It's a girl!!!

Welcome Lydia!

7 lbs, 5 oz

Born at 8:57 this morning at Woodwinds hospital after a fairly short, induced labor.

Growing Up

We've always had a little trouble remembering to start the dishwasher in the evening. So, sometimes we would wake up with a dishwasher full of dirty dishes. We finally came up with the solution of working it into Isaac's bedtime routine. Now, between "brush teeth" and "read a book" is "start the dishwasher". And, as you can see, he seems very proud to be able to do this himself (we'll see how long that lasts). Baby update: Actually there's not much to report. At our weekly perinatalogist appointment, because we didn’t have a sitter lined up and we were curious what Isaac would think of watching the ultrasound, we took the kids with us. He thought it looked pretty cool, but I don’t think he could quite make out the images of a baby. After the ultrasound (everything still looks fine), we had a non-stress test. This is where a couple hockey-puck sized sensors (actually, I have no idea how big a hockey-puck really is, but it's probably pretty close) are strapped onto the mom’s belly to chart out the baby’s heartbeat and the mom’s contractions. Sometimes, like this time, there’s a button to press when the baby kicks that prints a mark on the printout to compare activity to the heartbeat. Isaac spent some time laying on the hospital style bed next to mommy. She decided to let him hold the button and press it when she told him to. I think he enjoyed this. After a little while the nurse came back, looked at the paper and said "I see you’ve had a couple contractions. Can you feel those?" to which Isaac replied "Yes." The nurse then turned to him and asked if they hurt. He said "not too bad." The next several minuets showed spikes on the contraction printout - a result of laughing.

Vacation Video 2006 ***

We took a little trip to Orlando, FL a few weeks ago, and maybe you've been wondering why I haven't posted any pictures from this trip (or maybe not). Well, I've been working on a little movie with pictures and video clips, most of which were taken with our handy Sony Cyber-shot. It's about 5 minutes long and you can see it here. Enjoy.

Christmas 2006

Here's the annual kids Christmas picture. Believe it or not, they're wearing the same pj's as last year. It's getting harder and harder to take this picture. This year took about 40 takes. (Sorry, Noah doesn't have a right hand.)

Definitely not a dinosaur.

This morning, we had our first visit with the perinatologist (not to be confused with a paleontologist). This visit started with the most thorough ultrasound exam I’ve ever seen done. She measured everything you could possibly see and took some doppler readings of the blood flow in several areas including the brain and umbilical cord. The baby looks perfectly healthy, and again estimated to be just over 5 pounds.

These appointments will continue weekly until birth, as well as visits to Deb’s new doctor.

Home, sweet home.

After 3 1/2 days, Deb came home from the hospital about noon today. The ultrasound this morning showed a very healthy baby estimated to be about 5 pounds, and which the technician referred to as a "wiggle worm."

Since the baby appears to be very healthy, Deb is continuing on one of the three drugs which were used to slow down contractions while in the hospital. This one is called Procardia - a drug mainly for heart issues, but can also be used for this with few side effects, and happens to be hard to find (our local pharmacist didn't have it, and the hospital pharmacist didn't have enough for the full prescription).

Tomorrow morning will be a special doppler ultrasound screening that will look at some specific things about the baby's blood flow - one of the best ways to watch for rh disease issues.

At this point we're taking everything one day at a time. A big thanks to all our friends and family for their prayers, and Grandma for helping out with Isaac and Noah these days.

100 cuddles

To Isaac, if anything seems to be too many to count, it must be 100. So, if you ask him how many there are, there's usually 100 stars in the sky, 100 cars on the road, 100 people in a crowded room, etc.

This afternoon I took him to visit his mom in the hospital. They hadn't seen each other since Deb left for her evening Bible study 3 days earlier. After some hugs, and some "what was on the TV just before I came in, can I watch [such and such]?", they together watched a video of Isaac performing the parts of Caesar Augustus and a Shepherd in our church's Christmas program that morning. Several people told me that he stole the show. Of course, I agree.

After a little while, I told Isaac to gime mommy one more cuddle and then it was time to go. His response was "No, 100 cuddles."

Now that I've explained the title of this post, here's an update on why Deb is in the hospital.

Our baby's due date, as determined by a couple early ultrasounds, is February 5th. Deb came home from Bible study last Thursday (32 1/2 weeks) a little earlier then normal saying she was having strong and frequent contractions. We timed a few and found them to be about 5 minutes apart, and so the HealthEast midwife on call was called and we were told to come in to get things checked out.

After arranging a last minute, overnight sitter (thank you Christine), we went to Woodwinds hospital, where BTW Isaac and Noah were both delivered by midwives through unmedicated waterbirth.

After 3 different medications were successful in slowing down the contractions, but not stopping them, Deb was transferred to St. John's hospital on Friday morning where they have a more complete Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for babies born this early. Special steroids were also given to help the baby's lungs mature a little faster.

To make things a little more complicated, Deb's rh antibody levels have started going up again. So, at this point, only God knows if this baby is really better inside or outside. Tomorrow morning will be some ultrasound tests to see if the doctors can answer that question, but we take comfort in knowing it's all in His hands.

"I'm a block!"

 

Living in Minnesota

Jeff Foxworthy on Minnesota :

If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through
18 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will
Swim by, You might live in Minnesota .

If you're proud that your state makes the national news 96 nights
Each year because International Falls is the coldest spot in the nation,
You might live in Minnesota .

If you have ever refused to buy something because it's "too spendy",
You might live in Minnesota .

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March, you
might live in Minnesota .

If someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don't work
there, you might live in Minnesota .

If your dad's suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of
His forehead, you might live in Minnesota .

If you have worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you might live
In Minnesota .

If your town has an equal number of bars and churches, you might
Live in Minnesota .

If you know how to say...Wayzata ...Mahtomedi, ....Cloquet ... Edina
...and Shakopee, you might live in Minnesota .

If you think that ketchup is a little too spicy, you might live in
Minnesota .

Vacation means going "up north" for the weekend, you
might live in Minnesota .

You measure distance in hours, you might live in Minnesota .

You know several people who have hit deer more than once, you might
Live in Minnesota .

You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day ...and back
again,you might live in Minnesota .

You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging
blizzard, without flinching, you might live in Minnesota .

You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events, you might
Live in Minnesota .

You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both
unlocked, you might live in Minnesota .

You think of the major food groups as beer, fish, and Venison, you
might
live in Minnesota .

You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to
Use them, you might live in Minnesota .

There are 7 empty cars running in the parking lot at Mill's Fleet
Farm at any given time, you might live in Minnesota .

You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you
might live in Minnesota .

Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with
snow, you might live in Minnesota .

You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road
construction, you might live in Minnesota .

You can identify a southern or eastern accent, you might live in
Minnesota .

Your idea of creative landscaping is a statue of a deer next to your
blue spruce, you might live in Minnesota .

Down South to you means Iowa , you live in Minnesota .

A brat is something you eat.

You find 0 degrees "a little chilly."

1st Recital

Isaac had his first violin recital today. He performed a "Pre-Twinkle Demonstration" with his box violin, and did an excellent job.