Colorado Isobel

hi baby.
I wanted to document a new "name sighting" in a couple of songs by this dude called who recently won a songwriting contest in Nashville (2009):

King Charles song LOVE LUST
"I wrote you a song, Mississippi Isabel.
I even sent you flowers, when you felt Ill.
You've the strength of the Greeks,
You are God's masterpiece.
You're every triumph, every victory.
I believe in every breath you breathe.
And I always imagined you'd be by my side.
Whether I'm hiding in the city
Or I'm tearing through the wild.
You're only a yoke, a noose in my throat.
If your beauty is a fortress,
Then my love will be the mote."

Overjoyed

Hi Bel!
I forgot to tell you that the song playing (from Dad's Spotify playlist) the moment you were born was Overjoyed by Stevie Wonder.  quite appropriate.

And though the odds say improbable
What do they know
For in romance
All true love needs is a chance
And maybe with a chance you will find
You too like I
Overjoyed, over love, over you,
Over you

For did my dreams
Come true when I looked at you

A Lot & A Little

I wanted to be that mom who documented everything...every day a new note about your first pants (!), doctor appointment, bodily functions, "TGIF"s, etc.  I might catch up one day-because I have those memories in my head.  Sadly, you've been with us for 15 days now (as of today!) and I'm only starting to record our history now.

This last couple of weeks has gone by so fast, but it's also been rough and difficult at times.  We're all getting used to each other, growing accustomed to new schedules and less sleep and not being in the womb! You're growing and learning SO much, so fast, Isobel.  It's obvious that your eyes are learning to focus on new distances and your systems are getting better at digestion.  We're both figuring out breastfeeding too-I wish you'd open your mouth wider when we start because boy, it can hurt my noonies! But I think we're doing okay.

We've been out and about a few times, too. Dad and I have taken you for walks around our neighborhood (Harvard Gulch Park) in the stroller and we've gone for drives to/from the airport, to birthday dinner for your PawPaw at Euclid Hall, and to lunch with aunt Audrey (my boss at WFP) at the Pajama Baking Co. We went to your pediatrician during your first week home (on Wed, April 24th) and you did so well.  The nurse and doctor fell in love with you--you were down to 7lbs, 14oz at that point, but I'm hoping we've bulked you back up to that birth weight by now.  Our next peds appointment is this coming Tuesday and I have a bunch more questions for the doc now that we've had a little while to get acquainted.

95% of the time, you are the perfect, easiest baby imaginable. You eat well, sleep well, make lots of faces, go to new people with ease and are happy and calm with your dad and me.  The other 5% of the time, we do our best to figure out what's making you uncomfortable--which seems to be gas, wet diapers, hunger, over-tiredness (normal stuff) or just the need to be held and comforted.

We haven't fed you with a bottle yet, because I want you and I to get settled with nursing first.  But I pumped my first 2 oz of milk for freezing today, and I look forward to having your dad feed you sometimes (or a babysitter when needed).


We try to only let you have a pacifier when nothing else will work and the "paci" seems to calm you right down, or if you seem tired but just can't seem to go to sleep.  You like your warm "washcloth baths" and really just despise all things diapering and clothes-changing related.  Every now and then, when you've either just eaten or are sleepy, you'll stay quiet on the changing table...but normally you let us know that you'd like us to hurry it up and quit it already(!). Haha.
It's been interesting this first couple of weeks to feed you on demand.  Some days/nights, you go 4-5 hours between nursings and don't seem to mind.  At other times, you can't eat often enough-every, you seem to be hungry again! Just this morning, we had a great feeding but you burped and it all came back up...all over the bed, me and you.  It was hard not to laugh, with us all covered in milk.  You were calmer about it than I'd expected...and it was a good reason for a little bath. :) I love you so.


What else can I tell you (for the record)...Your dad comes home from work and can't wait to see you! He took a week off after we left the hospital, and he's been back to work all last week.  He swears that you grow and change, even in the 10 hours he's been away, but I'm sure he's just exaggerating. I have definitely taken a backseat as the "woman in his life" since you were born, Izze.  I can't explain it, but you can see it in his face when he looks at you. He can keep you quiet and happy longer and easier than anyone else thus far (including me!) and he's the best at changing your diaper, even though he was a little nervous at first with cleaning "little girl parts." When I watch him with you, I fall more in love with him than ever because you expose a part of him that I've never seen before.  We never really talked about it beforehand, but he is a natural at taking care of you...I wish he could be home with us everyday. He makes it look easy!

That's enough for now. It's been a wild 2 weeks since you were born--all good! Come to think of it, it's been a pretty wild 11 months with you growing in my belly, being born and growing (already?!) out of some of the smaller "NB" clothes.

I thank God for you, and I cling to the Lord's promises for protection, provision and direction as I learn how to be your mom.

"I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will; And Thy rich promises in me fulfill."

Miracle on 4.20

Hi Isobel,
Guess what - you were finally born!

We waited for you to come on your own, but you must've been too comfortable in my belly. Our due date of April 7th came and went, and I felt like I was ready to pop as we waited for my body to go into labor naturally...and waited and waited. As it turns out, we had to make you come out with medicine, in the hospital-on Thursday, April 18th, the midwives recommended that we schedule an induction for the next morning at Swedish Medical Center, in Englewood, CO (just down the street from our house).

After 24 hours of antibiotics, Pitocin, contractions, epidural, resting and pushing, we welcomed you into the world on 11:43am, Saturday, April 20th 2013.  You weighed 8lbs, 5.2oz and were 20cm long! Your eyes were open, lungs strong and you could already move your arms, legs and head on your own (you got strong in there the last few weeks!).  When you came out, the midwife let me put you right on my chest and your dad and I looked at each other...and at you...and laughed a cried a lot because of how amazing it felt to finally see you and have you to hold in our arms.

I'll write out the whole birth story for you to read, but that's the gist of it.

After you were born, our midwife, Jennifer Whalen, helped Josh to clamp and cut the umbilical cord, deliver the placenta and clean me up.  We let the nurses clean you off and make sure you were healthy (APGAR score of 8/9!) too. They weighed, measured and wrapped you up tightly before giving you back to dad. When we were all ready, we moved from the L&D room to a nearby room in Mother&Child Recovery that looked more like a hotel room in the hospital! As we changed rooms, we got to show you to the family waiting to meet you out in the waiting room Your grandma, aunt Sammi, and your MeeMaw & PawPaw (dad's parents).  They were so excited to see you, and followed us to our room so that each one could have a turn holding you.

We rested there, welcomed lots of visitors and learned from the nurses how to take care of you for the next 2 nights.  In the hospital, we felt too scared to sleep when you were sleeping in case you might need us...so we were very tired.  We had a LOT to learn-for example, that we needed to trust God to keep you safe while we got some sleep!

On Monday, April 22nd (Earth Day and your uncle Todd's birthday), we left the hospital and brought you home.  It was cold and just beginning to snow when we put you in your carseat for the first time and drove you to our house. We felt like the luckiest people in the whole world, but also with a lot of new responsibility-to care for such a precious, amazing gift.