trial and error

well... it has been a week since i went into labor and little owen was born. and what a week it has been. brian and i are learning so much... a lot from trial and error... i feel like every few minutes i'm asking myself the question "what do i do?" haha, where is all the motherly intuition that i'm supposed to have?!? it is crazy to realize that this little child is totally dependant on the both of us. what an honor and what a nerve racking feeling. i pray all the time that God will guide brian and i towards the right desicions for owen. i have to keep reminding myself that God never gives us more than we can handle. we can handle the 5 outfit changes in one day, ohh and the two baths cause little boys can aim.... or not aim to well...

Without further adieu... Owen!

I called Lindsay on my way home from work Monday around 6:30. She had just finished moving a large bookshelf from the bedroom into the barn - by herself - and the result...? You guessed it... labor! She said her contractions felt different, stronger. When i got home, she was thinking this was it. I was thinking I was hungry. And luckily so was she, so we took a ride down to Main Street and walked around Pier 1, EMS and had dinner at Cosi, all the while the contractions getting longer, stronger and closer together. This was it.

As Linds chowed down her bacon turkey cheddar melt and I my favorite signature salad, we counted the seconds that each contraction lasted, and the minutes in between. I dared ask Lindsay if we could grab a starbucks after dinner... she said... no. So it was back up 100 to the apartment to call the doctor and finish packing our bags for the hospital.

We arrived at Paoli Memorial around 8:30pm. Lindsay was offered a wheelchair escort up to the maternity ward, which she politely declined... not exactly her cup of tea to be so fussed over... but this was just the beginning of a whole lot of fussing over this mom-to-be. Once upstairs the nurses checked her over and it became clear that this was for real. I called the almost-grandparents to let them know what was happening. Everything was moving along just as it should. Before long, Linds was ready for the epidural. This was a bit more traumatic than we expected. It's just not easy being still during a very painful contraction so they can put a needle in your spine. I was amazed by Lindsay's courage and strength thru it all.

After the meds kicked in, Lindsay was able to doze off a little. In between short snoozes we watched The Incredibles and The Constant Gardener on the laptop. It was around 4:00am when she felt like she was ready to start delivering the baby. The nurse came in to confirm this, and then there was a flurry of activity as the nurses gathered all the supplies and gear that would be needed for the final stretch. Lindsay was amazing. After only 25 minutes, Owen Brian entered our world! Born at 4:44am on Tuesday January 24th, little Owen weighed in at 6lbs 15oz and was 20.5 inches long.

After Owen got all cleaned up and checked over, he was visited by his Grandma Karol. Nana and Pop Pop Mac also came by early in the morning to meet their new grandson. Later that day Owen also got to meet his Aunt Meredith, Uncle Tyler, Grampa Travis, Aunt Beth, Uncle Joel, Aunt Missy and Great Aunt Chris. Many other wonderful friends and family came to the hospital to meet Owen in the days following. He felt very popular. And we really appreciated the love and support. Special thanks are in order to Mom C. for all the help and the daily early morning coffee and to Mom M. for holding the little guy for 4 straight hours on Tuesday night so Lindsay and I could get some sleep!

Lindsay and Owen were discharged from the hospital on Thursday morning and so now we're home getting used to life with our new little son. He is amazingly beautiful. We are both so grateful to God for this little perfect gift. What a miracle. Today Owen had his first doctor's visit. He'd been quite fussy for the past few days, so Dr. Uhler checked him all out, gave us some great advice, and since then the little guy has been happy as can be. Thanks Gene!

And thank you all for the phone calls, visits, emails and all the love and support. We are blessed to have such great friends and family... and so is Owen. He truly is "well born."

welcome ava grace

Little Ava Grace Manni was born on Monday January 16th at 3:08pm to now sleepless parents Pete and Katy. We think it's very cool that Ava and our own little guy will be only 1 week apart in age... maybe they'll be friends. Maybe they'll date? ha ha sorry Pete! ;)

Its All About the Boobs

oh the joys of signing up for a breastfeeding class! along with approx 15 other first timer couples, brian and i sat through 2hrs of a molly shannon impersonator... lets just say it got old real quick. here are a few qoutes of the evening: (of course, please add your own weird vocal inflections to each one!)

"The theory is...."
"Fantastic question!"
"Oh my gosh, that must be breastfeeding 105"
"Its all about the breasts!"
"Didnt make a damn difference"
"... are you empowered, are you frightned?"
"Jungle women do it that way"