7 Months

She is eating lots of solid foods now. So far she loves sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, rice cereal and yogurt and hates carrots and much to our dismay...avocados (what California baby doesn't like avocados???). She is "drinking" from a sippy cup but really prefers the shot glass.

6 months 3 weeks

Alexandra is now 6 months old! I can't believe how the time has passed. She is such a little girl now, sitting up, eating solid foods, laughing at herself and clapping (her new favorite trick). Here are a few photos of her in her new highchair, thanks Nina and Papa!








After starting solid foods I now understand the NEED for nightly baths!

I'm Baaack!

We have gone back to this format and will try to keep it up to date as possible. If you want a full spectrum of pictures you can also go to our website...www.19september.com

Hey everyone, I have a new website!

After realizing that we were taking close to 100 pictures a week of Alexandra, James created a website where we can post many many more photos as well as this blog.

Go to www.19september.com (our wedding date) to watch Alexandra grow and read about her adventures.

Thank you to everyone for your congratulations, gifts and warm wishes, it has been an amazing 5 weeks.

Love, Gabrielle and James

Alexandra Ilene Powell

Alexandra Ilene Powell was born on November 21, 2007 at 12:50pm and was 6lbs, 12oz and 17.5 inches. She was named after her great-grandmothers, using the "A" from James' grandmother Adelina and after my grandmother Ilene.

As many of you have asked about the birth, here is the short version....

My water broke at 4:30am on Tuesday morning but by late afternoon I hadn't felt any contractions and our doctor sent us to the hospital to be induced. We had a fantastic nurse who helped us through the night and through the epidural and by the next day we were ready to go, the nurses estimated that I would be giving birth by the afternoon. Our doctor arrived to the hospital at noon to help another patient with a c-section, but her plans quickly changed when she came in to check on us first. Alexandra's heart rate was dropping with every push and suddenly her birth became very urgent. What we later learned, was her umbilical cord had been extremely short and with every push it was being pulled in different directions.

What happened over the next 40 minutes is still surreal to me. Within minutes, what started out as a few practice pushes quickly changed and suddenly our room was filled with NIC nurses and doctors and serious efforts were being made to get the baby out as soon as possible. We can't thank Dr. Huh enough for her actions and her ability to keep me focused. At literally the last possible second, we avoided an emergency c-section and Alexandra was born naturally and completely healthy.

Our stay in the hospital was not bad as far as hospital stays go. The food wasn't awful, they served a very edible Thanksgiving meal and on our last night, they wheeled in a special dinner served on a white linen tablecloth with sparkling cider.

We are now home and learning our way. We want to thank everyone for your kind emails and calls, we feel so lucky to have such great friends and family. We will be in touch soon, I promise.

Any Day Now...

The bags are packed, baby clothes washed, and I get butterflies anytime Gabrielle calls me. At our most recent doctor's appointment, Dr. Huh calmly informed us that she doubted we would need our appointment for the coming week, as our daughter was likely to be born by then. That was Monday, when Gabrielle's stats were 2cm dilated, 95% effaced, and -1 station. Any further along pretty much means active labor. Short of leaving the car running in the garage, we've done everything we can do to be ready to go at the drop of a hat.

Gabrielle continues to take fantastic care of herself with yoga and near-daily walks, though she's quite uncomfortable as you might imagine. Our daughter has shown no signs of calming down prior to birth, which while a sign of good health also means that her mother does not get much sound sleep. That in turn means I don't get much either. We knew fatigue accompanied parenthood, but no one told us we got a head start on it.

Aside from being a bit tired we couldn't be happier, and we're very much looking forward to meeting our little girl.

Stay tuned!

36 WEEKS

Look at my belly! When I actually see it in pictures, I realize how big it is! At our doctor appointment last Friday, Dr. Huh told us that I am 1 cm dilated and 70% effaced, this baby is getting ready to make her grand entrance. You should have seen James' face when our doctor calmly told us that we should have our hospital bags packed this weekend, just in case....