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| Sisters |
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| Penny's Mad face |
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| Penny's content face |
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| Esmé showing her insane jumping skills |
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| Esmé and Grandma |
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| All the girls |
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| Penny and Grandma |
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| Penny and Grandpa |
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Friday, April 27, 2012
These Days
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
The Penelope Story
Last Wednesday, the 28th, I was busy being pregnant and taking full advantage of my state by planning on not going to the Young Women's activity that night. However that afternoon when I found out some of the girls needed rides to get to the activity, I agreed to go after all. I believe my actual words were, "It's not like I'll be having the baby tonight..." So, I spent an hour or so that evening chauffeuring girls to and from the activity across Houston's notoriously bumpy, potholed roads.
Fast forward to later that night (or actually 4 am in the morning): my water breaks. I blame the bumpy roads--either that, or the Lord blessed me for my righteousness in doing my calling by letting me have the baby right away. I stood in the bathtub shaking and trying not to panic while Roo finished packing our hospital bag, my due date was still 2 1/2 weeks away after all. I called the doctor and was told to come on into the hospital and they'd see what was going on.
We arrived at the hospital around 5 am, got checked in, and waited. Apparently, Penny decided to be born on the busiest day of the year at the hospital--they couldn't even find any pillows for my bed and we had to wait a long time to see anyone. I meanwhile was having strong, but not too painful, contractions.
By 11 am, we'd confirmed that I was well on my way to having the baby, and I was well on my way to wanting an epidural. The thing about my epidural was that it only ended up working on one side of my body. Ugh! The next three hours were agonizing, except for a brief respite brought on by an extra dose of painkiller on top of the epidural. (This made me loopy and nauseous and had me clinging to a plastic throw up bucket like it was Wilson from Cast Away.) Thankfully I didn't throw up, and thankfully the agony only lasted until 2:30. By then I was ready to start pushing.
I pushed for two hours when I had Esmé, so I was expecting another crucible like that. Yet, after only four or five contractions of pushing, Penny was born at 2:49 pm! I was so wonderfully relieved and Penny was so, so beautiful! I couldn't believe she was actually here!
She is so lovely! I was worried that my heart couldn't hold so much love for two little girls--that I'd have to take away some from one in order to have some for the other, but this wasn't the case. I so immediately felt my heart grow to encompass the new little being I'd just met, and it also made me long to see and hold my dear little Esmé.
Pregnancy, labor, and motherhood is a long, painful, hormonally-charged business. So why do we do it? For me, this is why:
Fast forward to later that night (or actually 4 am in the morning): my water breaks. I blame the bumpy roads--either that, or the Lord blessed me for my righteousness in doing my calling by letting me have the baby right away. I stood in the bathtub shaking and trying not to panic while Roo finished packing our hospital bag, my due date was still 2 1/2 weeks away after all. I called the doctor and was told to come on into the hospital and they'd see what was going on.
We arrived at the hospital around 5 am, got checked in, and waited. Apparently, Penny decided to be born on the busiest day of the year at the hospital--they couldn't even find any pillows for my bed and we had to wait a long time to see anyone. I meanwhile was having strong, but not too painful, contractions.
By 11 am, we'd confirmed that I was well on my way to having the baby, and I was well on my way to wanting an epidural. The thing about my epidural was that it only ended up working on one side of my body. Ugh! The next three hours were agonizing, except for a brief respite brought on by an extra dose of painkiller on top of the epidural. (This made me loopy and nauseous and had me clinging to a plastic throw up bucket like it was Wilson from Cast Away.) Thankfully I didn't throw up, and thankfully the agony only lasted until 2:30. By then I was ready to start pushing.
I pushed for two hours when I had Esmé, so I was expecting another crucible like that. Yet, after only four or five contractions of pushing, Penny was born at 2:49 pm! I was so wonderfully relieved and Penny was so, so beautiful! I couldn't believe she was actually here!
She is so lovely! I was worried that my heart couldn't hold so much love for two little girls--that I'd have to take away some from one in order to have some for the other, but this wasn't the case. I so immediately felt my heart grow to encompass the new little being I'd just met, and it also made me long to see and hold my dear little Esmé.
Pregnancy, labor, and motherhood is a long, painful, hormonally-charged business. So why do we do it? For me, this is why:
Friday, March 30, 2012
The French Version of Penny Lane.... (Roo's half-yearly post)
Please welcome Penelope Rue Phillips to planet Earth. She was born Thursday March 29, 2012 at 2:49PM. Penny came in at 8 lbs 8 oz, 20 inches, 2.5 weeks early, and exactly 21 months after her big sister. There were no problems or complications for Mom or Baby....and yes, I am hanging in there too.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Houston, TX
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Updates
Update #1
Did you know we're moving to England? A month ago there was not even a whisper of a hint of a prospect that this could ever happen. We were living contentedly in Houston. Paying our mortgage. Hanging curtains. Bracing for summer. We even bought a nice new bookcase to fill the empty wall in the living room so we could clear out all our packed up books. And I believe it was the same day we placed the final book on the bookshelf, stood back, and admired our commitment to this place that the opportunity to leave it all behind showed up unexpectedly.
Roo had the chance to either take a new job at a new company here in Houston or stay with the current company and transfer to England. For about a week and a half we talked pros and cons and I tried to wrap my mind around even the thought of living abroad. But I think the decision was already made the second the opportunity presented itself. We chose England. This will be our ninth move in eight years, ending our longest streak of permanent residence anywhere of almost two years. Yet another uprooting, especially one so unexpected, is going to be a bit tough for me. And we have mountains of logistics when it comes to travel arrangements (obtaining visas, passports for kids, etc.) and selling our house and everything else that goes along with a foreign move to deal with.
By all rights, I should be overwhelmed, and most of the time when I think about it, I am. However, all stressful logistics aside, I think we all know that not going for this would have only left us with a long, hot Houston summer of wondering "what if?"
We plan to leave the US in the middle of June and live about 30 miles south of London for three years. And we plan to love it.
Update #2
At my 36 week appointment this week, Baby Girl was tipping the scales at 8 lbs already. I should have known based on how many people exclaim how huge I look, and on how I feel like I'm going to tip over all the time. The ultrasound technician had to make sure there weren't actually two people in there (there weren't...just one jumbo baby). But I've still got almost four weeks to go, and Baby has four weeks to grow even bigger. What this means is that we're all hoping she decides to make a sudden appearance very soon, otherwise she'll be so big that we may either have to coax her out (via induction) or cut her out (via c-section).
Update #3
Esmé has moved on from her crib and now sleeps in a pink plastic bed that has princesses on it. We're very proud.
Did you know we're moving to England? A month ago there was not even a whisper of a hint of a prospect that this could ever happen. We were living contentedly in Houston. Paying our mortgage. Hanging curtains. Bracing for summer. We even bought a nice new bookcase to fill the empty wall in the living room so we could clear out all our packed up books. And I believe it was the same day we placed the final book on the bookshelf, stood back, and admired our commitment to this place that the opportunity to leave it all behind showed up unexpectedly.
Roo had the chance to either take a new job at a new company here in Houston or stay with the current company and transfer to England. For about a week and a half we talked pros and cons and I tried to wrap my mind around even the thought of living abroad. But I think the decision was already made the second the opportunity presented itself. We chose England. This will be our ninth move in eight years, ending our longest streak of permanent residence anywhere of almost two years. Yet another uprooting, especially one so unexpected, is going to be a bit tough for me. And we have mountains of logistics when it comes to travel arrangements (obtaining visas, passports for kids, etc.) and selling our house and everything else that goes along with a foreign move to deal with.
By all rights, I should be overwhelmed, and most of the time when I think about it, I am. However, all stressful logistics aside, I think we all know that not going for this would have only left us with a long, hot Houston summer of wondering "what if?"
We plan to leave the US in the middle of June and live about 30 miles south of London for three years. And we plan to love it.
Update #2
At my 36 week appointment this week, Baby Girl was tipping the scales at 8 lbs already. I should have known based on how many people exclaim how huge I look, and on how I feel like I'm going to tip over all the time. The ultrasound technician had to make sure there weren't actually two people in there (there weren't...just one jumbo baby). But I've still got almost four weeks to go, and Baby has four weeks to grow even bigger. What this means is that we're all hoping she decides to make a sudden appearance very soon, otherwise she'll be so big that we may either have to coax her out (via induction) or cut her out (via c-section).
Update #3
Esmé has moved on from her crib and now sleeps in a pink plastic bed that has princesses on it. We're very proud.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
8 Months
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