Under the lights ....

sorry we are just now updating again, but for some reason we were unable to get online while in the room at the hospital. what a wonderful few days of celebrating we have had. after all those months of laying down, the reward in the end has once again made it all worthwhile! isabella is so beautiful, and we couldn't be happier.

and, we are happy to say we finally decided on the middle name .... isabella sara.

emma came to meet her new little sister on friday. she was very excited to meet her. the first things she said, "i want her to talk to me ... make her talk." and, then she wanted her to color with her! it was so cute. emma has been anxiously awaiting the arrival of her sister at home, and has been talking all about her. she's also taken a few things that the nurse gave her at the hospital and has been taking very good care of her babies.

i was discharged late last night, and we spent the night at the marriott across the street. isabella had to stay at the hospital as she was jaundiced with very high levels of bilirubin. it was so hard to leave her as we had so hoped to leave the hospital with our baby this time.

isabella has been on a phototherapy bed since late Friday night, and an overhead lamp was added last evening. we have been increasing feedings and keeping her under the lights to help bring the levels down.

we were so excited when we got the news this afternoon that she would be able to come home with us. the levels had come down some. so they sent us home with a phototherapy bed, which isabella will have to stay on unless she is feeding. a nurse will come to the house each day to draw blood to continue to monitor the levels. we will keep you all up to date.

It's a...

girl! We have another beautiful daughter!

Our little miracle was born 7:55 pm, weighs 7 lbs and 4 ounces, and is 20 inches long. Amy, who was incredible, is doing well, as is our tiny wonder. They finally gave Amy an epidural and laid her down around 7 pm or a little after tonight and then everything moved fast. Our super cute baby had trouble breating at first, but is now fine and resting with mommy. She's already starting to eat.

Cool. Unbelievable. Exciting.

One more thing: Her name is Isabella. Still working on middle name.
Thank you for your support and care.

Astounded

We’re having a baby…no really, we’re having a baby! (me talking to myself)

well…while I have anticipated with some anxiousness the arrival of li’l G, I am still astounded and captivated by the fact that it’s happening today…right now. we’re at the hospital…look there is Amy (contracting now every 2 minutes)

…her phenomenal Doctor Sue Glander just came in to brake the water (…should help the flow). I am astounded by Amy’s courage and strength, a supernatural gift for sure. Now, she’s cranking the pitocin and making huge sinus curves on the monitor.

Pretty soon, we will be welcoming our little son or daughter for the first time ever. They say first impressions are huge, well, this one is.

Author guaranteed to be a mess for days.

BIRTH DAY ...

a day, a week, a year of celebrating ... it's been one week since the stitch came out, and little g has not made an appearance yet. i am 38 weeks now ... 5 weeks longer than my pregnancy with emma! we are still anxiously waiting. but, i've also been trying to enjoy some time out now that i'm allowed to get out of bed. of course, my body is weak and sore, so i find myself still spending half the day resting on the couch! and, it's so hard to sit up. but, i am glad to have this time to get my muscles moving a little before little g comes, and i've been trying to do some things with emma as well, which i've really enjoyed.

i got to go to emma's music recital at school yesterday. i was so happy to be able to go see the recital and be there for emma before her little brother or sister arrives. i even "talked to" little g the night before and asked for this one favor for his/her big sister. the recital was wonderful. i loved watching emma and all of her friends at school perform for us. emma didnt' sing a lot ... i think she was in awe of all the parents being there. she looked like she was having lots of fun though. there were so many smiles ... and, i choked back a a few tears too (ok, i'm hormonal :) )

today, tom took me for a manicure and pedicure ... and we both had one done. wish i would've had a camera. being the quality time person that i am, this was a great present. tom and i got to relax and hang out. and, it felt wonderful to be pampered like that after laying down for four months!! we got sushi from my favorite sushi place and enjoyed some soy ice cream with emma and nana. what a fun day!

well, the plan as it looks now is that i will call the hospital tomorrow to see when they can bring us in so that i can be induced. when we saw my ob on monday i was close to 3 cm. little g has been measuring ahead, so she wanted to schedule me to be induced. so, keep your eyes on the blog ... we'll be posting updates tomorrow as we all await the arrival of little g ... a very special belated birthday gift for mommy!

Bed Rest Ends!!!

wow, i can hardly believe that we have made it this far ... without any hospital time (other than those 3 hours one day for contractions), no medicine!! 112 days of bed rest! and, we've made it to 37 weeks, which anything from 37-42 weeks is considered full-term!! so amazing and wonderful. we are celebrating.

today was a big day ... my stitches were removed. my drs had been back and forth for some time on when the stitches should come out, should they come out and induce the same day, not induce, epidural/no epidural. we weren't sure if they would ever get on the same page. so, finally on monday they scheduled the stitches to be removed today. so, today we went to the hospital to see my perinatal dr who was taking out the stitches. he had planned on using an epidural, but the nurse had scheduled me without one. i was already there and the dr said we'd at least give it a try with no pain meds.

i'm not sure if tom's hand will be usable for a few days ... lots of clenching of tom's hands, a few nails digging in, and some awesome relaxing music in my ears. i just kept telling myself that there was an end in sight. two of the nurses were also in the room and were very sweet and helpful during the whole thing. a couple times i did grab the one nurse's hand ... i think i only squeezed and clawed tom's hand ... i hope!

the dr showed us the stitches. we had no idea how large and thick these stitches were, but we now understand why they were saying that the baby was not going to suddenly pop out! the drs that we have been with throughout this process have been so wonderfully encouraging and amazing. we could not be more pleased with all they have done for us.

after i rested for awhile and finally got my legs to stop shaking, we headed out for lunch. how wonderful ... my first lunch outing in at least four months!!!! it was great. of course, being that i haven't been this active in several months, i'm in my ninth month of pregnancy, and i just endured some incredible pain, i was pretty sore and worn out. but, it was still wonderful to be out in the real world today!

it is such a huge responsibility to carry another human being inside of you. to know that every thing i do affects this person directly. i just think back to that 6-week appointment and that heartbeat we saw. how cool that i have two hearts beating inside of me. how totally beautiful to think about that little one forming and growing each day. what a gift this is!

at this point ... we wait. labor could happen any day now. we are celebrating this gift we are about to be given and are so excited to meet Little G soon. what a miracle the creation of life is, and how much we have enjoyed watching my belly grow knowing that another little person is forming inside. so, we are excited to celebrate Little G's birthday sometime in the very near future. keep your eyes tuned to our blog as we'll update here.

The Heart of a Child

i just love the little gifts we get as parents ... and i don't mean the ones wrapped in shiny paper with big bows (of course, those are nice too). the gifts i'm referring to are those that special gifts we receive from our children's hearts, mouths, eyes. at the age of three, emma says the sweetest things that bring (happy) tears to my eyes and melt my heart.

last week, they were talking alot about Easter at her preschool. she came home one day and said to me, "the stone was a tomb." now, i don't know what kind of church experience you had growing up, but i know mine was a lot different from what emma experiences at our church (www.northpoint.org) now. i do remember reading about noah and his ark, and we sang a song about a man in a tree, but i don't remember talking about the things that Emma talks about ... at least not when i was three.

on Easter sunday, emma went to church with tom and nana. they walked through the auditorium and emma noticed the crosses on the stage. she looked up at tom and said "Jesus was on the cross, but he isn't now."

and yesterday, she drew this picture and told my mom, "this is the cross and this is Jesus on the cross."

ok, maybe i'm just naive or biased ... maybe all or lots of three-year-olds talk like this. either way, i still believe that we are given these little moments as gifts ... the simplicity of child-like faith.

our very cold Easter weekend also included a little visit from the Easter bunny (or Easter Bun Bun as emma calls him) and an egg hunt at our community club house.

36 weeks!!! from Little G

it's my turn to share today. i have been enjoying swimming and jumping in mommy's tummy for so many months now! i even started dancing at 5:30 this morning to remind mommy that we are celebrating today because i've been hanging out here for 36 weeks! (ok, according to my math 36 weeks doesn't seem right, but that's what the drs and mommy have for their count, so i'll go with that)

speaking of dancing and jumping ... my space is getting a little cramped in here. early on, i had been getting some decorating ideas when mommy and pappa watched that home makeover show ... although, it was often hard to hear things over mommy crying. i don't know why she would cry ... always sounded like lots of fun to me with people yelling and cheering. :) but, it is still pretty cozy in here. i'm not sure what mommy thinks about it though. i've heard her say she can't breathe or there's no room to eat. and i've noticed when i stretch way out and bump up against her ribs that she pushes on me. i guess she's just giving me love taps.

i've heard mommy talk a lot about heartburn. i'm not sure what that is.

i enjoy my morning kickboxing routines, and my evening gymnastic workouts. i figure i have to get into shape so i can keep up with the other person i hear out there a lot...who pappa and mommy say is my big sister. she sounds like lots of fun ... and very busy.

i'm excited to meet my mommy and pappa and big sister soon... Am I a boy or girl??? ... i won't tell!! what do you think?? can't wait to meet you all!

Feeling better? ... from Emma

So, i thought i'd give you a little update from me ... i'm three now and such a big girl now. i've been going potty like a big girl now for the past month and a half. not sure what all the fuss was about ... i just had my own schedule and everyone was trying to mess with that!

i'm so tired of mommy laying down. i wish she could get up and play. i try to keep her company by reading my books to her. she seems to like that. and, i like to put lotion on her sometimes too. i make faces on mommy's belly and that makes her laugh ... makes me laugh too.

i keep asking mommy everytime she goes to the dr ... and she goes a lot ... if they made her better yet so she can walk around and play with me. but, she keeps saying that she still has to lay down. good thing i went to the dr recently so i 've learned a few things and can check mommy myself. i use the skeloscope (aka ... stethoscope) to hear her breathe. i check her belly so i can hear the heartbeat. and, i give her medicine. she seems to like when i check her, so i must be doing better than the other drs.

oh, i also like to make crafts for mommy. sometimes i paint with pappa or nana, or i draw neat things for her. i like to draw sunshines and people. i like to draw mommy sometimes. i also like to trace my hands or put paint on my hands and stamp them on the paper.

i'm excited about being a big sister. sometimes i tell mommy it will be a little sister and the next time i tell her a baby brother. i like to keep them guessing ... since i know what mommy is having. i looked when we saw the baby on the tv (aka the ultrasound) and nurse cindy said close your eyes. i don't know what the big deal was, but i'll keep it a secret. it was fun when we saw the baby on the tv ... i got to hear the heartbeat and it was red and blue on the screen. the nurse said that was the blood going through the "umblikal" cord. when the dr came in, i asked him to do it again and he did. i figured if i smiled big enough and was real sweet he would do it ... and, he did.

well, i have some playing to do. i'll catch you up more soon.

Trial run ...

Is Little G coming? ....

Most of Saturday afternoon, I was having contractions. After about three hours of going over what my threshold for contractions is, i talked to the dr on call. i was so pleased when it was my OB on call that day. she told me to come straight to the hospital and plan to possibly spend the night. so, i grabbed my bag that we had just packed a few days before for the big day, threw a few extra things in, and off to the hospital we went. when we arrived and started checking in, my OB happened to come out to the waiting area and told the admissions people to get me into the new wing since i had "spent plenty of time in the dungeon last pregnancy!" so, they put us in a nice, big room in the new wing.

the nurse came in and had me get into a gown. she hooked me up to the monitor and started to get an iv to get fluid in me. ok, i don't like needles in general, so it was not fun when the first IV didn't go in. ouch!! the second was pretty painful too, but not quite so bad. my dr came in and checked me. i was not dilated, which is great. so, they monitored me for a few hours.

i guess the dr or the hospital must have scared the contractions away, because after about three hours i only had two small contractions. so, we were sent home. i was so glad to be able to go home, that the contractions stopped, and that Little G is still inside "cooking". Guess we got a little practice run to the hospital.