Calista Catherine and Cassandra Claire Brady: Introducing Cassandra Claire!

About Calista and Cassandra

Calista Catherine was born at 5:32 am on February 15, 2007. She weighed 8 lb 1 oz and was 21" long. She was born with a "true" knot in her umbilical cord, which is rare (it only happens in 1 out of ~8,000 births) and is supposedly both auspicious and a sign that she will be wise. She was excited to show up for the birthday of her grandmother Eloise, so they now have that in common along with a middle name.

Cassandra Claire was born at 5:37 am on October 17, 2009. She weighed 8 lb 4 oz and was 20.5" long. She is a quintuple Libra - her sun, moon, rising, Mercury and Venus are all in Libra - so we think she will be very fair, balanced and aesthetic. Her middle name is Brisen's paternal grandmother's middle name (Evelyne Claire Vannice).

Both girls were born at the wonderful CPMC in San Francisco, in Laurel Village, in the exact same delivery room (one of only two big rooms!) which their mom thinks is a very special thing.

Calista and Cassandra both derive from Greek mythology. Calista means "most beautiful," and is part of a myth involving Zeus, Hera and the Ursa Major constellation. Cassandra was the daughter of Hecuba and Priam, the king of Troy, and endowed with the gift of prophecy but fated by Apollo never to be believed. (We've promised our Cassandra to take her predicitions seriously!)

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Introducing Cassandra Claire!

We are thrilled to be home with Cassandra, Calista's little sister. :-) Cassandra was born at 5:37 a.m. on 10/17 and weighed 8 lb. 4 oz and measured 20.5" long. As fate would have it, she was born in the exact same delivery room (aka the honeymoon suite) at CPMC. Fortunately my labor was quick again -- once my water broke at 2:30 a.m. everything progressed quickly, and I only had to push about 5-6 times (thanks Cassandra!). I guess she was ready to enter the world!

We love the name Cassandra (also Greek) and think it will fit this little girl's personality. Her middle name Claire was my dad's mom's middle name.

Here are some photos from her first few hours and days of her life in the hospital. So far she is an excellent sleeper during the day (need to work on the nightime!), and a pretty good nurser (I forgot how much this hurts -- ugh). The good news is that we know there is always a light at the end of the tunnel!

So far Calista is doing well adjusting to life as a big sister (at Pacific Primary the kids all say "Calista is a big sista" now!) although we can tell she misses time with her mommy. I'm looking forward to spending more quality time with my sweet girl now that I'm home from the hospital.