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Introducing Rowan Marie

Is this thing on?  Tap tap tap.  Hello?!  How are ya?!  I won’t go there…you know…to the Adele place.  But I will take a moment to introduce our sweet little family with our new addition, little miss Rowan Marie who made her entrance in February.

First family picture with Rowan at a few weeks old

To say that we are so in love with this little munchkin is an understatement.  Can you tell by our smitten faces?  If you know Colby and I, you know that neither one of us takes a good picture.  We’re often making cheesy faces or looking slightly (okay, very) awkward but there’s something about a baby, our baby, that brings our true happy faces out.

As I make my triumphant return to the blog after a six-ish week hiatus, I’ll share a little bit about Rowan and her arrival.  But fear not, this is not a birth story.  I refuse to let the blog turn into a mommy blog.  I’m all about renovations, gardening, home decor, and whatnot.  But since I’ve been documenting the oh-so-slow progress of Rowan’s nursery, which is still not done (hanging head in shame), it seemed fitting that we should introduce Miss Rowan properly.

First family picture with Rowan at a few weeks old

During most of my pregnancy, Rowan was in a breech position.  Every ultrasound…breech.  We just chalked it up to her being stubborn like her mama.  So as my due date drew closer and closer, we feared an inevitable c-section as attempts to flip her failed.  Given that I was practicing Hypnobabies and wanted a drug-free and intervention-free delivery (at least as much as possible as you can in a hospital), a c-section was the last thing I wanted.  With just a couple weeks to go, we even tried a version, where doctors manually try to turn the baby.  The version didn’t work, which later we learned was because she had the cord wrapped around her neck, which meant scheduling a c-section at 39 weeks along.

Belly picture at 38 weeks pregnant in baby girl nursery with dark walls

The 38-week picture, taken in Rowan’s not-quite-finished nursery, was the last one I got to take before her birth.  With her nursery, being a naive new mom I thought, “Oh, I’ll have plenty of time to finish this space once Rowan is here and I’m on maternity leave from work”.  You’ve been there and done that moms out there are laughing at me, aren’t you?!  Needless to say, those few last projects are still lingering.

Anyway, so post version (aka baby flipping attempt) we scheduled the c-section.  It was so odd knowing what Rowan’s birthday would be.  And so odd and extremely lacking of adrenaline and chaos, driving to the hospital not in labor.  I offered to let out a few screams during the drive and yell at Colby a bit to avoid the bumps, like a good laboring woman would, but he declined said offer.  Rowan’s birth was definitely nowhere near what I imagined it to be like, but it was what Rowan needed to make her grand entrance into the world safely.

Baby and mom in a hospital bed post c-section

So the day of her birth rolls around and we head into the hospital, check into our room, and get prepped for surgery. Before we know it Rowan is with us, clocking in at 6 lbs 14 oz and 19″ long.  Considering I’m 5’9″ and Colby is 6’5″, we never expected to have such a small baby.  We kept thinking she was going to come out as a toddler.  One of my favorite moments during the c-section was shortly after they pulled Rowan out and took her over to a warmer to get cleaned up.  Colby was beckoned to join the nurses on the other side of the room and walked on over.  The anesthesiologist looked first at the nurse carrying Rowan, whose feet were sticking out of the blanket, and said, “WHOA, look at the feet on that baby!”.  Rowan has very large feet for such a little munchkin.  Then as Colby walks by, wearing his red buffalo checked flannel the anesthesiologist follows up with, “No wonder, she has a lumberjack as a dad, how tall is he?!”.

Baby and dad in a rocking chair on baby's birth day

I’m still in denial that this is real life, home on a 12-week maternity leave from work with a newborn baby.  Our baby.  And keeping with my word of the year “soak it in”, I’m cherishing these weeks as much as possible and taking every opportunity to snuggle that baby.  The dishes can wait, we can survive on canned soup and frozen meals, and dust bunnies collecting in the corners is the new normal as we spoil Miss Rowan with as many snuggles as possible.  I know they don’t stay this tiny and snuggly forever so I’m soaking it all in.

Snuggly newborn baby feet, toes and hands

She’s already growing up way too fast, currently at just 6 weeks old.  She wore newborn clothes for a few weeks, 0-3 months for a hot minute, and has just now started to wear 3-6 month footed pajamas because baby girl’s legs are long!  She gets it from her momma.  And I still can’t believe that I just bought her 12-month booties because those feet still aren’t small!

Newborn baby at five weeks old with Little Milestones cards

So welcome to the world Miss Rowan Marie Campbell.  We’re so happy to have you here and we can’t wait to make memories with you!  Love, your mom and dad.

Pssst…So let’s talk about what’s in the works house project-wise for a second, shall we?!  I’m totally attempting the One Room Challenge again with another bathroom (see our guest bathroom remodel here).  Go ahead, call me crazy, Colby has already called me worse.  It kicks off on Wednesday so stay tuned for an intro to that project soon.  I would say, “Check back tomorrow” but life with a newborn is nuts.  If Rowan has taught me anything these first six weeks, it’s that to-do lists can be burned and plans never work out.

Comments

  1. Congratulations Angie and Colby!!! Rowan is so lucky to have you both. Can’t wait to hear more about your adventures with the DIY mommy and me duo.

  2. Ahhh….she’s beautiful and you all look so happy! You are smart to take the moment and ‘soak it in’.
    Enjoy and best wishes…
    Kathy

  3. Congrats!! She’s beautiful! And don’t worry about the unfinished projects. They will happen eventually 😉 Enjoy this time! ❤

  4. Beautiful! Congrats to your family. She is just adorable! We welcomed baby #2–our little girl Aubree into the world 1/23/17. 🙂

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Angie's Roost Campbell Family in front of home in 2021

Hi there! We're the Campbells. We traded in Maine city living for the country life in Vermont. You'll find us here fixing up a circa 1781 historic home, growing our own food, and filling this home with the memories and things that matter. Read more about us...

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