Three Month Report Card

Anneliese is three months old! Word on the street is that makes her an infant, not a newborn. Who knew? But it's just semantics; she's still newly born in my book.

Over the past month she has really taken on a playful and flirty personality. Her fussiness has decreased substantially as she's learned that it's more fun to charm everyone around her instead.

-- Anneliese loves to grin at anyone who will make eye contact with her. And if she's in a really good mood she might make some of her sweet cooing noises too. And if she's in a really really good mood, a tiny giggle might escape. SO CUTE, PEOPLE. I must admit, though, that I am a little jealous that most of those grins and giggles go to Daddy and Nathan and other people instead of me. She only loves me for my milk. But she's still awfully cute. A-

-- She is still a champion sleeper. Almost a month ago (the day after I wrote this update), she slept for 12 hours nonstop and she's done at least that, with very rare exception, pretty much every night since. A+

-- Don't worry, all is not rainbows and jellybeans. Her aversion to the bottle is ever-growing, and unlike Nathan (who didn't love it, but would take it if he was hungry and there were no other options presented to him) she will just scream until she gets the boob. Not sure what to do about this, but ideas are appreciated. I would love to be able to leave her in the church nursery -- we have done it twice, and twice it was a disaster. F-

-- She is still growing! She's bigger every day, it seems. She's now 13 lbs (76th percentile) and 25 inches long (still off the chart). Most of her clothes are 3-6m sized, but a growing stack is 6-9m and the dress we just got for her baptism in a few weeks is 12m! It's a little long (which is ok for a baptism) but the bodice fits. Crazy girl, growing out of clothes faster than I can sort through them!! B+

-- Anneliese, like her mother and brother before her, has Poo Issues. Namely, that she only goes once every several days and then when it comes out, it comes out. All over everything. And somehow she rarely manages to do this at home; apparently it's preferable to poop when we're out in public so I can take apart car seat coverings and wash clothes in restroom sinks. Kohl's in particular seems to draw out her fecal matter in copious amounts. Good times, good times. But at least she poops. D+

-- Although fussy days are rare, she does have them. Particularly in the evenings. If anything, I seem to be holding her to an unfair standard of pleasantness, because when she has a bad day I find myself getting more and more impatient about it. So, pray for patience. Mommy gets a big ol' Needs Improvement on this one.

-- We continue to be amazed that she hits milestones at a "normal" rate (which is fast for us, after getting used to Nathan's slightly-behind pace). She can bear weight on her legs, she reaches for us and for toys, she recognizes our faces, she sits up great in her bumbo (picture here), and she rolled once (accidentally, and off the couch, so it was more traumatic than celebratory). She's still having a little trouble with eye-contact-y kind of things (like peripheral tracking) but I'm not really worried about it. B

I averaged all these using my fancy mommy math and it comes out to an honor roll, A+ kid. Anneliese, you are loved. Every giggling, thumb-sucking, bright-eyed, flirty, snuggly, grinning, milk-sucking inch of you. WE LOVE YOU.

2009: Year in Review

From what I can see on facebook and in my feed reader, it sounds like most people are ready for 2009 to be over and done with. Am I the only person in America who had a better 2009 than 2008? Because I totally did, even though this year brought nothing that I was expecting and a whole lot of things I wasn't.

My biggest focuses at the beginning of 2009 were getting rid of my hives, being a "better wife" (ahem) to my husband, and restructuring our family's finances. So last fall I got on birth control pills to hopefully regulate my hormones and prevent hives, and with that I stopped charting and tracking my monthly cycles (because won't the pill just take care of that whole pregnancy prevention thing? I mean, I don't need to think about it, right?), started setting a large chunk of money aside every month with the plan to replenish our just-in-case account... and then I got busy with the "better wife" thing.

And then those three stars aligned, and our lives changed forever. Because then there was Beanie.

With her pregnancy came the decision for me to walk away from a paying job, the newfound trust that Mark and I found in each other and in God's plan, and an absolutely beautiful daughter that I hadn't even known I wanted.

And God provided us with more in 2009 than just getting a new daughter: Nathan is completely healthy and developing normally, I have had nary a hive, Mark has a secure well-paying job that he loves, our just-in-case account is indeed now fully funded despite some financial surprises (and we even paid off the last of the student and car loans which makes us completely debt-free except for our mortgage), we have seen several new corners of the world (and even shared some of them with Nathan), and we have family and friends who support us and love us. Oh yeah, and I am a rockin' awesome wife. Definitely a good year. A banner year actually.

When I think about where I was a year ago today, I can only shake my head and smile. I had no idea what 2009 would have in store for us, yet looking back I seemed laughably confident that I was regaining some sense of control in my life. HA. So although this is the third time I have sat down to do a Year in Review post, it's the first time I will not end with any promises to myself about what next year will bring. Because if there is anything that God has taught me in 2009, it's that I don't get to control eveything. And you know what? I think I'm finally ok with that.

Especially if my letting go of control brings me half the wonder and joy that my amazing daughter has.

So instead of bemoaning the end of a difficult year (and indeed it wasn't easy), come with me and celebrate a year of unexpected blessings -- for our family, this will go down as The Year of Anneliese. Happy 2009!

Like Mommy, Like Daughter

We're still at my mom's house in Huntersville (we've been treating it as a sort of "home base" for our visits with family and friends this week). One fun thing about being here has been going through lots of my old stuff from childhood. I have to be honest and admit that most of what I found while cleaning out "my" room here (which mom has been begging me to do for months years) got trashed or donated, but it was still fun to look at it while I was sorting.

I found my college acceptance letter, my SAT scores, bunches of cards and notes from friends (some dating back to seventh grade!), old choir and band uniforms, all my prom/formal dresses, four or five pairs of huge (and colorful!) glasses that date me as a tween of the 90s, and a picture of mark wearing a marching band uniform with a mouth full of braces in a heart-shaped gold gilded frame (hott).

I also went through some of my mom's old picture albums from my birth and early childhood. And you know what? Despite all the comments about how Anneliese looks like Nathan, and even more comments about how Nathan looks like Mark (really? I still don't see it that much), it turns out Anneliese actually looks a good bit like I did at her age. Not exactly... but I think you can tell she's mine. What do you think?

If she really does look like me, I'm taking that as a compliment. Because I think she's gorgeous and I'm not ashamed to say it. :)

Two Months Already?

Today Anneliese is two months old. Yes, already. Maybe for you people, the weeks are passing at a normal rate. But for Mark and me, time is just flying right by.

[Edit 12/15 - she is growing like a weed! She's 12 lbs 12 oz (92nd percentile), and 24.5 inches long (off the top of the chart). Our family knows all too well what it's like to fall off the chart in the other direction, so we're grateful for a rapidly growing baby right now!]

With the recent surge in thumb-sucking (always the left hand... think she'll be a lefty?) Anneliese has become much happier during her waking hours. Her ability to keep herself happy means we can prop her in the bouncy seat or swing, and instead of her fussing until we come back and get her (or until she falls asleep), she will just sit and watch the world go by. She is especially interested in Nathan and his comings and goings. She really perks up when he is nearby. I love seeing her little serious face as she just takes it all in, and this picture really captures her over the last few weeks.

I hope she likes this picture; it's likely going to be in her passport til she's five!

Anneliese is still sleeping great. Most nights she goes down sometime after 9pm, then doesn't get up again until sometime after 4am. (A few days, like today, she lasts until closer to 7 or 8am!) After she eats she usually goes back down for several more hours, occasionally in the car seat if that's what the morning's schedule dictates, until she's totalled about 12 hours for the night. So... still angelic. :)

She's also bringing us something our family is not used to -- she's hitting a bunch of physical milestones right on time, or even early! She can hold her head up and steady (like in the picture above), when we put her on her tummy she will lift her shoulders and neck up, she can push against us with her legs (that one is earth-shattering... Nathan didn't do it until he was ten months old!), and she can consistently manager to get her thumb into her mouth. Mark's hoping he might have a jock child after all!

Anneliese definitely prefers Mark and me and Nathan over other people, but she is learning to accept some strangers too, once she gets used to them. We left her in the church nursery for the first time this morning, and she didn't do great -- apparently she was "grumpy" (their words) the whole time, and refused the bottle the whole time (she was in there for more than three hours!), so she was ravenous when we picked her up, and was very happy to nurse for a looooong time before we loaded up the car and headed home!

And, we're getting to actually interact with her more and more. She turns her head towards us when we talk to her, and she coos (sometimes even repeating noises we make!)... and we've all fallen hard for that sweet little grin (with dimples! we have no idea where she got that) whenever she decides to aim it our way.

We're happy every day for getting to know our sweet little girl even better!

Daddy and Daughter

We don't have too many pictures of Mark and Anneliese together (besides the gorgeous shot of her lying in his palm, of course). Not sure if this is because I have been hogging her, or because Mark has been more on Nathan duty for the last month, or some combination of both.

But it's Mark's birthday today, and since I can;t get him what he really wants (a guaranteed Clemson win over South Carolina), I thought I would share a few of the bonding moments they've had thus far.

Last week I caught them "watching the game" together, and both of them were zonked out. I have no idea what game was on, but clearly it wasn't that important. Or interesting. (Now that I think about it, it might not have been a game at all, but one of the incredibly boring shows Mark tends to have on our dvr from NatGeo. Sorry, sweetie, but seriously -- an hour about how the sun is hot? Really? That's boring. I still love you though and happy birthday and all that.)

[Side note: See the pacifier in this picture? See how Anneliese has spit it out? She probably screamed with fury as she did it. We have been trying to encourage her to take it occasionally, since she does seem to need some non-nutritive sucking. But Anneliese hates the pacifier, and seems to think that we have done her some grave insult by suggesting that she suck on something plastic. She would rather have our fingers. Which is frustrating on several levels -- hard to keep them totally clean, probably terrible for her mouth and teeth-to-be, and it keeps our hands from doing something productive. She's taken the paci a few times, but only a few -- and we don't have high hopes for being able to fall back on it for soothing in the future. At this point we're just counting the weeks until she can get her own thumb in her mouth. Probably not better than the paci, but better than our fingers, that's for sure.]

Anneliese does look awfully content sleeping in his arms, though, doesn't she? She's happy because she knows she has a rockin' awesome dad who doesn't shy away from any parenting stuff like some most men do. And that he's really good at the parenting stuff, actually.

And that he loves her more every day.

Happy birthday, Daddy!

Sure Sign of Falling in Love

I have heard people say that when you start thinking every song on the radio is about you and your new relationship, that you must be falling hard and fast in love. I must admit that's kind of the case with Anneliese right now. I mean, it's not every song, but it's a lot of them. Anything
remotely sweet or loving makes me think of my new daughter these days.

The Colbie Caillat song Fallin' for You actually reduced me to tears in my car last night. I think my reluctance to embrace the pregnancy at first, combined with my sudden and intense connection with her after delivery, just made some of these lyrics resonate with me.

I don’t know but I think I may be
fallin’ for you, dropping so quickly
maybe I should keep this to myself
wait until I know you better
I am trying not to tell you, but I want to
I’m scared of what you’ll say,
so I’m hiding what I’m feeling
But I’m tired of holding this inside my head...

I’ve been spending all my time just thinking about you
I don’t know what to do, I think I’m fallin’ for you
I’ve been waiting all my life and now I found you
I don’t know what to do, I think I’m fallin’ for you I’m fallin’ for you

I can’t stop thinking about it
I want you all around me
and now I just can’t hide it
...I think I’m fallin’ for you

I've fallen for her, indeed.

Who's the Master of this Bedroom, Anyway?

This is what happens to a master bedroom when you have a newborn at home and you allow said newborn to join you in said master bedroom for periods of (hopefully) sleep:What is normally a tidy grownup space becomes a mess of blankets and breast pads and burp cloths (and Daddy's pj pants, used as burp cloths) and diapers and wipes and infant caps, crib bedding and changing pads and heating pads and milk pump accessories. Oh, and it turns out all that stuff doesn't even need to be there, because the baby is napping on the grownup bed.

Actually, at first we were reluctant to even have her in our bed at all -- and as a result, we spent most of the first few weeks trying to sleep in the recliner. In the past week we gave up on keeping her out of our bed (the dogs could not care less anyway) so that I could nurse her and snuggle her horizontally when she wasn't in the mood for slumber. And she's also gotten way better at sleeping not in our arms, which is a huge blessing.

For what it's worth, we I have actually kind of enjoyed having Anneliese close by at night. We didn't ever do that with Nathan (he went straight from the hospital to his own crib downstairs -- mostly because he was discharged with a bulky phototherapy machine for his jaundice and it was a pain to haul it up and down stairs multiple times a day), and I have heard from many moms that it's kind of a nice time to be close and bond with baby. So I'm glad we have done it for a while with Anneliese.

All that being said, we have decided that co-sleeping is not for us. With Mark going back to work this week (and needing good rest to be safe and productive on the job), and with Anneliese sleeping for longer and longer spells (in her crib in her own room), this shared-sleepspace chapter is coming to a close. Most nights she sleeps for 6-7 hours, then after an hour or so of feeding and soothing, she goes back down until morning. Which means most nights she's getting up just once, so it's not like I'm trekking up and down the stairs all night or something. And last night she slept from 8pm to 5am (yes, you read that correctly -- nine hours!!) in her own room, so if that trend continues then there's really no reason to bring her upstairs anymore.

So, as far as the master bedroom goes... peace out, Anneliese. It's been real. You can still come back occasionally, but let's try to keep the babyness contained to your cutie nursery, shall we?

All I Want for My Birthday...

... is more of my precious daughter.

It's crazy how fast I've fallen in love with her. Much faster than Nathan. I'm not sure if it's just the context of a second child: I knew this time, going into it, what it means to be a parent and how I would feel about my child. Or if I can just relate to the high-maintenance thing she has going on. Or if it's just God reminding me that even though Anneliese has been the biggest surprise in our lives, she's also shaping up to be the best, and that should remind me that all those other awkward parts of life are supposed to be happening too. Something along the lines of Dear Erin, See? I was right after all. And YOU are not in charge. Love, God. ...You know how that goes.

Anyway it's been an uneventful but pleasant birthday. We went to church in the morning, went to a memorial evensong service at church in the evening followed by a dinner with choir folks, and spent the time in between hanging out with my family. Which mostly consisted hunkering down on the couch with some blankets, nursing and cuddling Anneliese.

I don't know why (maybe because they aren't actually open all that often, even when she's awake) but I still cannot get enough of her gorgeous dark eyes. And they almost looked purple when we were taking these pictures! I hope they never change (but I know they will).

For the record, it was Daddy who decided that the striped pants should go with the polka-dotted shirt.

Happy Birthday to me. :)

Maybe-Blue Eyes and Other Girlishness

I thought, since my last few posts have been pretty Nathan-centered, that it was time for an Anneliese update. We have fallen into that second-child pattern of not taking nearly as many pictures, so this is another of the portraits from when she was a week old.

For Mark and me, her most distinguishing facial features are those big round cheeks and her dark blue eyes. We have no idea where she got them. Nathan told us they were maybe blue. Which is his way of saying navy. (He also thinks his skunk costume is maybe blue; he gets it confused with black!) I don't know if they're quite that dark, but they are certainly darker than most other caucasian babies we've seen! But oh so pretty. :)

Anneliese had a two-week checkup on Tuesday, and she is up to 9 1/2 pounds! So... yeah she's getting enough to eat. :) I have totally healed from my injury, and I'm glad to be done with the bottles for now. My life is so much simpler this way. Don't get me wrong, though, we'll be glad to reintroduce them when we're ready to leave her alone, though!

Also at her appointment, we realized that her umbilical cord stump had gotten kind of stinky and was oozing something green and gross, so (against conventional wisdom and what "the books" say) our doctor went ahead and pulled it off, since he was pretty confident it wouldn't bleed (he was right). It was a little infected but he didn't want to put her on an antibiotic at this age (and cause thrush/yeast infections, etc) so he thought we could kill it with... air. And he was right again; it's much better now and not stinky at all. And soon it will be totally healed and she can have a real bath. (And by real bath, I mean any bath, since we have not only been slack with picture-taking but also with baby-cleaning.) I'm kind of glad that cord stump is gone, Nathan's took almost a month and this one was looking that way too!

Our church had a rosebud in honor of Anneliese's birth last Sunday. Since then, some friends have been bringing us dinners. Since Mark and I are both still exhausted (yes, still), and since the evening hours are the hardest for us (both our children are fussiest between 4 and 8, it seems), we're very grateful for the support!

She is getting much better at using her waking hours for things other than fussing, and she is actually turning into a champion sleeper! (At night anyway, and that's when it counts.) She has been going 5-7 hours in a stretch, which means she only gets up for one feeding per night. Awesome. It's totally worth it to have her eat every hour and a half during the day, and not nap well. I promise.

Anneliese has almost outgrown many of the newborn-sized clothes we had on hand for her, so I'm enjoying dressing her in some of the slightly-bigger (up to 3 month) stuff. This is why having a daughter is fun, right? :) And my multi-talented friend Kristy made her these gorgeous burp cloths (amongst a box of other great gifts), in her spare time from being a doctor, apparently. At first I thought they were too pretty to get spit-up on them, but then I realized I wanted to make all the other moms green with envy when I pulled them out of her bag. (Yes, the awesome bag.) So we will definitely be using them, pretty as they are. They need to be shown off.

We have one more week with Mark before he goes back to work. He's easing back into it, though, so it won't be too sudden. I'm still a little concerned about what I'm going to do with Nathan while I'm nursing Anneliese, to keep him from destroying the house or hurting himself. I know zillions of moms do it, though. Anyone have any hints?

Meeting Grandparents and Friends

The past few days have been busy with a plethora of visitors. Everyone wants to meet the new arrival! (Though I think Mark and Nathan and I were the ones who cared most about the visitors!)

Most importantly, Anneliese got to meet three of her four sets of grandparents. Mark's mom came on Thursday night but only got to see the baby for a few minutes before she went down in her crib.... for six hours. Amazing. (The rest of the night was awful, so don't get jealous of me too quickly.) I felt kind of bad since I knew Grandma wanted to play with Anneliese, but nothing (nothing) is worth waking a baby who is learning to sleep for extended amounts of time in her own crib. So instead Nathan got all Grandma's attention for most of her visit. Anneliese did get a little snuggle time before she left too!

Then my dad and Cathy came up and brought lunch and stayed for the afternoon. We had an incredibly pleasant and relaxing visit with them (so relaxing that I think at one point all four grownups had dozed off!) even though Nathan skipped his nap for the first time in his life (yikes, that better not be a habit already). We ate chicken and I even drank some sweet tea for the first time in several weeks. I didn't worry about caffeine too much when I was pregnant, but both of my kids have proven very sensitive to it in breastmilk (trust me when I say the results are not pretty) so when I have it now I have to dump the milk -- something I don't like to make a habit of -- so real tea is a very rare treat! They also brought a few matchbox cars for Nathan, which made him crazy happy and he's barely put them down since they left. Doesn't my dad look sweet with his grandkids (and a lap full of cars)?

And then my mom came up. I was so glad to see her! I think there is something about being a new mommy (even for the second time) that just makes you want you own mom around, you know? And mom was nice enough to leave her house at like 5:30 in the morning (she would have been up anyway, don't feel too bad for her) so she could hang out with Anneliese while we went to church -- and that meant I got to sing with the choir. (I don't mind taking Anneliese into worship with me, but I can't really bring her into the chancel to sing, of course... and we're not quite ready to leave her in the nursery yet, considering it's flu season.) We figured since we know now that she can take a bottle if needed, we should take advantage of mom's willingness to help out. Mom also fixed us an awesome homemade lunch (chicken pie and baked apples and green beans and brownies).

Anneliese also met a few of our church friends this week. The Chamblees, who -- if you recall -- came down with H1N1 the week Anneliese was due, have recovered and were very anxious to finally meet her. Of course Nathan was super-stoked to see Hayes too!

And our friend Nathan (who happens to share a first and middle name with our Nathan -- isn't that weird? We didn't even know him when Nathan was born) came to meet her too. He hasn't been around many newborns, but he did fine and he even held her for a little while, though he seemed hesitant at first (he wasn't sure about the whole neck support thing, apparently). And our Nathan was very happy to see his friend "Another Nathan" for a little while outside of church!

So it's kind of been a tiring week, but since we don't have much else going on besides learning to adjust at home with both kids (and that's actually going fairly swimmingly), we were glad for the company and adult conversation!

For more pictures of our week of visitors, click below on Ashley and John with Anneliese.

by mgoetts

One Week Old

Anneliese is one week old today. Doesn't she look tiny and precious in Daddy's hand? Things have taken a decided turn towards normal around here. My "injury" has pretty much healed, so Anneliese is nursing on both sides now, without pain or problems. Which makes my life bottle-free and therefore approximately 80% easier.

Also, she slept in her own crib all night last night, from 8pm to 6am, and only woke up twice for milk. Mark figured the reason she kept fussing when we put her down in her crib before was the sudden temperature change, and he was right. We borrowed an idea from our friend LeAnn: we wrapped her up tight in the swaddle me (thanks Betsy!), then used a heating pad to make a warm spot in her crib (yes, we took the pad out before we put her down). And she stayed down just fine! For about four hours at a time. Over and over again, all night. And now I hate to admit it but I miss holding her since it feels like it's been forever. I know, I know... I can't be pleased. :)

I am so in love with my daughter. Have I mentioned that recently?

Aunt Ashley and Uncle John

Anneliese got to meet her Aunt Ashley today! She and John came up for the afternoon to see both kids. Nathan was very excited to get some special Ashley love, and Anneliese slept contentedly in both Ashley's and John's arms.... which I'm pretty sure means she likes them too. :)I'm used to seeing Ashley cuddling my kids, and she's always had such a nurturing/maternal instinct anyway that it seems perfectly normal to see her in that role. But it was surprising and fun for me to see John cuddling Anneliese while he watched a football game. It looked very natural on him too! I'm excited for Ashley and John to get married already and start making babies of their own. Since they spoil my kids, I reserve the right to become one of those annoying people in their lives who nags them about baby-making. Get on it, you two!

Ashley also pointed out that with Anneliese drinking bloody milk, she's sort of a vampire baby. But we'll refrain from calling her Renesmee, or from thinking of her as a vampire in any way. If we focus our brains very hard, we can follow emu's "strawberry milk" idea -- which Mark is a lot more comfortable with! Only when Ashley and I are together would vampires even enter the discussion!!

We also took Anneliese to church for the first time this morning. I think people were kind of surprised to see me -- last Sunday I was singing in the choir, very very pregnant. And then
today I was there with the baby all snuggled into the Moby wrap (I wanted as few people to be tempted to touch her as possible!) and dozing through the service. I know some people say you're not supposed to take a baby out in public so soon, but I really needed to get out of the house, and the timing worked well with her feedings for us to be able to make it to worship.
Which I think we both needed. Something about being out and about just makes me feel more human, you know?

But at the end of the day we were both definitely exhausted. I didn't even know Mark took this picture until I just found it on our camera. It kind of sums up the mood of our evening.

Adjusting: Life at Home and Pink Milk

The first few days at home have been... well, they've been. We're tired but we're functioning, which is pretty much what to expect with a newborn in the house, right? Anneliese is very soothable, it just takes a lot more effort than we expected -- or what we remembered from last time!

She eats about every two hours, and she sleeps pretty well in our arms, which is where she spends most of her time (though she has done an afternoon nap in her crib both days -- yay!). She is spending nights in our room, alternating between the pack & play and the recliner (with me).

Even though it's tiring, I am finding myself less frustrated in those fussy moments than I thought I would be. I know now how fast this newborn period goes by, so I am just trying to enjoy the snuggling while it lasts! Soon enough she will be ready to move on and be a big girl, so I don't want to wish this baby time away being frustrated or stressed.

The breastfeeding has thrown us for an unexpected loop. Since I had nursed Nathan for almost two years, and since Anneliese latched on so quickly at the hospital, and since I wasn't having any pain and my milk came in fast and she's filling up more diapers than we can count (seriously we abandoned the whole counting diapers thing about five minutes after hospital discharge), we made the mistake of assuming that nursing was going fine and would be easy this time around again. Well... turns out she had a bad latch (bottom lip curled under... bottom lip... who thinks to look there?) and it didn't start hurting until late Thursday night and Friday morning. But it quickly went from hurting a little to cracked and bleeding. Ugh. I realized it was a real problem when I went in for the post-nap pumping and the bottle filled with bloody milk. Lovely. Nice to know that second-time moms can have trouble with this, too, huh? I feel a little sheepish and little like a dunce, but... it is what it is.

So while it's healing, I am skipping her right-side nursing sessions and she's getting that milk from a bottle instead. It's way sooner than we thought we'd introduce a bottle, but... I've got to heal. Pushing through the pain in this case would just make it worse. Mark has been a little grossed out by the blood in the milk (though it's perfectly fine for her to drink... she had been getting it that way from the breast anyway, before we knew what was going on), but I told him to just think of it as "it's a girl" milk and that made him laugh. So I think he's feeling better about it now. I don't know, I think it's sort of festive, don't you? (This is what was left after she finished; you can still see the pretty color.)

But because of my breastfeeding "injury," Mark did get to give Anneliese her first bottle. He seemed glad for the bonding moment with her. And as you can see, she's latched to the bottle just fine (bottom lip and all!), so here's hoping she can translate that back to the breast when we reinstate her right-side feedings.

Mark and I are both anxious for her to get back to exclusive nursings -- me, because I have to be honest and say that bottles are a huge pain. And Mark, because then he can take a more passive role in the middle of the night again! (He's being a very good sport, though!)

Anneliese's first doctor's appointment also went great. She is healthy (not yellow at all, yay!) and back to her birth weight already (so apparently that bad latch was pretty effective after all), which means we could stop waking her for feedings... if, you know, we were the ones waking her for feedings. Which we're not. To say the least. :) But it's still good to know that if and when she does decide to sleep for more than a couple of hours, I don't have to have mixed feelings about letting her do it.

We took her on her first outing today (no, going to see the doctor does not count) -- to Kohl's to get her some pants, and then to the airport, so big brother Nathan could watch the planes. It was lovely to get some fresh air (seriously I needed it to feel human again), but it was much much colder and windier than we thought it would be were dressed for. Even with Anneliese bound up tight against me in the moby wrap, she and I were both shivering, so we spent most of the time watching Mark and Nathan play from the warmth of the car. Which was still incredibly pleasant.

Overall things are going fine! And Anneliese will start meeting more friends and relatives this week, so we will have some help distracting her from fussiness during her waking hours!

Big Brother & Little Sister

Nathan and Anneliese got to meet each other today! We got home from the hospital when Nathan was still at preschool, so Anneliese and I snuggled on the couch and watched tv while we waited for Mark to go get Nathan.

These two will will carry the roles of big brother and little sister for the rest of their lives, and it was kind of fun to see the first moments of the relationship. We got some of them on video (my favorite part is where he tells us she is dirty):

Nathan is very excited to have Anneliese home with us. He is always aware of where she is and he wants to be near her, hug her, kiss her, and hold her. We're still working on always being gentle and touching nicely, but he's getting better. I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon, but for now they're very sweet together.

For all the pictures of Anneliese's arrival and homecoming, click on my pregnant belly, below.

by mgoetts

Pictures from the Hospital

Most of these pics are the same ones posted on Facebook, so I apologize for the redundancy. But I have non-facebookers (grandparents and other relatives and friends from church) clamoring for more pictures, so I am posting them here as well.

Anneliese and me, just after sunrise on her birthday, enjoying a fresh clean postpartum room and the fact that our tummies are full from breakfast:

A big yawn from a little girl:

Daddy and Anneliese... Mark is in love already!

Anneliese and I have matching PJs which have seriously been all the rage here in the maternity wing. The nurses and techs, the doctors, the housekeeping and food staff.... everyone has commented on the fact that we match. I promise I won't make her dress like me all the time, but it's been fun here at the hospital. One of those things you can't really do with a son. :) And since everyone has asked -- we got the whole set (nursing tank top, pants, baby gown, baby cap) from Old Navy and it comes in green and pink.

We think she looks kind of like Nathan in this picture. She loves to sleep with her arms up, just like he did. Touchdown! She had a rough(ish) first day and was kind of fussy and didn't sleep much, but towards the end of the afternoon she did sleep for a couple of hours in the bassinet (not our arms!) and seemed pretty calm and happy, so we're hoping that's an indication of good things to come.

In Praise of Epidurals: A Birth Story

Brace yourself, this will be the most boring thing you have ever read about childbirth. That's because I had the best labor ever. And since we're stuck in the hospital for one more night (argh), I am taking the time to write it all out before I forget the details.

10am - I had a 41-week checkup (people are really nice to you at those; they feel bad that you even had to schedule a 41-week checkup!) and while they were checking Beanie (she was still Beanie at that point) on the monitor, they noticed I was having decent contractions every 6-7 minutes. Who knew? Not me, they were so mild I hadn't even noticed. They told me to come back for a labor check if they got to be more intense or if they got down to 4 minutes apart.

11am - I took Bowden to the vet (you knew I would end up at the vet during early labor) and ran some errands nearby -- shoe shopping and fall scent-hunting at Bath & Body Works. Contractions were still pretty mild but got to 4 minutes apart, so I headed home.

1pm - we packed our stuff for the hospital, left Nathan with Uncle Nick (who I grudgingly allowed to take this picture), and went back to the OB's office. Even though contractions were about 3 min apart, my cervix was still only at 2cm so they didn't want me to go to the hospital yet. Left with instructions to go eat something, sit still, and see if they intensified on their own, without walking etc.

2:30pm - did my early labor at Panera Bread. For the record, a chopped cobb salad is really good labor food. :) Contractions weren't closer but they certainly got more intense.

4pm - went back to the OB's office for another labor check. Yes, I have now been to the office three times in one day. Cervix was still 2cm, and I started to get scared at that point. I was beginning to have real pain, and based on how fast Nathan's labor went once I started dilating, I knew that once it started, it would be a race to the finish. I was worried about getting admitted in time to get an epidural. Midwife gave us instructions to go home and (although it seemed counterintuitive) try to slow down the contractions -- hot bath, nap, no movement. She thought if we could slow them down, then when they restarted (which they would, if it was real labor), they would be more productive.

7:30pm - guess what, she was right. After a bath and some couch time with Nathan, my contractions had slowed down and then come back to between 2 and 3 minutes, and were pretty hard. Suddenly I knew, it's time. NOW. I think Nick was a little awkward and worried ("um, Nathan? Go hold mommy's hand, ok?") but I have to give him credit for not freaking out even when he could tell my pain was getting worse. I mean, he's never been around anyone in labor before. So anyway we woke Mark up from his nap and headed out the door in kind of a rush. A rainy rush. A rainy rush where people on the road are driving way too slow and oh Lord don't they know I'm in labor??? Pain, people. Labor is painful.

8pm - I started remembering why I hate hospitals. Sitting in triage, in pain, and the nurses want me to recline in the bed so they can monitor Beanie's heart rate. Seriously? That is not comfortable and the contractions are at least four times worse when I do that so I will not be reclining back on this bed. I promise she's alive in there and you will not get in trouble for not keeping her heart rate steady on that stupid piece of paper printing from that stupid machine in this stupid little triage room where I am in pain. I will be sitting upright or standing, thankyouverymuch. Some gem of a nurse came in and found the equivalent of "fetal heartrate tracking is irregular due to mother won't cooperate" in her computer and told me to do whatever felt best. I saw Jesus shining from that nurse's soul.

8:20pm - found out my cervix was still only at 2cm. So even though my contractions were hard and close, and my pain was very very real, that's technically not labor. And technically you're supposed to be in labor to be admitted to the labor & delivery unit. Technically. But amazingly, the awesome OB who was on call decided to trust my instinct that she's coming, and trust my instinct (and birthing history) that once my cervix moved it would go really fast, and decided to admit me anyway. (I'm sure my pain and the fact that I was already five days late factored into that decision.) Jesus was shining from that man's soul and his earlobes. He even got me hooked up to the antibiotic I would need for my strep-B (proof that he believed me on the speed thing, since the second dose has to come four hours after the first, but before delivery) and the fluids I would need before getting an epidural, all before I was even moved to a labor room. Yay for doctors who trust moms' bodies and instincts!

9pm - got into a labor room and we're pretty sure it's the same exact room Nathan was born in. I did shed some tears over the fact that Beanie might have to wear one of those ugly hospital hats when she was born, but then decided to stop crying about it (no idea why it upset me so much, so let's just blame labor mmmkay?) and just found another hat in our bag and put it in the bassinet so they'd put her in that one instead of theirs. Problem solved, tears abated, and then (only then) did Mark decide it was safe to laugh at me. I agree it's funny in hindsight. :)

9:30pm - Contractions just under 2 minutes apart and hard. I was still waiting on the epidural and the pain was getting worse and worse, though I think I powered through it like a champ using breathing techniques and focusing on Mark telling me stories about Nathan to get those endorphins rushing to whatever "natural" pain relief they could bring. I was more scared than in pain, I think, because I knew how much worse it could get and that sort of terrified me. I was having horrifying flashbacks to Nathan's delivery which was way too fast and ended with the epidural man not showing up until I was ready to push. Fortunately this time I had a dream of a nurse (kind, sense of humor, not a cheerleader, I'm telling you Jesus was shining through people all over that L&D wing) and an experienced hubby and they both made it much easier for me to talk myself up instead of down, and to keep me from panicking.

10pm - epidural was in. Two words: PURE BLISS. Still only 3cm dialted, but at that point I didn't care if labor took all night or if they had to pump me full of sixteen bags of pitocin to get me moving. I was happy, people. Epidural happy. And I daresay there's no better kind.

11pm - read some magazines, watched some tv, chatted with Mark, and took a nap. That's right, I took a nap in labor. Did I mention that the epidural rocks?

12:15am - our nurse noticed Beanie's pulse pattern showing indications that there was pressure on her head. Which probably meant that the cervix was opening and she was lowering. So she checked me and indeed I was 8cm. With no pitocin. I felt incredibly validated about the whole going-fast thing!
12:35am - my water broke on its own and within 10 minutes I was fully dilated and ready to push. I don't think Mark and I understood that at the time; we just thought they were calling the doc to come check me or something. But I did start feeling the urge to push and I felt very relieved, since I had been worried the epidural would take away that sensation and I would waste a bunch of time and energy pushing wrong. No need for the worry, I could feel the pressure but not the pain, so my body knew exactly what to do (and was already asking to do it!), but they had me wait to push until someone from pediatrics came up, since Beanie (like her brother before her) had made a big ol' poop inside the womb.

1am - all the necessary parties were present (including a peds resident with fabulous Fabio hair) and I started pushing every time I had a contraction.

1:27am - Beanie arrived! (And she stayed Beanie for another hour or so while we finalized our name choice.) I got to cuddle her and snuggle her and talk to her and marvel at the fact that I have a daughter, all while they stitched me up and I relaxed, pain-free.

I know there are lots of people with lots of valid reasons for wanting to deliver their babies without pain medication. But for the record, I am not one of them. I have done it both ways and I have to say that I much preferred the latter. The one with the working epidural. The one I enjoyed. The moral of the story? Have the delivery you want, so that you can be happy and proud at the end. Whether that's numb or natural or something in between, just do what works for you -- there's no wrong answer.

And while you're deciding, I will forever sing the praises of my epidural. :)

Happy Birthday, Beanie!

Meet the newest member of our family...

Anneliese Caroline Goettsch

She is 8 lbs, 4 oz and 21.5 inches long. She was born today at 1:27am after a relatively uneventful labor and uncomplicated delivery. Both mom and baby are doing great!

And, for the record.... she was six days late: She was worth the wait, though, and we're happy to finally have her in our arms.

Children are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. (Ps. 127:3)