Post Pregnancy Post :)

Taa Daaaaa!! Here is the Hunstville Hospital Web Nursery Pic. Not too shabby, I say. Just enter in Sept. 25 , and then select my name from the list. So cute.

Alright then, let's all breathe a uniform sigh of relief... my worst fears were not realized. Having a baby did NOT kill me. Freaked me out something fierce, but I safely arrived on the other side and am awash with relief that it is all over now, at how much better it was than I expected, and with how happy I am to have my baby girl.

Here is a brief synopsis of how things went: After checking into the hospital last Wed. for the scheduled induction, the nurses could not determine Anna's pelvic station. They did an ultrasound and confirmed what I had a hunch about for months and months - that Anna's hard little head was still sitting under my right rib instead of having dropped down in preparation for labor. Being a breech baby, they quickly changed the birth plan to c-section (thank you very much) for the following morning. And well, saving all the details that make up the c-section, that is exactly what we did. The only surprise was finding out WHY Anna was breech. Turned out that my uterus is heart shaped and Anna was stuck on her side of that heart - which is kinda cute, don't you think? Josh details that the uterus was , in fact, NOT cute. He got a good eyeful, compliments of my doctor, and posted about that on his blog. Anyway, like I said, I survived. We all survived. It was quite a surreal experience to sum it up, though.


Anna (aka Nanna according to Noah) has been a really good baby - much like Noah was. She sleeps and eats and cries for a specific few (and easily remedied) things. Anna is resting peacefully as we speak...or type...so to speak. :)

And here is what I can tell you about our new baby:
1. She has prissy pinky fingers. They always stick up or out or arched away from rest.
2. She has been a breeze to breastfeed. (Thank you, Lord, for that mercy.)
3. She is real little and has some seriously scrawny legs.
4. She has eyes that resemble her daddy except they are steely blue in color so far.
5. She cries real loud and panicked like my niece did when she was colicky.
6. She's most peaceful and contented in her vibrating bouncer seat.
7. Like Noah was as newborn, she HATES diaper changes and being naked.
8. She sneezes a lot. And hiccups half as much.
9. And drumroll please...she makes me love pink. She is my beautiful girl.
10. Oh yeah, she can flail her head back like nobody's business.

You should see Noah hold his hands up and together in front of himself saying, "Up. Baby." He is quite proud of himself to hold her and kiss her and quiet us all when she is sleeping.

Anyway, we are still catching our breath and have not created perfect little pictures yet, but I hope the pics will do for now. Or maybe just get my sister off my back for a day or two. :) There will be more to come for sure. Am I forgetting anything else I should have mentioned? I am still taking a steady dose of percocet, so it would not be surprising if I did - you know? :)

In closing, you all were right - Baby girls are sweet and fun. We are really enjoying these first days with her. Here is a good parting YAWN shot. :)

Oh yeah...we have new numbers, a new address, new everything lately it seems, and we will be getting moving/baby announcements out in the coming weeks to officially update everyone. But if you would like our new home number, my cell number, or our address before then, just say the word.

In closing, I must give a hugely grateful THANK YOU to my in laws who were an invaluable help to us over the past week. They drove right up from Florida to save our day/week by keeping Noah for us, completing new house tune-ups while we were gone, cooking wonderful meals, and occupying a very excited Noah all the while. They were a real blessing and I don't know how we could ever fully convey our thankfulness to them for their help. Memaw and Papa were a real hit. Noah is missing them already and they just left today. It goes without saying that our first days home with Anna were sweeter for having had their company and love and support.

Anna's First Photo Op

All for now, isn't she sweet?

WPTM #4: Guidance

What Parenting Teaches Me #4: Guidance

All our bedrooms are upstairs in this new house, so Noah makes the trek up and down them several times a day... but always with our supervision, so the trips up and down are limited as best we can. And so far, he tends to want to do it on his own. I reach out to offer him my hand and at first he would take it, and then more and more he points to himself and says "me". But then this morning, he insisted on my holding his hand for half of his descent down the stairs and I wondered why today, why now does he decide he needs my help?

And so I took another lesson on how we are toddlers toward the Lord. Sometimes I have the wisdom to stop and recognize that He can see me through something quicker and safer and I choose to accept that guidance. Other times I act on my own impulses, have to have it my own way, insist on my plans/responses without even stopping to receive the loving support that His Word offers. How inconsistent we humans are on a daily basis...just like my sweet toddler baby choosing the hard way one moment, and begging for my help the next.

On another note or 2 or 5 :

1.Only two more rooms to unpack and only Anna's room left to paint...which is weekend job numero UNO!

2. What fun...we got a big new TV today! We have been waiting and planning for this purchase for over a year now, so we are enjoying finally getting there!

3. Oh Lord... I bought a breast pump today. Oh Lord.

4. We have met 4 of our neighbors already. I like it - being in a community. But not the dogs barking somewhere in the night all night. Boo on that.

5. Thanks for the hospital packing tips and lullaby recommendations!

Baby and Moving Update

We are all 3 here at the new house finally and almost halfway unpacked, so that feels really good! I am QUITE sore in my back and stomach, which doesn't feel really good, but no pain no gain, right? :)

As for Anna, we are set to check into the hospital next Wednesday night (Sept 24), so let's cross our fingers that she arrives Thursday (25th) and does not drag out all the drama to Friday or later. Pray for labor/delivery not to kill me, OK? I am scared, but am also in the bring it on mode! So here goes nothing. :) Also, any tips on what I should be sure to pack for the hospital? I have been told to bring food for the nurses...what food does that mean? I wanna butter them up real good!

Noah loves his new room and the playground just around the corner and he did fabulous at his new Mother's Day Out program. Things are very chaotic for him right now and it shows in his behavior lately, so we are trying to take things slow and be patient and reassuring with him. Things won't get back to what he knows as normal for like....ever. Poor baby. I am trusting Anna will serve as a good distraction for him once she is here. :)

We do not have phone or internet here yet, so posting updates will be slim to nothing until probably next week, but I wanted to keep anyone posted that was wondering what the latest was. So until Comcast hooks us up later on this week.... All for now. :)

Nanny, Nanny, Boo, Boo

Ok fine...so you might as well know...I am NOT going to put a picture of my pregnant self on the blog after all. Moan, whine, whimper, beg...it ain't gonna happen - because trust me....I am even less photogenic when I am pregnant. And I am very pregnant.

For what it's worth, pictures were attempted, but none were approved by the picture committee...which is me. So sorry. :)

As for where we are today, some updates:

1. Both closings came and went just fine this week. We are now residents of Tennessee!
2. Josh is already in TN fixing up the house for Noah and I to get there Sunday/Monday.
3. Unless I go into labor on my own (which I hope I do) we will induce Anna around Sept. 23-25 here at Huntsville Hospital.
4. I have reached the point of "Alright...time for this kid to come out!" whereas before I thought... "Stay put as long as you like, Anna girl, as long as I don't have to go through labor."
5. My Acadia has had a run of bad luck...first the scratch, then it got dented by the trailer, then we got a ticket in it on the way to closing in TN. Ugh and Boo.
6. I finished The Big Book of Birth and my Laugh and Learn about Childbirth DVD classes. Bring on the baby!

Other than all that jazz, Noah and I are just waiting to get to the new house and settle in before Anna does!

The Traveler's Tale

Josh started a blog ... yay for Joshie!

He has been thinking about starting one for awhile now... since way before I ever cared to think about one, but it took me telling him to roll over and be quiet at 3:50 this morning to provide just the right impetus to do so. And also, Josh bought himself his own camera this week to accompany him on his work-related trips and further illustrate his thoughts. :)


Tune in to his blog for posts discussing worthy podcasts, body part bungalows (I am too embarrassed to actually write what the billboard really called that place) and fainting goats! I can hardly wait!

Hunting a Lullaby

Around the time we began the adoption process in GA, but before Noah ever came into the conversation, Josh and I were a part of a house church that really shaped our definition of what a church family should be like. There were spiritually authentic, encouraging, honest, and most of all, worshipful times in our Thursday night meetings in addition to rich fellowship and meaty teaching. And one of the songs we sang again and again was Be Thou My Vision. That really became the cry of my heart as we navigated the twists and turns and ups and downs of adopting. By the time Noah came into the picture, it was only natural that this tune was stuck in my head and it became the lullaby I hummed/sang to him in the early morning feedings, middle of the day feedings, and middle of the night why-won’t-you-go-back-to-sleep feedings. That song’s lyrics are now mounted in a frame in our bedroom (well, except for being packed at the moment) and will always take me back to that house church and our first adoption and our first baby’s first days.

The other night as I was playing with my new iPod and stretching my new iTunes wings, I started singing along with one of my favorite Jennifer Knapp songs and Anna started to move around inside my stomach ( I know, I know…where else would she be right now). And I thought…hey, yeah, she needs a suitable lullaby…but I want it to be like Noah’s….a song that is not categorized as a lullaby, but has a soft lullaby-like tune. So as I scroll through my iTunes library and all the cd’s I have yet to import and all the songs I love from worship at church, feel free to suggest a song you think would make for a nice soft lullaby to sing for Anna when she gets here.

Update: I am 36 weeks!!

PS - Our house has never felt so sterile and cold...I miss my Jakey Bear.

PPS - We close on our house Tuesday and our new house on Thursday. I will be in town until the following Monday. :)

A Rainy Day Indeed

I am a dog lover.

Josh and I have had 3 dogs together since we have been married. Jasmine, the rottweiler, whom he had before we ever met, so she came with the man when I married the man. Jake, the black/tan dachshund that we got from a breeder just months after we got married. Josh didn't want that little dog. In fact I had to win a game of rummy to get my way. And I slaughtered Josh in that game of rummy. And then after a couple years, we decided to get another dachshund (a red one) just for the fun of it and for Jake to have a playmate, since Jasmine was an outside dog and Jake was inside usually. So we found and fell in love with Charlie from a newspaper ad and he had quite a story that I will not detail now.


Our family of 5 was made up of more dogs than humans and that was just how we liked it. So you can imagine the irony and heartbreak that came from finding out that Noah was allergic to dogs. I think we were just blinded to the signs that whole first year of Noah's life, but to be honest, there weren't really any sure indicators until he started crawling around and even then it was just chalked up to skin problems and excema. But alas, other issues led us to an allergist and the test made us wake up to reality...that Noah was allergic to our beloved family members.

And in effort to keep our canine babies, we confined them to spaces that Noah would not be exposed to and that worked well for awhile. To make a long story short though, the hassle of keeping Noah separated from Jake, Charlie, and Jasmine became quite frustrating if not depressing. Why have pets if you can't love them, play with them, enjoy them and vice versa? The whole point is companionship! As time and age would have it, Jasmine was the oldest and we had to put her to sleep last year when she got sick. That was a tearjerker goodbye - more for Josh than me, but I felt it too. This past January I shared in a bible study prayer group that we were needing to find a home for our remaining two dogs, and lo and behold, I was sitting next to a dog lover... a dachshund lover at that, who was destined to bring Charlie home to her girls within the month. What a happy little family for Charlie and his personality fit them well. He is quite happy there, and I did not cry like I thought I would because it was such a happy match.

And that brings me to this week. I think moving to TN put the fire under our ... well you know... to finally take care of this dog business we have put off for over a year. We sent some emails, made some fliers, and put them up at Jake's vet in hopes of finding Jake a suitable home. And just as I asked the Lord, we got a call right away...first thing in the morning at 8:00 today. One of the vet techs at Jake's vet is taking him home to her mother who has been looking for a playmate for her poodle. And while relief rushed over me to know he will be in a dog friendly and loving home, as I got up to wash Jake's bed and dog bowl, the tears just started rolling. I made Josh go away and just let me cry. This canine goodbye will hurt like Jasmine's did, only worse, and it is only fitting that today is a rainy day. The day Jasmine died was a rainy day as well. (Charlie's goodbye was a sunny day, but that matched Charlie's personality, sunny and perky). But my Jakey, he is my furry baby that we have had since we got married, and my days will have a hole in them starting today at lunch. Bittersweet is the word for the day. It is for the best, I know, but just humor me and let me cry for my Jakey's goodbye. It is the end of an era in the Brown household.

iPod

How long have iPods been out and I am JUST NOW getting one?! Why didn't someone tell me what all I was missing?!

Anyway, yes, I got one this weekend and felt rather lackadaisical about it. But it was the lesser of two evils when it came to getting a 6 disc changer installed in the new car. I have really missed that feature from the Jeep. And apparently it would take a LOT of trouble and money to make it happen now that we have a car that was manufactured with but 1 cd player. And so ended the Kimmie-sticks-to-CDs mule-headedness. Josh walked me through picking, buying, setting up, importing and syncing my new little Nano.

And in a word, I am just giddy with the freedom and convenience of the iTunes shopping experience over driving to a store, buying a CD, and sometimes only liking half of it. Seriously...I can be so slow on the uptake sometimes. I should have jumped on this iPod bandwagon a LOOOONG time ago.