contractions and “labor down” but nothing relieved the intensity of the pain except pushing.
-I pushed from around 11 until 12:40, when Cooper finally emerged into the world (this is obviously the much abridged version of the story...).
-At the very end Dr. Tabit threatened me with an episiotomy if he wasn’t out in two pushes...he made it out on the very next push!

I cannot thank Kelly, Kate, and Dr. Tabit enough. Without them I would have had a very different birth story and I am eternally grateful to all of them for coaching me through the most unbelievable experience of my life. I thought several times along the way that I was going to die (I told Rad that a few times) but miraculously my body worked how it was supposed to (with a little push from Pitocin...which works pretty well it turns out....). I especially appreciated their constant encouragement and believing in me, when at times I really didn’t believe in myself.

Rad is my hero. Somehow he managed to stay calm and hold me the entire time. In addition to the getting pregnant in the first place part...I really couldn’t have done it without him.
I feel so lucky.

These contractions are amounting to Nothing!

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:35:34 -0400

So, since about 7 pm on Tuesday night (the 21st) I’ve been contracting about every 5-10 mins, sometimes as close as every 3, but still no baby! Grrrrr....
I’ve been to the hospital a few times and things seem to be “progressing” really slowly. I’m not in a ton of pain (so I’ve got that going for me...which is nice...), but I’m kinda ready to get the show on the road! My Dr has been great, she just called me to check in this morning, but still nothing. She said last night at 8pm that I should be having a baby in 24 hrs....but I’m a little less hopeful at the moment. I guess we’ll see, I still hope she’s right and I’m wrong!

The pics above are from the winning pumpkin-chucking trebuchet for the past 5 years. We went to see it a week and a half or so ago. It was actually pretty cool. There’s an annual contest every year in Delaware around this time and this one has been the winner. It is still not quite as impressive as the model trebuchet Rad made :-)

Wish me luck on this whole labor thing....still trying to go all natural....I guess we’ll all see what transpires!

37 & 2 days

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:12:51 -0400

By popular demand I thought it was time to post a pregnancy progression. We didn’t do the best job at taking consistent pictures, but I thought this looked decent anyway. As of a couple days ago I am considered “full term” which is pretty exciting. So we’re all on pins and needles! We’ve finally ordered our crib set: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3013013. Apparently we were a little late in the game according to the Babies R’ Us people, but it should get here in a couple weeks. Otherwise we’re just waiting, I’m working on outpatient medicine now which is a little less stressful than the hospital, and we’re in a bit of a holding pattern until things start happening again....

Reflections on the past few months...

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 13:32:43 -0400

So it’s been a really long time since I’ve updated this site. Many major life events seem to have flown by. Chris and Bill got married in Florida at the end of May. Residency started June 16th, so far so good...We closed on our house July 3rd and moved in (Rad really enjoyed the move....). Through it all the belly has continued to grow without incident. I feel the baby moving all the time now, it’s been really fun. We’re still totally not ready, but at least we have a roof over our heads. Rad started his new job at L3 a couple weeks ago. The first three weekends we were here we had extremely helpful house-guests, Ilo, My parents, and Dana and Aki. Who have all motivated us to make our house look a lot better than the above shot! We hope everyone can all come soon! The baby is due Nov. 1, so mark your calendars. Also, I’m working on moving cards...maybe another week or so, but here’s our address so you can update:

12 Sawyer Road
North Andover, MA 01845

Love, Landrey