A Playmate More Her Age

Yesterday afternoon, our friend Nicole brought their (almost) 11-week-old son, Jackson, over to "play" with Chloe. I use the word "play" loosely as there isn't much playing they can really do. Anyway, Jackson is now 11 weeks and was a term baby, compared to Chloe who was just over 6 weeks early and is now a 2-week-old. See if you can tell which baby is which:


Not much else going one. Truding along, settling in, trying to stay sane...oh, wait, we lost that way before Chloe was born.

Settling In

Here is where I warn you that I'm probably not going to be able to maintain updating this every day. There are several reasons why, the most obvious ones being actually havng the time to do it, needing sleep, and once we really settle into a routine (I know: HA!) of sorts, there isn't going to be much to update about. I guess I could make a daily counter of her diapers, but I really don't want to do that. So, who knows, maybe I'll have something to blog about every day, and maybe I won't. Maybe I'll just post random pictures, if I remember to take some. We'll see how it pans out, I guess. In the meantime, please keep coming back as I'm thoroughly excited to see the page's counter get over 1400 hits. I didn't realize I had a following. Oh, wait, that's right, it's not me.

And so we're still settling in. Little by little everything's getting done around here, and soon we'll be back to a form of the routine we had going before Chloe was born. What I hate is that I have to go to work today. I don't think that needs any explanation as to why. Let's see, what else? We had a little weather related scare last night. The rain that passed through had the power flickering on and off, so, per the instructions of the NICU doctor, I called the power company to let them know our area needed to be made a priority in the event of power failure because of the medical equipment we have for the baby. Sadly, it was obvious that they couldn't possily care less. I'm just glad her monitor has a 15-hour battery backup. The guy aggravated me because it was blatant how dismissive he was about the whole thing. Here I was, simply informing him that the letter from the NICU was on its way, and he's telling me to call Customer Service to let them know the next morning. While that's all well and good, that doesn't make a lick of a difference if the power failed in the middle of the night, does it? It was infuriating, to say the least.

In other news, one of our neighbors closed on her house yesterday (stay with me). She hasn't been doing well for a little while, so she's been staying with one of her sons. Bill (the son) left us a note the other day asking if we'd like a piano. Long story short, the piano that Chloe's going to be playing in a few months is sitting right here next to me in the office, as that was really the only place it could go. It's in a lot better shape than either of us could have predicted, but the sound is just awful. Anyone know a piano tuner who'll fix it for free? And I mean that literally, absolutely free? Or close to it, really. Takers?

When I Said "Don't Shake the Baby..."

Yesterday was the textbook example of why you should't shake a baby. There is a Jeff Foxworthy joke that said, if you shake a baby, it'll spew more than a can of beer, so shake her up and hand her to people you don't like. Chloe decided to do this today while Lena's dad was holding her. Only a little of it got on the couch, but that came up. Whew! All in all, it was a nice first day. I even got an hour long nap in there in the middle. Of course, now it's 5:15am and I've been up since 4, so they really balance each other out. No, not really.

Have a lovely Thursday!

Aunt Jerilyn & Uncle Justin

Immediately preceding the regurgitation

The Little Thumb-sucker

Welcome Home

It was the first night home for Chloe, and it was a long one. She was such an angel in the NICU that I almost feel like we brought the wrong baby home. If she didn't have my crooked pinkies, I'd be inclined to believe it. Perhaps it's just that the noises are different, and most of the ones that she's used to hearing aren't around this place. No beeping monitors, screaming babies, chatty nurses. All in all, it was an okay night. They'll get better. Really the only thing left to say, besides "Welcome Home" is...I know why people drink coffee. Enjoy some pictures!

Big Brother Brody

Semi-Curious Brody

I think this one speaks for itself; FYI, balloons are really hard to work with

Continuing the Introductions

Same as the Last

In the spirit of "Veronica Mars," here's some Daddy/Daughter Time

I almost strapped Hallie in, but we do want the carseat to last as long as possible

The Final Stretch

Today was a big day -- feeding on demand, feeding tube removed, pulse-oxymeter taken offline -- but it's nothing compared to tomorrow. At 1pm we have our training in infant CPR and on the apnea monitor. Yes, unfortunately, she will have to come home with a monitor, and we're not sure how long she'll have it, but it sounds like she won't have to be hooked up to it 24/7, just when she's sleeping, either in our room or when she's taking a nap and we're just around the corner. It is a little peace of mind, but that doesn't make it any less a pain. To continue, after that training, we're going to "room in" at the NICU where they put us in a makeshift bedroom and we take care of her by ourselves for a while, i.e. get used to being on our own, take some time to become familiar with the monitor, etc. We do it there because, if we need it, we can fall back on the NICU nurses. It's the last step to walking out the door.

Speaking of which, that will be Tuesday night! We're not sure exactly what time that will be, but if we "room in" until after her 8pm feeding, we should be home by 9:30 or 10. It's going to be a long day tomorrow, so I should get to bed. I just wanted to share the good news that Chloe will be discharged tomorrow and spend her first night at home.

Last, but not least, a last few photos from the NICU.

A much more rested Lena and her daughter.

"A Study on Sleeping Baby"

Molly and Chloe. Molly is the last night nurse of Chloe's stay. She watched our baby girl a few other nights, too.

Getting Closer

Today was a great day as far as the feedings go. She's taken a full meal's worth at every feeding since 9am. This is a great thing. Everyone cross your fingers that she makes the next three with full bottles, too. That's what we need. She can certainly do more than that, but we need at least the next three to go well and she'll be that much closer to coming home.

We did, however, receive somewhat disheartening news today. Since her monitor has "alarmed" since she's been in the NICU, it sounds like she'll be going home with some sort of monitor. We're not exactly sure what that all entails yet, or how long she'll have to use it, as it's up to her pediatrician. The long and short of it is that she'll have to use it to keep tabs on a few of her stats. And that can be anywhere from a few weeks to a year. There's just no knowing until the doctor decides it's not necessary. So, it's a little sad and anxious at the moment, both to have her come home and to not know exactly what sort of monitor she'll have to have here if she does, indeed, come home with one. The only good news out of that is that the hospital will teach us and Chloe's other caregivers (i.e. nana and aunt Jerilyn) all about infant CPR and various other need-to-know items that, again, we're not yet clear on.

So, it's been a good and bad day. She's eating well, and mostly on demand which is great. If I wake up at all tonight, I might call in and check to see how she did with the feedings throughout the night. Something tells me we won't be able to wait until we show up at the 9am feeding tomorrow morning to find out how she did. That's just an educated guess.

Anyway, here's a picture of daddy and daughter. Keep in mind that it was almost 11pm when this one was taken.

Bath Time

Tonight was bath night. We missed the bath Wednesday night, and were supposed to do it last night, but on Thursday Chloe decided to throw up all over herself, so she got another bath, making Saturday night bath night. Warning: Plethora of pictures to follow.


In other news, Chloe took a full bottle at 9am (45ml), another full bottle at 12pm (48ml!), and half of one at 3pm before she pooped out and slept through the 6pm and 9pm feedings. Actually, the noon feeding didn't happen at noon. She woke up about 11:20 rooting around for food. Excellent sign! So, she got fed earlier. The 3pm feeding actually started about 2:30, and we were excited that she was waking up and demanding food. The countdown to discharge had started at 9am and would last for, I think, 48 hours. Unfortunately, this was just a trial run as she fell asleep half way through the 3pm (2:30) feeding and only regained consciousness when we put water on her, after which she promptly fell asleep, probably until tomorrow morning.

Oh, also, she's back up to her birth weight already! Weighed in just before the bath at 4lbs, 13.2oz, which is actually 0.3oz more than she was at birth. She was 4lbs, 12oz at birth, but they round up.

Anyway, still waiting. Maybe tomorrow will start the new clock and she'll make it all the way. Here's hoping!

Working Camera

FRESH BATTERIES!!! Lena's informed me that I need to put more than the one picture of me up on the blog so people know that I actually do exist. Hey, I'm writing the blog, right? Anyway, here's a picture from yesterday morning of me giving Chloe a bottle. She took 14mLs from the bottle before she passed out.


She's trending up now on the feedings, and took 35mLs from me last night via the bottle at the 9pm feeding (12 hours after this picture for those of you keeping score). We're heading back there in a little bit for another go.

And Lena will probably kill me for putting this next picture up, but I couldn't resist. Baby's first Liberty Spikes hairdo!



In other news, she's definitely trending up, taking more and more from the bottle at each feeding. She's almost back to her birth weight, and was 4lbs, 11.7oz last night. Another few days of trending this way, and she'll come home. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that she comes home before the end of the month. That's one week from today. Who's with me?

Also, a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE thanks to Alicia and her mom and sister and family for all the premie clothes they sent. I think we're set on that size forever. If she stays in them for a month, I think we have enough for a new outfit every day for three or four weeks...without doing laundry! Alicia and family, you will be receiving a thank you card in the mail as soon as I have time! HA! Seriously, thanks again for everything you sent. It's nice to have them, I'm just crossing my fingers that I never have to pass them to someone else. I'd never wish that on anyone.

NICU

Just the name of the place is a little daunting: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Obviously, its name is a heavy one, and tells you a lot about what goes on there. However, since they only let parents and grandparents of the infants in their care into the Unit, there's a lot more to see. And, thankfully, it's not all bad.

First things first. When you arrive, step up to the large basin (remove your watch first) and grab an individually wrapped, pre-soaped sponge. Definitely not your ordinary sponge, as it comes two-sided with a soft, soapy side for lathering and a semi-soft plastic bristle brush for scraping. It also comes with a handy, dandy little hard plastic scraper for getting under your fingernails. Start lathering, you'll be there for two minutes scrubbing away. Scrub, rinse, repeat, scrub, rinse. Watch the second hand on the clock over the tub. They want to keep the NICU as germ free as possible, so every time you come in, soap up and get rid of those germs or stay out. Only, don't scrub too hard. This isn't like Gattaca where you have to exfoliate every dead skin cell from your body. Just de-germ your arms and in you go.

Thankfully, Chloe's been in relatively stable condition, so much of the NICU hasn't applied to her. The way we hear it from other parents we've chatted with, we should be very thankful. Overbooked doesn't begin to describe how extremely busy they've been the last two weeks. So much so that Chloe spent her first three days in the "Procedure Room" with one other baby, where they store all the supplies. It's really kind of funny, actually. Now, she's in the "Intermediate Room," a much more open room to get her used to noise and light and training her up for us. Honestly, they should do this for every parent for the first two weeks. By the time she comes home, we'll have missed the umbilical cord falling off, and the majority of the diapers she'll go through in the first four weeks. Plus, they train up the parents, too. Tips on holding, feeding, positioning the child to sleep, how to change diapers, how to bathe, and on and on and on. Very expensive child care. This is where I cross my fingers and hope the insurance company pulls through and stops pestering the NICU every day wondering when she'll be leaving. Tangent over, sorry.

Where was I? Oh yes, not having it so bad. Chloe was 4lbs, 13oz upon arrival to the NICU. The baby she shared the first room with weighed 2lbs, 1oz when he got there. While Chloe's only going to spend two weeks in their care, that other baby will be there for two months. I'd go crazy if I had to wait that long. She also didn't have to be on a ventilator, like one of the twins that she now shares a room with. The boy of that set of twins was on a ventilator until Tuesday of this week. They were born over two weeks ago.

From where we are, it's tough to say what else goes on in the NICU. What I do know is that there are alarms going off all over the place, all the time. You get used to them, and focus on your child. However, me being the Curious George that I am, had to ask about them simply because some went off and a nurse would go running, and others would sound and they'd either wait to walk toward it, or saunter over. It turns out that there are two types of alarms. Can you name them? 1) Serious, and 2) The baby either pulled a lead off and it's not reading correctly or it's just not reading correctly and needs a few seconds to recalibrate. The sounds are very different, and when the latter sounds on your child, you just hold her and watch the monitor, and it usually stops rather quickly.

Not sure what else to say about the NICU. There's a lot of equipment around every child, most of which, thankfully, Chloe hasn't needed. Let's hope it stays that way. But, it's all there "just in case," so that's a good thing.

Let's open it up for questions.

T-Minus...?

Still not sure just how long Chloe's going to be in the NICU, but it shouldn't be long. Apparently there's a "discharge list" somewhere in her file that keeps track of the things she's doing, and more or less marking the milestones until she comes home. To hear about it, the only thing left is for her to eat regularly on her own, that is, she has to "ask" for and actively feed at each "meal" for 24 hours. I'm going to look into this more tomorrow. For now, I'll leave you with the only picture from today, as the batteries decided to "pull a Chloe" and poop out on us today.

The Happy Nana with her 1st Grandchild!

Stay tuned for the next entry: All About the NICU!

Inspiration

I would very much like you all to meet Elizabeth.



Elizabeth is the daughter of our good friends Wendy & Patrick. Elizabeth is currently two years old (this picture was taken last fall; sorry, it's the only one I had available). Elizabeth was born at 31 weeks, 3 days gestation; a full two weeks earlier than Chloe. Wendy went in for a normal appointment around 8am, was admitted to the hospital, and Elizabeth was born at 8pm that same day, and spent 46 days in the NICU. Wendy, it turns out, was hit with preeclampsia. Now, I would never wish this disorder on any person, living or dead, but if their family hadn't gone through it, we might have missed the warning signs in Lena. And while their situation was much more intense than ours, Wendy's health gave us red flags for things that were happening to Lena, even though Lena didn't have some of the major early warning signs like steadily rising blood pressure.

The important thing here is that because of them, we were able to see some of the warning signs and have Lena checked out. We hope that by letting others know about what happened to us and to Wendy, they will see the warning signs and get checked out earlier.

In the end, obviously, everything worked out superbly for them, as I know it will for us. So, Wendy, Patrick, & Elizabeth, we salute you.

Update

Chloe's doing great. She's up to 4lbs, 10oz (rounded up from 9.9). They took her off the photo therapy light yesterday morning after her bilirubin level went down. They'll check it again this morning to see if it needs to come on. Chloe's still not requesting to eat, but she was a little feisty last night after I changed her diaper and she pulled the little feeding tube out of her own nose with her kung-fu grip! This picture is between the diaper change and the new feeding tube being put in last night.

On the lighter side, when a woman is discharged from the hospital after having delivered, she is told not to lift anything heavier than her baby for a while. So, let's play:

...Weighs More Than My Baby
(it helps if you think of this like Jeff Foxworthy's "You Might Be A Redneck..." if you end each of the following with the above statement)
A Full 1-liter Bottle of Water...
Our 7lb Cat...
Josh's Laptop...
Lena's Laptop...
A Vase of Flowers...
Josh's Bound Thesis...
Brody's Water Bowl...
Sunday's Newspaper...
The Laundry Detergent...
The Bottle of Purell (that will disinfect everyone before they touch the baby)...

Bittersweet

No, this entry isn't about chocolate. Last night was the first night home from the hospital. And while it was so very nice to sleep in our own bed, there just wasn't a lot of sleeping. We went back to the NICU around 8:30pm for Chloe's 9 o'clock feeding. By the way, it just looks funny typing "feeding" in that context. Moving on. Chloe likes to sleep. Unfortunately, this is the only thing keeping her in the ICU. She has to wake up and demand to be fed for 24 hours and gain weight before she can leave. Since she's off oxygen and IV nutrition, and has been moved to what I like to refer to as a "big girl" bed--which is simply and open-air "crib"--all she needs to do is demand to be fed and she's good to go home.

Also, like every newborn, she lost a little weight. She started at 4lbs, 13oz and got down to 4lbs, 7oz. Because she's being fed through a little tube in her nose until she's alert enough to "request" food, she's already gained back to 4lbs, 9oz. Headed in the right direction.

Obviously, they can't say for sure how long it will take, but are optimistic that when she wakes up hungry regularly, it'll happen quickly. Like someone flipping a switch, Chloe will suddenly be very hungry and demand sustenance!

Anyway, that's about all there is to report. Lena's comfortable, though having someone bring you pain meds on a regular schedule was and will continue to be missed. The dog and cat both seem to be adapting well. I think Brody (the dog) senses that his mama isn't feeling well, and has been gentle around her. So, that's a good sign.

And now, I leave you with a very funny picture from the NICU. Here is our little movie star attempting to be incognito and catch up on her tan.

*FYI, she has to wear the shade to protect her eyes from the UV light therapy for the jaundice. You can just make out the glow over her left shoulder.

Going Home

This will be a quick entry since Lena's being discharged in a few hours. We're making another run down to the NICU to visit Chloe before we take off. We'll see how tonight goes. In the meantime, here are two pictures for you. Most of you know how much I love sweets, so when a "bouquet" of flowers shows up looking like this:

They are excellent. Three are missing already. I'm in Heaven.

This next was taken at 5:30am. Apparently, I'm so tired I didn't even notice that Lena took this picture.



So, that's it for now. Most likely I'll be up tonight, biting my fingernails, resisting the urge to race to the hospital in the middle of the night just to see her. Then again, we might do that anyway.

Oh, one more picture of mom & baby before I go.

Rough Night

Chloe had a rough night last night. She's doing okay now, just behaving more and more like a premie. She's undergoing light therapy for the little jaundice that set in. Since the majority of premie's have this little problem, it's not really that scary as long as it's checked out and they do what they're doing for her. The UV light breaks down the bilirubin (the portion of red blood cells that are eliminated from the system) to become soluble (as it should be) and flushed out of the body. This happens in the majority of premies because their liver function is, naturally, premature. With light therapy, this usually goes away after a little while, and stays gone once the liver is functioning properly. In addition, she got herself a little worked up last night and forgot to breathe. They didn't have to put the oxygen back as simple stimulation roused her. She was back to normal in a few minutes. The good news is that she's completely off the IV fluids and is taking food from a bottle when she's awake, or through a little tube in her nose when she just feels like sleeping. They started this yesterday at 1ml, then 5ml. Chloe's currently eating about 45ml at each feeding. For those keeping count, a 12oz can of soda is 355ml, so she's eating about 1/8 of that can every 3 hours. Or less, since she the feeding schedule was 9am and she freaked out and wanted food at 8:30.

All of that to say, Chloe's probably going to be in the NICU for close to two weeks. It's a little sad, but we know it's for the best. She'll be taken care of, and this will give Lena time to recover since she's being discharged sometime tomorrow. It's a little heartbreaking to go home without our daughter, but we can come and go as we please to see her. I know the next two weeks will go by in a flash, and she'll catch-up, and no one will ever know the difference, right? I guess, now we have about two weeks to get her setup with premie clothes and diapers, and get the nursery organized, since it was done three months ago.

A Happy, Happy Father's Day

Lena was moved into the post-partum care section of the hospital and has had her IV removed. Well, mostly; the tap is still in her arm until the doctor comes and says it can be extricated. She's able to move around a little bit, and was even able to take a long awaited shower. That she's doing so well now makes me happy. I don't think I've really stressed enough in words just how scary her situation really was. It's when words like "liver failure" are being floated around that you begin to start thinking the worst. Happily, Lena's turned a corner, and is on the way to a great recovery. I know many of you want to come down and see her, and perhaps tomorrow (Monday) can be that day. Since Chloe's not in the room with us yet, it's kind of boring. HA!

Speaking of Chloe, her status makes it a very happy Father's Day. I went down to the NICU just after 2am to check on her, and was greated with a pleasant surprise. Around midnight, Jody (the night nurse) removed the oxygen tube that was laying under Chloe's nose. At 2am, she was still off it and breathing like a champ! I went back just around 6am, and she was still off it! I called about 3 minutes ago, and Chloe is still off the oxygen. It looks and sounds like she's legit, and will hopefully be able to come to the room with us before we leave. Not sure what day that's going to be, but it looks soon. HOORAY!!!

Thank you to everyone who's sent flowers. They are all just beautiful and make this room smell and look that much less like a hospital. For your viewing pleasure, all but one are shown here (the one from Lena's parents was taken home).

You might notice that one of them looks like it has some fruit and candy in it. That's from those crazy co-workers of mine at WAC. I don't know if it's good or bad that they know to send me chocolate for a congratulations.

On a final note, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the funny occurence that also happened on Friday. I wasn't until after Chloe was born that Lena's sister pointed out the front page of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (for those of you not in Atlanta, that's the big daily paper). As many of you know, Lena is a big fan of Rosie the Riveter. Above the fold on the front page of the paper was a picture of an older woman striking a familiar pose. The woman pictured was one of those strong women who were the model for Rosie the Riveter. We found it oddly comforting that "Rosie" would be there that day, as if she was back Lena up the whole way with the mantra, "We Can Do It!"

A Very Long 30 Hours

An hour after delivery yesterday, Chloe was taken away from Lena and put into the transitional nursery. Because Lena's BP went high, she was kept on magnesium sulfate, and anti-seizure medication. In addition, Chloe went to the NICU for some oxygen therapy. That was yesterday about 12:30pm. Today, just before 7pm, Lena's vitals had become regular and they took her off the magnesium sulfate. So, just after 8pm tonight, a little longer than 30 hours since she'd last seen her darling, baby girl, I wheeled Lena to the NICU where she was able to hold, talk to, and dote on Chloe. Needless to say, it was a magical two hours we were down there. Lena relaxed and Chloe, who was screaming when we got there, immediately did the same.

Lena & Chloe


The New Grandparents (aka Lena's Mom & Dad)


Baby Chloe & Dad's Finger

Nothing much else to report and...now I have to go quickly! It's 11:15pm and they're moving us upstairs. That means Lena's vitals are stable and moving to post-partum, instead of hanging out in the high-risk area. More later!

The Day Has Come

About 3am this morning, Lena woke up in the hospital room extrememly sick.

*NOTE: Gross Details Follow. Skip to the next "*" in a few lines to skip it.

Her BP had skyrocketed again and she was vomiting and had a terrible pain in her side.

*End Details

The doctor came by and determined that Lena needed to be sectioned, and pretty quickly. The real fear was that her liver could rupture. Obviously, that's something we wanted to avoid.

And, so, three hours later, they brought me some paper scrubs and wheeled Lena into the OR. I will, for my sake, skip the details of that procedure. I'll be the first to admit that if I'd looked, I would have passed out. When we dreamed about Lena going into labor, neither of us imagined it would be like this. We both thought there would be waking up in the middle of the night, Lena's water breaking, and running to the hospital, me still in my pajamas, and working through contractions. It's a little wierd that she did all of this without going into labor, without contractions, and without all the things that, supposedly, make up labor and delivery.

Then came the most wonderful moment I could ever have dreamed of. When that little girl started crying and wailing, we both burst into tears. Within a few minutes of delivery, I had that little girl grabbing onto my finger while they cleaned her up. A few minutes later, they'd wrapped her up and we were sitting by mom's face so she could see her little girl.

Fast forward a little while, and they took the baby to the transitional nursery. That's where they keep the baby while the mom who's just sectioned recuperates. She's only there for 24 hours before coming to stay with mom. I took Lena's parents in there one at a time to see her.

Then, things got scary.

I went back to check on Lena, who was supposed to have been taken back to her room, but ended up still being in recovery. Her BP had jumped again, topping out at 178/92. They got it in check and it started coming down. That's when the nurse from the transitional nursery tracked me down. The baby's oxygen stats had dropped and they sent her over to the NICU. Basically, your oxygen count in your blood should be 89% or higher. She was good for almost three hours before it started to falter, so they sent her to the NICU for oxygen.

Everyone's bouncing back. Lena's BP has dropped significantly; the latest reading was 134/72. The baby is still in the NICU, but her color has gotten better and she's making more noise. She just needs a little help, and hopefully it won't be too long. Maybe mom and baby will be discharged at the same time.

We have been so impressed with Kennestone Hospital this entire week. I highly recommend them to anyone out there who's going to deliver a baby. The doctor in the NICU is sweet and really knows what she's doing, and the nurses are just the greatest. Susan came on this morning and really got the ball rolling with getting the doctor in here to see Lena. She's been wonderful throughout the entire day in every aspect. I'm just sad that she's going to be leaving in a little bit at the end of her shift.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: Pictures!

Chloe Hope
Born: June 15, 2007 - 11:39am
4 pounds, 13 ounces - 17.5 inches
10 fingers, 10 toes, and lots of hair

Another Day Gone

First of all, a giant thank you to everyone who has posted or emailed their thoughts and well-wishes. It certainly helps to alleviate the strain. Lena also appreciates the enthusiasm of people wanting to come visit, but per doctor's orders, we need to keep it low key here to keep her blood pressure down. Feel free to shoot me an email at the address below and I'll gladly read them to her.

As far as an update on the situation goes, not a whole lot to report really. Her test results are looking good. Her blood pressure has gone done some since being admitted, as has the swelling in her arms, legs, and face. One of the clear signs of preeclampsia is sudden swelling, an issue that first got her into the hospital. In the week between her office visit on June 5 and just before being admitted this past Tuesday, she had gained nearly 8 pounds. Just so you know, only about 1 pound of that was baby; most of the rest was swelling. During the first 24 hours in the hospital, she gained another 4-1/2 pounds. Yikes! We're happy to report that between Wednesday and Thursday, she only managed to gain 1/4-of-a-pound.

On other subjects, Lena's doctor came by today, and while she wouldn't fully commit to when the baby would be delivered, we're getting the impression that it's some time within the next week. Considering tomorrow is our 5th wedding anniversary, we're hoping they put her c-section off until next week. As much as we'd like her to be here, we imagined a much more romantic final anniversary that was just the two of us. We'll see if that comes true, though the fact that we're in the hospital doesn't leave much room for romance. Have you tasted hospital food?

And that's about it for the past 24 hours. Not a lot going on here, which is the point. You know, trying to maintain the pregnancy as long as possible by keeping Lena calm and relaxed and not stressed. She calls it bored and unstimulated. Like I said, precisely the point. Elsewhere, I guess it's a good thing I got the nursery done early. A big thanks to Lena's mom who washed a ton of baby clothes and blankets while we were in the hospital this week. Unfortunately, it looks like we're going to have to go shopping for more clothes, these ones in the preemie variety. Lena's mom and sister are taking care of some of that for us. Again, thank you.

So, yeah, like I said, not much more to report. Maybe tomorrow will be more interesting since we're supposed to have a "special" sonogram. Of course, that was supposed to happen yesterday, then today, so I'm not holding my breath. But it will be nice when it does happen.

Thanks again everyone. I'll probably post again tomorrow night with another update. For now, good night.

And The Fun Begins...

So, this past weekend I was up in Chicago at a cousin's wedding. I stayed with my brother. That means one thing: I didn't sleep. So, by the time I got home Monday afternoon, I was ready for bed. However, Lena wasn't feeling well and her mom picked me up at the airport. When I got home, it was clear to me that her face had swollen since Friday afternoon. To put my mind at ease, I had her call the after hours number for her OB. The doctor on call had us go to the Women's Center at the hospital for assessment. We were there for a few hours while they ran some labs, and around 11pm or so, they sent her home under strict bed rest orders, and follow-up the next morning with her doctor. Which we did.

Which brings us to Tuesday morning. We got ready and called the office, who told us to just come in. We were there for about 30 minutes when her OB told us to drive across the street and they would have a room for her by the time we got there. Which they did. That was about 30 hours ago. They're keeping her here for observation for 48 hours until they decide what to do next. Her blood pressure had sky-rocketed between her appointment last Tuesday and this past Monday night, and she had gained 8 pounds of water weight in the last week. These are two pretty clear indicators of Preeclampsia, a very serious disorder that can endanger the baby, but can have a more serious impact on the mother. The only cure for Preeclampsia is delivering the baby. So, that's where we are. Sitting in a hospital room while they observe test results and determine when to deliver.

Now, the good news. Had an ultrasound this morning to determine the baby girl's size. They have her about 4lbs, 12oz. They'd like to get her above 5lbs before they deliver. They also have four criteria that they grade the baby on to determine where she's at in the grown process. They are heart size and beating, amount of fluid around the baby, fetal movement, and whether or not she's "practicing" breathing. They way they score it is 0 or 2, and our baby scored a perfect 8. Her first straight A report card! In other good news, Lena's blood pressure has dropped significantly since yesterday morning. It started at 146/90, and as of two hours ago it was 118/56; the most recent was 126/64. Significantly better by far, but still elevated from the early pregnancy BP of 106/60.

And that's where we are. We'll know more later tonight or tomorrow. We want to make it a few more days, at least. So keep your fingers crossed. For now, here is a picture of the flowers Lena's dad sent since he's stuck in Florida for work.

Shower #2

This last Sunday was a baby shower at Lena's parents' house. As far as I know, it was a good time. I wouldn't really know, I was playing Lego Star Wars II with my dad at my house while Lena and my mom went to the shower. Lots of stuff. And now, the photos.


This one looks amazing familiar. In fact, it's almost exactly the same as the one from the first shower. Funny.


Lena's sister, Jerilyn, made these chocolate ducks. There were some left over that Lena brought home to me. I think the six ducks lasted about 4 minutes.


Lena and Jerilyn.


From Left to Right: my mom, Lena, her mom and grandmother.


The Loot!

Pictures from Shower #1

Since tomorrow is the second shower, I thought I should put up a few pics from the first shower last weekend. Without further ado: