Announcing: Annabelle Rose Tanzer!

So proud we took these photos ourselves!

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Week 1: What are we doing?!?

In all of the wisdom and advice that was given to us prior to having a baby, someone had told us to remember the first night at home is often the hardest. One of the books I read also advised us to eat before we left the hospital. Rob was anxious to get home but I insisted we get our one last free meal from the hospital so we wouldn’t have to scrounge anything up when we got home. We fed the baby and ourselves and hit the road. Later that night we were glad we had conserved our energy and let the hospital cook for us when Annabelle started to fuss. The first night certainly was difficult. We rocked, patted, burped, and bounced her to no avail…she screamed her little head off! At three in the morning as I was contemplating if this was colic (could I survive a colicky baby??) or maybe just gas (what did I eat today?) it occurred to me: maybe I should check her diaper? Sure enough, she was beyond dirty! The things new parents don’t know yet…After I changed her she settled a bit and we did end up getting a few hours sleep that first night.

The first day at home I walked into the living room to find Robbie holding Annabelle telling her "Daddy loves you the most, mommy loves you the second most, and everyone else loves you SO much!" over and over. He also picked out every single "I love daddy" or "Daddy loves me" outfit for her to wear during the first week. I think it's safe to say he is head over heels in love with this little girl!

The first outfit Robbie picked out for Bella

Bella's first night at home

Night two we had a somewhat less dramatic crying fit after we naively tried putting her in her crib. There is no way she was sleeping in there! We found she would sleep, but only if she fell asleep right next to one of us. She also began dirtying diapers like a machine at this point and got a little diaper rash. A little sleep deprived and panicked, my new mom friend Sara (who literally lives across the street!) went for a short walk with me and reassured me that we could actually do this (she has twin girls and little over one year old). A little perspective helped calm me down when I realized this could be a lot harder – at least I only have one to take care of! My mind was instantly leaping to the worst possible conclusions…we were going to have a bed sharing co-sleeper, her diaper rash would blister and bubble, I envisioned endless nights of colic crying…I know it’s crazy but again, read above, sleep deprived.

Little peanut

Robbie said this broke his heart to see such a tiny baby in a big crib

This is how she ended up sleeping

I took the middle of the night shift and had to have a snack (of course!)

Rob and I took Annabelle for her first walk the next day! We bundled her up (probably excessively!) and headed out for a few blocks. On the way the elementary school up the street was having a  parade of Halloween costumes. There were hundreds of kids dressed in their Halloween costumes walking on the other side of the street. They were waving at us as we walked...so stinkin' cute!! 

Mom and Annabelle ready for our first walk

First walk!

Night three Bella got to meet my parents for the first time. They adore her already! Annabelle is their first, long-awaited grandbaby so it is exciting for everyone. 

Grandma and Grandpa Rozendaal with Annabelle

My sister came in the following day and my family stayed until the next Thursday morning. We played games, watched football, and ate take-out while Bella got passed from one person to the next. Bella continued her nightly fussing but we managed to sneak some sleep in here and there.

Aunt Jolie meets Annabelle

On Monday, Halloween, it was trick or treat night in Cleveland and for the first time ever I got to hand out Halloween candy! So much fun!! Of course we dressed Bella up for the occasion and grandma dressed up too. 

 My first Halloween

Grandma and Annabelle

Aunt Jolie and Annabelle

Grandpa and Annabelle

Our new friends Sara and Kyle Lanzer (for real!) and their twin girls stopped by. 

Kyle, Sara, Leah, Olivia and us!

A few other photos from week one: 

Grandma loves me onesie

Robbie giving Bella "tummy time"

This is how she sleeps in her swing!

Grandpa, Grandma, and Annabelle

Annabelle's First Visitors and Heading Home!

While in the hospital it was nice to have several of the residents stop by to visit. Here are some photos of Bella's first visitors: 

Chris and Jenay

Their baby girl is due in January!

Adam and Jess

Joslyn and Justin

On Wednesday, October 26th we were able to head home. Rob got Bella dressed for the occasion! 

Dressing Annabelle

I'm so cute!

Family Photo

First ride in the carseat!

Real Labor (Yes, for real this time!)

The morning of October 24^th I found myself at Panera having breakfast and making plans for one last afternoon of Christmas movie watching. I headed home, threw some lunch in the microwave and popped in Elf (love that movie!). By the time I got to the raccoon hugging scene (really early in the movie) the whirlwind of Annabelle’s birth started. Honestly, it went so fast I hardly had time to process everything. Here is the approximate timeline:

12:30 p.m. I texted my friend Julie who is a nurse and told her I thought my water might have broken but I felt so silly calling my OB twice in the same day to ask if I should get checked out. Julie encouraged me to call them.

12:45 p.m. Despite feeling somewhat dumb, I called the office to ask if I should come in. The nurse said they had a 2:30 spot and I should definitely come in to get checked and make sure I was doing ok. At this point I called Robbie to let him know there was no rush but if he wanted to finish up his patients and come home to take me to my appointment. He said he would take off in the next few minutes (I was so nonchalant he even stopped at the coffee cart before heading home to get a cookie!!)

1:00 p.m. I decided to hop in the shower while I waited. Two minutes into my shower I realized what a huge mistake that was! My water definitely broke and contractions went from nothing to 1 ½ to 2 minutes apart immediately.

1:05 p.m. I hop out of the shower and attempt to blow dry my hair but have to stop every other minute because of the pain.

1:15 p.m. Rob arrives home to find me on the floor of the bathroom throwing up. His first words are, “I’ll go put our bags in the car…”.

1:25 p.m. We leave for the hospital. Rob thinks I am ridiculous because I am doing my make up in the car, stopping every other minute to whimper through a contraction…LOL J

1:45 p.m. We arrive at the clinic and get put in a patient room to see the doctor. I promptly throw up all over myself and Rob has to give me his shirt. When my doctor arrives she takes one look at me and says, “Girl, you are definitely in labor!” She finds I am 7 cm dilated and sends me to the ER to get checked in to the maternity ward.

2:00 p.m. Arrive at the ER where they ask a series of ridiculous questions (Do you have a living will? Advanced directives? What is your address? Etc. etc.). I was not amused since I had “pre-registered” and naively thought this meant I wouldn’t have to answer questions and sign things while in pain. The nurse looked at Robbie and said, “They lose their sense of humor about now.” I just glared at her and said “I just want my epidural”. I asked Rob, “What happens if I can’t get an epidural?!? Rob’s response was, “You’ll just have to do it without one.” This made for one unhappy wife…someone really needs to tell him there are times in life when honesty is NOT the best policy!

2:15 p.m. We are put into our labor and delivery room where I find out (much to my dismay) that I have to have a bag of fluids, a blood draw and lab work returned before I can get an epidural.

3:00 p.m. Blessed relief! My epidural is finally administered. I am 8 cm dilated. Our friend Chris stops by to join in the fun of delivery and hangs out with us as we wait for me to finish dilating.

5:30 p.m. Final check and I am fully dilated. They get the baby station ready and call my doctor before I get to push.

6:00 p.m. My doctor arrives and says, “I thought you said she just started to push??” She almost missed the delivery and had to rush to get into her gown and booties.

6:10 p.m. After less than 30 minutes of pushing, Annabelle Rose Tanzer was born!! 8 lbs. 14 oz. and 21 inches long J She is a beautiful, healthy baby girl with brown hair and blue eyes. 

Waiting for baby

Last pregnant photo!

Baby Annabelle

Proud Momma!!

Getting weighed and measured

8 lbs. 14 oz.

Robbie and Annabelle

Family of 3 :)

Robbie and Annabelle

Congratulations!

Beautiful baby girl

Baby feet

"False" Labor

Saturday night in our now predictable style we went out to grab some Chinese for our "last" weekend of just the two of us (this time for real!). For the past month we have been enjoying each weekend as though it is our last which, if you know me and Robbie at all, always involves eating somewhere. We are still in search of good Chinese and Thai food restaurants so we decided to give one in Westlake a try.
While waiting for our food I started to have my first real contractions and by the time we got home they were pretty steady at 10 minutes apart. This scared Rob enough to pack his overnight bag (finally!) and we went to sleep early thinking we may have to run to the hospital sometime Sunday. Sunday morning we woke up to 8 minutes apart, went to church and came home to 6 minutes apart. This is good, right? We went on a walk and had some 4-5 minutes and then got tired of sitting on the couch timing them so we went for yet another walk to enjoy the last really nice weather day for awhile. During the walk contractions sped up to 3-4 minutes and even a few 2 minute ones thrown in. We were getting pretty excited at this point! We went back inside to time them again and they slowed WAY down...back to 6 minutes again. Yet again, we wisely decided to get some sleep in case we had to get up in the middle of the night. I couldn't sleep through the contractions so I went downstairs to lay on the couch and watch TV. Around 2 I decided I would try again to sleep through them since they were still at 6 minutes. When my alarm went off at 6 I jumped out of bed and oriented myself quickly remembering when I went to sleep I was in labor. Apparently not anymore! I made sure the baby was moving, went back to sleep for a few hours and called my OB's office when they opened. The nurse sympathetically told me "it can happen" and assured me it would just help with the induction tomorrow.
Robbie left for work a little bit sad. He said, "I'm just ready to hold her." Aww...how can a wife feel bad about her lack of sleep when you hear him say that? He's just so anxious! He has put together every toy he can find and laid down carpet in her basement play area this weekend (even though she won't use that area for quite some time!!). Soon enough he will hold her and make sure she is ok!
So, tomorrow is the BIG day. 7:30 a.m. we start the induction and hopefully find that my 30 hours of labor was not completely in vain! Can't wait to post a picture of baby Bella being held by her daddy after months, weeks, and hours of waiting!

Nesting, Nesting, Nesting!

With officially less than 2 weeks to go until our due date and the guarantee from our OB that the baby will be here in less than 3 weeks, we are frantically finishing our nesting (and, I’ll admit, a series of other unrelated baby projects that I have been putting off!). On the day of week 38 I got my first stretch mark but my OB said I’m not allowed to complain because she couldn’t find it without a magnifying glass and I have “no idea” what other women go through...my mom’s words of wisdom were more blunt: It doesn’t matter because the second baby will give me more stretch marks than I can count…sigh…thanks mom! I guess there is no sense in deluding myself anyway…

Anyway, on to the nesting part! We have Annabelle’s “nook” completely put together and it is absolutely adorable! I attached some photos below to show the finished product. Those finishing touches made both of us excited for baby’s arrival and Robbie was so great putting it together. We found some remnant carpet for her nursery and had some extra for the living room so she will have a place to lay on her tummy that’s not hardwood or tile. So many people gave us cute little touches for the baby’s nursery and it’s such a happy little place.

We picked a pediatrician and I got to have a meet and greet session with him last week. I really got a good feeling from him and his nurse. He was very thorough spending 30 minutes getting to know me and asking about any concerns I might have. Funny enough, since picking him we have repeatedly found people who take their kids to him and think he is great! I went to a new mother’s support group yesterday and both of the moms there used this pediatrician and (before I knew it was the same one) brought up how great their pediatrician is. That definitely makes us feel pretty good – not bad for a Russian roulette style of picking a name off a sheet of paper! Yikes!

For an update on me: Still feeling great although we do have a nighttime party animal. It’s definitely getting difficult to sleep through her rolling and kicking. Also found out what nerve pain in your back and legs feels like at the end of pregnancy and am not a fan. I am still walking several miles each day though so I’m glad I can push through that pain. My measurements are right on for where I am at in the pregnancy and the baby is still very active during her weekly NST. Our doctor thinks we will go full term and possibly up to a week over but I think she tells everyone that so they don’t get their hopes up. As for me, I’m still ok with her staying put for a few more weeks since I am enjoying the baby free time cramming in projects and socializing. I have met a lot of new moms lately and spent time with the girlfriends I have made here.  Robbie is getting more anxious than I am and gave Bella “permission” to come at any time. He would really love to get the call that I’m in labor. He’s excited to be a daddy and would love for her to come soon since this is an easy month for him at work!

We will take and post another belly photo this week so you all can see how big I am getting. We seem always forget to take them and it’s getting close to the end so we should get on that! Love to you all from the three of us :)

Annabelle's Nursery Nook

Joslyn helped make the pictures to match the bedding and the baby hoot owl is from Auntie Jolie!
Look at the adorable comforter too from Grandma/Mom Tanzer, Shelly, Aunt Marie, and Aunt Alene

Picture frame from my Aunt Bonnie

Calendar is from Nicole and we plan to put some books in the corner there

Here is the crib! The wall art was made by Joslyn :)

Old dresser converted to changing table - fits perfectly!