Pictures

Isn't she lovely?

I am in love.

Katarina's First Day

A few pictures of Katya.

Katarina Rose Telep

Katarina arrived last night 9:24 pm. She is healthy, happy and here.
The statistics:
She weighs 7lbs 4oz
She's 21 inches tall
She's objectively the most beautiful baby ever to be born.

I will be happy to say more later and to provide pictures, but there is feeding and sleeping and loving and recovering to attend to. Thank you for all your prayers.

Love,

Dana, Andrew & Katya

Yes we are aware that March 7th has past

Everyday we're experiencing small steps towards bringing this new life into the world. No giant leaps yet.

Your prayers and thoughts are appreciated. I will be happy to announce soon the arrival of our little girl.

Expectant Fathers: Tread Lightly

Tread lightly, for you tread, not exactly on our dreams, but on our fears which are more prevalent. I have had several friends comment on their sympathy for Andrew during these final days. They mention things like having known the "wrath" of pregnant women or having experienced their "craziness." Last night as I cried over nothing, very precisely, crying because nothing was happening, Andrew, 9 months wiser, held me and said, "Maybe you're experiencing an increase in hormones because your body is getting ready to go into labour."

He understood. Ah, but he still underestimates me. Today, as we surveyed the nest and the hard work we've done, Andrew asked after the location of several baby-related items. Where, he asked, were the clothes? How was he to know how to dress the baby, he asked? He then, proceeded in mock-panic to wonder how he could manage the simplest of baby care tasks. What should she wear? How was he to know what was appropriate?

"I'm not sure," I answered, "the books say to dress the baby in as many layers as you're wearing plus one more."

"As many layers as I wear? Or as many you wear?" He asked.

"I don't know," I said. "I've wondered about that. It took me a long time to pack our hospital bag."

Laughing, Andrew said, "Is it because you imagine that when you pull out the clothes, the nurses will gasp in horror and say, 'Surely, you're not putting her in that?'" He then continued to set the scene. These nurses would laugh or whisper to one another, "Did you see what she thought of putting the baby in? She's an unfit mother." He laughed and looked up at me.

"Wait. Why are you crying?" he asked.

March 7th is in 5 days.

I obviously have not had a baby yet or I wouldn't be sitting here typing another blog entry. We're saving Andrew's big foray into the blogging world for that initial "we've had a baby message." Andrew thinks I should type the script mad lib style and he can just fill in the missing information.

It could read something like:

We would like to welcome _____ _____ Telep into the World! ____ arrived at __ o'clock _m. ___ weighs ___ lbs and ___ oz and measures ___ inches. Dana was ____ during labour and Andrew did ____.

So there's the basic script. I feel confident that he can rise to the occasion and think of those details himself. Meanwhile, we're just here hanging out passing the time. According to our latest midwife's appointment, we're still proceeding normally, baby and I are healthy and my cervix is just waiting for some contractions to kick the whole thing into gear.

This is truly a challenging time. I would love to tell you that I'm an incredibly patient person who is savoring as instructed these "last" moments of time alone, or with just Andrew. I have had lots of well-meaning people remind me that I will look back upon this time and wish I had relished it or not wanted to rush past it. And yes I probably will, but if I'm honest with myself, I just might remember what it really felt like to be here.

It's a nice enough time, don't get me wrong. I have the gift of being able to take my time. I don't have to be anxious about preparations or a short maternity leave. I am grateful to Andrew for taking up the difficult task of providing the income for our single income family. I have the "nest" fairly prepared as well - you could always do more, but things are looking good around here. Andrew has also played a large role in refinishing furniture, repairing broken things and lending a decorating opinion or two. I guess what I'm saying is Andrew has been a great husband, caring father and overall good guy.

But often I feel like I'm standing on the edge of a cliff. I know that I will be jumping from the cliff shortly and I've been given all sorts of advice about it. Most of the advice involves how I cannot imagine all that the cliff has to offer and that I cannot do enough to prepare for the experience. So, I'm looking over the edge and thinking, "If we're going to do this; let's jump already."

We'll keep you posted.