Breastmilk Is GONE

I keep forgetting to post that the freezer is BARE! Bea drank her last bottle of breastmilk on Dec. 17. So, the people who guessed Dec. 15 were dead on. Especially because the weekend we went to Appleton, we didn't take any breastmilk, so there were two days of formula in there. Now, if anyone has anything they need to store in a cold enviornment, we've got room.

Good Riddance 2007!!

Here we are on New Year's Eve. Finally. I have to admit that I'm usually not a big fan of New Year's celebrations, but this year I couldn't be happier. This has been the longest year EVER. So, wahooo! Hogmanay! See-ya '07.

If you had told me on New Year's Day 2006 that on New Year's Day 2008 I would have an 8-month-old baby I wouldn't have been surprised. But, I could have never imagined the journey it took to get here!

As you can tell (because I'm typing this), we're not out on the town. We're having fun here at home with Bea. Attached is a picture of Bea in her ducky bathtub and Matt just a few mintues ago. Ah, things ain't what they used to be, but it's all good.


We wish you the very best in 2008. Thanks for everything in 2007!

Love, Melissa

P.S. Congrats to Rob and Sara, who have a new baby boy today -- a new cousin for Bea. Welcome Logan, we all can't wait to meet you. New Year's Eve sounds like a heckuva a good day for a birthday party.

Happy Holidays

Hope you had a great Christmas. Bea's first Christmas was full of fun and excitment (and a lot of time trying to occupy her in a high chair while sitting at family dinners...).

For those of you who aren't in Minnesota, we had the perfect white Christmas -- it has snowed every day for a week or so. And, on both Christmas Day and Christmas Eve there was lovely snow falling each day. It was like being in a snow globe. Here's a picture of Bea and me on Dec. 24 in the snow when it stopped briefly. Bea is standing in a spot that Matt shoveled for Bullet - so you can get an idea how deep the snow was, or how small Bea is. It snowed another six inches or so after that.



On Christmas Eve, we had Grandma Liz, Grandpa Dick, and Great Aunt Sue over for dinner. Here is a picture of Matt, Grandpa, Bea, Grandma, Bullet, and me. (Apparently, I didn't get the "red shirt" memo...)



Then, on Christmas Day, we went to Princeton to see Grandpa Steve, Grandma Pat, and the rest of Matt's family. We had a very nice meal and all had a fun time watching Bea and her older cousin, Sadie. Unfortunately, when it came time to drive home, the snow had made the roads slippery and driving horrible. We saw many people in the ditch and had to drive home very slowly. But, we made it eventually! Here is a picture of Sadie and (Sadie's mini-me) Bea.



At Christmastime, you really count your blessings. We have so many things to be thankful for this year. Thanks to all of you for being part of our extended family and many happy wishes for the new year.

Melissa

Hooping it up

I haven't made a post in a really long time and I'll try to spread out the news in a few posts. To follow up on Melissa's previous blog my Mom is doing very well. She had thyroid surgery at Mayo on Wednesday and found out she didn't have cancer but they removed the growth as a precaution. It looks like Grandma Pat will be around for quite a while. So let's skip to the purpose of this blog...

Basketball and Bea. Melissa bought Bea a cool basketball set with a lion as a backboard and the balls, after entering the net, roll down to the lion's feet. We've developed her ball handling dexterity by starting with long slender objects for her to learn how to grab, then moving to slightly bigger objects with many corners and edges for good gripping. Then we moved to the NBA approved indoor-outdoor-and bathtub blue, red and green infant balls Bea is palming in the attached picture.


To develop her forearm strength we started with push ups and practicing banging anything on the table - plastic lids, plastic glasses, essentially any break-proof non-edible, non-gaggable object. She can now successfully make a basket about every other day. Also attached are pictures of her throwing one down then bringing down the backboard like baby Shaq. After she pulls down the backboard she likes to eat the little fuzzy things on top of the backboard. Rather then get a technical for showmanship she usually gets cheers, pats on the back and a lift off the ground so she can sit up and do it again.

Her arc is a bit flat so we're working on getting the ball off of the palm of her hand and using good follow through. Now if only Tubby was the women's coach.

Ho Ho Ho!

Wow! It's been a long time since anybody posted a blog. Well, I'd like to say we have a good excuse, but not really. In our last installment, you read how Bea was really sick. Well, it wasn't her teeth. It was a cold and she gave that crud to just about everyone she knows... Me, Matt, Grandma Liz, Granpa Dick... we were all sick for about two weeks. Bea and I had to miss Thanksgiving and everything. In addition, we had out-of-town guests, attempted to put up the Christmas decorations, etc., etc.

Last weekend we went to Appleton to visit all the relatives and see Santa at the Fox River Mall. Russ (er... Santa) has a real beard and captures the real spirit of Christmas for the kids. He has been at the Fox River Mall for 17 years and became friends with Grandpa Dick. In fact, the first year Grandpa Dick worked at the Mall, I flew home to Appleton for Christmas. Grandpa Dick got Santa (who I never met before this point) to greet me when I got off the plane and tell me I had been naughty in front of all the other passengers... as a joke... no really, it was a joke. So, obviously, we wanted Bea to see him for her first visit with Santa. Bea loved it and was giggling and kicking her feet the whole time -- in fact, she got all the other people in line for Santa laughing, too. You can see the pictures here, they don't really capture how excited Bea was, but they turned out pretty well. That day, Bea also wore shoes for the first time. They are faux patent leather and she was obsessed with them. She kept clicking her heels like Dorothy all day and finally tried to eat one (the highest compliment paid by an eight-month-old).

As well as seeing Santa, Bea got to meet many of her Appleton relatives for the first time, including her new cousin, Gwenyth, who was born in August. Gwen and Bea had a great time trying to grab each others' noses and feet.

Before I sign off, I'd also like to send special good vibes to Grandma Pat (Matt's mom), who is having surgery for possible thyroid cancer tomorrow. Get well soon!

Melissa

Gross.

Our sweet little baby... has stuff oozing from every possible orifice.

Miss Bea is getting a bunch of teeth, and because of it she has the following: especially severe drooling, an extremely snotty nose, diarrhea, a nasty rash on her face, and best of all, a big welted infection on her cheek (the doctor had to lance it to let the puss out). On top of that she's sneezing, coughing, and just plain ornery -- who wouldn't be?

Now, I've had a 100 lb dog for many years and he has done some pretty gross stuff, but this ranks right up there in the top 10. Yuckers.

Funniest part is that Bea (who already has bottom teeth) is getting her eye teeth next - so I think she'll temporarily look a bit like Dracula. She won't be vampire-like for long, though, because we can also see her front teeth coming down the pike.

Lovely, eh? Don't worry, we won't post any pictures.
Melissa

November...

Hello All,

Sorry for the lack of blogs lately. Things have been real busy around here. The hole in the house was finally fixed, Matt's been studying for school, Melissa's been doing some work projects, and Bea has been hangin' out being sweet. Oh, we've also been watching all the Wisconsin teams beat up on the Minnesota teams... Packers 34, Vikings 0... Badgers 41, Gophs 34... heh, heh, heh. Lastly, we've all been sick -- with colds, flus, and more. Bea currently has a yucky rash on her face, which doesn't seem to bother her but looks a little scary. It'll probably be back to the doctor for her tomorrow. It is starting to be a weekly date.

Despite her first colds and rashes, Bea is doing lots of fun things now. She can no longer lay on her tummy for more than 30 seconds without rolling over. (She rolls over, smiles, and waits for the applause.) She can sit up for several minutes on her own. She and Dad play "hoops" with a new tiger basketball hoop. And, she finally realized she has toes. She is still not too fond of eating solids. We tried the mixing the sweet potatoes in with her cereal and that got us a little success. Then, just the other day we tried bananas... and whoa... she liked those ALOT better. Suddenly she was crying when the spoon came out instead of when it came in.

Bullet and Bea have become better friends lately. Bea is obsessed with watching Bullet and trying to touch him. Bullet finally doesn't run away whenever we sit down with her next to him and he is actually letting her touch him once in awhile.

Speaking of Bullet, the other day, Bullet ran away from home for the first time in 10 years. Luckily he came back. I was just about hysterical when I went to get him from the backyard and saw the gate open and no pup. Our neighborhood is bordered by the nature preserve (with lots of animals that would consider dogs lunch), the interstate, and the river. So, there are lots of places for doggies to get in trouble. Matt was driving around the neighborhood, my dad was on his way home from work, I was calling the humane societies... then, luckily, after about an hour, Bullet came prancing back up the driveway. Where Bullet went on his adventure, only he knows.

Well, that's the update from these parts, hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Love,
Melissa

Polls

Thanks to everyone who voted on the "Bea's First Fruit and Veg" poll. Sweet Potatoes won with 35%, followed by Bananas with 29%, Pears 17%, and Squash 17%. We'll put up a picture of our little sweet potato eating sweet potatoes soon.

Bea is now eating all that frozen breast milk - see picture on post from Sunday June 9 ("Waah, Moo, and More"). For the next poll, guess how long it will last.

Halloween: All Dressed Up and No Place to Go

It's Bea's first Halloween! Even though she is too young to trick-or-treat, Bea actually had two costumes this year. Originally, "Aunt Kelly" (Melissa's cousin) gave Bea a Zebra outfit - which was adorable. Then, Grandma Liz brought her -- you guessed it -- a bumblebee costume.


We were scheduled to go to a family halloween party last Sunday -- Bea was going to wear her bee costume with a little crown (making her the "Queen Bea") and Matt and I were going to go as drones. Unfortunately, Bea came down with her first cold on Saturday and I wasn't feeling much better. So, we missed out on all the fun.



So, for our Halloween festivities, we dressed Bea up in both of her costumes and took pictures. Here are the results. Enjoy!

Cereal? No, thanks.

Well, Bea had her first taste of cereal. Not a hit. In fact, it was more of a spit. Almost everything that went in also came out. She liked it a bit better when I put a little prune juice in it, but still lots of spitting. I'm not sure it was the cereal she didn't like, though. She didn't seem too thrilled with the spoon. We'll try again soon.

On the bright side, Bea has been having milk from the breastmilk freezer all week and seems to be doing really well with it. Wahoo! In fact she loves the bottle so much that she starts reaching for it the minute she sees it. I've have had to start hiding it from her when it is warming, because if she sees it too soon, there's tears until it's ready. Conversely, she's getting more and more frustrated with breastfeeding -- I think it's too much work. So, we're weaning.

A couple of people have asked what her stats were at her 6 month check up -- well she was 14 lbs 3 oz and 24 inches! What a big girl.

Also, Bea has been sitting up for up to a minute or two by herself with no help. She topples over fairly spectaularly, too.

Lastly, Bea's friend Adam, who I mentioned before, finally did get his heart transplant and is doing well! In fact, he's already home. The average child goes home after a heart transplant in just two weeks. Isn't that crazy?

That's all for now. Hope all is well with everyone!
Love,
Melissa

Six Months Old: Daddy better win.

This was taken when Daddy's friends were over for cards. I walked in and Uncle Gravy (Dad's cards partner) was "putting Bea in the pot"... good thing they won that hand. From left to right that's Drew, Gravy, Bea, Ry, and Dad.

AS OF OCT. 6, BEA IS SIX MONTHS OLD!!

Since becoming a big six monther, Bea thinks she is pretty hot stuff -- she can even sit up by herself for almost a minute. She sits in her high chair now (her bouncy seat is so last month). In addition, she can pick things up (and throw them on the floor), she puts everything in her mouth, and drools pretty much all the time. Bea really likes music, especially at bedtime or naptime. And speaking of sleep, she's getting a lot better at it: sleeping usually at least six hours a night. Lastly, she is going to try eating some solid foods this week!

She had her six month doctor appointment and it was full of good news... until it got to the shots. But, back to the good news: Her acid reflux is doing well and hopefully we'll be able to take her off her medicine fairly soon. That also means that Mom can start adding foods back to her diet... like dairy! Well, this week it's just yogurt but I can almost taste the ice cream sundae. And, even better, next week we can start using milk from the breastmilk freezer!! Cheers all the way around.

Here are a few pictures to enjoy of Bea and her new talents: sitting in the high chair and drooling.

Recent Pictures

Bea is getting so big and smart. You wouldn't believe it. She is 13 lbs 6 oz, and she is the proud owner of two bottom front teeth. Her new tricks include:

• Seeing objects and grabbing them
• Putting three or more fingers in her mouth at once
• Saying two syllable words such as "Ah-goooooo"
• Finding her toes with her hands
  

It's all very exciting.

In addition, we were recently kidnapped by the photo people at Babies 'R' Us - who were bored and offered us free photos. So, the posed picture is from there.
Enjoy!

Bea & Sadie Go to the Farm

Today, Bea and her cousin, Sadie (10 mos), went on an adventure to the apple orchard and pumpkin patch. There were sheep, goats, horses, rabbits, tractors, and more. Unfortunately, the girls were too sleepy and bundled up to notice. (Sadie did check out the horse, and Bea did catch a glimpse of the tractor... but mostly it was an exercise in stroller off-roading for the adults.) Next year maybe we'll even make it past the barn.

Here are a few pictures from our day. Enjoy!

Bea's friend, Adam, needs a transplant

With all that we've been through this year, we still believe we are truly blessed. So far Bea is a happy, healthy girl - and we hope our hospital time is behind us.

Unfortunately, one of Melissa's childhood friends is currently spending her ninth week in the hospital with her little boy, Adam (2 years old), who needs a heart transplant. If you have a minute, please take a look at their web site: http://cotaforadamt.com/node/46

We were very lucky that we could afford the medical bills that were thrown at us with help from insurance. Adam and his family need more than $500,000. There is a way to donate to his fund on the site.

Thanks!
Melissa

And THEN, a tree fell on the house

Oh, years from now, we'll tell Bea stories about the year 2007. First there was the complicated pregnancy, then we almost fell into the Mississippi on a bridge, THEN a storm came and knocked a huge tree on our house... On Tuesday night there was yet another severe storm here in Bloomington. We had escaped the first few storms relatively unscathed while huge trees fell all around us, but it was not to be this time.

Matt and I woke up at 3:00 a.m. to incredible winds (later estimated to be about 70 mph). I grabbed the baby and chased Bullet into the basement. Matt ran around closing windows, then joined us. We were only in the basement for a minute when we heard a loud BOOM! Matt and I looked at each other and said, "That can't be good" - something had obviously fallen on the house.

There were about 15 mature trees within striking distance of our house, including a sickly large black walnut tree in the neighbors' yard. I had been so worried that the black walnut would fall on our house that I went to talk to the neighbor about it on Tuesday. But, I took heart that we had a big maple tree, with a 3+-foot diameter trunk, between us and the walnut tree -- for sure the maple would break the fall of the walnut.


When the winds died down a little, Matt went up to survey the damage. And, he didn't come back or say anything. I just heard him and Bullet scurrying around the house. Eventually, I called up.

Melissa: "What happened?"
Matt: "Stay downstairs, the tree outside the kitchen window fell on the house and I don't think it's safe."
Melissa: "The neighbors' tree?"
Matt: "No, ours. The big maple."
Melissa: "Oh dear."

From our kitchen bay window all you could see was trunk and roots. Our big, beautiful maple was now leaning precariously on the corner of our second story -- hovering over our three-seasons porch, family room, and garage. Matt began furiously calling emergency tree services. My Dad came over to check it out and helped us move valuables out of the family room. Bea, Bullet, and I went to Mom and Dad's for the night. By 7:00 a.m. the next morning, a huge truck was in our backyard cutting down what was once the pride of our yard. The tree guys couldn't believe that the maple had fallen and the walnut was still standing. Neither could I. In addition, another huge tree in our yard, an ash, was now tilting toward the house and the roots were pulling up. By the end of the day, the maple, the walnut, and the ash were all gone.

I counted the rings on the trees. The maple was more than 85 years old; the ash was 46 years exactly; and the walnut was about 30. We had already lost a smaller tree in the last storm, so now our backyard is so empty!

The maple fell on the roof above our upstairs bathroom and Bea's room. With the exception of a few cracks, you can't really tell from the inside. I'm really impressed with the skill of the tree guys -- I thought for sure the maple was going to fall on the lower level of the house when they tried to move it. We are so lucky it didn't do any more damage and that the ash didn't fall, too.

Bea and I will particularly miss the maple. Its branches touched the windows in her room and she loved the to watch wind in the leaves. In the mornings the birdsong always helped her go back to sleep. Now her room is so bright in the morning that it almost hurts your eyes.

The pictures include a picture of the tree leaning on the house, a close up of the damage, a picture of the branches hanging over the porch, a pic of the tree guys and truck, and a picture of the maple and walnut trunks still standing amongst the branches.

IN OTHER NEWS: Bea has made great headway this week in a lot of ways. Most noticably, she now confidently grabs for toys and is talking up a storm. Unfortunately, she is also drooling up a storm and having tantrums every night starting about 9:30 p.m. Take the good with the bad, I guess!

That's all for now!
Melissa

ER

We had our first trip to the Emergency Room Friday night. Bea was unhappy all day and it got worse during the evening. By late evening she appeared reactive to pushes on her stomach and after speaking to our on-call pediatrician, we went to the ER at childrens hospital.

It was weird in that it was the first time Bea was in Children's hospital because we thought she would be there before she came home from the hospital after delivery. They hooked Bea up to a monitor to take her blood pressure and I swear I don't ever need to see Bea or Melissa hooked up to medical equipment ever again. I used to enjoy going to the hospital and doctor, but it looks like I'm still burnt out and have way to many uncomfortable recent feelings there.

In summary the doctor didn't find anything other then possibly a scratched eye, so we got a prescription and left the hospital around 12:30 am. Melissa and I both think it must have been some abdominal pain that passed through.

Melissa's parents took possession of their new house nearby in Bloomington on Friday and the movers come with their stuff tomorrow. I finished my summer school final last weekend and I have about three weeks before the fall semester starts over. Unfortunately with my participation on one of the 35W bridge design build teams above other workload, there won't be much of a break. Not that it's been all bad as I've only got 100 pages left to finish Harry Potter. It's about time for my turn to play and take care of Bea and knock off a few more pages of Harry while I burp her and get her to fall asleep.

Four Months Flown By...

Hello All! There's been lots going on around here to tell you about. Bea is already FOUR MONTHS OLD! As my friend Deanna told me... with a newborn, the days sometimes seem long, but the months fly by!

First, Bea is officially 18 weeks old. She went in yesterday for her four-month check up, and she seems to be doing great. Dad and Bea did better with her shots then Mom (I had to turn away). Bea now weighs 12 pounds 6 ounces and is 23 inches long. Although Bea is now more than four months old, she is still only two months old "corrected" - that means she still looks and acts two months younger then she is, because she was two months premature. So, according to the measurements for two-month-olds, she is 75 percentile for weight, but only 45th percentile for height. Guess we're going to have to stretch her!

Bea is also doing lots of fun things now like - smiling a lot, playing with toys, and starting to make really cute baby cooing noises. She is sleeping in her big girl crib, and sleeps for 5-6 hours a night most of the time. So, Mom and Dad are starting to act a bit human again. She is still struggling with the acid reflux enough that she had to have an increase in her medicine last week and Mom is still on a highly restricted diet. In addition, we joke that Bea only poops on Tuesdays. So, she's had to add prune juice to her diet.

In other news, Grandma and Grandpa Rach sold their house in Appleton and are now living with us for a short time. They close on their new house here in Bloomington, MN on August 17. Until then, Matt and I are enjoying having some live-in help. It's good timing because Matt is very busy. He is finishing up his MBA summer class and work is crazy. His firm was already fairly busy and is now part of several teams that are bidding on the reconstruction of the 35W bridge. So, it's been nice to have some extra hands around to help with Bea and Bullet.

As for me, I am getting out a lot more. Bea and I try to plan at least one outing a day. I'm starting to think about going back to work at some point, but still a bit unsure what turn I want my career to take. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

All the best,
Melissa

35W Bridge Collapse: We're OK

We are safe. I feel a bit like a person who missed a plane that eventually crashed, though.

Bea and I were at a friend's house right near the bridge. We left for home a few minutes before the bridge came down. Going on 35W would have been the obvious way to go home (since we live off of 35W), but Bea starts to cry when the car stops and I knew there was construction traffic -- so I decided to go a longer way where we wouldn't sit still on the road as much. We literally would have gotten on the onramp that came down at about 6:00 p.m., the bridge came down at 6:05. It's horrifying, really. I keep thinking how would I have got Bea out of the car if we had been in the water or on one of those slopey sections of the road.

Matt was safely far out of the area. He and his engineering friends are not sure how a bridge could come down like that... the construction they were doing on it was minimal, etc.

Bea and I certainly have angels looking out for us this year. Thanks to everyone who is calling to check if we're ok.

- Melissa

Quick Update

Wow... only two blogs in all of July so far... we are slackers! Bea is definitely not slacking, though. She will be 16 weeks old tomorrow and is really doing well. She is sleeping 5-6 hours regularly now (hope typing it doesn't jinx it!). For the last few days, she has even been sleeping in her crib, not her bassinet. What a big girl! She has a doctor appointment next week, and we can't wait to see how much she weighs, because she is h-e-a-v-y!

The big news around here is that my parents (Liz and Dick) sold their house and are moving to Minneapolis. My dad started his job at the Eden Prairie Center mall in the Twin Cities in April and the Appleton house has been on the market since then. We are happy the house sold, but they have to be out on August 3 and they don't have a new house yet! They had an offer on a house, but the inspection didn't go well. So, we've been busy scouring the city for something they like in a hurry. Bea has been house hunting, too, and she actually does pretty well.

Bea is now getting out fairly often. We go to the grocery store, to see friends, to restaurants, to Matt's parents' cabin, and this weekend we are making the big trek to Appleton! Although five hours in the car with Bea does not sound particularly fun, we thought we would go back while Mom and Dad still have a house so Bea could meet her Great-Grandma Marcella and maybe some other relatives if she's not too crabby from the car ride. Should be interesting with Bea, Bullet and all the gear that goes with them.

Which leads us to other news... we got a minivan to carry all that gear. We are so suburban it's ridiculous. We sold the Super Subaru, to make room for it. It was a sad day, but the baby seat didn't fit well in the "Superu", so it had to go. I hate to say it, but the minivan is pretty cool. They really thought of a lot of good features for the family.

What else... I am taking tennis lessons again, which is the most physical thing I've done in almost a year. I love it. I also take the dog for walks, etc. So, I'm getting there!

Ok, I really need to get going and get to bed. Have a great weekend.
Melissa

Thanks, Bea! You're So Thoughtful!

Hi Everyone, it's Melissa here with an update. Things are starting to get a lot better around here. We think Bea is around 12 pounds by now -- which is more than 3x her birthweight. She is starting to smile a lot and she is sleeping a lot more. So, everyone around here is happy, happy, happy. Except between 7:30-8:30 p.m. which we call "the witching hour" during that hour she screams bloody murder. But, we'll take smiley, sleepy 23 hours and one bad one. We're definitely moving in the right direction.

Friday (the 13th) was my birthday - and was it ever a good one. Bea started off the day in grand style, by giving me her gift: sleeping for SIX HOURS in a row Thursday night. And, she did it again Friday night. Amazing! I felt so refreshed!

In addition, for more birthday festivities, I did a "status check" with my pre-pregnancy jeans (how much further do I have to go to fit into them...) and guess what... I got them on! Whoo-hoo! I was totally not expecting that. They are a bit tight, but that's the way it goes. I actually weigh 40 lbs less then I did right before Bea was born, but I still have a bit to go before I get to my pre-pregnancy weight. The non-dairy diet is probably at least helping me out in the weight loss area.

I got nice gifts from Matt and my parents, too. Then Matt and I went out for a little adult time (dinner and a movie). We went to Cafe Brenda downtown (very grown up) - however, then I chose Harry Potter for the movie. I know I probably should have chosen something at least rated R for my big night on the town, but I really enjoy the Harry movies in the theater. Let me tell you, this Harry Potter movie is scary. Seriously, not for small kids at all. I left the theater thinking I just saw this generation's "Empire Strikes Back" moment. For those of you who didn't see the Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back when you were about 10 years old -- it gave you nightmares for weeks. And, I'm pretty sure there will be a lot of nightmares from this movie.

In other news, Bea is getting out and about a lot more lately herself. She has now been to the grocery store, target, and last week we went to a baby party at my friend Kristina's house. Kristina who was due at the same time as me, happens to know 12 other people who were due at the same time -- so she invited all the moms and babies over to her house! It was hillarious all the mommies, their tiny 4-week babies, and their stylish diaper bags. We had a great time.

Hope all is well for you!
Melissa

84 days = 1 month

We're all settling into routine, including the daily grind of parenthood. Bea is doing fantastic. She's gaining exactly an ounce a day and is up to 10 lb 10 oz. Saturday was June 30th - which is exactly one month after her original expected due date or 84 days from when she was actually born. Thus her abilities should be compared to a one-month old.

She's doing a pretty good job of holding her held up for short instances. In that last two weeks her eyes are able to focus on many more things that are much farther away. We're trying to stimulate her eyes and brain with black and white print outs of shapes/objects and recently with red colored objects. She's recently had a a couple of giggles, but no cooing. She passes gas with the best of the adults.

Her acid reflux medicine is helping out a lot. She never slept before, she just moaned and squirmed. Now she actually sleeps peacefully and appears to be actually resting and rejuvenating. I'm really happy we did it for her, and I'm not going to complain about us getting a little more rest. She now can sleep for 2 to 3 hours at a time at night if we don't let her sleep too much in the evening.

We've retired a good 30 outfits and have moved from newborn to level 1 diapers. The Huggies brand kept leaking so we're proponents of Pampers. I feel very guilty about the poor land fills we're filling up. Below is one of my favorite outifts that was recently retired. We call it the "Flying Elvis" outfit.

Melissa and I certainly have our moments like any other parents. Right now Melissa's body is sore in every conceivable area partially due to the physical needs of holding, carrying, and feeding a 10 1/2 lb weight that's changing shape and form constantly and being on bedrest and in the hospital for so long. My surgically repaired back has been in better shape. Bea is currently yelling out loud for attention, but not crying. The tone is changing. All very interesting (some times).

While we're extremely happy about our new baby girl and love her so much, Melissa and I are probably in the parent category that is looking a little forward past the infant stage to where there is bigger blocks of sleeping, they can be stimulated and entertained more easily (you can figure out what's going on), and you can transport them much more readily.

It's been a really long six months since Cincinnati. Melissa and I are pretty mentally and physically wore down, but we know we've got it a lot easier than many people. The adrenaline was wore off before Bea was even born, and that was three months ago and we've got a ways to go before things starting getting much easier. I've resumed attending school for an MBA at night. I'm only taking one class at a time, and that's the current long-term plan. I don't think Melissa is able to carry all the slack if I had two classes and with my new appreciation for life, family, and baby girls; I'm trying to balance being a good father, employee, and still contribute substantially at school. Two classes would upset that balance for quite a while. I currently read my text while burping her on my nighttime feeting which usually occurs between 11 and 12:30. Let's just say the retention rate isn't phenomenal. Last week was the first week in a long time I've average more than 6 hours of sleep at night, so I feel like a million bucks compared to the rest of June, May, and April. I should mention that Melissa probably hasn't hit the 6 hour average barrier yet.

I hope this fourth of July finds everyone out there enjoying time with their friends and family and giving thanks for our freedom to vote and speak. While there appears to be more outspoken people recently, I think we should have a holiday for true listening to others and critical thinking with emotions removed. I'm included in that category.

Take care everyone.

Matt

The good, the bad, and the soy

Well, this week has been an eventful one.

THE GOOD
The week started off with a fantastic shower thrown for us by some of Matt's college friends. In addition to great food, lovely atmosphere, and tons of great stuff for Bea, the group also gave us a tree in memory of Elsa. It was really nice to celebrate both girls.

Also in good news:
-Bea weighed in this week at the doctor's office at 9 lbs 5 ozs!!!!
-Bea slept three hours in a row for the first time in weeks!!!!
-Bea has been able to get outside and take a walk around the neighborhood (Well, she isn't exactly walking herself, but you know what I mean.)
-The doctor cleared Bea to go out and about to Target and such places - so we went to Panera to see a family friend - whoo-hoo... Thankfully Grandma Liz was with us, because we had to experience our first diaper change in a restaurant and it was a doozie.

THE BAD

Bea and I both had a stomach bug, which gave us both belly aches and made me very tired and dizzy. We're still getting over it and still a little groggy.

Miss Bea was diagnosed with acid reflux. Bea has only been sleeping 20 minutes at a time during the day and never peacefully. Her record at night was 2.5-3 hour, but most of the time she wanted to eat every hour. We thought this was normal or maybe normal for a preemie at least. She seemed fussy a lot and she drooled a lot. After a particularly bad couple days last week I looked up the symptoms online and figured out that she might have reflux. The doctor confirmed our suspicions and now Bea is on reflux medicine. We hope this will make her feel better.

THE SOY
Because of Bea's reflux, I can't eat any dairy. Now, if you know me at all, you know the four food groups for me are: milk, cheese, ice cream, and butter... and I like yogurt, too. I drink a half gallon of milk on a slow day. So, this no dairy diet is nearly killing me. I'm trying all the soy substitutes and I am not sure how those vegans do it. Yucko.

***If you have any good non-dairy/non-apple (I'm allergic) recipes please send them my way, I need all the help I can get.***

To illustrate my sense of loss for my dear dairy products, here is a funny story (at least it's funny in retrospect). After the doctor appointment the other day, I was heading home with Bea in the car, had only slept an hour or two, and was getting the flu, but didn't know it yet. I knew I was too tired to find something to eat at home, so I went to the McDonald's drivethru. I went to McDonalds particularly because I thought they had frozen yogurt (and I thought frozen yogurt was dairy-free, but that's another story). I get to the intercom and I say, "Your cones are frozen yogurt, right?" to the teenage kid in the window. And, he says, "No we've changed to real ice cream." Suddenly, it was all too much and I started to cry right there in the drivethru. So, the snotty McDonald's kid says to me, "Pull yourself together." I ordered and headed home. When I got home, I went to take Bea in her car seat out of the car and my back went out. Luckily my Dad was at the house to help me get her in. Eventually opened my McDonald's bag. I had ordered a fish sandwich - with no cheese - and the twerp had given it to me with cheese anyway. I started to cry again.

So, next time you have a bad day, just remember at least you didn't get told to "pull yourself together" by a 16-year-old in a McD's uniform.

Yours in dairy withdrawl,
Melissa

Sextuplets in My Old Room

Just a really quick note -- remember when I was in the hospital awhile back and there was another woman on my floor who was having sextuplets? Well, they were born! They all made it, but they were born very early. They were born at 22 weeks +, which compared to us was the week after we were in Cincinnati -- two weeks before I ever got to the hospital. The smallest baby is smaller then Elsa was. So, say a prayer for them.

For me it is especially interesting to watch the videos they have on this web site -- because she is in MY OLD ROOM. So, if you watch the videos on here, you can see what my environment used to be like. Check it out.

http://wcco.com/morrisons

Talk to you soon,
Melissa

WAH!, Moooo, and More

Yawn. We're tired around here.

Last week when Bea had her shots she learned something new -- the extremely loud cry (we'll call it the "ELC"). The ELC goes something like this: WAH! [breath] WAH! [breath] WAH! WAH! WAH! WAH! [breath, breath, breath, breath]. I'm sure our neighbors can hear it clearly. Last night, she did it so loud it made Bullet start to whine. Generally, she only uses the ELC when she's hungry. She'll be smiling one minute and in full-on ELC the next. She also likes to do it at 4:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. each night for extended periods. Then last night, she did it for Dad for several hours straight. We hope that was the pinnacle.


One reason I'm not as tired is I'm weaning off of the breast pump. I used to pump 8 times a day for 30 minutes. Now I'm down to 2 times a day for 10 minutes! It's amazing the time that frees up! :) And, I no longer feel like a farm animal. I was starting to Moo. Just for kicks here is the picture of the free standing freezer we have specifically for breastmilk. This picture is from about three weeks ago. Everything you see in the picture is breastmilk, except (appropriately) for the jugs. The jugs have since been replaced with more breastmilk. As you can tell, we're well stocked. Bea will not starve. I told Matt we need a generator in case the power goes out. I would be seriously p-o'd if this all went to waste.

OK, that's all for now. (This is probably the most bizzare post yet! As I said, we're tired. haha.)

Melissa.

Due Date

Today (May 30) was the twins' official due date. It's hard to believe that Elsa and Bea have only been part of our lives for a mere 40 weeks. So much has happened in that short time span.

As of today, Bea is developmentally ZERO years old. (She was in the negative before.) She is looking and acting pretty much like a newborn should. At her two-month check up (this afternoon) she weighed 7 lbs 12 oz and measured 20.5 inches long. Pretty average for a newborn, but pretty amazing for someone who started out at 3 lbs 9 oz. Her two months of experience in the world has given her a slight edge on her newborn friends -- she can pick up her head very well and smiles quite a lot.

Unlike newborns, Bea had to get her two month vaccines today. One oral vacination and three shots. She actually did pretty well -- only really crying during the shots for a minute or two. But, she cried her first real tears. It might have been worse on me then it was on her.

Last night the ladies in our neighborhood gave me a really lovely shower. Our first one. Bea got all dressed up in a frilly dress and made a five minute appearance at her first party. It was sort of a fitting end to the official pregnancy time period -- finally a time to celebrate.

Melissa

Change and more change

It's unbelievable to see how much Bea has changed. She's eating well and growing each week. Her appearance changes significantly each week as she fills out and new definition is created. At birth she had dark brown hair and started to lose it, now she appears to be growing it again and I'm betting on a light brown hair. The eyes are still dark blue but it's still early and they can go any direction. Her cheeks are filling out, and she's actually developed some fat and little fat rolls on her legs and arms. She was so skinny initially there was absolutely no fat. She can maintain her body heat much better now. Yesterday she was weighed at 6 lb 12 oz which was her 39th week since conception and almost 7th week since birth.

Her vision is coming around and she can maintain eye contact very well. Her lungs and specifically her audible decibel level is certainly bigger then I care for some times.

A week or so ago Melissa got caught switching diapers and Bea blasted a poop all over the wall. I told her that I changed diapers way to fast to ever get caught... So two days later Bea peed on the first clean diaper I put on her, then with my guard down and I was switching for a second diaper she blasted a huge poop all over the place. To top it off she decided to pee on the third clean diaper.

Quick Update

Hi All! I know we've been remiss about updating our blog - it's been a bit busy around here. Not sure exactly what we're doing with our time, but there sure doesn't seem to be enough of it! Mostly, we just eat, pump, and sleep. We've even had round-the-clock grandparent help and we're still barely keeping up - but that's the way it's supposed to be, I think.

Miss Beatrice is doing really well. Last week she gained an entire pound!! That puts her over six pounds. (She gained 1/6th of her body weight - glad I can't do that!) She is starting to get little pudgy cheeks, rolls around her thighs, and the hint of a double chin - just like normal babies! In addition, she is doing much better about keeping her body temperature up. Each day we've been going down a layer of clothes, until yesterday (when it was 90 degrees here) she was just in a short-sleeved onesie. It made her look like such a big girl. Today, she's back to long sleeves, of course. She is changing so much that she hardly looks like the same baby already!

In addition, Bea has discovered her hands. She waves them in front of her face for hours. And, in the last couple days she has discovered that she can put them in her mouth at any time. It's pretty funny to see her try to coordinate the hand-in-mouth activities -- sometimes those fingers wind up by her nose or eyes instead.

Unfortunately (for Mom and Dad), Bea most likes to play from about 10:00 p.m. -2:00 a.m. So, sleep has become even more of a factor. I didn't know preemie babies (or month old babies of any kind) could stay awake for four hours straight - but they can.

My first Mother's Day was fun - it is very weird to have everyone saying "Happy Mothers' Day" to me! Who me? Despite the little girl hanging around the house, it really hasn't set in that I'm somebody's mommy. Ironically, Matt and I actually left Bea for the longest time since we lest the hospital on Mothers' Day to go to our neice's baptism. Grandma and Grandpa baby sat, though, so it was cool.

Alright, got to get back to action. We've got some new pictures of Bea that I will post soon and I will work on my "Birth Day" memories, too.

More soon!
Melissa

Matt's Birth Day Memories

I'd like to share some of my memories of the delivery day. I've gone back and forth many times wondering if I should share the memories because they're not all happy as some of the more unexpected focused on Elsa. However I treasure each of those memories and will forever be thankful for them.

It took two days of induction for Melissa to get started and it obviously went very slowly. We were both very happy it took two days because the day before induction neither of us slept very long or well. Because Melissa was in the hospital for two months, we missed all of our baby and birthing classes. So we watched a very short video on C-section and vaginal delivery on the hospital's tv (we didn't know what method would be used for delivery). When Melissa started to have more significant contractions, one of the integrated medicine staff and a nurse helped show me what I should be doing during contractions.

Melissa had been dilated a small amount for quite a while. At the end of the second afternoon she was still at 1 cm. I'll never forget the look on Nurse Betsy's face when she checked Melissa again and found Melissa was dilated to 8 cm. Her eyes and mouth opened fully and she said Melissa was ready. She started throwing stuff and cables off the bed, throwing furniture around the room and was pushing the bed out of the room in just seconds. She yelled at another nurse to help her and told her she never called the Operating Room to tell them we were coming to get a room ready. They just pushed Melissa down the hall as fast as they could and knocked on the first OR door they came to. The nurse prepping for surgery also had a surprised look on her face when they just pushed Melissa on her bed into the room.

Melissa delivered within 17 minutes of arrival at the OR. I'll never forget seeing Bea's head slowly emerge, until the whole head was out. I was yelling at Melissa "It's a Head!, It's a Head!" like some little school boy. Bea let out a big cry and we cheered for her well developed lungs. What an amazing sound. We were so worried her lungs would be immature and that she'd need a respiratory tube or oxygen.

Immediately after Bea came out and the doctor was handing her to Melissa, a nurse lunged at Melissa and caught something from falling onto the operating room floor, later I would realize it was Elsa. Melissa held onto Bea for a little bit until they wisked her into an adjoining room to assess her. After a few minutes they gave the thumbs up that she was doing great. With great relief I turned to look back in the operating room where Melissa was and saw she was holding Elsa in a little pretty blanket on her chest and was all out balling. We were told we might not even recognize Elsa and that she might be lost in the placenta. That's when I first recognized Elsa.

Then they indicated that Bea would be going to the Special Care Nursery (SCN) and not the NICU! I ran into the operating room to tell Melissa the great news. There Melissa's mother and several nurses were all crying with Melissa over Elsa. We took pictures together with Elsa.

I ran back into the assessment room to watch Bea being weighed for the first time and I was able to hold her for a little bit in the assessment room. I (or another staff member, I can't remember) brought Bea to Melissa again and we took pictures with her and with Elsa. Those were our only pictures as a full family of four. As mentioned previously, Elsa looked so beautiful and just like a little baby. She was very well developed and had her arms folded up with her hands under her head like she was sleeping soundly and peacefully. And to think we weren't sure if we would even recognize her.

I went with Bea up into the SCN and eventually Melissa's parents and my parents came up to see her. After a while I went back to the room where Melissa was and saw her holding Elsa again. She was able to hold Elsa alone for a while. It was late evening by then and my parents went home and Melissa's parents took her up to the SCN to see Bea. That allowed me to spend some precious time holding Elsa alone.

The nurse indicated we needed to transport Elsa from Abbott to the Children's Hospital and that a transport person would come and get Elsa. They would put her in a "plastic bag". There is a tunnel connecting the two facilities and it's a two block walk that's dark and dreary in the middle of the day. I said I wasn't going to put my daughter in a plastic bag and give her to a transport person. I would walk her over to Children's.

It took a couple of hours to fill out the paperwork, we had to fill out preliminary birth and death certificate papers. The transport person came with a black duffel bag. We wrapped Elsa in a pretty and very small baby blanket that was donated and placed her in the bag. We kept the baby blanket my mother made (a smaller matching version of Bea's) as a momento. I carried the bag along side a transport person who was carrying two closed buckets with "bio hazard" all over them that were about two gallons in size each. The buckets contained placentas.

The transport person was a very nice woman who had several children. She said it was easier to see teenage children die then babies. The older kids were able to enjoy life for a while she indicated. I immediately realized I don't want to work at Children's.

It's always a really long walk in the tunnel and we saw no one in there or at Children's until we got to the huge lab. We had to look all over the lab for someone to receive Elsa. When the person asked what I was carrying in the bag, I just said "my daughter". The check in room was basically a room with a bunch of refrigerators. When I pulled Elsa out of the bag the lab worker was startled and said "jeeze louise" as she stared at a little girl wrapped in a pretty blanket. I had to check Elsa in by writing down her name and other information including my name as the transport person. Thankfully when I looked up the lab woman had already placed Elsa in the refrigerator and I never watched her going in there. The nice transport woman was crying freely in the corner of the room as she watched me checking Elsa in.

I left Children's Hospital in the middle of the night through the tunnel with the transport person. I left the hospital thinking I never invisioned dropping Elsa off at Children's (in the middle of the night none the less). I had prepared myself to be going there with Bea who ended up at the SCN at Abbott (Northwestern Hospital). We walked through the very long and dark tunnel and right before we arrived at Abbott we passed a mother who was being wheeled on her bed to presumably the NICU to see her child for possibly the first time. I recognized the father next to her as the one next to me in the assessment room next to the operating rooms at Abbott. His child didn't check out as well as Bea and was transferred to the NICU. I passed them very quickly thinking that could be Melissa and me, and that I expected it to be Melissa and me.

What an amazing and surreal day. Later that night and the next day Melissa and I wondered if what had actually happened was real. She no longer had any babies inside her (who we had obsessed over for months). We had one daughter in the SCN and another in a refrigerator at Children's.

Over the next two days we finished the paper work for both Bea and Elsa. We also needed to arrange for the cremation society to pick up Elsa at Children's and get her cremated. There was some confusion by then which caused great anxiety by me that they would mess something up. While the vast majority of the next few days and would be spent rejoicing Bea, Melissa would also have some severe anxiety about Elsa. After Melissa was discharged from the hospital the cremation society left us a voicemail asking to clarify some things about Elsa before they cremated her. I thought she said she'd call them back and she thought I was calling them back. Two nights later we realized neither of us had called and Melissa proceeded to dream that night that the two of us, Bea, Elsa (who was a live and a child in the dream), and Bullet went for a bike ride. Then she woke up and realized none of it was real.

Bea's birth and first few weeks have been unbelievably exciting and fulfilling. We're very lucky to have such a healthy little girl, especially considering where we were a few weeks and months before. While the past few weeks have been primarily focused on the wonders of Bea, every now and then we'll have instances that reminds us of Elsa and how much we miss her and the future we had anticipated with her and Bea as a family. We'll stop and get choked up for a few moments, then move on to the next task at hand.

I don't think those intermittent and entirely spontaneous moments of thoughts and sadness (with joy too) about Elsa will ever go away. I'm reminded with my new role as a father that until it happens to you, you just don't get it. I have a little better understanding of what it's like for other people to lose precious family members and specifically babies. I also know that there are a lot of people who are worse off then we are. We've got a beautiful, happy and healthy little girl, and that's amazing and I'm so grateful. I can hear her in the other room making little noises as I type. I think it's time for a bath.

Coming Home Pics

Wow, this Bea-keeping thing sure is time consuming! Bea is doing well at home. She had her first pediatrian appointment on Tuesday and she weighed 5 lbs!! Her sniffles are apparently just normal getting-used-to-the-world sniffles and not a cold, phew. Other then that, we've been eating, sleeping, (pumping), and changing diapers round the clock. That's all there really is to report! Here - at last - are the promised pictures from the day Bea came home from the hospital:

Mom, Bea, and Dad at the hosptial.

Close up of Bea in her going home duds.

Finally home in her Moses basket.

(Just for the record, the basket is only used when there's an adult in the room!)

Bea is home; We are very tired!

Hi All -
Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but things have been a bit crazy. When I posted on Monday, I talked about how Bea needed to learn to eat before she could come home. On Tuesday night, Bea got her first bottle. And,instead of spitting half of it up like a normal preemie, she guzzled it down. By Wednesday, she had gone 24 hours without a feeding through her tube and was cleared to come home. They gave me the choice of whether I wanted her to come home Thursday or Friday.

Well, needless to say, we were a little surprised by this turn of events. We had some work to do around the house, etc. We chose for her to come home Friday and then spent the next two days crazily running around getting the house ready. Then on Friday morning, she came home!! It is so wonderfully surreal to actually be home as a family. Saturday was the first day in 79 days that I hadn't been to the hospital.

Things are going fairly well. Bullet and Bea are learning about each other. We are learning more about Bea, etc. She has some sniffles that have me worried a bit, but other then that she has been great.

We have some pictures to post and some more stories to tell, but right now, I need to get to sleep.

Love, Melissa

Four Pounds!

Hi everyone! Just a quick note to let you know that over the weekend Bea broke the four-pound barrier (kind of like breaking the four-minute mile). On Saturday she weighed 4 lbs 0.9 oz, Sunday she was up an ounce, and today she gained nearly three ounces, making her 4 lbs 4.6 ounces! She's huge!! Well, she's relatively huge...

She has been doing pretty well outside of the incubator. She had a cold spell last night, and we had to kangaroo hold her to get her temperature back up. They also put her in some warmer clothes, including some fancy socks which looked suspiciously like baby-size versions of the compression socks I wore when I was pregnant. Now we just need to get Matt some compression socks to match. She had her second bath yesterday, which might have been part of the reason why she got cold. But, usually, when they are cold, they burn calories and lose weight -- obviously that wasn't a problem for Bea last night.

We are moving closer to getting her home. There are a bunch of procedural things that need to get done before she goes home, and they are all scheduled for this week. First, today she had a head ultrasound. Apparently, they do head ultrasounds in all cases where one twin died to make sure there is no brain damage to the surviving twin. It's kind of scary, but the doctors have told us that it's mostly just a precaution. Then, Thursday, she has a car-seat evaluation. For that test, they put her in her car seat for an hour with all of her monitors on to make sure that she doesn't stop breathing while sitting in that position. It's kind of common for preemies to have trouble because they are so little that they don't fit the seat right. Lastly, Matt and I have elected to take a baby CPR class.

Besides the procedural stuff, all Bea needs to do is learn to eat from breast/bottle consistently and she can come home. Sounds easy enough. Ha! Bea does really well when she actually decides to be interested in eating, but she's a little inconsistent. I'm now going to the hospital for more feedings, so we can try to get things ironed out and get her home as fast as possible - maybe next week sometime. We'll have to see.

We'll keep you updated!
Melissa

2 Weeks

Today is Bea's two week birthday. Her adjusted age is 34 weeks and 2 days. Yesterday she migrated to her big girl bed. They took her out of her incubator and put her in a normal bed. She's holding her temperature really well so they wheeled away the incubator. It's very possible she'll need to go back in the incubator if she can't hold her temperature quite yet, but so far so good. She has to be really bundled up since she has less body fat then Melissa and I did in high school which is really saying something.

Her weight bottomed out on day three and she's steadily been gaining about an ounce a day to reach 3 lbs 15.7 ounces today. In the last day she gained two ounces. What's really impressive is her solid and fluid "waste" was 10 ounces a couple of days ago. That's over 25% of her body mass. That's impressive.

Beatrice Anita R. [no last names on the internet]. We knew her initials would be BAR and we figured she'd just be really cool in college. What we didn't realize until recently was if she buys one of those fancy monogramed sweaters it'll be BRA. So much for monograms. Almost as interesting is her two initials will be BR, as in Brrrrrr, please put me back in my incubator.



Tomorrow Melissa gets to have her first nice dinner out in quite a while, which might be the last nice dinner out in quite a while. Of course with her new motherhood responsibilities she has a short window to be out.

Busy, Busy! (More Pictures)

First, I want to apologize to everyone who has sent emails, greetings, and gifts. All well wishes are greatly appreciated. Thank you notes and return messages are on the way - as soon as I catch my breath. It's amazing how busy we are. Between visiting Bea, getting the house ready for Bea, trying to rest -- it's exhausting. Matt also has work, and I spend at least eight hours a day on breast-pump-related activities alone. My friend, Janis, who also had a preemie told me that I should be prepared to be best friends with my pump... and she was definitely right!

Until those thank you notes arrive, you can check out some more pictures of Bea. People have commented that she looks like a normal baby for being born so young. What the previous pictures we posted didn't show was scale. In one picture below, you can see my hand in there for comparison. In the other picture, she is being held by her nurse, Margi -- who is a very small person. So, you can see, Bea is pretty darn tiny. The blue wire in her nose is her feeding tube. The big thing on her arm WAS her IV (it's gone now-hooray), and the wires near her legs are for her heart and respiration monitors.

It was another good day for Baby Bea. She breastfed lots, pooped lots (that's been a worry), and is still barely avoiding more jaundice lights. Tomorrow, she will have her first real tub bath. From what I can tell from the other babies in the special care nursery, baths are not actually enjoyable experiences the first couple times -- but maybe Bea will enjoy splashing around in the fluid, since she had so little in the womb...

Enjoy! Talk to you soon, Melissa

Whirlwind Weekend

Hi All! Bea continues to do well. So well, in fact, that the nurses advised us to take time this weekend to "get the house ready." Although Bea will probably not come home in the next week, she will be taking more and more of her feedings by breast -- which means I will need to be in the hospital with her more often and won't have much time at home.

Because I went on bedrest so early in the pregnancy, we didn't have too many things ready in the nursery. So, this weekend was split between spending time with Bea and spending time with our credit cards. After visits to baby stores across the metro we are now proud owners of diaper pails, a bottle drying rack, a baby bathtub, millions of preemie outfits, etc., etc. Who knew a little person less than four pounds needed so much stuff.

Many people have asked if we are going to have any type of shower. The answer is yes -- several friends and relatives have offered to throw us a party, but I guess it will be a bit unconventional since Bea has already arrived. We'll let you know more as plans firm up.

Well, that's all for now. Got to get to bed.
Love, Melissa

7 Days Old!

Bea is already a week old in the outside world or 33 weeks 2 days old since creation. She continues to impress across the board. She hasn't been under the jaundice lights for the last two days so we've been able to hold her longer. There has been at least two good periods of breastfeeding each day. She's beginning to recognize the pattern that after her diaper is changed and she comes out of the isolette, she gets to eat, thus she emerges from the isolette with her mouth wide open ready for some food. The feedings are strictly every three hours, so anywhere from 30-10 minutes before the hour she starts to wake up and get antsy.

Her body temperature is becoming stronger so they've turned down the heat on her isolette. When they let her come home, she'll be so small she'll probably need at least two layers of clothes plus a blanket to keep her body temperature up. She's doing so well that some of the staff have speculated whether she's really as young as she is. Earlier estimates of Melissa's gestational period during pregnancy indicated she may be as much as five days older than the current estimate. Either way we're not being picky.

I should also reiterate that she's never needed any oxygen and they haven't monitored her for oxygen since she was one day old. Her respiratory and heart rates are very consistent and strong, and while she's had very, very short episodes of low heart rates once a day or less, she hasn't had any apnea. I just knocked on some wood as I hope the splendid progress continues. Oh yes, she emerged at 3 lb 9 ounces and dropped to 3 lb 3 ounces on the third day. Since then she's gone to 3 lb 5 oz, then 3 lb 7 oz, then 3 lb 8 oz and today she's around 3 lb 9-10 oz.

Matt

Bea-utiful Day

Today, Bea had another good day in the hospital. She breastfed twice for 8 minutes and 10 minutes. The second time she had her mouth open before they even got her out of the incubator! It was pretty funny. She still needs to keep the lights on for the jaundice. Additionally, her IV has been moved to her head, which bothers Dad a lot, but it is nicer for Bea then on the leg or arm, since she likes to move her limbs a lot. But, other then that, she's doing real well.

I (Melissa) am feeling better each day. My legs are really swollen from the birth, IVs, and walking for the first time in months. So, walking is not pleasant, but all of the other birth-related stuff is healing nicely as far as I can tell.

Well, that's all to report today. We'll let you know more as it happens. :) - M.

Meet Bea! (Pictures)

Hi, it's Melissa (and I'm home again)! Here are some pictures of Bea. Sorry for all the nude shots, but she hasn't graduated to clothes yet. You have a picture of her getting weighed (the full body nude), a picture of her sitting up, and a picture of her with her shades and pacifier under the blue billi lights (used to treat jaundice). (Sorry the format is so screwy - the blogger program is fighting me!)

Bea is now three days old, and she is doing well.

Thankfully for the nurses and mommy, last night my milk came in. Now that Bea has some food in her tummy she has stopped yesterday's non-stop wailing and squirming. I guess I can't blame her for screaming when since she hadn't eaten in two days, had a million IVs and pokes, and had to come out into the world. When she is unhappy, however, she still lets you know about it. Today we saw her get up on her knees and elbows so she could scream better. Yesterday, we saw her arch her back so hard she hoisted her whole body onto her feet.

They mostly give Bea the milk through syringes and a tube that goes from her nose to her belly. But, she also breastfed for 8 minutes today -- which is pretty advanced stuff for a 32-weeker.

Tonight Matt is at the hospital with Bea, where he got to do some "kangaroo care." Basically he gets to hold Bea against his bare chest, so they can have skin-to-skin contact like marsupials. Studies have proven that contact helps babies grow faster. I held her today for a whole hour while she tried to breastfeed.

That's all for now. Talk to you soon.

Guess What?

Guess where we are? Not the heart hospital. Not the public computer in the birth unit. We're at home! In our very own house. Yes, that includes Melissa. Hurray for home.

Bea is still doing really well. She was very, very active today. So much so that the first nurse of the day was at her wits end by the end of her shift. Bea likes to move around and cry a lot (well not actually cry, more of a wail). She moves around so much they've surrounded her body pillows to keep her from migrating across the incubator so quickly. The nurses have indicated she's pretty wild, which is consistent with the discription of her provided by the ultrasound technicians, and doctors and nurses trying to monitor her heart rate. It appears we could really have our hands full. The nurses are very nice and have good intentions, but it currently appears they might not be too sad when vocal and flailing Bea comes home with us.

(Readers note - Melissa has finished her every 3rd hour responsibility and has left me/Matt to wrap up our blog of the day so she can sleep).

Twice when we were there her heart skipped a couple of beeps however she continued to breathe. We're used to tons of false triggers on her heart rate and her respiratory rate, however this was apparently the real thing because the nurse went flying across the room to see what was going on. She only skipped around 5 seconds of heart beats, not nearly enough to be considered apnea, but enough to get Mom & Dad worked up. That was apparently the first time she's done that yet - which is really good because she's at 32 1/2 weeks and has been monitored for nearly two days. Things have been going so well, we're not used to normal responses for a 32 week old girl. Essentially she's not perfect and isn't going to fly through the special care nursery with zero incidents, but she's doing really, really for her age. Mom and Dad would prefer to focus on little issues like does she have crooked toes or bad eye sight and would like to skip past the more major issues we faced in pregnancy, but it looks like we're not going to get a free ride through the special care nursery. That's okay because our expectations were probably becoming a bit to unrealistic.

Melissa's requested first meal at home: Macaroni and cheese (not the cafeteria stuff) with cheese-stuffed hot dogs and a big serving of milk in a glass, not cardboard, followed by vanilla ice cream with her Mom's hot fudge.

The Big Day Arrived!

Beatrice Anita and Elizabeth Hope were born at 6:27 pm on Friday, April 6th. The girls came out together in the same push. Beatrice is an incredibly healthy girl for her age. Elsa was suprisingly beautiful and intact. Mom is doing well after a speedy natural delivery.

Bea weighed in at 3 pounds 9 ounces and is 18.9 inches long. She did so well at birth they let Mom and Dad hold her in the O.R. before transfering to the Special Care Nursery (no NICU yah!). Today she is doing so well they quit monitoring her oxygen level and even tried to breastfeed. She does have jaundice and will need to be under the lights for a while. The current estimate is she can come home between 2 and 5 weeks. Across the board everyone is extremely surprised how well she is doing for someone of her age. And, she's awful cute with her full head of dark hair.

Elsa was down to 4 ounces (she was 13 ounces in January) and was probably 11 to 12 inches long. She looked just like she did in the ultrasound with her feet crossed and her hands together under one side of the head like she had just gone to sleep. She had a smile on her face and looked so peaceful. We were very fortunate that we could hold her, take pictures, and wrap her in a blanket. We were each able to spend some time alone with her and the grandparents were also able to spend some time with her. Matt walked her over to the Children's hospital where the cremation society will pick her up.

Melissa is doing spectacular. She's up and walking around for the first time in months. After a few false starts, when labor began everything went extremely fast. After having significant contractions for 3 hours the nurses told us to expect another 12 hours. However just one hour later a startled nurse who was examining Melissa pronounced she was ready to go. Nurses immediately starting throwing furniture around the room to get Melissa's bed out of the room. As they wheeled her down the hall they were shouting out they had not notified the O.R. of her arrival but the babies were coming out. Seventeen minutes after arriving in the O.R. Melissa gave birth. The doctor said she was an exceptionally good pusher. Unfortunately the placenta was not nearly as easy to deliver and took another 45 minutes to an hour (not to mention a lot of muscle from the doctor - more details at your request) to come out.

We'll provide more details of the busy day and future events and milestones in coming blogs. We are so thankful for all of the love and support we have received over the course of this pregnancy. We couldn't have done it without all of you. Now back to the breast pump for Mom and Dad (yes, Dad has jobs, too).

Love,

Melissa and Matt


P.S. Kelly K. and Craig B./Emma won the baby pool and will be sent pictures of Bea ASAP. We thought there was another person who picked April 6th, but our independent accounting firm has not been able to verify the official entry (that means we lost it - if it was you let us know).

Slow Progress

It appears that like everything for this pregnancy, this delivery is going to take a little extra time and effort. Progress is being made but it's slow. Things could kick in high-gear tonight or tomorrow, but nothing is going to happen right away. We're reluctantly bracing for a long night. The bed Melissa is in now if for labor and delivery and is much harder than the bed she was in on the antepartum floor. So her hips are extremely uncomfortable but like everything else Melissa is handling it like a trooper. She just received a massage and I was given a few techniques to give to Melissa to help her feel more comfortable.

One of the weird things for us is that all of the little "bad" indicators in the antepartum unit are now "good" indicators. We're suddenly encouraging contractions among so many other things now. We're actually rooting for bigger, longer and more intense contractions because that means we're that much closer to the finish line.

While we're very excited to great Bea in the outer world and start our life together, we made further preparations for handling the delivery of Elsa. We're coordinating her cremation and my personal feelings for Elsa were the strongest yesterday that they've been since Cincinnati. Melissa said it's somewhat similar to what we went through in Cincinnati where we preparing to celebrate a lot of happiness with a bright future with Bea while feeling sorrow for Elsa. I feel a little bitter about that because it would be really nice for Melissa and I to embrace 100% happiness and I feel bad for Bea that we're going to have a little bit of sorrow mixed in with her greetings when she arrives. I feel the need to respect Elsa and her great contribution and can't ignore her entirely either. It's an awkward little balancing act. Today there's overall more excitement and happiness for me. The anxiety is a little less, and I think it is for Melissa too. We're currently looking forward to more intense labor and our little daughter, however I suspect some not so happy moments surfacing for Melissa and I'm readying myself for whatever temporary emotions may emerge from her. Being a guy can be pretty cool sometimes. However the massage therapist was sharing with Melissa how her delivery was the most special day of her life and how she felt so many amazing emotions and feelings throughout labor, so there's a little (and I mean little right now) sense of regret I can't experience that and join that club.