more sigrid pics

I thought these were really great - our friend Sara took them the other night while we went out for our anniversary!

Oh, and her umbilical cord stump fell off today - a major milestone for her short life!

Our little lamb

Here is Baby Sigrid in her lamb swing. Isn't she cute!?
Mom and Dad left this morning :( It was a great visit, and all three of us were sad to see them go. Thanks, Mom, Dad, and Tyler, for all of your love, encouragement, and help over the last week or so! It meant the world to us, and we are so glad you got to be a part of Addie's first two weeks of life. It was priceless!

Corey, Neil, and Jen, she can't wait to meet you!

Love and hugs,
Briana

Perfection

I know you are probably dying for pictures, so here are some of the over 300 we've taken so far.

I wish you all could see her though - the camera just doesn't do her justice - she is flawless.

First, some stats:

I was in labor for a total of four hours - maybe four and a half. We were in the hospital for an hour before she was born - they finished admitting me after she was born - and I was pushing for 15 minutes of that hour. She was 8lbs, 7oz, and 20 inches long.

Wednesday morning, we had a doctor's appointment. Frank, as we affectionately call our doctor behind his back, told us my cervix had softened a lot, but was still really high, which could mean one of a couple of things: that we still had a number of days to go and she would likely be induced this weekend, or, that she was too big to descend and engage, and might not be able to fit through the birth canal, which would require a c-section, whether I wanted to try going through labor or not.

Needless to say, I left the appointment feeling discouraged. Would this baby ever come? And would she be able to come naturally at all?

After the appointment, I took a nap, and then Parker and I went to lunch, and then I went to work for the afternoon. I was feeling some Braxton Hicks contractions ( = painless practice contractions), which wasn't abnormal for a doctor's exam day. I went home at 5, craving a yummy salad, which Parker went out to get. We sat down around 6 to eat dinner, and while I was eating I felt what must have been my first labor pain, although I didn't think anything of it at the time, as I had felt more pain on days previous. Well, the pains continued, although not at regular intervals, and I called the doctor. He said he would check on me again that night or in the morning. He called a little over an hour later, and by then I was having very regular, painful contractions. He suggested we head to the hospital, but didn't tell us to hurry or anything.

By then time we arrived at just past 10, I was hurting a lot, and shaking. When we got into the room, the nurse told us I was 8 or 9 cm dilated (you start pushing at 10cm). So, there went the opportunity for any kind of pain medication, including an epidural. Frank came, and found that I was 10cm dilated, and then he broke my water. The next thing I know, he was telling me I could push on the next contraction, and I thought, "are you serious?" It was hapenning so fast! And I kind of panicked, because I could tell I needed to push, but I didn't want to. But they made me, and the next thing I knew, there she was! Just an hour later.

I think we were in shock the rest of that night.

Anyway, here are some pictures:

She can't wait to meet you all!

Love,

Briana

She's here!

Sigrid Addison was born at 11:09pm on July 15th. She weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces and she does have SWEET CHEEKS!

More info to come -



Congratulations Briana and Parker! and welcome baby Addie!

New Arrival

We welcomed someone new to our home yesterday - but she may not be what you were expecting.

Our last diagnosis made us decide we had poured enough love and energy into our VW Passat, so, at probably the most inconvenient time of our lives, we bought a new car! Luckily, little Sigrid decided to hang on until we got her new, uber-safe, Swedish baby carrier home and taken care of, so now she can come and not have anything to worry about.

Here is our new Volvo:

Well, not brand new, but pretty darn close. It's a 2004 - newer than any car we've ever owned! We like it a lot - and while it was a little inconvenient to do this right now, we are glad we did.

For those of you who would much rather hear about the baby; well, there isn't too much to tell. My exam last Thursday triggered some terrific, albeit false, labor, but I woke up on Friday with only mild aftershocks, and nothing significant to speak of since. We'll see what happens after another exam on Monday (which is her official due date). Be praying for safe passage for the little one! In the mean time, we're just trying to finish up a few things around the house, like hanging pictures and fun stuff like that :)

Love,

Briana

Sweet Cheeks

For the first time in a long time, we got some good ultrasound pictures! You can make out the shape of her face in this one (it is upright), and her left eye (your right), nose, and what appear to be some very full little lips. The white blob to the bottom left of her face is her fist.
This one is better and worse. You can make out her eyes (black smudges) and the shape of her mouth pretty well, and she doesn't look as hairy, but does look more ghostly. We can't wait to see how much she'll look like these black and white photos!
Just a little over a week until her due date. . .

Love,
Briana

PS - HAPPY 4TH OF JULY! We're going to buy the best hamburger we can tomorrow (in a sad attempt to memorialize of Dad and his Egg) and then watch fireworks over the Intercoastal Waterway from the roof of our building. Here's to hoping the bugs don't fly up that high!