Babyspa.
Amelia had her first "spa" experience: a sponge bath and full body massage with coconut oil. I was envious, but she didn't seem to realize how lucky she is!

I love this bunny towel!

I have always looked forward to giving my baby a massage.


Clean and sweet!

Baby bliss?

Some more pictures!


Her eyes are a deeper blue than most newborn babies'-- we're hoping she keeps that color!



Amelia quietly entertains herself with a sock puppet...

At long, long, LONG last!



Amelia was born at 7:10 p.m. on Thursday evening. She weighed in at 7 lbs, 12 ounces, 20 1/2 inches.
We had a really long labor. It lasted about 40 hours, and was pretty hard because she was posterior presentation-- back labor is no fun! Things progressed very slowly, too slowly. After 40 hours, I hadn't dilated past 7, despite maximal contractions. We ended up having a cesarean birth. At that point, I was really ready to be done and to just have Amelia. It had been hard on both of us, and I was relieved to know that she would be born within a half an hour of making the decision. We found out afterward that she had the cord wrapped around her neck, came out kind of gray, with labored breathing. I was even more glad then that we had gone ahead with the surgery!
They took her to the NICU, but they sent her over to the nursery within a few minutes because she was doing so well. So amazing to finally meet her!

In spite of a difficult birth and some disappointments, we still had a very positive experience. We had the birthing "dream team," I think: Jeff, my mom, Jeff's mom (who is a nurse,) our friend Sarah was our nurse, and we have a wonderful OB doctor. All of the other staff at the hospital was amazingly kind and supportive, as well! One of the nurses that I had before Sarah came called later to see how things were going and to let us know she was praying for us. A couple of others that were friends of Sarah's also let us know they were praying for us throughout. What a sweet sense of support! Although I am 100% glad I'm done, I can honestly say that I enjoyed much of the process, mostly because of the community experience in that birthing room with Jeff, Mom and Amy. So even though the birth came later than I was hoping (date-wise) the timing was great that the moms could attend.

This picture is like a dream for me. I have waited so long to feel Amelia against me, and i cannot get enough of her.

This is a little blurry, but I love those eyes! She seems to get sweeter every day.

Final Profiles


As big as I'll be. And I look so patient! It's surprising to me how much smaller I look in the April picture-- I should line them all up...


I love the perspective on this one.

Ready and Waiting




We are just kind of waiting around for Amelia to decide it's time to meet us. My deadline to go into labor on my own is Wednesday, at this point. I have been getting acupuncture, taking vigorous, determined walks, and doing other unmentionable things to try to get things going. But there is only so much we can do. The funny thing is that it could literally be any moment, we just don't know!
Jeff's mom, Amy, has been here since Wed. night, and it has been wonderful to have her. She has been spoiling us with cooking and cleaning and we've been having some fun outings. So at least the waiting is enjoyable. Yesterday Lisa came over, so she Amy and I all watched a movie and ate snacks on our bed in the air conditioned room. Fun! My mom and dad arrive on Monday. Maybe internally that's what I'm really waiting for...
As far as statistics go, I am dilated one cm., 50% effaced, and Amelia's head is "engaged" in the pelvis. And I am starving all the time, but very energetic. So we shall wait and see. You will soon be looking at pictures of the little wonder!

Garden Update

Strawberries are my favorite, and next time I will plant many, many more so we can pick more than two at a time.


We will have quite a variety of tomatoes in a while. In fact, we probably have about 20 different plants growing. If you are local, you know where to come get them soon!



Broccoli, left to its own devices.

This is my favorite section right now. It looks like a jungle, then underneath...

A favorite.
I love these flowers-- Fuschia. They are so vibrant, exotic and, well, sexy. I have a basket of them hanging outside our front door, and I pause every time I pass by to admire them.

The Getaway.
Jeff and I planned a trip last weekend to spend some time together relaxing before Amelia comes. Below is my really lame attempt at documenting the fun.





That was in the car on the way to Long Beach. Yes, we went to Long Beach for a vacation! I didn't want to have to drive long, but wanted to be near the coast. We stayed a couple of nights at a B&B that we would never recommend to any of you. But highlights were: not having to cook, not being able to clean or work on the "to do" list, and spending lots of time together. And reading magazines. And watching TV at night. I was so relieved to be home. our bedroom is so much more relaxing than the room we had, it felt like heaven to not be overstimulated by busy wallpaper and walls covered with a mishmash of framed pictures and assorted tchotchky (Is that how you spell it?) in an already very small and crowded room. Anyway, we love our apartment and another bonus of going away was being really thankful to be home!
On another note, we stayed up really late last night installing an AC unit in our bedroom. It was almost 100 degrees yesterday, and we are both pretty uncomfortable. We are taking walks every evening to coax Amelia into position for takeoff.