Claire is here!

She's here!! The story of how she got here is long, so I'm not sure how much of it I'll get down in this first post before dad and baby wake up. So I'll stick the the important details.

Claire Elise Schaub Bringard was born August 27, 2008 at 10:49 PM at Mission Hospital (more detailed story to come about why she was not born at home). She was 7 pounds 3 ounces and 18 inches long. She came into the world screaming and healthy! We all came home from the hospital Friday afternoon around 2:00 pm. Claire and I were both released with a clear bill of health.

As I was not the photographer of the extravaganza, the photos on my camera may not be the best, but it's what I have now!  Enjoy!

Reading List

The books I ordered from Amazon have come! So now I have something to occupy me these last days. I was about to start going stir crazy. I made sure all my "to do" items were complete before my due date, just to be safe. But that means that I have a completely empty schedule now, and all my teacher friends have gone back to work this week! So, I don't even have anyone to visit with. Today is my first real day of idleness, so I suppose I shouldn't complain so soon! But anyhow, books are good! On the reading list: Breastfeeding Made Simple, and The Vaccine Book. 

Also, I have an appointment with the midwife today at 3:00, so I may have a status update after that!

Due date...hah!

So, today is my due date. Too bad that means very little about when Claire will actually be born. I'm pretty positive it will not be today, though.  But for people who are less familiar with childbirth, or those that are used to the scheduled inductions, this concept has been very hard for them to understand. These are some of the baffled questions we have gotten: "What do you mean you don't know when she'll be born. That's what due dates are for, right?" " What do you mean Rechelle was out all day running errands, shouldn't she be at home resting and waiting?" "What are you doing at church, aren't you due tomorrow?" "I can't believe you're dancing, you're going to have a baby soon!" "What day and time can I come by to visit...you don't know...what...why?" And so on and so on. 

So yes, don't think due date, think guess date... or really "guess week" would be most appropriate! As of now I feel no different than I did last week, but we'll keep you posted!

The Bassinet

Well, the Schaub family bassinet came yesterday. I had only seen it once before, years ago. I did not have a proper appreciation for its size. Kevin and I are going to have to move some furniture around to see if we can fit it functionally in our room!

Photos

Yesterday our good friend Meghan took some portraits for us. We got the prints back today and they are really nice! Once we get them all on the computer, we'll make a Picasa album and post the link here. The final pictures will be photoshop magic-ed to get rid of the stretch marks. If only we could photo shop real life! :-)

So, last night I had my first bout of baby discomfort. I swear she was close to punching straight through the side of my stomach! It kept me up for what felt like hours. I tried to explain to her that that is not the proper exit route, and then realized I must be tired if I'm actually trying to reason w/ an unborn baby! Shades of what's to come? Let's be ignorant and say no. 

Hello All! This is my first foray into the blogging world, so be patient. I thought it would be a good way to put all our updates in one location for everyone to read. I will try and post pictures here regularly once Claire is born, and keep up with news. I warn you, it will be news that seems salient to me at the time, which could be utterly boring to some of you. Read at your own risk!

--Rechelle