A tiny gift.

I realize it has been some time since either Adam or I posted on our blog. In our defense, we did have a baby, albeit a while back. I'm hoping to be a more regular blogger now that Phoebe is on somewhat of a (dare I say the word...) schedule. As the title of my post suggests this will be about that little girl of ours.

Phoebe Bithiah Normand was born on August 11, 2009 at 3:50 in the afternoon. She was a healthy 8 pounds exactly and 19.25 inches long. I had a difficult pregnancy complete with almost 40 weeks of nausea and vomiting, several trips to the ER for migraines and dehydration, and preeclampsia. Of course it was ALL worth it. We were scheduled for an induction on the 10th because of the preeclampsia and the fact that we were overdue. Our little girl decided she didn't want to come out the traditional way and we were wheeled in for a c-section at around 3:30 on the 11th. It was a good thing we did because she was hanging out in my ribs and wasn't about to come down to be born. After four days in the hospital we came home. I can't explain the feeling of walking out of the hospital with your first tiny baby. All the professionals stay at the hospital and they let you walk out, in all your inexperience, with a little helpless creature. Yikes.

After the first few weeks of sleeplessness and realizing how little we knew about this thing called parenting, we started to settle into a "routine" of not have a routine. Phoebe dropped weight in the hospital (as is normal), and was down to 7 pounds when we left which prompted us to need to bottle feed. As difficult a decision as that was, it was best for her. She started gaining as soon as we put her on soy formula and was a MUCH happier little girl.



We are almost 6 months into her life and she is an absolute joy. She's a great eater and sleeper and has such a fun personality. She's learning new things all the time and loves to observe people and nature. She and I are together pretty much all the time and I'm wondering what it was that I ever did before she came along. I find that I'd much rather buy things for her than for me, I'd rather spend time watching her play than painting my nails or doing my hair, I'd rather make her baby food and clean her bottles than watch TV, and I'd rather read books like This is my Kitten than books for me. It's an odd thing to be transformed by someone so tiny and without words or tangible rewards, but it's the third most amazing thing yet, second only to knowing Christ and marrying Adam.



What a gift. And a gift I never even realized I wanted.