Penelope Annelise
braveangel2
member
Thank you so much for all the well wishes!! Life has been crazy since last Wednesday, but I had a few moments while little miss fuss gus sleeps, so instead of sleeping I'm Bumping 
After a labor scare a month ago, we were on high alert for 'any day now', but little sister took her sweet time and went past the due date. I was due on Sunday, the 17th, and I didn't go into labor in earnest until the 20th - the day after our last midwifery appointment.
At 6:30pm, I felt a contraction that was pretty different from the others, but I didn't want to get excited, so Eric made dinner and then I took a shower. The idea was that if we went to triage A) I wasn't going to be hungry and 
I wasn't going to smell. The shower didn't slow the contractions so I told Eric we should go. I couldn't sit, so I used the walker we had picked up the day before to help with my hips and allow me to walk through any contractions. We got everything together (most of it was packed the month before, but a few final touches), and drove to my mom's house to drop off Emmeline and pick up my mom.
It was all pretty fast-paced, but not a panicky one. Although Eric did say that if I said the word, he'd drive super fast. Being in the car during contractions sucked, so I put all my energy into hating that road. By the time we got to Providence, I was in the zone. Triage checked me out and I was 7cm - hooray! I was deep into coping by then, and they just took the bed down to the third floor. I used my walker to get around and labor some more, and everyone just kind of waited. Our support team (aka pit crew) trickled in (mom, MIL, bonus mom, bonus sister, and photographer). We cracked jokes and I kept changing positions until I found one that worked, and a few hours later, Penelope made her way into the world.
This birth was so much different than my eldest. There were no interventions, no trying to get my body to do something it didn't want to, and no complications. It was about 6.5 hours from that first contraction to holding her, and Eric got to catch.
10lbs, 10oz and it turns out she was actually 21.25 inches long.
I was so happy to get the birth I wanted. I can't tell you how many tears I cried over Emmeline's birth, and I could never bring myself to write her birth story. It was definitely healing. A huge thank you to Molly, our midwife and nurses Shelly and Angela - they were so wonderful and the energy in the room was just amazing. Geez, I'm going to cry just thinking about it again.
Her Name:
We had Penelope picked out before we even considered a second child. We were shoe shopping a few weeks before Emmeline's first birthday, and I said IF we were going to do it again, and IF we had a girl, my guilty pleasure name is Penelope. Eric surprised me and said he loves that name, and we said Penelope Anne and that was it.
Then when I actually became pregnant, the middle name wasn't quite right. E has a first and middle that are both 8 letters, so as a challenge to ourselves, we thought it would be fun to see if we could find a middle name we loved that was also 8 letters. We kept a card of all the possibilities, and we had...Penelope Guinevere (nn Penguin - 9 letters, but too fun to pass up), Annelise, Marigold, Coraline, Angeline, and Victoria (just in case she was born on Canada Day 
). Each of them had some small story or something to offer, but none of them felt quite right. I kept saying I wished that Annelise felt more like us, but it just didn't seem right. Turns out that it may not have been right for us, but it was right for her. After 12 hours in the birth suite, we had a middle name.
Anne for the literary connection and a name we both like, Elise to honor my amazing mom, 8 letters, and Danish (which we both have).
There are pics on www.onetreephotography.com under Penelope, but I'll try to post some soon - baby is waking!
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Re: Penelope Annelise
Beautiful birth story Angel! Congratulations again!
Also, I noticed she was born 1:11 and weighed 10, 10 - I think she is going to have a numbers thing like you.
The only Easter Bunny I can get behind.
Maxwell Joseph 4/09 Lucy Violet 10/12
Congratulations Angel!! I'm so glad you got the birth experience you hoped for.
She is beautiful and I LOVE her name!!!
Bio & Blog | The Chic Bambino | Bumps & Babies Fair
M/C 9/21/09 | M/C 12/24/09 | BFP 1/23/10
Madeline Rey DOB 9/30/10
TTC # 2 Jan 2013
BFP 3/12/13 | EDD 11/18/13
It's a GIRL! Lydia Marie!
I'm going to make an AWESOME big brother.
Photo by J Shelton Photography
Married 10/5/08 | 2 yrs of TTC, tests, procedures & a m/c | IVF #2 =James!
What a wonderful birth story Angel! I am so, so happy for you and your beautiful family. Penelope is as beautiful as her name- that is to say both are gorgeous! You are a superstar mama and totally rocked that birth! Can't wait to meet your newest little lady!
P.S. Thanks for not being like the poster I remember once from the names board and spelling it Analease.
Hahahaha...yes! I was pretty happy about the time and date of her birth too...all odd numbers just like E! It's the little things
Heavens to Murgatroyd Blog
Unofficial Baby Names Sticky Note: New and Old| Local Bumpie Website
Heavens to Murgatroyd Blog
Unofficial Baby Names Sticky Note: New and Old| Local Bumpie Website
You know what's funny - I had Penelope pegged for the heroine of my someday children's book because it's such a stand alone name, and I figured I'd never use it for a baby. Ha!
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Unofficial Baby Names Sticky Note: New and Old| Local Bumpie Website
Thanks, Shane! And yes, thank goodness - phonetics is not a friend of the namer. :P
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Unofficial Baby Names Sticky Note: New and Old| Local Bumpie Website