Thanksgiving Weekend Photo Session

Dylan came over and spent some time with us the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This is a little slideshow of some of the photos from that session and you can see larger versions & download the photos here. If you want better resolution versions for printing or whatever, just email us here and we'll send you the larger version or upload them for you.

She's FINALLY HERE!!

and not a moment too soon... I think our first entry in this blog said something about The Universe's perfect timing and that has definitely proven to be the case.

Brittany woke up at 1:45am on Thursday morning, the 13th of November, with contractions coming at 12 minutes apart. By the time she woke Renn up at 3:30am they were about 6 minutes apart. His first question was, "Are you SURE these are contractions??". "Yes, I'm sure", Britt said. Renn drifted back to sleep where he had a horrible nightmare about his mother holding his newborn daughter AFTER he arrived late to the delivering room, giving him a glare that he'd rather not experience in real life. SO, he jumped out of bed, walked & kenneled the dog, showered and dressed while Brittany gathered her things and they were off to the hospital at 4:30am with pre-packed suitcase and big pink beach bag full of "baby stuff" in tow.

We arrived at the hospital at at 4:42am, checked in and were quickly put in our birth room where the nurses confirmed that these were INDEED contractions. They strapped Brittany in and began monitoring her and the little package inside of her. Renn paced the floor, bleary eyed but on high alert.

As the full moon set over White Rock Lake, we waited for changes in the timing and intensity of the contractions. Over the lake, a flight of Whooping Cranes wheeled and soared in the pre-dawn sky, the black tips of their wings sending a message when their backs angled away from your view.

Eastern symbology of the whooping crane, as it turns out, says that when the crane appears good fortune is at hand and it is a marker of longevity, spiritual awakening and is also associated with music. Western beliefs associate the crane with vigilance and loyalty. All good stuff!

Now, before we left the house, we called Britt's mom, Jessie, to let her know it was TIME! She left Northwest Arkansas at 5:00am to come see the birth of her newest granddaughter. We also called Renn's mom, Liska to tell her we were out the door! (quick name explanation here: Jessie Geneva is Britt's mom's first and middle names plus her dad had an Aunt Geneva. LISKA is Renn's mom AND his grandmother's first name, it means "little fox" in Czech - I know, how appropriate, right? So that is how she got her name ;-)

Elizabeth, Britt's sister, arrived about 5:30am and was just as excited as we were. Lot's of good advice and ideas of what to expect next. Her daughter, Savana, was delivered by the same doctor that was about to deliver Geneva.

...okay back to it:

SO, we waited. Dr. Tamim, the delivery doctor, came by a little after 7am to check on us and let us and the nurses know that he was only 10-15 mins way and to call when it was time. Shortly after that, the epidural doctor came by and did her thing - which was pretty crazy to watch... The needles go SO deep and then the tubes are inserted WAY further than you'd think they should be.  Brittany was a champ through all of that stuff and got some relief when it was done.

More waiting, more checks every hour and a half or so.  Calls to and from Britt's mom to update and check her progess. Liska was on pins and needles, waiting as patiently as she could manage. Brittany was a little fuzzy around the edges from the pain meds, but was hanging in there as we all monitored the contractions frequency and intensity on the monitors in the room.  

Jessie arrived about 10:45am and just a little later they asked us all to leave the room for yet another check.  You hear about these things going on for MANY hours, sometimes days and all the tough decisions that people have to make when the process gets strung out and you start to think too much...  Not the case here - when we came back in the room it was happening...

There were people in the room that we'd not seen up to that point, scurrying around without even speaking much, as well coordinated as a ballet.  The bed she was in was being transformed like a cartoon robot into the delivery platform with the landing lights (in the ceiling, pointing at the business end of the bed) on full bright.  The doctor, moving into position, looked up and said, "Let's have a baby!".

The pushing started with the next contraction and one nurse's voice rang thru and caught Brittany's ear, urging her to "Breathe!" and "NOW! PUSH!!".  Renn was positioned on her right side holding her hand with his right hand and his left hand on her back to help bring her up for each push.  Jessie was on the left side, holding her daughter's other hand, soothing and encouraging her.  The pushing went on for a while before the first sign of the baby came when you could just see the dark hair emerging, then it got more intense...  PUSH - SHORT BREATH - KEEP THE PRESSURE ON HER - NOW PUSH AGAIN!! More of her head began showing and then we seemed to reach a sticking point.  The doctor barked some short orders and the scissors appeared, ready to help open the door (episiotomy - ouch) a little for the new arrival.  The plan was for Renn to stay up top during the birth so as to keep only good memories of the whole process, but it was difficult not to watch as the cuts were made down there...bad idea.  It was more than he should have seen, and he got a little alarmed but tried not to show it.

With the door opened wider, Brittany pushed and the whold head emerged!  At that point, the doctor grabbed her head and seemed to put one foot on the end of the bed for leverage (he didn't actually, probably) and then REALLY started pulling!  Her little purplish-grey body came sliding out and the doctor plopped her up on Britt's tummy while he kicked into overdrive, clipping and then cutting the umbilical cord, stitching and started cleaning up. After the cord was clipped, the nurses grabbed her and started wiping and syphoning and flipping here all over the place - she was BEAUTIFUL!! Perfectly perfect with 10 fingers, 10 toes, 2 eyes and 1 nose!  Her little first cries were like music to the ears of the new parents, though she shivered with disapproval at being out in the open air - new to this world, the womb left behind.  She cried so intensely that she sort of chattered - ADORABLE! 

She had WAY more hair than expected and was more than a pound heavier than the last sonogram had predicted (that Monday, they said 7lbs, 6oz) - she weighed 8lbs 7oz!  Brittany had a dream(nightmare?) a few weeks before that she was going to weigh 8lbs 8oz - pretty wild.

She was finally here... 11:42 am, November 13th, 2008 - just seven hours after checking in it was done.  Nothing could have prepared us for the flood of emotions that rushed through us, seeing her for the first time. All the fear, all the confusion and noise - everything just stopped inside your head and things seemed intensely clear and focused. 

Welcome to this world, Geneva Liska Burling.  We've been waiting for you - we love you.

Click here for the full-size version of the photos (click 'slideshow').

VIDEO!!
Here's the birth video (click on 'view in high quality' for better results).

Here's our very first bath at home! (click 'high quality').

ready to POP!

Our friend Dylan did another session for us this weekend on Brittany's birthday - the 19th - one month before the Geneva's official due date. What a gift for all! Britt's wearing her birthday present from Renn - it's close to her left hand...

You can see the full-sized album here (click 'slideshow').

(you can check out more of Dylan's work here and here)

1st Taped Sonogram

Just found these instructions - what a help

It's a GIRL!! Meet Geneva Liska Burling...

We went to the doctor today and had our first sonogram. Oh my gosh... Mommy and Daddy both cried and were very excited to finally know for SURE - I'm a little GIRL!

You can see & download all my pics here.
We're going to see the doctor again on Monday just to make sure of our expected due date - as of today, it got moved back to December 1st. I'll be back with more pictures, hopefully - see you again soon!

Love,

Princess Geneva

First Month Belly Pics

Our First Entry

We're still not sure how this happened...

But we're going to have a baby! ;-)

We didn't plan it, but we're both VERY excited. The timing of the Universe is always perfect and we're just glad to be part of the plan and in a good position to accept the gift.

The thing is, every time we talk to someone in the medical profession, the date gets moved up... First we thought late November, meaning the conception was around Valentine's but, now - after the last visit with a nurse practitioner - it seems the early November, maybe even late October might be the arrival time of this little traveller. No matter which, we'll be just as "ready".

It would be really easy to get caught up in "how" things are gonna happen exactly and try to control and worry and all that. BUT, we're trying to do just the opposite: let go and know that it will be turn out just like it's supposed to. That's the plan for now anyway. Stay tuned for the first freak-out. Oh wait, Brittany says I already had it...