Little Twins Fan, One Week Old

Laura is excited for the Twins Opener today! (Her jersey doesn't quite fit yet)

She would like to wish good luck to:

Michael Cuddyer, mom's Twins boyfriend

Nick Blackburn, Erin's Twins boyfriend

Justin Morneau, Great Auntie Sue's Twins boyfriend

and everyone else on the Twins roster (Grandma Barb's Twins boyfriends)

We'll add to this post later with some week-old stats...she has her first doctor appointment early this evening!

Update: The Twins didn't do so well in Game 1 of 2009. "Is it too early to jump off the bandwagon?" Laura saw (actually her eyes were closed from the 4th inning on) the Twins lose to Seattle 6-1 in the last opening day at the HHH Metrodome from the comfy confines of our chair.

On another note: North Carolina walloped Michigan St. to win the NCAA basketball. Dad flipped over to see the score at halftime and decided the Big Ten team had no chance for a comeback.

She's So Cute, I Can Hardly Stand It

I know all parents think their baby is the cutest baby; I am no exception. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the last few days!

AAAHHH! How do people with babies get anything done with so much cuteness in the house?! Laura and Dad are napping right now (no surprise; see previous post) and I should be too, but instead I have to be the crazy mom showing off pictures of her baby.

The Snugglers

I am beginning to notice a theme in many of the pictures of Laura and Father B. They both LOVE to snuggle and they LOVE to sleep! This works great because now they can snuggle and take naps together. Here are some of my favorite "snuggling" pictures:

This is right after we arrived home from the hospital. Laura isn't even out of her car seat yet!

This was last night. I think he was trying to burp her but then they both fell asleep.

Father B claims that "it's really comfortable to nap with a pillow on your stomach." Here he was testing to see if Laura likes this too.

Awww...they're cute.

Laura, Dad, and Mom at Home

Well. Here we are, starting our new life as a family! We brought Laura home around noon on Thursday. Overall, she's a pretty calm girl and so whether sleeping or awake, things are mellow around here. She has been very good! Thursday night was a little rough for the first night - she would eat every couple of hours but had no interest in sleeping in between. Dad and Mom had about 2 hours of sleep that night.

Jaundice Update
Friday brought some good news at first. We brought her back to the hospital for a visit to the lab. The doctor wanted to check her bilirubin levels to see if her risk for jaundice had continued to decrease. A phone call later confirmed that she was doing great and we would not have to bring her back in for another check on Saturday. When we returned home, we had a home visit from a nurse who came to check Laura and myself. She had gained back a couple of ounces and the nurse thought she was in very good shape. Laura has become a much better eater now so feeding is going well for all parties involved!

Emergency Room
Now, the other story from Friday!! Dad made a little DQ run for some ice cream right before the nurse came for her visit. His back has been troubling him as a result of some nights sleeping on the hospital cot. When bending over to put our treats on the coffee table, Dad kept right on going and collapsed face-first to the floor with a back spasm. I had to help him as best as I could to get him on the couch. The nurse kept commenting that he didn't look good and I agreed. Amazingly, Dad consented to having someone look at his back and decided he would drive himself (?!?!) to the emergency room to get this checked out (remember I cannot drive due to the C-section).

An hour or two later, I got a very loopy Father B on the phone, courtesy of a Valium and 2 Vicodins. Thankfully, our friend Jeremy consented to go pick up this mess at the hospital and deliver him home to us. Upon arrival, Dad was insistent upon A) me preparing him some chicken nuggets and mac & cheese and B) holding Laura. The answers were A) ok and B) NO. I was very nervous and thankfully Grandma Barb and Grandpa Glenn came over to help out and get Dad's prescriptions filled. Grandma elevated herself to SuperGrandma status for the evening by staying the night and assisting with Laura, trying to make sure we had as much sleep as possible. Thanks Grandma Barb, we are so grateful!!! Dad is doing better today with the assistance of painkillers but is taking it very easy on his overextended back. We have so many other things to tell and are constantly amazed by the fact that we are parents to this excruciatingly cute little girl, so stay tuned...

On A Side Note
A big, happy congratulations to Uncle Scott and Auntie Lynn on their special announcement...a baby boy is coming later this Summer!

Day 3 in the hospital

I went to work today for a few hours to finish a couple of deadlines. I decided to take my laptop back to the hospital so Mom can check email and I can do some work. This is probably not a very wise decision. After a little over 10 hours of sleep since Sunday at 9am, I should be taking every advantage of these precious down times and sleep. Unfortunately, I have decided to do work and write a blog. Running on caffeine or just insane?

Incubator Cancun
Laura's doctor informed us that her blood type is O-positive (just like Daddy). Unfortunately, Mom is O-negative (could this be a direct correlation to why Uncle Michael calls Mom "Captain Bring Down?" Because she is negative?) Anyhoo, a test result showed that there was a little bit of Mom's blood that mixed with Laura's. This could lead (and possible did) to jaundice. Laura is showing a tad bit of yellow but I can't really tell. After a short consultation with the doctor and nurse, Mom and I decided to put Laura in an incubator last night at 8pm and she will be in there until 8am, Thursday morning. Mom and I decided this option outweighed the alternative of waiting for jaundice to really develop and then we are solely responsible for incubating her at home.

When we dropped her off at the nursery for the first time on Tuesday evening, Grandpa M cleverly called her incubator "Cancun" because she has to wear goggles under the warm bright lights. (I will post a picture when we get home.) She is all toasty while I look out the window to a cold, gloomy day and see scattered snow lightly spread across the tall, brown grass from the early morning flurries. This is tough on Mom and I because we only see our baby every couple of hours for feeding time and that lasts a short-lived 45mins.

Tearjerker
Last night I walked out of our room to bring Laura to "Cancun" in the nursery. As I walked down the hall, I could see a dad about my age (30) and his daughter (5-7 years old) walking away from me toward the elevator. For whatever the reason, the dad and daughter heard us walking down the hall and turned around and walked back toward us. The dad, in a sadden, whispering voice asked if they could see our baby. The couple looked at Laura and commented how cute she was. The dad looked up 30 seconds later and with glassy eyes, told me they were here to "see someone go". He told his daughter, "we have experienced the circle of life tonight." The daughter replied, "Thank you dad, I am very happy we did this." AHHHH...How emotional is that?!?

I felt like I was in a movie shown on the Lifetime channel. This is purely speculation, hearsay!?! Let's just say I am too manly (tounge-in-cheek) to ever land on that type of network. I call We and Lifetime "fly over channels" because the "up" and "down" button doesn't stop until it is way past those type of channels.

More to come. I will cover the prelabor and labor portions when we go home. I will cover our experiences at the hospital some day soon as well. Thank you for the wonderful messages. They have helped us pass the time by.

Introducing Laura Lynn B.

Well, Baby B arrived today (3/30/09) and surprised Mom and I. The entire pregnancy we thought Baby B was a boy, but in fact Baby B is a beautiful girl! Laura Lynn arrived safe and sound at 3:36pm. She weighed 7lbs 13oz with a length of 20inches. I will post more in the next few days about the prelabor and active labor.

I really have to stress that Mom was a true champion. She did her best to have a vaginal birth and pushed for over 2 hours, but Laura was stubborn and wished to stay inside (sounds like she is taking after her father.) After 2+ hours in active labor, the surgeon came in and suggested we go the C-section route...without hesitation, we did!

Mom, Laura and I will be released from the hospital on Thursday. We encourage people to stop by and see Mom and Laura. If you decide to, please call before heading out.

Mom and Laura

Auntie Lynn and Uncle Scott

Great Aunt Sue


Uncle Michael - Well done!

The Family

Mom and Laura Again

Father B and Baby B!

Still No Baby Yet

Well. We're still waiting! I was actually pretty glad that the baby didn't come on Wednesday-Friday, because I was in a lot of pain. Things are on the mend now...my ribs are a little sore but I am able to be active and get stuff done, which is good. Father B did a great job of caretaking and worked from home a little extra so he could be here to help me, and my mom came over on Friday to help me run a Target errand and clean up a little.

I was convinced I was going to go into labor last night; things just felt different and my belly was all tight. Plus I had the crazy nesting thing going on (I washed dishes, did laundry, made cupcakes, cleaned out a messy basement room, etc.) - but it turned out to be pretty uneventful.

Today is Grandpa B's and Uncle Matt's birthday! We will see if they have to share this birthday with the baby, or if they get to keep it to themselves... Tomorrow, it is back to school. Hmmm. Not sure how I feel about this. My sub is ready to go, I'm ready to be done, and I tied up all my loose ends before break started. So, we're just waiting around at this point to see if anything happens today or not! We'll keep you posted.

Step Right Up for the Magical Nursery Tour!

Mom gives a tour of the baby nursery.

*Sorry, forgot to post this on Monday!

OUCH!

I have been dealing with the lingering effects of a cold from the beginning of March, including some occasional coughing. On Monday I talked to my doctor about some pain on my left side near my ribs, which she decided was probably due to pulling a muscle from coughing. Yesterday, I was coughing again and felt a pop right in the same area of my ribs, and immediately after that I was in a lot of pain! Last night I sat in a chair all night long with ice on my back...Father B was calling me "Queen Bee" because mostly all I did was sit there and ask him to bring me stuff.

Today I called the doctor's office to see how I could deal with this or if I needed to come in. My doctor is assuming that I have cracked a rib, but they won't x-ray to see if this is actually the case. So, my treatment is rest, ice, Tylenol, and in an hour I am heading in to the doctor's office to get wrapped up in an Ace bandage as well. I'm a little nervous about going into labor now since I'm already in a lot of pain on my side and back, but the nurse assured me that if I have an epidural (which is the plan anyway) it will help block this pain.

Again, it's good that I'm home on break anyway right now, so I'll just be resting and taking it easy! Father B is taking good care of me.

March = Babies!

Another congratulations is due to my cousin, Steph, her husband, Mike, and their daughter Anna! Meet the newest member of their family -

Monday, March 23
Mason James was born at 8:59 pm. He weighed 7 lbs., 4 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. We're glad he is doing well!