Life as a one-day-old

...doesn't get much better. Eating. Sleeping. And dreaming of milk.

Tomorrow we go home and begin life as a family of four. I can't wait!

A birth day announcement

Joseph: a couple hours old

Momma: thrilled to be holding her son

Nora with daddy: Getting to know her baby brother


Joseph Stephen Shipp
July 30 , 1:37am
8 pounds, 4 ounces
19.75 inches

Our handsome, sweet boy has arrived! We love him more with each passing minute. After laboring most of Sunday, the contractions became more intense around 7pm with Joseph arriving just under 7 hours later. We were grateful for a successful VBAC experience even as we realized that no birth can be planned out exactly as one would wish. Laboring went well, but pushing proved difficult and ended with a couple episiotomies. I had really hoped to avoid that, so it made the last few pushes more difficult, but less than 24 hours later, the experience is already fading replaced by the joy of getting to know our little boy, watching Stephen rock his son to sleep (what he's doing right now), and rejoicing to see Nora give her brother kisses. Now it's time for a tired momma to get some sleep. Thanks to all who prayed for us in the last days of waiting. We were grateful to be able to welcome Joseph into the world on his due date!

Still here

We're ready and waiting. I've had a pedicure. We've celebrated the 2^nd birthday of our precious daughter, Nora Kathryn (her birthday is today; see pictures of her party and afternoon at the park with mom and dad from earlier in the week). We've bought a car and strapped in our baby car seat. And now, we've had a trial run at the hospital.

Although this is my second baby, this will be my first labor. It turns out labor doesn't work as straight forwardly for me as I thought it would. I'm tempted to be embarrassed when I report that last night at 9pm we were heading to Knoxville having reached that contractions-five-minutes-apart mark. I had been having stronger contractions off and on for almost 24 hours at that point that had built in intensity, regularity and length. I knew that I wasn't in active labor at that time, but thought I was on my way. And being an hour and a half drive from the hospital, I wanted to play it safe. Turns out my body is taking its time preparing for labor, and the contractions that had me going to the hospital became irregular again on the drive there. We got back to Etowah at 3am a little more educated in this process called laboring with an estimate that the baby would come “within a week.” That was one of the lesser helpful pieces of advice. It's 4pm now and not much is going on. I'm in a coffee shop resisting the urge to start timing the contractions that I've been having for the past couple hours. It could be a long “week” if I become a clock watcher. That's probably more than you wanted to know about my current status, but there it is. Stephen has been a great support, Nora has been a sweet comfort and I'm more patient now with how my body is preparing for baby's arrival. I have to admit though, I would love to have an update with snapshots of Joseph sometime this weekend.

Days of reunion and waiting

After more than a two week silence, I realize a post is long overdue. DSL hasn't reached the hollows of east Tennessee, so I don't spend much time on the Internet these days. That's good overall just a bit inconvenient at times. It's a nice trade-off though for the peace and beauty of the area.

I'm at a coffee shop at the moment -about to go to my OB appointment at the UT Medical Center in Knoxville where we'll have the baby (due date countdown: 11 days!). Everything has come together without any big hiccups. I've found a doctor who has given his recommendation that I be allowed a VBAC (natural birth after a c-section). If he is on call, he'll oversee the labor himself. If not, as the head OB, his word should have sway to allow me a trial of labor. That is very exciting news. We'll see what happens when the time comes. It now feels like it could be any day. We just set up the baby bed and laid out baby's things. Packing the hospital bag is on the to-do list for tonight. I'm ready to meet our little guy!

I found this picture of our "Tennessee summer home" from our visit to Stephen's folks last year. It looks just a bit different now. Stephen has a four-wheeler parked out front and frequently looks for excuses to get something from his parents home down the lane with a slight, but quick, detour around the property. Nora is loving country life -feeding PawPaw's dog, cats, chickens, goats; picking blackberries (she's become an expert at spotting the ripe ones) and going for walks in the great outdoors.

It's been such a blessing to have this time as a family. The memory of our month separation is growing faint. Nora was her daddy's shadow for the first few days after his return especially. It was heart-warming to see how excited she was to see him. Stephen and I were able to get away last weekend in the Chattanooga area while PawPaw and Oma babysat. That had to be one of the best "baby preparation" things we've done.

We'll keep you posted on our upcoming big event. We've gotten out of picture taking mode of late, but I predict that will change soon!

Goodbye, Indiana

The Indiana leg of our summer is drawing to a close. We leave tomorrow for Tennessee with less than a week until Stephen arrives and about 3.5 weeks until baby Shipp shows up :0)

We've had a wonderful time. My family threw Nora an early birthday party and she's enjoying a few of the presents in the above picture. The kimono is actually one of my youngest sister's dress-up dresses that Nora wore ALL the time -to bed, for meals, on walks around the neighborhood. I might need to find a kimono supplier :-P

There wasn't a lot I could do as far as baby and beyond planning, so I was "forced" to rest and relax, which was a real treat. I hope to get as much done in the early days in our time in Tennessee, so we can enjoy the same down time there. I look forward to some porch sitting, Rook games, homemade ice cream and more. We'll update a bit especially with baby pictures when the time comes, but like the last few weeks, posts will come at a slower pace.