I know it doesn't have anything to do with writing, but I wanted to let everyone know that I had a healthy baby girl on Saturday. Her name is Celeste and she weighed 5 lb 14 oz.
I'll be busy over the next few weeks but I am still working on "The Artist's Way" and trying to give my creativity a boost. I still plan to start working on it here on Hatrack starting June 1st!
Posted by Merlion-Emrys (Member # 7912) on :
Congratulations! Glad it went well. Celeste is a beautiful name.
Posted by Tiergan (Member # 7852) on :
Congrats!!
Posted by JamieFord (Member # 3112) on :
Congrats!
Posted by Bent Tree (Member # 7777) on :
Three cheers for the new mom... and little Celeste!
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
Congratulations!! Enjoy this time with your wonderful baby girl, how exciting.
In my one of my other lives I have some breastfeeding expertise, if you find yourself in need of any just holler. Best wishes to you and your new and expanded family! (agree, Celeste is a beautiful name!)
Posted by annepin (Member # 5952) on :
Congrats!
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Ah! I just realized where all of your creative energy has been going, Christine. Growing a baby is a lot of work, and it can take a few months to get your strength back. (I took a whole year off with my last kid, counting about seven months before she was born plus five after.)
Congratulations. Enjoy, enjoy.
Posted by brainie (Member # 7810) on :
Congrats!!!
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Congratulations...maybe you should have put this announcement in the Hatrack Writers in Print section...
Posted by brainie (Member # 7810) on :
Ah, but Robert, those of us who are Future Hatrack Writer in Print would have missed it.
Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :
Do you ever reserve names (hold them back from your characters) to save them for your own children? Or do you not mind your characters and children sharing the same names? (This is for everyone)
Posted by MrsBrown (Member # 5195) on :
How wonderful and exciting!
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
Thanks everyone!
Zero: I have actually held back on giving a character a name if I think it's something I might use for a child. I also skipped a couple of potential names for my kids because I'd used them in stories. I'm perfectly willing to name characters after extended family or friends, but for some reason I just want to keep it separate from my own immediate family.
Kathleen: You may very well be right. I had similar struggles when I was pregnant with and after giving birth to my son. It's strange that pregnancy somehow seems to sap mental as well as physical resources. I have decided to push off my last revision of my novel for a few months but in the meantime, I'm hoping self-help exercises and no pressure (no deadlines or required writing times) will help me come through stronger on the other side.
KayTi: Thanks for the offer but nursing is going super duper well this time around. I struggled with my son at first but thanks to help (mostly from other on-line mommies like you), managed to get through it and go for 17 months. Between then and now I made myself a lay expert to prepare myself but it turned out this baby is one of those born to nurse types. She opened wide the first time, has a champion suck, and brought my milk in in 2 days instead of 6. (I heard it came sooner for 2nd babies but that surprised me.)
[This message has been edited by Christine (edited May 22, 2008).]
Posted by J (Member # 2197) on :
Congratulations, Christine. My girls are 18 months apart. Having two is more than twice as hard as having one--but is also more than twice as fun. Good luck, and God bless your new addition.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
Congratulations!!!
Posted by dee_boncci (Member # 2733) on :
Congratulations!!
Posted by Merlion-Emrys (Member # 7912) on :
Christine, I'm a guy and have no children (most likely never will have). But as a child who was breastfed a long, long time, I want to thank you on behalf of your children for going the natural way. I think it was very positive for me physically. I virtually never get sick, and never had more than a cold in my life (save that time we had been to Disneyland...) I think all the breastfeeding is largely responsible for that.
My brother and I were homebirths, breastfed, slept in a family bed for quite some time, and were homeschooled, and I'm grateful each day to my parents for the physical and mental health and security those things have given me, including into adulthood.
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
Congrats again, Christine. I'm so glad things are going well for you. Yeah, isn't it a trip to have that much a difference in milk coming in between firsts and seconds (or subsequents?) It is one of many reasons we end up hearing from scared first-time parents whose doctors are really worried about low weight gain in those first 4-5 days. Often mommy's milk hasn't come in yet! It's a challenge balancing that with doctor's real concern for baby's health. We try to help people understand what the normal course of breastfeeding looks like, and go from there. Anyway - I'm thrilled things are going well.
Zero - I didn't start writing until after my kids were born, but I did grab up the nickname we intended to use for my daughter as my MC's name in the novel I did for Nanowrimo last year. I was excited to use it, since we didn't end up using it for her - don't know why, but she just wasn't an "Anya." I also used the "just in case she comes out with boy parts" name (you know, the one you keep even though the ultrasound tech was 99% sure and so were you and your husband because after all, you were there...)
But yeah, I can't imagine doing any characters with my children's names. Maybe middle names, someday, but not first names. That would be a little weird.
Posted by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (Member # 4199) on :
i wish you and your kid many happu hours of late night feadings, diper changing, and lack of sleep. you will never regret having a child after they move out. so said my mother LOL
RFW2nd
Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :
Congratulations, Christine. Sounds like you HAVE been creative, just not in a written-word sort of way. Enjoy these days to their fullest; you'll never get them back again. Don't worry about writing right now... think of this period of time as "research" for future stories.
Gaagh... I've been part of this forum long enough to be able to recall BOTH of your completed pregnancies? It sure doesn't seem like it's been that long!
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
Merlion-Emrys: Do you remember nursing? That's neat. I asked my son if he remembered nursing and he surprised me by saying yes. I weaned him a year ago April. Maybe he was just saying that but it would be neat if he did, even for a little while. (I'm sure he won't remember when he's older.)
Posted by Merlion-Emrys (Member # 7912) on :
Well (I'm sure this will freak many out) I don't know when I started eating solid food primarily, but I was nursing occasionally (mostly to calm me if I hurt myself or some such) up until my brother was born when I was 4 and a half. So yea, I definitely remember. I dont really remember the period when nursing was my primary food source though.
Posted by Jo1day (Member # 7800) on :
Congratulations
Posted by illiterate (Member # 7997) on :
Congratulations Christine, what is her Hatrack username?
Posted by hoptoad (Member # 2145) on :
Congratulations! Well done Christine and baby.
Posted by Toby Western (Member # 7841) on :
Congratulations!
Celeste is a heavenly name.
Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :
Well I'll add my congratulations.
Posted by mitchellworks (Member # 6779) on :
Congratulations! Frankly I'm amazed that anyone can write with babies/toddlers around. I'm still trying to finish the idea hatched when pregnant with my second -- and my third is now three years old! But then, my husband worked a lot, so I was basically a mom sun-up to sun-down, seven days a week. Oh, and I homeschool half-time. So maybe it's understandable, but still frustrating.
I recently read a bit from Madeline L'Engle where she said she wrote the first draft of _A Wrinkle in Time_ when her kids were little, and that she did it in two weeks! Don't ask me how, it's a magic I do not possess.
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
Two weeks? No way! Although I must say that this one is contentedly sleeping in a sling while I type this so maybe I'll have more time with this baby. My son was picky. He had to sleep in my arms -- not in a crib or bassinet or on the floor or in a swing -- and if I stood up and moved he woke up and wanted to eat again. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, but maybe this baby will be a little easier.
