Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety-Jig

A resounding cry of "More photos!" prompts today's post--that and the fact that we brought our new bundle home for the first time last night. Thanks to everyone who called and/wrote. Shara and I hope to see and share with you soon.

My Rendition of the Story

Hi Everyone! So I have finally had an opportunity to read Brian's comments about the delivery of our little bundle. For the most part it is accurate, however, I will have you know that there was no cursing before, during, or after Madeleine's arrival.

Our first day together as a family was an amazing success - and Brian and I felt like heroes. Last night was a different story altogether though. Madeleine was colicky and left us each with only 2 hours of sleep. We are due to travel home today in another one of Maine's latest blizzards. The two grammies are anxiously awaiting us. More later.

String of 9 Missed Periods Ends Spectacularly!

Hello Everyone...Brian here.
On Monday, Shara had an appointment with the Midwife and it was decided that Shara would be induced on Wednesday morning because the baby's due date was December 9th.
So, after an eventful trip to Walmart and some trash TV to celebrate the two-day-away induction, Shara's H2O broke at 11:30pm Monday night. It seems the baby had her own plans. A call to the doctor's office and we were told to wait until 7 Tuesday morning to head in and proceed with the events. Again, the baby had her own schedule and the contractions grew closer as Shara and Brian watched infomercial after infomercial (seriously, how many things can that guy sell?) in anticipation of the big day. At 6am Shara decided they needed to act "now" rather than at 7 as her contractions were 7 minutes then 3 minutes and then 10 minutes apart. She called the hospital and off we went.
The nurse led us to our delivery room. Shara changed into her johnny and climbed into bed. "One or two centimeters" the nurse informed us. Shara was not pleased because she felt that this meant a car ride home but the nurse reassured her that she was more than welcome to stay. "Great" Shara replied. " I need some medicine!"
The sun rose in the sky. Clouds passed overhead. The contractions increased as did the back spasms. Dilation ensued as the Grandmothers-to-be paced in the hallway, then listened at the door, were yelled at about "privacy", and finally sequestered to a room where they pretended to knit.
Two doors away, Shara opted for the epidural which helped for a while but not really to her expectations. It seems her body only wanted to be numb on the right side. Brian rubbed her back with minimal success.
At about 4:10 Shara and the baby decided that the best way to decrease the back pain would be to push. The midwife concurred and off they went. After an hour and thirteen minutes of diehard pushing a head-followed by a body-emerged. Shara and Brian named the joining of these two Madeleine. There was a decent amount of cursing but not enough to embarass.
Madeleine slept very well through the night and has not fussed at any great length. Holy crap she has a lot of hair. Shara is doing great! Brian is happy.
Enjoy the photos!

Hi! Brian here, presenting a picture of Shara not cooperating. She's extremely good at it--it was her minor in college.


Shara asked me to remove the unfavorable photo of her so I did. Here's a picture of some jumping cats. Brian

Bathroom

So the bathroom is way better than it was.....no more moldy walls, peeling wallpaper, lead painted window...Look closely though. Brian and I have yet to finish the trim next to the toilet. That's the problem with old houses. You work on a project non-stop and get so tired of it, that you can't be bothered to finish the moulding and complete the room. Our living room is the same way - one piece of moulding next to the piano. Old houses are never done.

Christmas Tree

Some More Pregnancy Photos

Our good friend Brooke took some pregnancy photos of Brian, the baby, and I back in November. She did a fabulous job. Thanks Brookie! I am working on getting the images into picture frames before D-day. Four days and counting. Now would be great though.