Slowly Waking Up

Amelia Jane is doing well. We are so happy to have her home with us. She is still very sleepy but surfaces more and more often throughout the day. She is so cute. On Wednesday we got the go-ahead to stop waking her up every three hours through the night and let her feed as she wants. Of course she woke up every 2 1/2 hours! She is doing what all babies do - poopin', peein', and eatin'. She is pretty good at all three.

Claire is such a good big sister. Every so often she becomes interested in Amelia (Emme), but it doesn't last very long. Occasionally she says "I want to hold it." I had to make this picture black and white because the contrast of Claire's white skin and Emme's jaundice was overwhelming.

Here is Emme doing what she does best - sleep! This picture was taken today to celebrate her 2 week birthday. You're doing awesome Emme Jane!

Same sleep. Different dream.

It always comes back to Claire. She has been so funny these days. She is really into repeating things these days, which at times can be difficult. For instance, we can't mention dinner to early because she won't stop talking about it. Today grandpa Dahle laughed when she got to the l-m-n-o-p part of the alphabet because she mushes it all together. She said l-m-n-o-p for probably the next 20 minutes. Of course the worst is when she is with dad and she realizes that mom isn't around. Today at church was a disaster - Mom? mom? mom? mom? mom? She wanted nothing to do with nursery. She wanted nothing to do with church. The fruit snacks held her off for about 5 min. In the end, it was just too much. She broke down and we just came home. I don't think mom was so excited to see us so early. But, we sure do love Claire. I think she is adjusting to having to share her mom.

Despite her meltdown, she sure did look cute.

I don't know what she found, but it looked like a pretzel and she did try to eat it.

Boy do we love you!

So sweet. I think this picture is actually her trying to avoid the camera.

There were alot more smiles before she face-planted on the sidewalk. She really is a champ though. She shook it off and got right back on the railing.

Of course "C" is, and always will be, for cookie. And Claire loves her cookie. She savored every bite.

Home at last!

Boy are we happy to be home. We were getting geared up for discharge on Tuesday when they told us that they were not happy with her bilirubin level and her weight loss. She went from 6 lb 13 oz down to about 6 pounds. Those last two days in the hospital were rough. Amelia was so sleepy. She had to spend over 24 hours on the bilibed, which was not the most comfortable thing for our little girl. We were also supposed to feed her every 2 hours.... Are you kidding me. It would take over an hour to feed and then we would rest for 45 min and go for it again. Hillory has been a champ. Nice work mom! Finally on Thursday morning we got some good news that the bilirubin and the weight were turning around and we got to go home. We have wanted to get home so bad. We finally made it.

Last night was another rough night. Between feeding and supplementing and feeding and supplementing, the proverbial towel was almost tossed. But our doctor appointment was great. Her weight was up and her bilirubin was an acceptable level. We have had a great day at home.
Love you

Claire comes to visit her sister and gets distracted by a couple different things. Look at all the ways that Clarie figures out how to eat her ice cream while still keeping her eyes on the television.

Good focus Claire.

Number 3.

Finally the ice cream wins out and she makes every effort to get out every drop.

Here is our little glow worm on the bilibed.

The nurses said that bili-bed babies are paci-babies. Since they cannot be swaddled, they need something else to calm them down.

Finally the bili-bed was turned off and Amelia settled in for a nice nap with out the lights.

That last meal was real good - real good I say.

Amelia feels very comfortable about the thought of going home.

Every so often Amelia looks around. I know she must be thinking, "am I really still here?"

Mom has taken such good of our little girl.

She's tucked in and ready for the car.

Welcome home Amelia!!!! We love you.

Sisters

We were all so happy to see Claire yesterday. We have missed her so much during our time at the hospital. She came to visit yesterday morning and she was sure excited to meet Amelia. She kept asking for the baby. She was so sweet they did great together. We can already tell they will be good friendsIt was such a tender moment for us to have them meet.

Of course Claire was easily distracted by the many things going on. She of course wanted to return to her jumping spot. That also happened to be the same spot where the helicopter would fly by. She saw it once and couldn't stop asking for it again. I tried to explain that if the helicopter kept coming, that meant badness for someone. She didn't seem to understand. Plus, when the helicopter would land, she immediately wanted it to repeat the performance. "Do it again?"

Amelia Jane is doing pretty well, being on the early side of full-term, she has been very sleepy and has not been eating like the little piggy we would have hoped for. She has lost a little weight and her bilirubin is a little high. We are supposed to go home today, but we will have to wait to see what her next bilirubin level is. We really would like to go home.



How could you not want to go home when this little girl is waiting there? We miss you so much Claire. See you soon.

Could you ask for two sweeter girls? I'll answer that for you - No way. I have the two best in the world (three if you count Hill - she just isn't in the picture). Seriously what could bring more joy to a father?

Claire loved Amelia's hat and specifically her ribbon. She correctly pointed out her ears and her nose and her mouth and her cheeks. Nice job Claire.

I don't know how, but Amelia was able to bring the kitty cat piano along with her as a gift to Claire. Claire didn't seem to have any questions about the logistics, so we just kept silent.

What a beatutiful family. I count my blessings.

Nice job mom! You were amazing. What a beautiful Mother's Day gift.

Amelia's cousin Kinsley picked out the fabric and helped her mom make this beautiful blanket. What a sweet surprise. Amelia loves it and we love it. Thank you.

Sweet, sweet baby.

Sleep tight little one. We love you and promise to take good care of you.

Amelia Jane!

What a ride!!! First and foremost, mom and baby are doing great. At about 9:50 we were just settling in for what we thought would be a long night. Hill started to complain of some much stronger contractions and just like that she was fully dilated. She pushed for 15 min and out she came. Hill was a rock star, a champion. She did great. The stats:
Weight - 6 lbs. 13 oz.
Height - 19 inches
Hair - yes
Born at 10:18 pm on Mother's Day!!!!

Everything went great. The epidural was perfect. The OB's were awesome. What a perfect Mother's day. Now for the pictures.


I absolutely love this picture!

Just a nice snuggle with mama and a thanks for all of her hard work.

Dad is hard at work putting on the first diaper. This is what put him over the edge. He is exhausted.

"Amelia, give me your best Bitter Beer Face! Excellent."

You get in fight with someone? The delivery was so quick that she got a little bruised up.

Nice job mom! You did it. It was all worth it in the end.

Nice and Clean after her first bath.

Lookin' good little girl. We love you.

Happy Mother's Day

Before the full update, no Amelia Jane yet. We are all still hanging in there.

Since the last post, many things have happened. Of course yesterday we found the little Stinker to be breech and they had to turn the baby. They started the induction at 9 and we had a night of intermittent sleep as Hill's contractions were getting stronger. She was started on Pitocin and the waiting game began. She slowly began to dilate, but then she just kinda hung out at 3 cm for a while. Early this afternoon, they decided to repeat the ultrasound just to make sure that Amelia was still head down. Well, she wasn't - this time she was transverse. They stopped the Pitocin and repeated the version. They got her head down, engaged it in the cervix, and broke her water. Everything going well... The next check, at 5 cm dilation, there was little Amelia's hand on top of her head. She just wanted to wave and say hi. So now they have to keep checking and pushing it back in. On the last check, at about 8:50 pm, she was dilated to 6-7 cm. Slowly buy surely.

Can you believe this little girl? First the Cholestasis, then the induction. Amelia is going to get a good stern talking to as soon as she gets here. We love her so much. We will post to the blog and to facebook as soon as we can after she is born. And if it isn't too late, we will text as many people as we can. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We have received great care from our doctors and nurses. We trust that Heavenly Father will continue to watch over and protect us. Keep checking back!!! Now a few pictures.




This is what Hill has looked like pretty much the whole day. Given her lack of sleep for the last couple months, combined with the pain medication and a well placed epidural, Hill has pretty much been out cold for a while.

Of course we had to include a picture with our anesthesiologist, Karen. She did an awesome job.

Of course, the best part of the day so far has been Claire's visit to the hospital. She looked so cute in her Mother's day dress. She has been such a good little girl for Grandma. Thanks Grandma, you are a life-saver.

No pictures of Amelia yet, so here are some more of Claire.

Claire found a great window to look out of.

Hello Claire! The staff here had a great time playing with her.

Claire, stop stealing mom's food!

Claire obviously enjoyed the jello.

This next series of pictures is awesome. Claire was standing on the heater and I told her to jump. The following endsued...

Nice Crouch

Good form

Nice explosion

Great Air

Good balance

Sticks the landing.

Of course, she already jumps higher than her dad. We love you Claire. Thank you for making us smile. She repeated over and over, "I'm jumpin!"