Beautiful, bright Brigid

Wow! I'm a mom! Adam's a dad! We have a daughter!

I really didn't believe that it was all going to end up in a baby until
she was actually born. Most of labor was just trying to rest and relax
through the most intense pain I've ever felt in my life, and though in my
head I knew what the pain was doing, it sure didn't FEEL like it had
anything to do with a baby.

Adam and my mom were wonderful. It was so good to have them there through
the whole thing. Adam gave me someone to focus on, and my mom just felt
like a solid pillar of strength. The nurses, also, were awesome. I found
out that our hospital is going to send us an evaluation form, and I intend
to write their praises in such glowing terms that their bosses instantly
double their salaries. Especially Cathie, who was competent, confident
and - bless her! - EXPLAINED everything.

But oh, when Brigid was born and I got to hold her, that's when I really
believed it was all true.

I'll be posting the whole birth story (from my POV) soon. It's a work in
progress, slowly coming together during Brie's naps. Look for it in the
next week, I hope.

For now, I just wanted to give you some new vital statistics, as I took
Brigid to the doctor today, and she was weighed and measured and not found
wanting.

Our beautiful baby girl is now 8 pounds, 5 ounces, having not only
regained her birth weight in two weeks, but added almost a pound on top of
that! She's still 21 inches, and she charmed all of the nurses at the
doctor's office, and the doctor himself. I know this because holding the
baby and cooing at it isn't anything strictly medical, as far as I can
tell.

So it wasn't our imagination that our little girl's cheeks and arms and
legs have been filling out. Grandparents all, your grand-daughter is
doing her duty: dutifully eating, dutifully pooping and dutifully gaining
weight.

She's also become a cousin this week! Micah and Jenn had their baby
yesterday, Elisabeth Alexandra. I got to meet her just a few hours after
she was born, by a strange coincidence.

Brie and I went to the hospital yesterday to have her hearing checked.
This is our other good news: her hearing is fine! She can hear soft
sounds and loud sounds and it all goes through to her brain properly.
Thanks be to God!

After the hearing test, I was walking through the hospital lobby on the
way out to the car, and saw my mother-in-law there. I stopped to talk to
her, and learned that Jenn, Micah and Elisabeth were currently upstairs,
Elisabeth having made her appearance at 9:17 that morning. So Mom held
Brie while I went up to Labor and Delivery and met my new (first!) niece.
She was so tiny! Jenn says she looks like Micah, but I think she looks
like Jenn, and she has beautiful long eyelashes. Very charming.

So that's it for now. Birth story coming soon, and the current state of
things is just thanksgiving after thanksgiving to our Lord and Savior, who
gives us good things, abundantly more than we could ask, imagine or
deserve. Praise Him!



Below find a wonderful section of fiction from "The Haunted Policeman" by
Dorothy L. Sayers:

"Good God!" said his lordship. "did I do that?"
"All the evidence points that way," replied his wife.
"Then I can only say that I never knew so convincing a body of
evidence produce such an inadequate result."
The nurse appeared to take this reflection personally. She said in a
tone of rebuke: "He's a beautiful boy."
"H'm," said Peter. He adjusted his eyeglass more carefully. "Well,
you're the expert witness. Hand him over."