Los Porchs

I have never been a fan of those cheesy newborn pictures but I am quickly appreciating the fact that it was likely the cloud of infertility and the fact that I had never had a child that made me laugh every time I saw a picture of baby feet with wedding bands on them.  I mean... really.  Then I met my daughter and I won't even apologize; she has made me into a sentimental basket case.  I'm already thinking about holidays and traditions and forcing myself to savor and remember every moment with her as an infant because I know all too well that I am going to blink and be sending her off to college.  Or at least kindergarten. I enlisted the help of an outstanding up and coming photographer, Cecil Ramirez , from Chicago whom I had had the pleasure of working with at work.  I had been following his work on Facebook and wanted to capture the first days of Charlotte being home with us and asked him to come into our home to take some candid shots of our little family unit.  What he d

After four years of struggling to conceive, I can say without hesitation that Charlotte was worth the wait.  She is exactly the baby we were meant to raise together and makes our family complete (for now).  She is the answer to many prayers and every time I look at her little scrunched up face, I am reminded how lucky we are to have her in our arms. I have heard people (a member of my extended family even) comment on "our generation" and how selfish we are for bettering ourselves, particularly women, rather than having children right away.  Times have changed, women no longer are expected to put their careers and education aside to be a mother and wife (unless they want to).  For the first time, now that I'm a mother, I understand why a parent might want to be a stay at home parent.  But let me be clear:  my education and career have shaped me into the mother that I am.  I am confident.  I am strong.  I have a solid understanding of child development and typical develop

Porch returns to work on Friday... I'm now accepting bets as to when, on Friday, I lose my mind.  I'm guessing there will be a point at which I strap Baby Porch into the Baby Bjorn and high tail it over to Starbucks (and I'm guessing it will be before noon). Until then, Porch and I are tag-teaming this adventure and we rock as a team.  We've been binge watching House of Cards on Netflix together. The only tears I've had so far were (1) when the Dr. called and ordered us to the ER at Children's immediately and (2) when Baby Porch refused to nurse and I had to let Porch give her a bottle.  And I guess the moment I saw those chubby cheeks and realized she was ours!  Not too shabby for a chick with raging hormones! Maybe you've heard this song, You're Gonna Miss This, by Trace Adkins.  It's kind of become my theme song as I spend late nights and early mornings with Baby Porch rocking and nursing... I know there will be a day when these moments are go

I'm a little more than a week deep into my maternity leave from work and as I was all excited that I had 5 weeks left and man, won't it be awesome that we'll someday have a routine and life will be slightly more cohesive than just me sitting around, watching movies, napping, snuggling, and feeding Baby -- two things occurred to me.  Two semi-distressing things: Porch goes back to work THIS Friday. School starts for me next Thursday. So my super awesome partner in this baby experience will be out of the house roughly 8am-7pm (on a good day) and Charlie & I will be left to our own devices.  Very much a sink or swim scenario, but I suspect we'll swim.  And then find our way to the nearest Starbucks before binge watching Sex & the City seasons (much to her father's dismay) and working on internship stuff. I have to go back to school for the fall, though luckily, I will be working on my internship and only have seminar and (1) it's not every week (2)

Thank goodness this isn't my 40 week update; I was really nervous that I'd have to write one of those and even possibly the dreaded 41 week update!  Today was her due date, but we got to meet her just a little early.  Charlotte Esther joined our family at 2:07am on Friday, August 8th... and changed our lives forever.  There's now a squishy baby who calls for us and loves nothing more than snuggling on our chests.  We are, in fact, living the dream.  A dream 4 years in the making and worth every moment.  My heart is so full of love for Charlotte and I am so excited to see how she grows and changes. I have always enjoyed reading the birth stories of my blogger friends' babies and felt it gave me hope as it was the final moment in the battle against infertility, the crossing of a finish line.  So today, in celebration of love and this chubby cheeked baby girl, I share with you the story of Charlotte's birth. Charlotte's Birth Story... I woke up Thursday morni

Ugh.  Here I am, still pregnant, still working... I really thought this gig would be up by now.  I'm so thankful though that my body has made it this far and that Baby Porch has had the opportunity to grow safely in my body.  I remember how excited I was to make it to 24 weeks (viability, baby!) and that seems like it was so long ago.  Now I'm actively encouraging her to make her way out of there, even though I know it's going to hurt like hell. Which is another thing.  Every ache and pain, I begin to wonder, "Is this it?  Let's go!" and then nothing.  I'm  a little anxious about labor & delivery and what to expect, but I also trust that my body will do what it's meant to or that Dr. G will help us along as needed.  We're 7 days from her due date and I'm not too sure when we'll get to meet her... maybe we should start a pool! How far along?  39 weeks Progress:   None.  Well, cervix is closed. She's dropped a little more.  D