The Best Panera Trip

2:00: Joshua calls from work on a Tuesday to say it is time to leave.

3:00: After feeding Sophia and changing her diaper, changing both of our clothes and making sure the diaper bag is fully stocked we leave Quincy for Downtown Boston.

3:30: We arrive in the city in the midst of a thunderstorm. Joshua leaves his office in a suit, attempting to avoid getting soaked. 

4:00: We hit traffic.

6:30: We stop for dinner in Western Massachusetts. It takes a long time and isn't very good, but Sophia sleeps the entire time.

8:00: We have a necessary conversation about my needing to clarify when I am disappointed in a situation vs. mad at Joshua. I am not mad at Joshua, I am just sad we are not at Panera yet.

8:30: We arrive at Panera! The reason for my sadness had been that our family had arrived at Panera a half hour earlier, and we had missed that time with them while at the not-so-good-slow-restaurant. This was magnified by the amount of time we had been on the road with a sometimes 'very vocal' backseat passenger and the fact that our visit would have to be short. However, all of this was actually unexpected time. Joshua's older brother and his family had been packing up the car to move from Michigan to Colorado when they received the call that his grandmother had died. They made the amazing decision to drive many hours east instead of west and attend her memorial in Vermont. We met them at the stop that would be closest to us on their route back towards Colorado. Sophia gets to meet her family and I get to talk with my sister-in-law about being a new Mom.

Aunt Jennifer and Cousins Grace and Anna

Uncle Eric and Cousins Noah and Levi

9:30: After Joshua leads a parking lot game for the kids and hugs are had, we are back on the road.

10:30: Rain begins to pour again.

12:30: Still raining.....but we are home!

1:00: Sophia is changed and fed, swaddled in her bassinet with her white noise machine humming. We are in bed and grateful for the unanticipated opportunity to see our family, not knowing how long it will be until we see them again but hoping it will be soon.

***The 2nd  best Panera trip was on our next road trip when Joshua danced with Sophia to the overhead music next to our booth, so I could finish my dinner.

What I want to teach her......

I was holding Sophia while she slept the other day, and an Amy Speace song I had never heard before came on the radio. 
As I listened to the lyrics, I thought this is what I want to teach her:

"Red sky ahead, of the morning sun
And I've heard it said, that's when trouble comes
Have been blown by this wind, and I know this eve
I've been out here before, it's not a map that I need

Show me how to fly in the starless sky
Help me to hold on when there's no guiding light
Teach me how to sleep, how to sleep in a stormy boat"

It made me think of Philippians 4:7, which says, "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." 
And of the story in Mark 4:35-41:
"A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm."

As much as I want to, I realize I cannot protect her from everything hurtful in this world. As her Mama, the only way I can teach her to 'fly in the starless sky' or 'sleep in the stormy boat' is to guide her heart towards peace that surpasses understanding when she is in the midst of a storm.




"When I am afraid, I will trust in you." Psalm 56:3

Family Firsts: Father's Day

I know from personal experience that the father-daughter bond can be a very powerful one. It is clear that these two have already begun to make that connection. 

When I was pregnant, Joshua didn't want to hug me too tightly so as to avoid harming the baby. He already loved you, Sophia.

Despite the fact that we didn't want to learn the gender in advance, he had a strong hunch that we were having a little girl. Now that we know both her gender and name, it is rare to hear him call her Sophia....usually it is.....'little one', 'cheeks Archambault', 'squeak', or 'sweetest pea'. 

When we brought her home from the hospital, he was always making sure she was wearing a hat or that everyone would wash their hands before holding her. When we went to the beach for the first time, he had her fully covered from head to toe. When she is having a difficult time, he is often the one who rocks her and speaks softly to her. When she is working out a digestive issue he coaches her enthusiastically as if at a sporting event. I have been told to get the camera because 'she is making the cutest face'. It was once suggested that I eat dinner in the dark, because the light was bothering her eyes.

Sophia, you are incredibly blessed to have this man as your father, and I am forever grateful to have him as my teammate in raising you.

Archambault Arrival

Our baby was due on May 18th. My last day of work was the 17th, and I was hopeful that not too many days of maternity leave would pass without my actually being able to spend them with the baby. I knew statistically speaking there was a good chance I would deliver later than my due date. Still, beginning at about 37 weeks pregnant, I enjoyed getting up every morning and thinking, 'today could be THE day!'. Despite this, I never wished for her to come sooner. I loved having her with me all the time and feeling her movements. Aside from some puffy feet and heartburn, the third trimester of pregnancy was kind to me.

I had an appointment with my Obstetrician on the due date, where I learned that I was 1 cm dilated and 60% effaced. She performed a membrane sweep, informing me that it would only encourage the baby's arrival if she was ready to be born. I very much was hoping for a baby selected arrival date. My Mom flew into town that afternoon and the next three days were filled with special Mother-daughter moments complete with pedicures.

The following Tuesday we were back at the Obstetrician's office. During an ultrasound I learned that our previously anticipated 7 pound baby, was now measuring at almost 9 pounds! I guess she had been making good use of that extra cooking time. Upon exam, I was now 3 cm dilated and 75% effaced. My Doctor performed a second membrane sweep and sent us home. I was uncomfortable when I went to bed and by morning I knew I was in labor.

I ate a light breakfast to 'give me strength' (which I would see again just a few hours later). Then while listening to music and hugging a heat pack, Joshua and my Mom helped me to count contractions. At about 11:30 am, they were 5 minutes apart and we were in the car headed to the hospital. By the time we arrived I was feeling pretty uncomfortable and my Mom offered to see if she could get a wheelchair from the lobby. She was able to acquire the wheelchair, but all of a sudden there was an ambulance as well. This actually made me laugh because it would have taken longer to load me in the ambulance then it would to roll me to the front  door. Also, I was definitely not in need of an ambulance.

When I was evaluated at triage, I was 4 cm dilated and admitted. After attending her husband's "Teacher of the Year" ceremony and obtaining childcare for her own baby, my dear friend and professional doula (labor coach), Danielle, arrived just on time. She suggested we take a walk. This was a good idea to help labor progress, and aside from the vomiting and pain it was lovely.

Not too much later we checked in to my birthing room, which was huge and had a pool where I spent the majority of my labor continuing to listen to the mix of music I had made.

We met the nurse and attending physician. When they learned that I was hoping to deliver without medication/intervention, they left and only came by to conduct sporadic heart monitoring. I appreciated being free to move without the interference of IVs or the numbing of drugs, but will admit that the pain was greater than I had imagined. If I were to become pregnant again, I would like to labor without medications a second time, but have to say that there was grace in not knowing the extent of the pain going in.

When I transitioned from the pool back to the bed it was getting dark but I had no idea what time it was. From 7 to 9 1/2 cm, I kept saying "soon!" during contractions. I also asked Joshua, Danielle and my Mom if any of them would like to take a turn laboring. I remember thinking that the pain couldn't get much worse and then it would. I also remember thinking that the pain wouldn't kill me, and that I would just pass out if it became too much. When it came time to push, I began feeling discouraged. I felt spent after 12 hours of labor, and had the misconception that the baby would come out after pushing just a couple of times. I also wasn't motivated by the fact that the doctor at the base of the bed wasn't even looking in my direction. It didn't give me the sense that she felt catching a baby would be necessary any time soon. At 10:52 pm our daughter was born. She was held up to us so that Joshua and I could see that she was a girl and then laid on my chest.

Joshua cut the umbilical cord after it finished pulsating.

                                   

        After a very brief discussion to confirm from our final list of name choices, we introduced Sophia Gayle to the room. By midnight it was only the three of us to spend the next hour together.                        

                                     
The nurse came back to weigh Sophia and we finally checked in to what would be our room for the next three days at 3 am. We were clearly all exhausted, and Sophia's birthday gift to us was to sleep from midnight to 8 am the following night.

My Mom, who was staying at our house, finally got to hold Sophia Thursday morning. 

Thursday and Friday brought special visitors including the Southworth-Mahoney family, Carolyn and Glen, Aimee, Stan, Mary and Hazel. 

My phenomenal doctor who was unable to attend the birth, but had provided all of our prenatal care, also came to see us.

Saturday morning Sophia was dressed in a gown that read "God's Gift" from our Pastor and his Wife, and a sweater her Godmother had made for her.

We got back to the house at noon on Saturday.......

.......and were joined shortly by Sophia's grandparents and her Uncle James.

Family Firsts: A bath for Sophia

We were discharged from the hospital on Saturday the 25th, three days after Sophia was born.

Each night of our stay, Sophia was given a bath, and then returned to us.

It reminded me of how when staying in a hotel, you return to a room with neatly made bed sheets.

On our third day home, Joshua noticed that our little girl smelled "salty", and we decided it was probably about time for that first bath.

The fact that she had her first pediatrician visit that day/first time leaving the house, provided additional motivation.

I read the full page of instructions on infant bathing provided by the hospital while Joshua performed the actual bathing.

She didn't seem to mind.......

.....until the hair washing.

Fortunately the experience appeared to be redeemed by the towel at the end.

Despite the warm cuddles, bathing was one of Sophia's least favorite things in her first two weeks of life.

So far there are only three things on this list.

In rank order they include:
1.Bathing (specifically the hair washing part)
2.The Car Seat (when the car isn't moving)
3.Diaper Changes (about half the time)