to geimps

So this will mean more to the Vener side of the family than anyone else, but it just needed to be done. These photos are for Mary Joyce Vener, aka Geimps -- Mom's mom. Mary Beth's great grandma. Geimps, don't worry... Kim is carrying on the Woodstock tradition for you, and Mary Beth already has her own Woody that eventually she can drag around with her. Thank you, Geimps...

update and angels

So yes, it's been a while. Gee, what could I possibly have been doing lately that has stopped me from updating the blog? In no particular order:

• Mary Beth has had two pediatrician appointments, where we have seen her grow leaps and bounds. From the first week to second week, she grew a pound and is now 7 pounds!!!
  
• I've also had two post-partum appointments. The first was slightly disappointing when I noticed that I had only lost the exact weight that Mary Beth was born. But then last week my weight dropped another 12 pounds. MUCH better. Still working on getting the feeling back in my fingers, but so far so good according to Dr. Jeff.
  
• Oh yes, Mary Beth gave Dr. Jeff a present when we went for my first appointment. We figured this may be a first--having an OPhi deliver for a Gamma, so Baby Gamma Mary Beth passed on some daisies. See photo below.
  
• We had Baby's First St. Patrick's Day! She didn't cooperate for the best photos, but we still celebrated.
  
• Bob's mom spent about a week here fawning over her first grandbaby, which was wonderful for all. Then she overlapped one night with Aunt Kim, who has been here for almost a week as well. The first week home was painful for me, and I couldn't really run any errands. Now I'm starting to with Kim, and eventually will be able to on my own. Still can't drive yet, or pick up the carseat with Mary Beth in it, but baby steps, right?

OK, that's enough of a mini-update. Now onto the angels...

Mary Beth sometimes looks "past" me with her big eyes -- like she's looking at something or someone behind us that I can't see. I had someone tell me that this is when babies are looking at the angels that are watching over them. Well, she has a LOT of angels watching over her, so we've been having some fun with this. We keep telling her not to listen to the funny looking guy telling her to torment me. No no, don't pee right in the middle of a diaper change. Or burp up on the new, clean outfit. Or yell at the top of your lungs because he said to do it. Do whatever the really tan woman next to that man says to do. Come on -- you know Mom has a tan again by now, right?! And now by popular demand, some more photos:

girl power and drunken baby syndrome

The nurse called it Drunken Baby Syndrome. Any mom that breastfed knows what we're talking about. It's the immediate effect breastmilk has on a baby -- especially the first few times. Eyes roll back, body freezes into a relaxed state, and she basically looks, well, drunk. Or stoned, but we'll go with drunk. Well, Mary really likes breastmilk, much to our delight, since it's then followed with up to 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep. This morning that meant that Bob left me to sleep for another 2 1/2 hours. I slept through breakfast. It was WONDERFUL.

Girl Power showed up when we were in the hospital. Kim is a genius at this double blanket wrap (aka a tight "baby burrito") that would put her to sleep in an instant. She LOVES it. Trouble is, when Bob would fold up the blanket (I was still getting land legs back), Mary would immediately shoot her left arm out of the blanket and into the air. Almost like a Black Panther salute. But since she's as white as white could be, I declared it to be the new Girl Power salute. Somehow I know that Mary's namesake would be proud.

For those of you who may not know, Mary Elizabeth's name has quite a history. There are a LOT of Mary Engelman's, Mary Vener's, and Mary Francisco's, along with the middle name Elizabeth throughout Bob's and my families. And then there's my mom, Mary Elizabeth, who passed away when I was 17. I've talked about her before, and don't think my hormones will allow me to do it again right now. :-) Bob's mom's name is even Mary Lillian, though she goes by Lillian. Rest assured that all the personality, knowledge, strength and attitude from all of these women have shaped a hell of a Girl Power for our little Mary. Watch out world!

Below are some pics... the first two are from the hospital, with Aunt Kim and Proud Papa Bob. Then Horsey, our favorite little stuffed animal that was given to us at our RSSC shower, the onesie that says "I love Mommy, and Mommy loves me." :-) And Mary's Little Lamb. It's the gift from Sonia, Lisette and Oscar. It's Mary's new home away from my chest...

home sweet home

Greetings all from the new land of Motherhood. It has been quite an interesting last 3 days, and I'm just starting to catch up on all the e-mails, text messages, etc. from all. Bob, Mary and I thank you dearly!

So here's a quick summary, though Aunt Kim did a great job of standing in while I was slightly busy! Checked into the hospital on Thursday morning. And no, I was not a fan of the IV and spinal block. I'm choosing not to relive any of that for you all except to say that Summer, the Nurse, very much deserves a raise.

If you've been following this, you know that my doc went to college with me. So Dr. Jeff is cracking jokes with me as he's slicing and dicing, which is the best way to distract me! "First foot... second foot..." Baby came out legs first, so I had to make a soccer crack. After head comes out, he says "Well I hate to break it to you, but she's got red hair." Made me VERY happy. Everything was kinda a whirlwind after that. She was weighed, measured, cleaned, etc. I was cleaned up and stiched/stapled, and taken to recovery. I don't remember a good chunk of that part -- I believe someone gave me more happy drugs to assist! He very much deserves a raise as well.

We're home now, and trying to adjust to a house that is ruled by a girl under 6 pounds. Amazing how much power she has! And the other little man here, Orbit the Wondercat, is a bit confused and doesn't know what to do. He gave me some well-deserved love when I came into the bedroom. But boy did things change after Mary started crying. Boy things are going to get interesting...

she is here!

hi! its kim, haven't decided if i am aunt kimberly (aunt, like those up north say it) or aunti kim ( like ant). Anyway, 0915 this morning, via c/s. kristi hated the iv, the spinal and the recovery room, since then all is great. baby took to the breast right away. she is a redhead. she is sofa king cute. 5 lbs 9 ozers. 20 inches long. tall! a screamer! just like mama. she just got named too. was beginning to think she would go home without a name ( like mama, she went home baby girl engelman #2, while i was named by rob right away! ) but now, 7 hours after delivery she is Mary Elizabeth Francisco. those of you pulling for sam or filamena. sorry. i was pulling for kimberly dawn. sending some cute pics. haven't loaded up the pic of kristi, mary beth and bob all asleep, may come later. it was cute. entire fam plum tuckered out. hospital is great, lots of attention. for those who care, 8/9 apgars. best you can hope for. layman's terms...baby is really healthy! yeah! i was so nervous! i didn't want her to have to go to intensive care, nicu. it was great to see her and bob in the reg nursery! i was pacing. enjoy pics.

sure kristi will write soon!

love,

kim

kristi wants all to know she too had the strawberry mark/stork bite on forehead. mary beth has her lips too. not sure how she putts or drives, so will have to see what she got from bob later

superwoman's daughter to give birth tomorrow

She was able to carry twins until 5 days before her due date. Give birth NATURALLY -- that's right folks, not a drug in her -- to a 7 pounder and a 6 pound, 9 ouncer. And bounce right back like it was nothing. She then raised three holy terrors (well, the third one was an angel, of course!). Went back and continued her career. Finished her doctorate of her life's work. Taught her children how to take care of themselves. Put up with a smartass, but all-loving husband. Had amazing, close friends who would do anything for her. And fought up until the last day when cancer, her only Kryptonite, took her from this world.

I'm convinced that if she had kicked cancer's ass, she would have done even more heroic actions, like becoming the first female President of the United States. You know, something easy for us to live up to.

I promised my mother that I would live my life as she taught me -- without fear, with intellligence, love and compassion, and I would live it to the fullest.

I have, however, accepted the fact that I am NOT Superwoman as she was.

I will not be carrying Baby Girl until her due date. I will not be giving birth without a single drug. Somehow I do believe she will be a holy terror, though. Let's hope she doesn't roll over at 30 minutes in the hospital and scream so loud that she had to be separated from the rest of the nursery. Yeah, that was me! :-)

Baby Girl has an appointment to enter this world at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning. She does, however, have Engelman and Vener blood in her, so it would not shock me if she showed up before that JUST to make an entrance.

It sounds strange to say, but I am going to miss being pregnant. Well, SOME things. Like the limited wardrobe options that made getting ready in the morning a lot easier. Bumping bellies with Bob. Eating chocolate and saying "Hey, Baby Girl likes chocolate, what can I say?" Fingernails that never broke. Baby hiccups. Feeling her move around in my belly, especially before Bob or anyone else could feel it. It was like our little secret.

What I won't miss? This numb, painful feeling in my hands that I've had now for the last 2-3 weeks contantly, and swollen feet -- just appeared in the last few days. Not being able to join my work friends after work for Happy Hour because it was at the world's smokiest bar. Not being able to exercise. Having to stop taking my roseacea medicine and having my face break out.

I'm sure there's more for my pro/con list, but now I must try to get the house ready for our impending guest. OK, so I'm actually going to go snuggle with Orbit, my first child. I hope he still likes me after this and that Baby Girl isn't his Kryptonite.

grow baby, grow!!!

So, Baby Girl is a true redhead. Not only is she breech and not turning, but she's not growing as fast as we'd like. She's healthy with a strong heartbeat - heard it myself! But even though I'm eating and drinking more than when I was during two-a-days for soccer back in college, she's somehow not growing leaps and bounds like we want. My doc here went to college with me back at Trinity, and I trust him with both of our lives. He's doing a great job of keeping me somewhat calm, and we'll continue to watch her progress. So appointments have gone to two a week and we'll just keep watching and waiting.

So I said "somewhat calm," because if you know me at all, you know that my mind is racing right now. I admit that I had a mini-freakout this morning. Then I got two e-mails from Mom's side of the family. And it calmed me down COMPLETELY. (Thanks! you know who you are!) Baby Girl definitely has Francisco and Engelman blood in her -- I keep forgetting she had Mary Vener blood in her too. Reading those e-mails jumpstarted some of that blood I think.

Funny thing -- we always talk about the "stubborn ol' bitch gene." Seems I forgot that this gene is actually from Mom's family. Honest mistake if you know a lot of the Engelmans! Mom's doc gave her two days to two weeks to live, and she left this earth almost two months later. She wasn't ready. Geimps, her mom, had a pacemaker, emphysema and general heart problems (NOT due of course to her smoking like a chimney, according to her!). I swear she had those problems for more than 2 decades. And she was not going to die until she wanted to. And she didn't. The gene appears a lot -- not just when faced with illness or death. Just life in general and not giving in. I believe I have that gene top (stop laughing, everyone), and I'm pretty damn sure Baby Girl has it too. She'll grow or be delivered when she wants to, dammit.

One of my sorority sisters wrote me about her little girl, and how she thinks that before she was born, she met her late sister in heaven. Hung out, played, etc. She even recognizes her in photos and talks about her. I love that idea. So -- Mom, Dad, Marsha, Geimps, Earl, Grandma and Grandpa, and even Lexie... Baby Girl needs to put on some weight. Think in your partying and playing up there with her you could fatten her up a bit for me? She likes chocolate ice cream. No vodka, Dad, and no Jamison, Geimps. Thanks.