Bridget Sophia arrived on Tuesday, September 18, at 11:34 am. She weighed 7 lbs., 12.8 oz and measured 18.5 inches long. She has beautiful blue eyes (for now) and light brown hair. She's about 30 minutes old in this video.
I'll post photos on flickr when I get a chance . . .
After this post, I plan on posting only one more - a birth announcement, with perhaps a short account of the labor/delivery experience (for those of you who want the details), but really more of a post-script to this journey that started in the coffice some eighteen months ago.
As I come to the end of this blog, I realize how much it has come to mean to me--not only as a memoir and somewhat satisfying piece of multi-media literature, but as a means of communication that has kept me connected and re-connected me to family and friends near and far. Fannee Doolee is more than just my musings - it is a product of every person who has read or will read it, whether you've joined in the fray of commenting, sent me private e-mails, or remained one of the many "stalkers" who silently stop by and reflect on my ramblings only in your own private thoughts or prayers.
As I come to the end of this pregnancy, I realize that the journey has led me down a far different path than I had plotted for myself. I embraced this pregnancy as a "sign from God" that I am worthy and capable of mothering one more child. Foolishly, I set myself up for failure by believing I would either breeze through a healthy and manageable pregnancy while escalating my career and being everything a mother could be to my family, or somehow finding the strength to do so despite sickness and discomforts. I have done neither.
And yet, my reward at the end of this path is far greater than being deemed some sort of ordained Supermom. Not only do I realize that I will never be the perfect wife/mother/lawyer/person, but much more importantly, that I don't have to. Rather, my reward is a far more valuable realization: help is there for those who need it (to quote J.K. Rowling once more). Like a lost driver who finally, finally, breaks down and asks for directions, I see what a blessing it has been for me to follow the path before me, despite the bumps and challenges, because it led me to the inevitable place where I have no choice but to ask for help. You can't imagine how difficult that was for me to do--and what an epiphany it has been to learn to do it. In asking for help, the greatest blessing has been revealed to me in the overwhelming support from those closest to me as well as the most unexpected sources. I am entirely surrounded by people who love me, despite my flaws and my needs, who walk with me along similar paths of uncertainty, who lead me with the wisdom of their own experiences, and who wait for me at the end of the road.
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