Brooke Anne's First Day!

Brooke Anne

She's here a little bit early!
Kent and Annie had their baby girl...

Brooke Anne Norgaard Chalmers was born at 10:38 p.m. Saturday, the 9th day of August, in Wenatchee, WA. She tipped the scales at 5# 13oz. and was 18 3/4" long. She came into this world quickly and with hearty lungs. Brooke's mom, dad, and Auntie Caitlin welcomed this miracle and were joined by Grandma Britta & Grandpa Bing Chalmers from Kettle Falls, WA. Grandma Carol & Grandpa John McCabe heard the joyful cries via telephone in Petersburg, AK. and soon spread the news throughout the family. What a glorious day!
Posted by Guest Blogger ~ Grandma Carol
Photos to be posted later by photographer Caitlin!

5:50pm

I'm still at home with contractions. This afternoon the contractions slowed to every 30 minutes for about 2 hours. We went on another walk and they increased to every 15 minutes for a few hours. At 4:30pm I spent an hour in the shower and tub timing contractions with this great website. Now as 6 o'clock approaches (14 hours so far!) the contractions are getting more painful but still about 7-9 minutes apart. I think I will call the doctor and give her an update since I haven't talked to her since early afternoon. One part of me wants to stay at home where it's comfortable and calming but the other part wants to go to the hospital to see how much progress I've made.

12:15pm

It's been about 8 hours since I woke up this morning with pains... and things have really slowed down. The 4 o'clock wake-up has made me pretty sleepy, so I'm going to try and take a nap. Hopefully things will pick up again later this afternoon. We may have a late night!

Is this really goodbye to the belly?

We woke up this morning to rain and wind. It reminded me of many mornings in my hometown of Petersburg, Alaska (but without the contractions). Now as the early afternoon approaches the rain soaked streets are being dried by warm sunshine. For the last 45 minutes I've been watching the contractions and they have been predictable. Every 8 minutes they arrive and last for about 40 seconds. I called the clinic and told my doctor that I was in labor. At this point I'm very relaxed and the pain is not bad. She told me to stay put if I feel comfortable. She said it would be good to go for a walk and drink liquids, so that's what I plan on doing.

Since this may be goodbye to the belly, I thought I'd show everyone in all it's pale skinned glory!

Labor!?!

Well, I think I'm having labor pains! I woke up at 4:00am this morning with gas like pains. It's now 7:00am and we've started to time the contractions. They are irregular but definitely something more than gas pains. Caitlin has headed off to work in critical care and is working a 12 hour shift today. We've called both parents and everyone is excited about the news. No running off to the hospital yet!

5 days to go!?

I guess it's about time for an update. Several people have assumed that we were at the hospital because we did not answer our telephone! We'll try and keep everyone informed via this blog as the big day approaches.

We had a doctor's appointment on Monday. We've been going in every week to check on things. So far everything looks good. It has become very routine to go to the clinic... they weigh you, take a urine sample, and check your blood pressure. Then Dr. Ortiz comes in and measures the height of the belly, listens to the heart rate of the baby, and answers any questions we may have. That's about it! On our way out we sign up for another Monday appointment and hope that we won't make it until then!

I still feel great. No real changes in how I feel in the last few weeks. I have been attending lap swim about 5 times a week this summer which has felt wonderful. Along with some house work and teaching private lessons, we try and do something fun every day. Yesterday we drove up the Icicle Road in Leavenworth to check on the river which has taken over the road after an avalanche this spring. You can check out this remarkable story here. It's a real shame because there are some beautiful campsites, a ranger station and a great hike that you can't drive to anymore.

This morning we brought our bikes to the Apple Capital Loop Trail in Wenatchee. It's a great five mile ride around the Columbia River. It's fun to people watch, see the artwork and flowers on the Wenatchee side of the river and see the desert landscape of the East Wenatchee side. We took it pretty slow, but really enjoyed the warm sun on our backs and the great views.

By the way, I figured out how to add links!!! Click on the underlined words to learn more! :) You probably already figured that out...

Wild Wenatchee

We've been working too hard lately and needed to do something fun. We drove 15 minutes to Wenatchee and put the canoe in the water at the Wenatchee Confluence State Park. A short distance away is our favorite spot to canoe, the Horan Nature Area (the marshy canals seen in the aerial photo below). We saw more wildlife today than we have ever seen. There are always a lot of Canadian geese, wood ducks and other waterfowl, but today we saw two deer, a garter snake with it's catch, and a raccoon. It is so peaceful and beautiful we would recommend this little canoe trip to anyone.

Below is a fun little beach that we usually go swimming at. This year the water is a little too cold for our liking, although wading in the water is very refreshing. This is close to the point at which the Wenatchee River meets the Columbia River.

We were so surprised to see deer today. A buck and a doe were wandering about the shallow river.

This was another first for us! A garter snake eating a fish... what an amazing sight! It was really neat to watch it eat this fish whole by dislocating it's jaws. The poor fish was still alive! :(

Above you can see where we found the snake. Eventually it decided it liked where I had been sitting... good thing I had moved by then!

Both of these photos are of the cloud formations reflecting in the water. It was a beautiful day!

Crafty Annie (and Kent)

This was the very first and most time consuming project I have worked on during this pregnancy. I started the cross stitch in the spring when riding the bus to work and back. I put it away for a few weeks before starting in on the beading. The beads make up all the flowers in the center and around the border. I finally finished the beading during Bach Festival while waiting during Kent's rehearsals. You may have to click on the photo to see it up close. Kent made me this beautiful frame and I painted it pink. It took a lot of hours to make, but I think it will be something special for our daughter!

Only a few days/weeks to go!

Sometimes I feel like I am in denial that this baby could be here any day now. I'm just waiting to feel miserable like all the books and internet sites tell you that you are supposed to feel. One resource stated, "It would be very unusual for you to not be uncomfortable at this time."
Maybe this means I'll be having this baby at 41 weeks!? I guess the waiting/guessing game starts!