Thursday, December 24, 2009

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

And all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring not even a mouse (which isn't much smaller than my baby daughter, by the way).

Not a creature was stirring, except for me, of course. As a new mom, I'm paranoid to sleep. It's 5 am and I'm on the night shift. Mr. Brice watched the baby and did some work from 8:30 pm to 2 am while I slept. Now it's my turn.

I can't believe it's actually Christmas Eve. CRAZINESS! Seriously, where did this month go? Oh wait...I know exactly where it went. Sadly, Mr. Brice's grandma passed away the day after Thanksgiving, so we went out of town for the funeral the first weekend of December, which meant a long car trip down to Tennessee.

Then when we got back, it was off to work the first two days of the week like normal. But what came after that was anything but normal.

I left work that Tuesday afternoon (December 8) around 4 pm so that I could meet my friend (and frequent Fictionista blog reader) Jennifer up at the Capitol Building. She was visiting from Atlanta, and was staying with her cousin, and even though being 8 months pregnant was keeping me from doing all the sightseeing and whatnot with her that I would have liked, I had tickets for the Capitol Tree Lighting Reception at the Botanic Gardens after the lighting, so we met up for that.

I was feeling completely fine. I ran into smoe people I knew and they asked me how I was feeling, and so of course I gave the standard throwaway answers that any 8-month preggers lady gives:
"I feel like I'm about to pop any second"
AND
"I'm so ready to not be pregnant anymore."

Which wasn't exactly true. I didn't literally mean I was about to pop, and I had way too many things still to do to get ready for the baby first. But, well, those answers are pretty much expected. I don't know. Whatever.

Except, it ended up being true. When I got home from the reception, I went with Mr. Brice to walk the dog, then I sat down to get some writing done. Did significantly more writing in one session than I'd done in months. I was feeling pretty good about myself, when all of a sudden it hit me that I hadn't felt the baby move in hours.

I drank some juice and laid down. Several hours later, at about 3 am, I got up to walk around, drank some more juice, ate some string cheese, and came back to bed. In tears. Because I couldn't feel anything.

Mr. Brice told me it was time for me to call the hospital. The midwife on call told me to come in for observation.

I was admitted around 4 am, and they immediately got a heartbeat. Yay! What a relief. I figured they would send me home with the typical giggles they reserve for any other clueless first time mom who panics over the slightest thing.

They ended up sending me home 4 days later, and lo and behold, I was no longer pregnant. My baby, who was 5 1/2 weeks premature had to stay behind in the NICU.

But Merry Christmas to me! Baby Amber came home yesterday!!!!!!!! Santa brought us a very special early Christmas present this year.



It's our first Christmas as a little family, and I couldn't be more thrilled. so my wish for all our readers is that you and your family have as joyous a holiday season as I am.

Happy holidays!

28 comments:

  1. YAYYYYYYY! Your baby is freaking beautiful. ((hugs)) Happy holidays!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Awww. She's so sweet.

    Merry Christmas. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous8:32 AM

    She's lovely. Happy Holidays! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gorgeous little girl! And she just wanted to be your bestest present this year!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Aw, she is such a poppet. She reminds me so much of my middle dd who was about the same weight and just as premmie.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Squeeeee! She's such a little angel. Congratulations & Merry Christmas to the Brice Family!

    Sandy :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. SO glad you were able to bring home your little one before Christmas. She's beautiful! What a special holiday for you all!!

    Natasha

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jennifer Russell10:16 AM

    So glad to hear that she is home!! Congratulations . . . and have a Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Merry Christmas and sweet angel kisses for baby Amber!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. She is amazing. I'm so happy four your family.

    ReplyDelete
  11. She is the best Christmas gift, ever. Merry Christmas! 'Tis truely a blessed one.

    ReplyDelete
  12. So glad you were able to bring Amber home for Christmas. She sure is a sweetheart! Have a very Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a precious little doll she is! Merry Christmas to you, your husband, and your adorable little Sugar Plum Fairy!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Gorgeous! My Diva Baby (#3 child) was 6 weeks early and is now a healthy 3 1/2 yrs. She looks fantastic and I wish you a joyous and blessed Christmas with her home. Congratulations, Amanda!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Elisa Beatty3:01 PM

    Congrats, Amanda! What a little Christmas star!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Amanda, how wonderful. She is so cute. Happy Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  17. She's just precious! Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family.

    ReplyDelete
  18. She's gorgeous!! Congrats on your new addition.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous5:56 PM

    She is BEAUTIFUL Amanda. Melanie and I are so thrilled for you guys.
    Michael

    ReplyDelete
  20. She is absolutely lovely! Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  21. She's beautiful, Amanda. What an extra special Christmas present for you. Love and hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous9:58 PM

    Merry Christmas Brice's.

    She is so beautiful! And that head of hair! My word!

    ReplyDelete
  23. What a head of hair, you have a beautiful baby. I'm so glad she is healthy and you have her home.

    Merry Christmas.

    Janice~

    ReplyDelete
  24. Way too cute! Look at all tht hair! It's just calling out to me for pink bows. :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm so happy for you! Amber is adorable and what a lovely little bundle of joy.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Merry Christmas to you indeed! She's just beautiful, Amanda. So happy she's home! {{{Hugs}}}

    ReplyDelete
  27. She's beautiful - and an alert little thing!

    Congrats.

    E/N/S

    ReplyDelete
  28. Now that's what I call a Christmas gift! Congratulations to all of you. She's beautiful.

    ReplyDelete