21st Century Birth Announcement

This is what the digital world received on the day Hope was born. We made very few phone calls, but instead updated our friends and family via facebook and twitter.



Mindy Russell It's baby day! Please say a prayer that my Hope passes her first test (APGAR) with a perfect score!
October 12 at 4:58am via Twitter


(Tweeted from the car on the way to the hospital.)

Ryland Russell Today as I sit on the couch in labor and delivery, I am once again thankful I'm a man. http://yfrog.com/6gxpuoj 5:36 AM Oct 12th via Twitterrific

Ryland Russell Predictions? Length width and time. Winner gets to name her. 5:38 AM Oct 12th via Twitterrific

(We had 20ish people guess- but Ry got the closest.)

Mindy Russell Yeah, my day has been pretty rough so far....
October 12 at 9:33am via Facebook for iPhone

Ryland Russell Just punched Mindy in the leg. She laughed, this is fun. Hope will be here soon! 12:39 PM Oct 12th via Twitterrific

(I had just had my epidural and was feeling GREAT, so Ryland wanted to test it out and be sure we were getting out money's worth. We were!!! I didn't feel a thing.)

Ryland Russell Punched = barely tapped.October 12 at 12:41pm via Twitter ·

Mindy Russell Hope is here! Born at 1:08, 7 lbs,1 oz, 21 inches long, looks like her brother. Thank you Jesus!
October 12 at 1:27pm via Twitter

Ryland Russell And so it begins.
October 12 at 3:41pm

She- A Digital Scrapbook

She

She made herself known on her daddy's 26th birthday.

She made me so sick that I lost 8 pounds in my first tri-mester. Don't worry, I gained it back.

She was nicknamed "cupcake" by my third graders.




She was gestating during the biggest transitional time of my life. Changing homes, churches, towns, and careers.
She is my second born, and first daughter.



She made me cry on ultrasound day. I kept saying how much I'd love another son, but I wanted a daughter so badly.


She was named "Hope" because my hope at one time was to be able to have children at all, having 2 has been icing on the cake. It was also my one word resolution for 2010.

She was given the middle name "Angeline" after my grandpa Corky's mother, Mahalia (Haley) Angeline Harmon. Haley was the spiritual leader in her family, she didn't make huge contributions in education or philosophy, but has a legacy of a woman of faith. Although I never met my "Mammie" I am proud that my daughter carries her name and hopefully the same great faith of her forerunner. Angeline also means "messenger of God" which has already proved true for her mama.

She made me worry that I couldn't love another child as much as I love Isaac. I have since had a grinch moment where my heart grew three sizes. No love was lost- only multiplied.


She has 4 great grandmas, 2 great grandpas, and all of her grandparents. I pray she has many many years with all of them.








She was born at 39 weeks and 5 days gestation.



She was born on Tuesday, October 12, at 1:08pm, after 6 short hours of labor.



She weighed 7lbs 1oz and was 21 inches long. Her APGAR was 9.9.


She didn't have a cone head like her brother.



She has a small stork bite on her neck, forehead & left eyelid.

She wrapped her daddy around her finger in the delivery room, she held on to his finger while the nurse cleaned, weighed & measured her.

She has lots of fuzz on her back. I may have to teach her to wax someday.

She is a good little sleeper- she wakes in the night only to eat & snuggle.

She looks just like her brother.

She makes me love God, Isaac, and Ryland even more.

She is an answer to prayer.

She is beautiful & innocent, the picture of sweetness.

She is the daughter I wished for & prayed for.

She is mine.

Hope's Birth Story

Hope's Birth Story

This is going to be a 2 parter. I am going to give the narrative version now & then give the tweets & facebook statuses from our family & friends for the day. I loved being able to share it all so instantaneously. There are some drawbacks to technology, but on Hope's birthday I was very thankful for it.

But I digress....

On Friday, October 8, I went for what was my last routine OB appt. 1st- my blood pressure was way high- 135/92 when I am always a solid 120/80. I had only progressed to 4 with 80% effacement, but my cervix was ripe for delivery. So my doctor & I decided to go ahead & strip my membranes ( don't google if you don't wanna know, men) as a natural way to stimulate my labor. When she did this I had an unusually large amount of bleeding, so my doctor sent me to labor & delivery to be monitored. After my visit to the hospital 5 days earlier, I was sure we'd be leaving with a baby. 3 hours later I was discharged, again. But with orders to return Tuesday morning to be induced.

So, on Tuesday, October 12, we checked in at 5:30am to get the party started. We got there, got me hooked up to my pitocin drip & watched Law & Order SVU. All in all it was a very uneventful early morning. By 6:30, iv drips were in, vitals taken, etc etc. Dilated to 4, 80% effaced, no real contractions to speak of yet.

At 8:30ish my wonderful little doctor showed up. She checked me over & eventually broke my water. My cervix is really high so doctors always seem to have a hard time doing this.
Things progressed pretty quickly from here. My contractions got more regular & more painful. Since I was having a cyst removed from my old scar tissue immediately after delivery I had already planned to have an epidural. My nurse saw that my extremely painful contractions were 2 minutes apart, she checked me & noticed that i was 7cm dilated & 100% effaced. She told me that I was close to transitioning & that if I wanted an epidural it was now or never.

My anesthesiologist came in about 11:00 and started getting ready to use a huge needle to insert a catheter into my spine. He was a wonderfully nice man, but my contractions were so strong that I kept moving & he had to start 3 times. Ryland had to leave the room so my 90 pound labor & delivery nurse had me put my head on her shoulder and hold her arms. The poor girl had a sweat puddle on her shoulder where I had cried and sweated on her. But when that medicine kicked in life was happy and blissful.

About 12:15, my nurse checked and determined that we needed to page my doctor. It was push time. My doctor arrived at 12:45 and we got down to business. I used a mirror to watch the birth, and my epidural was light enough that I was able to feel when to push. I pushed for about 10 minutes and at 1:08 Hope arrived.

I can't quite put into words the mix of adrenaline, euphoria, and love that you feel when you see your baby for the first time. That moment is a precious gift from God, the sweetest reward for the hard work of labor. The doctor handed me my goo covered little girl. She cried a good healthy cry and all I could think was how much she looked like her brother. Beautiful was an understatement.

I had minimal 2nd degree tearing. It didn't stop me from texting my family when she arrived & twittering her birth stats while being stitched up. My recovery has been easy so far. So different from her fat headed brother.

Speaking of her brother, I also cannot describe how awful it was to be away from him, and how guilty I STILL feel that I have shattered his world with this new baby. In reality, he loves Hope. From the moment he met her, he has only tried to hug, kiss, and snuggle her- when he's not ignoring her that is. It's me that has changed to him. Sadly, he's not the center of my universe. The spotlight is now shared with a tiny, needy, helpless, person, who sometimes causes him to have to wait, which is a great life lesson for a kid, but he doesn't understand yet- so it makes him upset with me. I know it is all part of the journey, I don't know what I'm doing as far as acclimating new siblings goes- I just pray God gives me wisdom & gives Isaac security & understanding that he is no less loved, just that there is less mommy than there used to be.

Back to the story- we stayed in the hospital for 1 night and checked out the next day. Hope is the picture of health- 7lbs, 1oz, 21 inches, no jaundice, APGAR of 9.9- praise God, He does all things well, especially sweet baby girls.

Thank you God for one of the best days of my life. Looking forward to many more.

Hope's Nursery

Hope's Nursery


It's been awhile since I finished Hope's nursery. It's just not as fun in a rental house. No painting, no shelving, and some really ugly wallpaper. But I am happy for now. Photog friends, forgive the awful shadows and bad angles- Focus on the cute subject matter in the room.


Hope's room is kind of and orchid/lilac/purply color and the decor is giraffes. I really like it. It's been fun to decorate a girl's room. It is actually the most decorated room in the house. Like I said- it's hard to want to put out all my cute things when I don't know how long we'll be here. Surely someday the Guthrie house will sell and then we can buy "our" home, right? Oh well, no time to worry about that this week.


My baby girl comes tomorrow!!!

The crib where she will spend many peaceful nights.

Dresser/changing table, wall decor, and bow holders.

The top of her armoire. Can't wait to fill the cute picture frames.

Blankie/ burp cloth basket.

Close up of the comforter on her bed.

The crib.

View from the door.

And just because there isn't quite enough cuteness.......

The future big brother.

If Hope is as cute as this guy, I'm done for.

Please pray for me.

You're Not Cool Unless You Pee Your Pants

You're Not Cool Unless You Pee Your Pants

Between twitter and facebook, I have around 995 friends.

Some would consider me to be pretty popular. (Ha ha ha)

So last night when I thought my water broke, I made the announcement as anyone in the digital generation would have. I posted this as my twitter/facebook status: "According to the puddle on my floor- I'm having a baby! Holy cow!" I was so excited to share my joy with my closest friends!

Before this, I was standing next to the sink, getting a drink when I was suddenly standing in liquid. What else was I to assume when this happened? I thought that my moment had arrived. It was 10:15pm, Ryland and I went into action and enacted our plan. I showered, we finished packing, Isaac's supervision arrived, and we joyfully headed to the hospital to welcome our long awaited baby girl.

We arrived about 11:20, got to skip triage and went straight to a labor and delivery room. My vitals were checked, and as any thorough nurse would, we did a test to be sure that I had, in fact, "ruptured". How could I not be? An unexplained puddle on the floor, 9 and 1/2 months preggo, how could it be anything else?

First test, negative. Second test, negative. Third test: negative. Three strikes and they send your tired, pregnant, butt home.

Discharge papers signed. My heart broken that I would be pregnant for another day. And the knowledge that I had posted for nearly 1,000 people that I had peed my pants. Not to mention caused sleep loss for my friends and family- which could be dangerous. And it was 1:15am, not a good time to be me in general.

As we were leaving, Ryland did what he does when he's uncomfortable- he tried to make me laugh. As we were walking out he muttered "we're doing the walk of shame" underneath his breath. He also let me know that RevKev was trying to find a new nickname for me since "preggo" will be moot in a few days, and he thought that this situation would be very advantageous for RevKev.

So we got in the car. I cried a little and hatched a plot to go into hiding until Hope is born and play off this whole debacle. But then I put on my big girl pants, and an adult diaper, and decided to suck it up. I am not the first mommy this has happened to. I will deal with the shame and the name calling. And I will pray that Hope comes soon.

According to Billy Madison, "You're not cool unless you pee your pants." This is my mantra.

And when I give birth to Hope she is grounded. I haven't peed my pants in years. This is her fault, after all.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Letters

Letters

Ry-

Wasn't 1998 like 3 weeks ago? Where did the scrawny little baseball player & small town cheerleader go? When did we turn into adults, let alone parents of 2?

Life over the past 12 years has had plenty of bumps & bruises, but there isn't one minute of it that I'd trade. I'm so glad that I've been lucky enough to get to do it all with you. It always seems to get sweeter.

On your worst days you are still the best husband in the universe, and I cannot imagine a better daddy than you. You are my best friend and I still get butterflies when you smile at me.

Thank you for putting up with my crazy, my irrational, my obsessive, and my fearful. Thank you for loving God and leading our family in that way. Thank you for the way you love our son- he will know what a Christlike man should be. I can't wait to see you with our baby girl, because of you she will know what it means to be treated with love & respect.

Thank you for picking me. Out of all the girls in the world I get to spend my life with you. I wish every woman could have it so good. I love you so much.

You are my favorite- it's me and you vs. the little crumb gobblers. Some day I'll have to let them go, but you- I get to keep. And that doesn't make it seem so bad.

Mindy



Isaac-

My beautiful first born- what a wild time we've had over the last few months. Three houses, a new town, a new daycare, 2 cases of pneumonia, and an ever expanding mommy. You've handled it all so well. You never cease to amaze me.

I know that I am your momma and that automatically makes me biased, but I think you are the most funny, smart, and downright exceptional kid I have ever met. I know the chances of you growing up to cure cancer or author world peace are probably slim. But I look at you and have no doubt that God has such a special plan for you. Even now, I know that God is preparing you and I will do my best to help you find God's will and do it. And even when you disappoint me, or fail, or just plain screw up - I will always always always and forever love you.

Your life is about to change in quite a big way. You are going to be Hope's big brother. Like it or not- it will be part of your identity. This means sharing your toys, your time, and your parents. I have so much mommy guilt for disrupting your life & security with a sibling at such a young age. But as a big sister myself, there are so very sweet parts of having a younger sibling: 1) no one will ever love you like your sibling 2) they know, appreciate, and occasionally be annoyed by all your quirks 3) they understand your jokes & will "get" you like no one else 4) believe it or not, some day you will be angry with me & she'll take your side. Who knows, you may even win sometime.

Just know that no matter who comes into our family, you are always going to be my precious first son, you were a promise from God fulfilled, and you are irreplaceable.

And don't tell your sister- but you are my favorite.

I love you more than you'll ever know.

Momma



Hope-

I cannot wait to meet you in week or so. I've dreamed about you- you are tiny and dark headed. I'm anxious to see your face. Are you going to look like your brother? Will you have the Russell feet, or maybe the Harmon nose? Will you be long & skinny like Isaac, or will you be a petite little princess? You will be mine & regardless of who you look like, no one will see your beauty like I do.

Regardless of the physical beauty you may have, my prayer is that you love God & that your beauty comes from your heart. Your great aunt Karla always said, "pretty is as pretty does", I hope that you "do" pretty more than look it.

You are already so different from Isaac. They way that you sit in my belly & the way you move is much more gentle. You are the second child which means more hand me downs, less undivided attention, more experienced & relaxed parents, & less attention to some detail.

You are however my first (and maybe only) daughter. I hope that we have lots in common. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I daydream of shopping trips, chick flicks, and pedicures. But if you are a tom boy, I won't be disappointed or love you any less. I want you to be whatever kind of woman that God has planned for you. I want you to be brave, and generous, and kind.

I am so excited to be your Momma. I can't wait to hold you in my arms and welcome you to this great world and to our family. I know I am not a perfect Mom. There will be many mistakes and apologies, but I love you so much already. You are a gift from God and you are very wanted.

And don't tell your brother- but you are my favorite.

I love you more than you'll ever know.

Momma

End of the Road Reflections

End of the road reflections

My pregnancy with "Hopenstein", as her daddy has nicknamed her, is officially full term as of Friday. I cannot believe that it was 9 1/2 months ago, on Ryland's birthday that we found out that our little cupcake would be making her way into the world.

Reflecting on this makes me think back to how different our lives were at the beginning of this whole thing. Everything was different- our jobs, our finances, our plans, and our zip code just to name a few. Things felt secure and safe, no big risks, nothing to fear.

Then God called. He asked us to do some hard things. He asked us to leave the familiar for the wildly different. He asked us to leave our own financial margin in exchange for handing our finances to Him. He asked us to grow from a family of three to a party of 4. He asked Ry and me to live apart for 6 weeks. He asked us to move without selling our home.

And though there have been many tears, fears, dragging of my feet and bumps in the road, here I stand- protected, provided for, and reaping blessings that are too sweet to be missed.

So as I look back, I see God's hand in it all. I see His faithfulness and guidance, even as I doubted.
And as I look forward - I see my two children, laughter and hope, reminding me of where we are going: wherever He leads.