Today (April 22) is our little girl's due date! But instead of welcoming her into the world, we're celebrating her two week birthday today! And I've finally found a free moment to begin some posts about this new little wonder that has made us a family & transformed our lives.
Vianne Rose Oden arrived at 12:43 a.m. on April 8, 2012, Easter Sunday, and looked like this:
We picked out her name (pronounced Vee-Ann, like the letter V and Anne) during the first year of our marriage; after
watching
Chocolat one evening, Patrick remarked that "Vianne" (the lead
character's - Juliette Binoche's - name) was a pretty name, and I (ever
on the lookout for French names that also sounded nice in English) heartily agreed.
Since it was one of the first girl names we both equally liked (no small feat, I assure you), it seemed to be settled
instantly. We've technically not named her after the character (though
we both love the film) but so far, the reference seems to have provided
the best pronunciation guide for others. Her middle name - Rose - was more my vote, as it's my favorite flower - and I think just sounds perfectly gorgeous with Vianne.
She was born just 43 minutes into Easter Sunday, and we're still amazed at the timing, for many reasons. That evening back in 2009 after watching Chocolat, we could never have known that we would have a baby girl three years from then, and certainly never have guessed that she'd be born on such a special day, but it seems that her name was tailor-made for the event. Vianne means "Alive" - and what better name to reflect the day in which we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, His triumph over death, and the new life He offers us!
Her early arrival caught us very much by surprise. As I work for a Christian institution, I had Good Friday off, and Patrick & I were spending a leisurely morning at home. We had just finished talking about our plans for the weekend (attending that evening's service at our church, a full day Saturday, and Easter Sunday beginning with a 6:30 a.m. Sunrise Service through an afternoon at home with Patrick's family). I was making a grocery list, about to run to the store, when the phone rang. My OB/Gyn's office was calling: some blood work taken the Monday before revealed higher than normal levels on the liver test. The nurse instructed me to get to the hospital immediately and check into Labor & Delivery!
My cherished doctor was on vacation through Sunday, but her on-call colleague was equally competent, calm, and reassuring. After reviewing my "case" and observing my & baby's vitals for a couple of hours, she strongly recommended an induction. Knowing that I couldn't go home and have any sort of peace waiting for baby to come on her own when there was a risk to her health, we decided to stay and undergo the induction. The next 36 hours or so of medication-inspired labor symptoms were exhausting and painful, and the whole experience was so abrupt and unexpected and wrought with concern that I was rather miserable all the while. The nurses were wonderful & kept cheering me on - and Patrick was a prince, juggling my emotions & pain, taking care of needs I couldn't express myself, navigating the hospital system, and keeping family & friends informed all at once.
After an epidural Saturday night, which made all the difference in the world and transformed me into a whole new woman, Patrick & I settled in at last for some peaceful sleep. I was only dilated 1-2 cm, and the doctor & nurses predicted that we'd have 'til well into Sunday before she came, so we anticipated a night of rest. Only 2 hours later, however, I was awakened to nurses adjusting my monitors. The baby's heartbeat was decelerating, which was either a cause for alarm or a sign that she was making her way out into the world. They checked me and were very shocked to discover that baby indeed was coming - and fast! Patrick then awoke to nurses standing over me, one instructing the other, "Call the doctor! This baby's coming!"
That was at about 11:45 p.m., and only 58 minutes later (and a very easy time of it, I must confess), Miss Vianne Rose came to join the Oden/Gustafson families as its youngest member!
Meeting Daddy & Mama
I love how she's looking right at me! :-)
First visitors at about 2:00 a.m. - Grandma & Grandpa Oden & Uncle Jon
All cleaned up for some snapshots
It's going to be a while 'til I have the energy & time to get actual blog posts up about our precious little (early!) baby girl Vianne (pronounced Vee-Ann) Rose, who arrived to us in the wee hours of Easter morning. But in the meantime, here's a couple of glimpses at her little self...
Dressed in real clothes (and swimming in a newborn gown) for the first time to head home from the hospital:
Today, at 5 days old. Wide awake & with hiccups. This is the most we've seen her eyes open at once!
Just a few shots of the belly, which is finally starting to look like something (but, I'm often told, still doesn't look like 37 weeks).
We have been blessed with so many clothes - both new & hand-me-downs - for Baby Girl O. that I haven't really bought any. But when I saw this little onesie at Ross Dress For Less the other day (and for only $3.99! :-) ), it had to be mine...er...hers ;-).
Patrick joined me for my doctor's visit today because we had an ultrasound - the first one since 20 weeks - and we were so eager to see our little girl! We confess, we'd heard so many gender surprise stories in the last 16 weeks that we'd started to wonder if she really was a girl or if we were going to be sending Patrick on a mission to the mall for something blue post-birth. But our wonderful doctor made sure to check and is very sure that she is in fact a girl :-). We continue to love our doctor's both confident & humble manner. She laughed and said, "I'm going to owe you if it's not a girl, huh? I'll have to come over and repaint your nursery." :-)
Baby O.'s looking great - head down, feet up - in position and all ready to go (but we shall see about that, shan't we?). Her heart is strong; we could see all four chambers on the screen - as well as her arms & legs & fingers & toes.
The ultrasound photo (see below) has us laughing hard for multiple reasons...1) it takes several minutes to figure out what the heck this is, 2) once you've got it oriented, you notice what looks like a huge pointy ear coming out of her head, 3) her head itself ends up looking like one of Gary Larson's comic strip kids, and 4) you notice her hands are up & out in front of her like she's either got her face pressed up against a two-way mirror trying to get a peek at us as well, or we've got a prenatal mime-in-a-box on our hands.
Ah, well - we'll see her in real life soon enough :-). We're thanking God & feeling exceedingly blessed that all is going so smoothly - we know that this is a very great gift. Overall, I'm feeling good - I feel like my discomfort (though sometimes worse than others) is minimal so I really can't...or at least shouldn't...and am trying not to...complain. This is a very odd phase, this waiting game, knowing she could come tomorrow, or next week...or not for six more weeks! In the meantime, we're doing our best to cherish things like sleeping in, choosing our own schedule, taking walks sans stroller, quiet moments reading or watching TV, moments that might be the last "just the two of us" doing something. It's a sweet time, even though we know the future holds much sweetness of its own.
This is the last shot we took of me, two weeks ago. Honestly, I don't think my belly would look too different today (no one who sees me believes I'm as far along as I am).
In the past week, we had two baby showers! We are quite overwhelmed by the love & affection & outpouring of gifts & time & energy & creativity. Baby O. is being well provided for by our friends, co-workers, and families!
The first shower was thrown jointly by Academic Programs (my office) & Field Ed. (Patrick's office) from Fuller, and they were very creative with a Winnie the Pooh theme (since we're fans!).
Biscuits with honey butter - so good!!
Donut holes especially for Patrick - and delicious buttermilk mini-cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting!
They gave us so many fun gifts - including an Ergo carrier (which has come highly recommended from many parents) and cute outfits, socks, hats and Pooh toys!
My supervisor's mother-in-law (who helped me with
this project awhile back) surprised us with beautiful crocheted blankets and hats, which we had to try on :-).
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The second shower was a ladies event - and thrown by some dear gals that I'm so privileged to call friends from church - a polka dot extravaganza! Much like the Oregon shower, I didn't get as many photos as I'd like - but here are at least a few snapshots of all the cuteness.
This cake was amazing!
Cookies to take home
The gift opening begins - we got so many wonderful things!! Our friend Rachelle, at the left.
L to R: Sharon (Melissa's mom), friends Carey and Andrea, cousin Sarah, and friend & hostess Jayme
Love Sandra Boynton!
The adorable sheep blanket from Aunt Diane, with Mom Oden, Kaizlee, Rachelle, and Melissa
Love this diaper cake from my creative friend Jaimie. On top is a super cute dress she made!
A January 3rd wedding date was great for Patrick's school schedule three years ago, but as an anniversary date, it proves a little complicated to squeeze in, coming off a full week of holiday festivities already, then getting back into school & work. So I think we've resigned ourselves to the fact that we'll celebrate our anniversary late every year - and that's entirely okay with us.
This past weekend was our belated getaway-for-the-day to our beloved city of San Diego, specifically to the San Diego Zoo. We enjoyed a gorgeous sunny-but-not-hot day (a great advantage of celebrating in February in Southern California) visiting the animals & getting some much needed fresh air and exercise. We had a wonderful lunch at Albert's Restaurant (to counteract the exercise ;) ) with a shared duck confit macaroni & cheese appetizer to start, pork loin in mushroom sauce for the lady, and sea bass in lemon sauce for the gentleman.
All in all, a delightful day!
Lovebirds :-)
Duck Confit Macaroni & Cheese
Sea Bass
Pork Loin
The polar bear was definitely a highlight - very entertaining!
