Welcoming Karson Douglas Routley!

Kim and Keith joyfully welcomed their son, Karson Douglas Routley into the world at 6:41 am on October 31, 2009. He was born at home after 27 hours of labor and weighed seven pounds two ounces. We are grateful for the assistance of our amazing birth team. We'll be updating the blog in the next few days with additional information and pictures.
Thanks for all the love, support and well-wishes, especially during the last couple weeks.

Kim and Keith

Staying Busy, Encouraging Labor

October 24, Saturday, 41 weeks and 1 day: Sweet Pea is now Scorpio.
Walked Greenlake (2.8mi);
Went to prenatal yoga and received a round of applause for being there.
Fell asleep in bathtub.

October 25th, Sunday, 41 weeks and 2 days: Had non-stress test. Sweet Pea looks great.
Went to Farmer's Market, bought beautiful leeks;
Made soup and baked a cake (birthday cake??)
Carved pumpkin.

October 26th, Monday, 41 weeks and 3 days: My sister Karen and nephew John's birthday....will Sweet Pea join them? Apparently not.
Swam 3/4 of a mile (54 lengths);
Had accupuncture to encourage labor.

October 27th, Tuesday, 41 weeks and 4 days: Walked Greenlake (2.8 mi);
Had another non-stress test. Sweet Pea still looks great! Told Tracy (midwife) we planned to trust the process and didn't want to do any intervention (at this point) to start labor.
Went on a 90 minute walking tour of Seattle's International District and visited the Wing Luke Museum. Learned among other things, that fortune cookies are American and not served in China. Bought giant bag of fortune cookie rejects...fun food for birth team.
Had Ginny over for dinner.
Started needle point.

October 28th, Wednesday, 41 weeks and 5 days: Attended the Postpartum Support International, Washington Chapter, 20th Birthday Luncheon. Heard many stories from friends and colleagues about going post dates and to trust in the process.
Worked on needle point.
Watched first game of World Series.

October 29th, Thursday, 41 weeks and 6 days: Today is Dacia (Peace Corps friend) and her daughter Karima's birthday. I attended her birth 6 years ago....thought for sure I would wake up with contractions today....no such luck. Sweet Pea does not want to share a birthday.
Had second acupuncture appointment.
Swam 1/2 mile.
Worked on needle point.
Went to prenatal yoga.
Watched friend Dan's PBS documentary about his son, 'Including Samuel.'

Baby Update at 41 weeks and 2 days

We have received many phone calls, emails and Facebook posts wondering how we and the baby are doing. We truly appreciate everyone's concern. Thank you! Today we had a 'non-stress test'. The baby's heart rate is monitored for 20+ minutes as are contractions. Ideally one wants to see good variability in the heart rate. Sweet Pea looked fantastic! All is well based on this test. I will have another NST in a couple days. We are trying to honor that we are still in the range of normal and that the baby knows the right time to be born. We know he/she is working on getting his/her head in the perfect position and that will help my cervix dilate/help with labor. Thank you all for your positive visualizations, thoughts and prayers. We wonder if he/she has been waiting to be born on Kim's sister Karen's and nephew John's birthday which is tomorrow, Monday, October 26th!....We'll find out soon enough.
I will be working on keeping myself distracted over the next few days or so. This is when knowing too much is not always a good thing. I'm glad (as is Keith) that it is soup making and baking weather! Please feel free to email us and check this blog. We know you understand if we don't get back to you right away.

Work Shower

At least for as long as I've been employed at WithinReach, we've celebrated births/adoptions. It's been interesting to see the reaction from many people whose work places don't acknowledge these events. Perhaps it's because of the work we do that we have taken the time to acknowledge and support our staff's growing families. For whatever reason, it's always been something our staff seems to enjoy. Ginny organized a wonderful shower for me. A handful of staff brought in lunch food for everyone including soup, salad, bread, and an amazing home-made cake and staff contributed to gifts from the group including childrens books, many of which were well loved from their own children. Ginny purchased many needed and welcome items for us.

Henna Party

My friend Krysteen owns Mehndi Madness and has been a henna artist for years. Several years ago, I taught her how to do bellymasks and she took over my business. In exchange, she said she would give me a henna party when I wanted one....fast forward to last month (thanks for your patience Krysteen!) and voila! The henna is now gone from my belly and hand but the pictures live on!

My friends who were in the Peace Corps with me or who served elsewhere brought a variety of Moroccan and Mediterranean food to share (thanks Penny, Dacia, Jill, Jen, Lisa and Brenda). Many people came and went and everyone enjoyed getting a henna tattoo.



The close up picture of my belly above, is after the henna has come off (it's gently scraped off). Henna is a plant and it's mixed into a creamy substance and applied to the skin. It dyes the skin (it's also used as hair dye) and the longer you leave the henna on, the darker it stains. Because my hand is rougher skin than my belly, it stained darker although I think once the henna came off my belly it got darker too. Both tattoos lasted about two weeks.

The following are some of the henna facts I had posted around the house during the party:

• The midwife attending the birth in North Africa took care to assure the woman that malicious supernatural spirits were dispelled. This was accomplished with henna, incense, amulets and ritual actions.
• Henna is frequently used for rituals in North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia to deter the evil eye. henna applications also force a woman to stop, be still, and let other people take care of her while the henna stains the skin, thus insuring that the mother will rest and allow other people to do her regular tasks.
• In Morocco, when a soldier goes off to war, he has his wife apply henna to the palm of his right hand for protection and to remind him of her love.
  
• Pregnant Moroccan women in their 7th month seek out well-respected henna practitioners called 'hannayas' in order to have certain symbols painted on their ankle, which will then be encircled with a corresponding amulet. The henna and the amulet are meant to protect both the mother and child through birth. Once the baby is born and the umbilical cord severed, a plaster of henna, water, and flour is places on the newborn's belly button in order to ensure beauty and wealth.
  

BlessingWay, Birthing Necklace and Bellymask

The weekend before the Seattle shower, a couple days before Keith arrived in Seattle, I had a BlessingWay on Saturday night and a Henna party Sunday afternoon. Two amazing events I have looked forward to for a very long time. It meant the world to me to have friends gather for these various celebrations. Thank you! We started the BlessingWay off with a delicious potluck.

Having facilitated numerous BlessingWays for friends, it was very special to be the person being honored, have someone else lead the rituals and have some of my friends gathered together to wish me well on my journey. The BlessingWay was facilitated by my friend, Amelia, who happens to be my work counterpart in Oregon. In this picture, she is placing sacred and important herbs in a foot bath. She had gathered these that morning at her friends home who is a renowned herbalist in the Portland area. Amelia explained the properties of each herb.




While my feet soaked in the hot bath, I was presented with meaningful gifts to support me during my journey. Some were humorous, others serious, all very thoughtful and meaningful to me. Everyone brought a bead for my birthing necklace and explained their reason for choosing the particular bead.

Most everyone present had a birthing necklace from their BlessingWay(s) and many wore theirs. Birthing necklaces are meant to be worn or used during labor to remind the pregnant women of the power of women and birth and of the many blessings bestowed on her during the ceremony. The necklace also becomes a special keepsake that can be passed onto that child. Ginny did an amazing job of stringing my birthing necklace (see photos below) and presented it to me a couple weeks after the BlessingWay. I have enjoyed looking carefully at each bead and reading what everyone wrote.

In the picture on the right a ball of yarn is being passed around the circle. A poem was read as the yarn is passed from person to person. This signifies among other things, our connectedness. The yarn is then tied to each persons wrist to ensure each day they think of the pregnant women, her family, the baby and her journey. When the baby is born and the cord is cut, everyone removes their yarn.












My BlessingWay ended with everyone gathered in my bedroom. Each person shared a blessing, spoken from their heart, for my journey into motherhood. Everyone laid a hand on me so at the end everyone was touching me as Amelia closed the circle. It was very meaningful and emotional. Those thoughts will help carry me through labor.
My friends Alex and Jen are both pregnant with their second babies. We were having fun looking at our bellies.

Of course, we did a bellymask! After having done hundreds for other women, I wasn't about to miss this opportunity. Keith did this for me, the afternoon of the Seattle shower....which will likely be somewhere in the vicinity of a month before the birth...I will probably decorate it but want to wait until after the birth to decide how. Perhaps the birth will provide me with a creative idea or two.

Continuing to Feel the Love!!

Our friends Alex and Crystal organized a beautiful baby shower for us on September 27th. It was a pot luck brunch at Silje and Pete's home with many Seattle area friends and our parents. It helped Keith reconnect with friends he hasn't seen in some time, since moving to New York. We received many thoughtful, wonderful and useful gifts. The food was delicious. We appreciate everyone's effort and well-wishes.