Eden is a Big Sister!

I should have posted an update about Rosalie sooner, I know this, and I apologize to those who've been wondering about us. Thank you to the people who have reached out asking for an update! The reason for the delay is I've been struggling with how exactly to announce Rosalie's birth on this blog, because I know that many of my readers (especially new readers who come across our blog) are moms or dads who've recently been given a diagnosis of anencephaly or other fatal birth defect in their precious child. I want to be sensitive to that, and not have the first post they see on my blog to be this huge birth announcement announcing a healthy baby when they are expecting to find a story similar to their own. At the same time though, I want to give hope to those parents. Because there is hope - I was so afraid of never having another healthy baby after we lost Eden, but our precious rainbow baby was born absolutely perfect and is completely healthy. She is truly a blessing.

I'm still here...

I know I haven't updated in a while. I kept meaning to, and then I start doing something else, or my thoughts get interrupted, and I just never get through an entire post without scraping it. I can't believe Eden would be going on 5 months already. Time goes by so incredibly fast. They said it goes by faster as you age, but I guess I never believed it when I was a kid.

Missing Eden

We miss Eden so much... I can't believe that she would have already been 2 weeks old  tomorrow. Time goes by so fast, and already details from her birth and short time with us are getting fuzzy. I cry daily, more so at night than during the day. I guess I keep busy enough during the day to stay distracted, but things slow down in the evening and my mind is filled with thoughts and memories of our little girl.

Eden's Birth

This is going to be long, because I don't want to forget anymore details.

Monday morning James went to work like normal. He dropped Brooklyn off at my parents' house so I could get some rest (because she likes to wake up at 5:30 now). I remember waking up at about 8:00 and feeling some stomach cramps. I briefly thought that it felt like the cramps I had when I went into labor with Brooklyn, then I turned back over and fell back asleep. I woke up at about 9:00 and noticed a few more light cramps, and they'd come and go. All morning I had light cramps, and at about noon I started to time them. They were coming every 2-3 minutes and lasting about 30 seconds each. They were fairly mild, more of a tightening sensation than anything, and I was exciting wondering if I was in labor. By 2 or 3 in the afternoon, I was pretty sure I was in labor, but I wasn't sure if my contractions were doing much since they weren't lasting too long. I couldn't tell if Eden was head-down or not, but I thought maybe she was head-down because of the pressure in my pelvis with each contraction.

Happy Birthday, Eden Marie

Eden Marie was born Monday, November 26th at 11:20pm. She was 6lbs, 13oz and 18.75 inches long. She lived a beautiful 6 hours and 27 minutes with us before she went to be in her Mema's arms in Heaven....we are so incredibly blessed to have such a beautiful daughter, and we are so proud and honored to have been chosen to be Eden's parents. Things aren't easy for us right now, and my arms are aching to hold my sweet girl just one more time, but as I'm able to, I'll write and post our birth story, and some of the amazing things Eden did. Eden was and is perfect, and I wouldn't trade a single second we had with her for the world. She was SUCH a miracle, and you can take everything you ever read in a textbook about anencephaly and toss it aside, because they are wrong. I'll leave you with some pictures and the promise of more updates later. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Tiny, beautiful feet.

She was a chubby little girl! <3

Christmas Photo

More Time With Eden

So Friday I had another chiropractor appointment and my ultrasound appointment. The chiropractor went well. My doctor could tell she was transverse, but she moved a lot after my adjustment and during my acupuncture session, and by the time I went to the ultrasound that afternoon, she was head down. Obviously her being head down was great news, and it was such a relief to me. We also found out that she's chunky, because we could see the little rolls on her thighs and arms, but she's not huge, and she's not going to be huge because her head is so much smaller than a healthy newborn's. Her head measurements threw off the size estimation a bit, but it ranged from 5lbs 14oz using her head measurements to 6lbs 11oz excluding her head measurements, which isn't too bad for 36ish weeks.

Some Maternity Pictures

We got back our maternity pictures! Here are some of our favourites!

Maternity Photo Shoot and Nearly 33 Weeks

Yesterday I had maternity photos done by a really nice photographer, Lori, that works with Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. NILMDTS is an organization that provides remembrance photography for families suffering the loss or impending loss of an infant. We went to Branson, MO for our maternity pictures, which is almost 100 miles away, but it was totally worth it. I am totally excited and can't wait to get to see our photos! I'll post a few when we get them back. If you want to see some of the other photos she's done, you can look at her website here. She specializes in baby and child photography, and her work is truly beautiful! If we ever get it in the budget, we'd love to go back to her and do family photos sometime!

Our Second 3D/4D Ultrasound

Today was our second 3D/4D ultrasound (read about our first one here), and it was wonderful. Eden has gotten a lot bigger, but she's no less stubborn than she was last time! She was head down, so the tech wasn't having the easiest time getting pictures of her face for us, and Eden kept arching her back and stretching her neck back (kinda like how Brooklyn arches her back when throwing a fit!) to get away from the wand! We did get some really good pictures though anyway, and the tech said that just from glancing, my fluid levels appear normal!

30 Weeks and a Blessing

I can't believe that I'm 30 weeks along now. I'm not sure where the time goes anymore - the days do seem to drag by, at least until my husband gets home, but each week seems to be over before I know it, and the weekends are over even faster.