she has arrived!!!

so i believe that the best things in life are never easy. and bringing our baby into the world was no exception. this morning at 5:29am EST, annabel helen robison was born! if her birth was any indication of future things, she will be quite the instigator of drama for the rest of her life.

i woke up at 330am to cheryl telling me that she thought that this labor thing was starting. her contractions were pretty gentle at that point but were getting closer together. i started moving around the house gathering our stuff, loading the car and preparing for a few days in the hospital. at 430am the contractions were pretty significant and about 3-5 minutes apart. we called the doctor and she suggested we make our way to the hospital. we arrived around 500am and the nurse checked us in and started her exam. everything was fine until she started using the fetal heart rate monitor and couldnt find the baby's heartbeat...never in my life have i felt such complete dread. she called in a few more nurses and one was finally able to find the heartbeat, but it was low (about 60 bpm when its supposed to be over 130). they immediately mobilized and began prepping cheryl for surgery. she was whisked away with her entourage of doctors and nurses and i was left standing there wondering what the heck was going happen. a nice nurse then led me down the hall to the postpartum room. during this time about three nurses asked me if i was okay, to which i had to honestly reply no. this was awful.

this story does have a wonderful ending though. about 20 minutes after i got the room, the nurses wheeled in the most beautiful baby that i have ever seen. she was perfect. her transition after birth and the trauma in the womb have her struggling a little bit to adjust and she'll be spending the day in the special care unit where they can keep her on oxygen and monitor her a little more closely. cheryl, meanwhile, is resting and recovering in her room from the whole ordeal.

so you may ask what caused all this commotion. cheryl had a 30% placental abruption. this is where the placenta begins to tear away from the uterine wall before it should. once it does this it stops functioning in a life-giving capacity and is simply tissue in the womb - not good for baby or mom. this is why annabel was having such a hard time breathing and is still now processing through the extra acid and crud in her lungs and system. theres no telling how quickly this tearing process was occurring but the doctor told me that if we had arrived just 30 minutes later, it would probably have been a much different visit.

thank god for all the blessings that we dont even know happened. most of all we thank him for our healthy baby and mom. st. ann, pray for us...

harvey and the popcorn

i don't think that we're ready to take him on the road but that doesn't mean its not fun to watch...:)



or click here to view on youtube

some new photos at nine months...

who knew that pregnancy came with a tabletop?























in the front yard

38 weeks...whoa!

we cannot believe that its been 38 weeks since we found out we would be having a little nugget. here is a photo of cheryl in all her beautifulness...

as they say in the song, our "bags are packed and we're ready to go". just waiting on the baby...

guess the nugget...

its time for a baby pool! click the photo to make your guesses about when our little girl will make her appearance and what she'll look like when she does. if you're too far off on your guesses, you might get the angry face from nugget (shown in the above photo). good luck.

a little bit of history...

a little history on andrew's parents:
june 9, 1968 - paul and linda (dad and mom) get married in texas
march 1969 - dad enrolls in officer training school for the us air force and ships out to california
may 1970 - dad assigned to lockbourne air force base outside of columbus, ohio (renamed rickenbacker afb in 1974)
april 8, 1971 - erin (oldest sister) born
december 1973 - leave columbus to move back to houston

the photos below are from their first trip back to columbus in 36 years. the first was taken in front of 3488 w. penfield court, my parents house from 1970 until 1972. the second picture was taken outside of Christ the King Catholic Church where erin was baptized. the third picture is a historical photo of the hospital on base where my dad was stationed and where erin was born.

new photos of the baby mama...

here are some cute photos of cheryl at week 35. according to our baby countdown today, we are only 26 days away from her due date. whoa!

getting ready for baby...

over the past 2-3 weeks we have been busy getting ready all the "stuff" that nugget will need when she gets here (or maybe more appropriately all the "stuff" that we think we will need when nugget gets here). super stollers, blinds and curtains, diapers, blankets, cribs and more. left to be assembled are the car seat, bassinet, pack n play, swing and probably a million more things. oy vey...

but it has been tons of fun. cheryl and i usually spend at least 30 minutes a day sitting in the nursery talking about all sorts of stuff. projects we've completed, projects to finish, things we want to do, things we don't want to do, our own childhood memories, what we're excited for, what we're terrified of, baby names, and so on and so on...

i get a quote of the day in my email and today's fits us very well. "we change the world not by what we say or do, but as a consequence of what we have become. - david hawkins" i know that nugget is still a few weeks away from being "here" but cheryl and i have already become parents and i believe that will change the world...

that was awesome!!!

we stopped in vandalia, illinois to see this fire-breathing dragon. totally worth it!!!

summertime in ohio

david and aspen recently came to ohio hang with us on their summer vacation. and it was their five-year anniversary! congratulations. we took the opportunity to show them some of the sights of columbus. click the photo to see an album of our trip to the zoo, the ice cream factory and the ohio statehouse. we also grilled some burgers, ate lots of sandwiches and enjoyed a german feast...