Love
23 hours after we arrived at the Hospital, our daughter Arzelia Jane Love was born into this world, at 12:35am on october 29th.
She was 7 pounds, 5 ounces, and 19 inches long. Given how long & rough labor was, Jess is ok.
“RZ” has an amazingly calm & focused energy. There is a very clear personality already there.
A few notes on the name, it’s an old family name from Jessica’s side. Arzelia was Jessica’s grandfather’s favorite Aunt.
Jane was my own great aunt, a woman who loved my father deeply and believed in him when he really needed it. I remember Aunt Janey from my earliest childhood, and the ring I asked Jessica to marry me with has one of Aunt Janey’s diamonds on it.
About 2 hours after RZ was born, Jessica went to sleep and I followed RZ & a nurse down to the infant care unit.
The nurse taught me how to give her a bath, I changed my first diaper, plus they “footprinted” her, using me as a blotter.
and then RZ needed to be under a heat lamp to warm back up after her bath.
Among the rows of babies, I sat there next to her, one of her tiny hands gripping my finger. We looked at each other without a sound for a long, long time. Then she drifted off to sleep and that little hand relaxed & fell away.
Everything is different now. And there, finally, at 4am, I found myself physically shaking with emotion, exhaustion, love, and that tsunami of realizations common to new parents.
With my back to the nurses so they could not see, I cried & cried, while my child slept peacefully, soundly.
Filed under: baby stuff
Congratulations to all three and welcome to the world to Arzelia! She and her teeny tiny hand and footprint are adorable! All the best
jes you did it!! this is phantastic beyond words. I’m moved and thrilled by this message and the glorious magnificent pics. Arzelia welcome!
again, many congrats with RZ. What a PB of the 2 of u; what a pb of the 3 of u.
i forgot love to the loves
Jules
YAY for you three!!! Congratulations
[…] out more; you must read: Love. Everything is different now. And there, finally, at 4am, I found myself physically shaking with […]
…this is like one of those movies you’re watching with your parnter…
…when your girlfriend (or boyfriend) looks over at you and laughs, saying that you’re tearing up…
…actually there’s a lot of dust in my room and my cat was recently roaming around here. I’m allergic to cats and dust, that’s all.
Congratulations Love’s!!!!
That feeling that comes over you when the baby 1st cries and then you cut the cord and hold your own is the most special feeling anyone in the human race will ever know. Congrats and god bless you all
Congratulations Andrew and Jessica.
Arzelia is truly blessed to have you both as parents. I can’t imagine a better household to grow up in!
All the best in the near and distant future to all three of you.
what a beautiful moment that must have been for you both..and what a beauty of a little love girl.
see you guys in a bit.
Welcome to the world Arzelia! Congratulations Andrew and Jessica.
The pic of her tiny footprint is adorable.
Oh my god oh my god oh my god!!
Congratulations! You are so awesome and wonderful and I am sure will have a fantastic time being parents.
The footprint is precious as is your daughter.
Much love to you all!
Nate and Sarah
Simply, quite simply, amazing.
I remember when you announced the news on your blog. It seemed like years ago!
So happy for Jess to have the labor behind her. Heroics and the desire not to have drugs takes you only so far. You both made the right decision at the very end (it happend to me the same way after 22 hrs in labor).
In the end, a very sweet girl is born to 2 very sweet people.
Hugs to you both and special congrats to the new grand parents, aunts and uncles.
Forgot to say that I love the name!
Huge congratulations to all and welcome to this precious girl. As a mom of two girls I can tell you this is the best that life can be. Every day is a fantastic movie and she will totally adore you. Enjoy each precious memory..it flies by. Best wishes to the entire family from Westport, CT.
Congratulations! She’s beautiful!!!
CONGRATULATIONS!!! What a beautiful name for a beautiful girl!
Yeah that is an awesome name! Don’t forget to bring her to practice someday!! Gata get her on some skates
Hey! Congrats! Today also happens to be MY birthday too! What a great day! Happy to share it with such a cute kid. And she was quite the snail about coming into this world, how fitting. Seriously, congrats to you both and best wishes for a full and happy life to your newborn little girl!
Awesome job Jess! Welcome beautiful baby Arzelia Jane. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
congratulations andrew and jess, and welcome to the tribe RZ!!
Sarah and I are so happy for the three of you, and wish you nothing but good luck in the restless nights to come. all of bob fenn’s crew says congratulations, too.
hope all is going well for you,
-the crash
Wow! Oh, wow oh wow! She’s so beautiful. A million congratulations Jessica, I am in awe of your strength. … and all those things that people babble at times like this…welcome to the other side of the looking glass, all three of you
RZ, you are a blessed and fortunate child to have such parents; may every other goodness and blessing follow.
happy happy joy joy!!!!!!
Great news! Congratulations and best wishes from Norway as well.
Arne
Congratulations!!! I wish your happy new family a good and prosperous life!
And I think she has a nice name!
Yay! So glad to hear everyone is safe and sound. Can’t wait to hear more about how absolutely perfect she is.
Much love from Switzerland!
B
thanks everyone for your words & heartfelt feelings…
Jess & I have been sealed in this small hospital room since we arrived here, and your comments are wonderful, helping us remember the excellent folks in the outside world…
(especially since the hospital firewall blocks my email, but not the blog)
little RZ is doing great!! Healthy and happy.
there is just so much to say… but I will leave you with this one moment:
She was fussing & meweling late last night, so I picked her up, and started singing to her.
I sing far worse than Bob Dylan, but RZ stopped crying instantly, opened her eyes as wide as they could go, and stared at me as if I was Luciano Pavarotti.
These are the kind of moments that can just make your heart do Shamu-sized leaps.
Yay! I had to come back and look at the pictures again — look how healthy those cheeks of hers are! Jess, you did good! And the grip she’s got going on there is too precious.
Does she look like Jess or is it the shot?
Try singing the song ‘I am a Pizza’. See how she likes that
Take comfort in the fact that you probably sing WAY better than Pavarotti could ever do a 500m on speed skates!
Does this set the record for the most number of comments on your blog?
Is the footprint that of a future short tracker or long tracker. It appears that she likes the longer distances.
Andrew and Jessica–settle the question. Is her nickname going to be RZ or Arzy or Arze or Arzi?
Inquiring minds and Grandma Love want to know.
I was thinking of you this morning on the way to the rink. Congrats buddy. Everything went ok last night.
[…] News!!! You can see the details here, but I’m pretty psyched. Just wanted to drop that in […]
Hmmm…Am I allowed to tease yet, or should I wait? The possibilities on the singing comment abound.
Congrats to all three of you!!! Best Wishes for a life worth living!!! The journey just keeps getting better.
Oh wow! She is gorgeous — and does anyone else see a little Charlie in that face? Those Shamu-sized leaps will just keep coming. Enjoy every minute.
Yeah!! Congratulations to the both of you! Very cute. And what a cool name!
Arzelia Jane Love, you are beautiful! Congratulations to your parents, Jessica and Andrew. Love love love that footprint and yes, I can see the personality in your little face! All the best to you. Enjoy every moment together!
I can’t tell who she looks like. Right now I just want to learn more about who she is. She must be very naive right now to be so entranced with Andrew’s singing.
The possibilities for nicknames abound! Wendy, I think of her as Arzie, but if you gravitate to one of the many others it’s a-OK.
And lastly, regarding her feet, she definitely has my long second toe and flat feet. Oh well.
Congratulations!
Congratulations Andrew and Jess!!!! Arzelia is just beautiful! This is one of the moments in your life that you will experience true unfiltered joy! From this point on, you will not be able to remember life without AZ in it!
Congratulations - well done both of you!
Congratulations!!!! Those first few minutes/hours are ones to treasure and cherish!
Congratulations and best wisher from Germany!
*struck silent* *shrug*
Congratulations from Sydney, Australia!!!
What an amazing picture of the footprints.
Congrats abound from the whole SLC short track posse! It was great meeting up with you and Jess and getting to know you both before the blessed event, and we were certain our “Monday’s the day! Baby Birth Vibes” being sent your way as we left for Vancouver for WC2 would have done the trick! But alas, no. We couldn’t get on the websites due to all those skaters overwhelming the internet, and we were certain we would come home to an announcement of baby Arzelia’s arrival, and instead found an announcement on Pizza as labor inducer! (ohhh, poor Jess….not about the pizza, but having to wait yet another week to deliver!)
Me thinks Baby RZ wanted to make sure everyone was home and she had everyone’s pure, undivided attention before she made an appearance!
See?! Already a STAR!!!!!
Hugs and Kisses to all of you,
From the TRF posse!
Congrats on your beautiful new baby girl!!! I cant wait to meet her in person!
The first in our small famiy tree! As the oldest of the six Snow Love chlldren, it is only fitting Congrats. i have to get the snow side of the family tree producing. Well first we have to get them married.
have you sized her up yet for the correct boot?