Introducing Elise ...

Claire Elise Brandenburg was born on Monday, June 11, 2007 at 12:09 p.m. She wighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. and measured 20.5 inches. She has a head full of dark hair, dark blue eyes, perfect skin and healthy vocal chords. She has the Brandenburg chin and mouth, and the Ratzlaff eyes and nose.
We arrived at the hospital at 5am Monday morning, got checked in and hooked up to monitor the baby's heartbeat as well as the strength of contractions. Around 6am, we decided to walk the halls a bit. After 30 minutes of walking & pretty intense contractions, I was ready for the epidural - there wasn't any award waiting for me at the hospital if I went "natural." What a difference a little medicine makes - I think the IV insertion was much worse than the epidural prick - and it was so easy to relax once this was in place. We slept in the delivery suite until about 8:30am - then they continued to monitor the progress & things moved along very smoothly. My nurse mid-wife was wonderful as well as the delivery nurse - and we pushed for approximately 25 minutes & our little Claire Elise was born at 12:09pm. It was such a surreal moment - when they put her on my belly. My first thought was, Wow! That was very easy - I would definately do this again. John cut the umbilical cord & went with her while she was being cleaned up and measured. We had a nice stay in the hospital & came home Wednesday around 12:30pm. It feels wonderful to be at home!! We are overwhelmed by God's goodness. She is healthy & adorable (our un-biased opinion, of course). I find myself just coming to God in prayer and recognize my need for Him right now - asking for wisdom with learning to feed her & meeting all her needs while being sleep deprived at the same time and amazed that I haven't reached the zombie state. We take one day at a time - and God has provided the energy & all that we need to keep going. We are truly blessed & we've received so many emails from friends and family sharing that they're praying for us - and prayed for a safe delivery. How amazing is the family of God - we have felt all the prayers - thank you! John will be at home with us for 2 weeks before he returns to work. We love hearing from you - and we'll try to keep our site updated - but things are much busier here than before. We love you all & we love our sweet Elise.
-> Check out a few video clips of our first day home! Click on this Link

Introducing Elise (continued)

June 10th, 2007 - Due Date!! 40 weeks

Here we are - today is my due date, but we're still waiting. We've had lots of calls this week - friends & family checking in to see if there's any new news. I'm not getting hung up on this date - she'll arrive when she's ready. At my last dr. appointment this week, she said that I should come in this week on Wednesday if I haven't delivered, and they'll talk about my options and potentially inducing me if I go past 41 weeks. John and I are all ready - and we keep looking at each other and wondering when the "labor" will begin. We've been walking & trying to encourage labor by doing as many natural things as possible.
This weekend we didn't want to start any new projects - because we don't know how much more time we have. I did vacuum and wash my car on Saturday - so I feel much better about that. This past Friday was my last day at work. My Dr. signed me out on short term disability until I deliver the baby, and then my company will consider me on maternity leave once I deliver. So - unless I go into labor tonight, I'll be at home tomorrow and until the baby comes. This is a nice relief to know that I can just be at home to relax. We'll send out an email and update the blog with any news this week! Thanks for reading...

39 Weeks, June 3rd, 2007

Everything is ready! We just need the baby to show up. Here are a few pictures of the nursery - since I don't think we've posted any to the website.


On Saturday I took a sewing class to make this diaper bag/tote bag. It was a full day of sewing (10am - 5pm) but I finished it up, and I'm very excited to have it all packed up and ready to take to the hospital. This was the last thing I wanted to check off my list before - so I was sure that the baby would come the next day - Sunday - however, it just hasn't happened yet. John and I even went to PF Chang's for lunch after church & ordered this spicy chicken & eggplant dish which the chef's there swear puts women into labor - but nothing yet.

The bags are packed - and the car seat is in the Jeep - and the bassinet/travel crib is set up in our room. We're both getting excited to see what this baby looks like - just a matter of time. We've been joking that it's almost like waiting for the day of the Lord - we don't know the day or time to expect it - just to be ready! We have our email distribution list set up and we'll send out a notice with any breaking news - so stay tuned...and we'll update the blog as well.

Full Term - 37 Weeks, May 20, 2007

The time has now come where this baby could arrive any moment - however, her parents-to-be would really like to wait until
at least June 1st. This past week has been pretty good. I'm noticing that my level of patience as well as irritability have been markedly declining & rising, respectively. We still have a few finishing touches to make the nursery feel complete, and each day/weekend we're making progress towards that. This weekend I made some flannel swaddle/throw blankets for the baby as well as embellished some cloth diapers/burp clothes with ribbon just to make them a little cuter to carry around. On Saturday John and Curt went to play 9 holes of golf, while I went to the spa at Destination Maternity. I got a massage, and they have the coolest apparatus to allow you to lay on your stomach & get a back massage. I haven't laid on my stomach for several months, and it was really nice - not to mention the fact that all those sore muscles were massaged and treated with a little TLC! This was a treat - and I will highly recommend it to all expenctant women. I've been having some slight swelling in my feet by the end of the day - noticably more in my left foot. Here's a little trick the massage therapist recommended & I did it today and didn't have nearly as much swelling by days end: raise out your leg & write out the alphabet with each foot a couple times a day - this forces the fluids back up your legs. Great trick & it really works. The last couple of nights I've also been having baby dreams and they're basically about just what everyday life is like with a newborn. Guess you know what's been on my mind right before falling asleep. We're getting ready & more excited to hold this little girl & see what she looks like - and in some ways it still feels a bit surreal to think that this is our baby - not anyone elses. It's all very good & what a comfort to reflect on the verses in Psalm 139 - knowing that all the days ordained for her are known by God before one of them comes to be. We're praying for her life even now as we wait in expectation for her birth day!

Mother's Day 2007; 36 Weeks

What a great first Mother's Day! John gave me a beautiful diamond pendant as my mother's day/push present. For those of you who don't know what a push present is - this is a southern thing, or at least I hadn't heard about it until we moved here - it's a gift to the mom after she delivers her baby & I thought it was a great tradition. After church we came home and John made a wonderful brunch - his famous french toast, bacon, yogurt, juice & coffee. We ate out on the patio & it was a picture perfect day here in Charlotte. We are taking full advantage of being able to relax and nap whenever we want in these last few weeks - so we slept for over 2 hours, then got up and called our mother's to check in and wish them a great Mother's Day as well. We ran around and got a few things for the baby room - storage solutions & a pendant lamp to hang over the rocker/glider. Curt stopped by & John grilled steak & we had another fabulous meal on the patio & nice relaxing evening. I should really put a picture of Curt on our blog - he is sporting quite the hairdo these days - think Bob Ross without the facial hair. (You'll have to Google him if you don't know who he is) Curt - if you're reading this, sorry, I just couldn't resist. As far as news about the baby - she continues to move around, although I feel like everything is getting really tight in there & I've had a little more discomfort sleeping and getting comfortable; more heartburn/indigestion & more pressure and soreness on my ligaments and pelvic joints. I've noticed some swelling of my ankles, but it's definately more pronounced on my left foot. Other than a few discomforts - I'm still feeling pretty good, and I'm very thankful I won't be pregnant here in the Carolinas over the hot summer. I'm having a really strong sense that this baby will come early (who knows if it's sense or just wishful thinking). I checked the calendar & May 31st is a full moon and I've heard that for some reason several women go into labor when there's a full moon - gravity pull or something? But - I'm guessing she'll come 7-10 days early, sometime around the 1st of June. I guess we'll just wait to see. We'll keep you updated with baby news. I called the labor & delivery unit at CMC & they said that they have wireless internet on their floor, so we should be able to bring our laptop and send out a mass email with news. This week I plan to finish washing all the babies' clothes & I bought some cloth diapers that I'd like to embellish with some cute ribbon and use as burp cloths - and then there's just a few more things we'd like to get & I think we'll be ready. Take care - have a great week!

35 Weeks, May 6th, 2007

Here we are...into the final countdown. Just about a month to go. I'm finally feeling a little more tired - all I want to do when I come home from work is rest on the couch - or go to bed early and read a book, which is all completely normal. I get a weekly email from babycenter.com and it tracks the growth of the baby and changes that I will be experiencing, and this week it says that all organs are developed and the last few weeks are basically having the baby add on weight. There really can't be much room left in there! I've been waking up almost nightly with pretty severe indigestion/acid reflux - so my bottle of Mylanta has been a lifesaver. This past weekend we hung out with my brother, Curt on Friday night and got a movie. Then on Saturday, I had another baby shower with the ladies in our choir. We had such a nice time together for brunch. John worked out in the garage and sanded down the used wooden rocker we got at a garage sale last weekend to put downstairs in our family room. He painted it black, and also painted a mirror frame white for the babies' room. On Sunday afternoon we had tickets to go to the Wachovia Championship golf tournament, courtesy of my boss. It was such a pretty day, and we sat in the stands of the 17th hole and saw several of the golfers come through. We did see Tiger on the course as well as some other big names. On Wednesday of this last week, John got to go to the ProAm and saw Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Peyton Manning and several others. Even though golf really isn't that big on my priority list - it was pretty fun to attend.
The week ahead basically consists of work, my once/month sewing class & getting a few more things ready for the baby.
Hope you all have a great week!