What a week! Sorry posting has been so light, but as you can imagine, big adjustments around here with a newborn. Posting will likely continue to be light as we continue to figure one another out and get some sleep!! I wanted to post a few pics with a few little notes about what’s been going on here. Thanks for your patience as we make some big adjustments, and trust that I’ll resume sharing all the intimate details of our lives right here.
Paisley Joon was born April 27, a birthday she is sharing with her daddy. Since Tuesday we’ve literally felt our hearts swell to an unimaginable size and have been truly captivated by this little girl. The cliches are all true. We just keep staring at her with wonder trying to comprehend that she really is ours. If ever there were one, she is a miracle.
Her name has been sitting on a shelf waiting for use for several years. Neither of us can recall when and how we decided on Paisley, we just know that it’s a fun, sassy and uncommon name that kind of stuck that we loved it. Joon is a Persian/Farsi word meaning “Dear”; as Shelton is a Baha’i, he has many close Persian friends who all greet each other with Joon. i.e. “Hello Shelton Joon; Hello Brandi Joon”. We loved the way the two names fit together and have anxiously been waiting to assign it to this beautiful little girl. Here she is about 30 minutes after birth.
We ended up inducing on Tuesday morning, since she hadn’t come on her Monday due date. We were absolute balls of nerves driving to the hospital that morning; Brandi cried from the house, through the admissions hospital and into the delivery room. The weight of the reality that was closing in on us was intense, and yet we were so anxious to just get started. We’re working on a complete labor and delivery post; I need Shelton to help me patch together today because my version of the story isn’t exactly accurate at this point. Here we are meeting one another: I labored for 10.5 hours, including an hour of pushing.
We were incredibly fortunate to have a fairly easy labor and delivery. Shelton was the perfect coach throughout the day. The entire experience was so awe-inspiring that it’s almost incomprehensible what we actually went through that day and what the end result was; I keep referring to it as “epic.” We stayed at the hospital about 36 hours following her birth and enjoyed a revolving door of family and friends visiting; not to mention the 10 or so family members who celebrated her arrival with us at the hospital. That first night was interesting to say the least, but the three of us survived.
Our trip home was short and sweet. I instructed Shelton to drive more safely than he ever had a day in his life. I bawled when she was born and didn’t cry again after that. That was until the wheelchair arrived to escort us to the parking lot. The second I sat this little girl into her car seat I started bawling, and continued until we got home. The sudden realization that she really was ours and we were really going to get to keep her bowled me over so much harder than I ever could have anticipated.
I will go ahead and brag a bit – she’s absolutely beautiful! She’s got my nose and in the right light looks like she’s working on my blue eyes. We’ve received several comments that she looks a lot like me. Shelton has expressed his “frustration” that she looks nothing like him. I think we might be surprised though, that full head of dark, somewhat curly hair that she was born with has some serious red tones running through it. I honestly think that aside from my nose her look-a-like-ness is anyone’s guess. All I know is that I can’t stop marveling at the fact that Shelton and I together created this spectacular little person. On a single shot at IVF. Seriously… a miracle!!
My recovery is going splendidly, better than we could ask for. No tearing and no stitches means I’m up and about a little sooner than we would have guessed, but my body is still demanding that I take it easy on myself. Shelton’s parents and my sister spent the week with us taking care of meals, grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry and so much more – we couldn’t be more grateful for their help as we tried to get the hang of our new little roommate. I just can’t stop staring at her, and the way her chunky little cheeks smell I want to eat them right off the sides of her face!! Paisley is so teeny tiny, warm and a super cuddler. Once in a while she lets us sleep!
As Shelton and I settle in to our new roles as mom and dad, we’re learning so much about ourselves and each other. I don’t think I ever truly recognized or appreciated how insanely calm and patient he is until the past few days. I think I’m stronger than I ever gave myself credit for. If you think following our IVF/infertility story and pregnancy story was a fun ride, just you wait, this little girl is going to give me more material than I ever could have dreamed up on my own. Welcome to part three of BabyOrBust.com – Parenthood.
