More Photos

Here are a few more of our favorite shots from her first days:

Coming Home Day

Penelope came home on Sunday, a beautiful sunny day after one of the largest snow storms in DC history. Here's a shot Ben took outside the hospital the night before we came home.

And here are some shots of all of us preparing to come home:

Early Photos

As promised for the ravenous blog followers out there here are some shots of the three of us in these first few days.

Ben before heading into the c-section - happy dad-to-be!

PJ (about 17 hours old) and Mom (no one needs to know how old)

PJ on Day 2

Announcing the World Debut of...

Miss Penelope Jean Champa. She arrived Wednesday the 16th at 3:15 pm weighing 7 lbs 14 ozs and measuring in at 20 inches. We will have photos and/or video posted soon, but wanted to be sure the loyal blog followers had the news!

We are so lucky to have her - every time the nurses have to take her out of the room for some reason and then bring her back a little later, I can't help but think how surreal it is that she "belongs" to us. Our own happy healthy baby girl to love and care for the rest of our lives - unbelievable!

Last Day of Work

Today was my last day at work until after she arrives. It is just a matter of a few days at this point, because it turns out that my doctor will not let me stay pregnant forever. Ben and I are both staying home now until she comes, which won't be any later than the 16th. It was a very strange feeling turning off the light in my office today and knowing that I wouldn't be back for several months. I wish I could think of some poetic, creative, beautiful words to describe how it felt to finish up work this evening, only to come home and wait over the next few days for our lives to change in the most dramatic of ways, but the best word I could come up with was eerie.

I am just going to say it one more time: I hope she arrives soon, (although the idea of begging the powers to be in the world to send me into labor does seem like a sort of weird request).

When Will Baby Girl Champa Arrive?

I am getting crazy (did I say getting crazy or going crazy?) and trying to find ways to distract myself in these finals days, so I am expanding my blog skills to include a poll (see insert on the left) - I figure the oh so scientific art of guessing when babies will arrive was a perfect way to try out this new (to me) feature! So, anyone out there interested in venturing a guess. The doctors haven't given us any info to go on, so it's a level playing field. Stay tuned for any updates we get in the next few days!

Spoiling Baby Champa Some More

I hope that this little girl doesn't start out life with a princess complex because she certainly has been the recipient of a lot of parties and attention and she is not even here yet. (I guess that's one benefit of our geographically-diverse family!) Anyway, below is a shot of us with the fabulous hostesses of the latest shower in her honor. Both Baby Girl Champa and I wanted to say thank you to the hostesses as well as all of our family and friends who have made us feel so loved and blessed over the last few months. We can't wait for you all to meet her (once she arrives and we figure out what we are doing a bit).

Carolyn, Me, Shannon, and Sarah

The Nursery

Well, the nursery is done. Note I didn't say neat or suggest that everything is put away in its proper place. But the crib is put together. She has a dresser for her clothes and a book case for her books.

However the coolest part of the room, at least until the baby gets here, is the mural. Since we know she will be traveling a lot during her life to see grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, and other cool places, we wanted something that would represent that. We are really pleased with how it came out.

- Ben

H1N1 Adventures

Last night I succeeded in getting my H1N1 Vaccination! It was a fun adventure with our friend Laura traveling from NYC to get her shot too. (Laura had another pregnant friend getting the shot too - so we made quite a trio - especially with Ben as our personal chauffeur).

I have never been prouder to be a DC resident. DC offered free shots to pregnant women and young children at a number of clinics set up in schools around the city. The first site we planned to go to was swamped with people, but the trusty DOH officials there directed us to another site where we were in and out in about 30 minutes or less. The three of us left very grateful to have gotten access to the vaccination. The photo here is the super cool sticker that we were rewarded with for coming to get our shot!

Baby Shower - Part II

A few weeks ago, Baby Girl Champa and I made our last flight together - to Indiana for a baby shower there and to meet my nephew! We had a wonderful whirlwind trip visiting with family and friends in my home town. Below are a few photos from the weekend.

Me and My Mom Before the Shower

Me and my Nephew Gable

Cool Baby Tricks

Jes and I were sitting on the couch the other night watching tv. Jes was resting one of our remote controls on her stomach and the baby started kicking.

- Ben

Shower Time

Little Girl Champa certainly is lucky, last weekend she and I traveled to Atlanta for a shower in her honor. Although it was a short trip, it was a great time for us to catch up with family and friends. Below are some photos from the event. We have to say a big thank you to Mandy, Diane, Cindy, Iris, and Jenny for throwing the shower and hosting us so graciously.

Introducing

....Gable Stephen Sadovsky! Before anyone gets confused, Gable is our new nephew (as far as we know we are still having a girl and she is still coming in December!). My sister Rachel and her husband Gable welcomed him to the world Saturday night. Everyone is doing very well!




This marks the second time this year that Ben and I are becoming an Aunt and Uncle. In April, Ben's sister Mandy and her husband Justin welcomed Allyson Lillie Meyer.

Rachel's Due Date

Today is my sister Rachel's due date - her little boy isn't here yet, but it seems like he will be arriving very soon! In her honor, I am posting a picture of the two of us from her baby shower last month. In this shot she is about 34 weeks and I am about 21 weeks.

Traveling Baby

This post does not offer any cool A/V effects, just a thought on my part about how much traveling this baby will have done by the time she gets here. I decided to do a little counting and here's what I discovered: Baby Girl Champa and I have traveled (or will have traveled) to at least eight states by the time she arrives (CA, GA, IN, MA, NC, NY, OH, PA), this doesn't include VA or MD, which are sort of a given since we live in DC - so I guess the number is technically ten (it also doesn't count flight connections in Michigan--sticking to the rule that if you didn't leave the airport it doesn't really count as a state you visited); she will have traveled by plane (so many times that I cannot count them all - I will have to remember to get her a frequent flyer number of her own once she's born), train (at least twice), automobile, and of course public transportation (including DC Metro, DC Metrobus, Maryland's MARC Train, and the Boston T); she was with Ben and me when we visited Fenway, and has also been to San Francisco, Philly, Boston, and NYC with me for work. So while she's not yet a world traveler, she is certainly wearing down a path along the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic region of the US pretty well. It looks like she'll have to wait until she's born to start her international travel!

Going Back In Time

So this post will be a bit out of order, the audio is from June 26, 2009 - the 16 week check-up - and the photo is another one from the 20 week ultrasound (it's a foot/leg - in case you can't tell). This video is only getting posted now because we just got a new mac laptop and Ben has been learning how to make movies and do other cool things like add still photos and sound together, etc... So if you are impressed, he's the one who deserves the credit. [If you aren't impressed then your standards for baby blogs might be a little too high.]

It's Official....She's Kicking

For a few weeks now I have been debating about whether I have been feeling her kicking, or whether I am just attributing normal sensations to activity from our little girl. After several weeks and a few hard-felt jabs, I think it can no longer be denied that she is on the move and letting her presence be known. It's pretty exciting, and very strange, I cannot imagine how much crazier it is going to get as she gets bigger, and I get bigger, and her movements start to become even more pronounced.

Ultrasound Shots

Here are some ultrasound pictures from July 24th. The first is one of those freaky 3-D or 4-D ones. I think it is alarming and sort of cute at the same time. Ben's response was that she has my chin - to be precise he said she had my "pointy chin," I asked him if he had meant to say "my heart-shaped face."









The second one is a shot of two legs - really just one with a second in the background (it is conveniently labeled "leg2") - I think it looks to me like two legs side-by-side in essentially a swimming-type motion (for all you Champa-swimming types out there, I don't know what the kicks are called, it just looks to me like they are in motion).









And finally - just a standard profile shot.

Explaining the Title

As Ben just pointed out, it is probably a good idea to explain the title of the blog. For those of you who haven't had the absolute pleasure of meeting our four-year old little Italian Greyhound Gabby yet, well...you are missing out. She has been our first baby and so we thought she should get a shout out as we do this blog. In her honor we are posting her baby picture and a picture from last summer that we like.

Getting You Up To Date

for those of you out there who don't know, here's where we are:

we found out this week that we are having a little girl (at least they are pretty sure it's a girl);

also at this appointment they altered our due date a bit, from December 9 to December 12 - I guess if the date had to change, I'd rather it go that way -- although it's only 3 days, I feel like we can use them!