15 days

Thank you all for your congratulations and kind words! It means so much to me. Thank you.

We have successfully made it through the first two weeks of Gemma's life! There have been a couple really difficult nights but the good nights are outweighing the bad.


I couldn't have survived if it weren't for my sweet husband, he is my rock. When I am an exhausted, sobbing, hormonal mess he can talk me down off the edge. Also my saintly mother. Maybe saintly is exaggerating but every time I have a baby she comes and stays with us for two weeks. She takes care of the other kids, makes food, cleans the house, does laundry, basically everything. Pretty saintly, right?


Gemma is doing really well. She is absolutely precious and we are all smitten with her. Liam loves to hold her and does a good job of making Gemma feel comfortable, she doesn't cry at all when he holds her. Sutton is so excited to have a sister to "play Barbies with". Ezra is always wanting to hold, hug and kiss Gemma. He isn't jealous of her at all, in fact he shares his beloved "kiki's" (blankets) with her.


About Gemma's name: Michael and I both really liked the name Gemma, in fact it was the only name that we could both agree on. It is pronounced with a soft G (like George), phonetically "Jem-mah". It, of course, means gem or precious stone.


Gemma's middle name is in honor of my maternal grandmother. When I was little my sisters and I referred to Grandma Hazel as the "mean grandma". Hazel had 9 children and almost 40 grandchildren. She was old and tired and often in pain and therefor somewhat grumpy and impatient with noisy grandchildren running through her house.


As I got older (10-12 years old) I spent more one on one time with my grandmother and really got to know her. She wasn't mean, she was actually a very fun and loving woman. I loved spending time with her. She taught me how to play chinese checkers. We would spend hours playing that game. When I surprised her with a really good move she would say, "Dammit Hazel, your as blind as a bat." That always made me laugh.


She died in 1992 but I still think of her and the time I spent in her home. I was very excited about giving my daughter her name. The really amazing part is that Grandma Hazel's birthday was January 22nd (I had forgotten this until my mom reminded me a couple of days before Gemma's birth) so Gemma and her namesake actually share a birthday. I couldn't have planned it better!

I am taking it easy, trying to enjoy this time with a newborn. It is so very fleeting. Posting will be light for a few months but I will be back! Promise!