Izzy Update

Izzy had her first chardiologist appointment today. The office was
like heaven to Alice as it was the first office she'd ever been to
that was totally for kids. This means bright colors, LOTS of toys,
and tiny little uncomfortable waiting room chairs that were just her
size. Needless to say we didn't have to do any Alice wrangling while
we were there.

The appointment went well. The nurse did a lot of poking and prodding
at Izzy and everything still looks normal, which means the hole isn't
giving her any issues yet. Her doc came in (which by the way, I
totally love this guy so far) and listened to her heart. Her murmur
is still there and louder than he remembered. Believe it or not
that's actually a good thing because it could mean the hole is getting
smaller (thus the pressure is different. If it were getting bigger
the pressure would be equal). We'll know for sure in two weeks when
we go back.

I'm glad the first appointment is over. In my mind I was thinking it
would be harder than it actually was. I'll keep you posted (and
update with pics) as I'm finally feeling LOADS better!

Update and pictures

Sorry we didn't update earlier, but we've been busy.

First, an update on the girls, then the pictures.

Becky is doing OK all things considered. For those who don't know - she had an emergency c-section and lost a lot of blood. On Monday her blood levels were on the borderline for needing a transfusion - the doctor gave us a choice between doing that or going home and resting/taking lots of iron. We decided for the go home route. Becky is very weak, and having some extra aches and pains that are due to the extra fluids they pumped into her. They said that taking iron, drinking lots of water and walking a lot should fix things, so hopefully it goes away soon.

Alice is doing good as the big sister. She is a little frazzled after being shuffled around to various family members for a few days, but things are getting back to normal. Now that we are home it seems like she is getting a little jealous of all the extra attention Izzy gets (feeding, holding, etc.) and is wanting to "be a baby" more often. Becky and I are doing our best to make sure she gets all the attention she needs and that she knows we love her.

Isabel is doing very well. She does have a heart problem called VSD (ventricular septal defect). Basically, it is an 8mm hole between the 2 lower chambers of the heart. We are seeing a pediatric cardiologist about the problem, and basically we are in "wait and see" mode. The hope is that the hole will close itself naturally and nothing further will need to be done. If things don't progress (or if she starts developing symptoms) there are medicines that may help. If it doesn't close on its own, and the medicine doesn't help, she may need to have surgery. Just pray that it closes on its own for us.

And now on to the pictures.

Becky will probably kill me for posting this, but it is the only picture we have of her in labor.

Eww...mucus....but she is so cute!

The nurses are making sure everything is OK.

Her feet are so tiny and cute!

Sleeping in the nursery at the hospital.

Alice's first time seeing Izzy.

You can tell she loves her little sister...

...with kisses...

...at least that made one of them happy.

Hanging out with Uncle Chuck

and Grandpa Charlie

And Grandma Cindy.

Aunt Maggie also made a surprise visit.

Alice is all about helping mommy recover.

No mommy, I don't want to be unwrapped!

Gnome kiss!

Sleeping in mommy's arms.

This is a cute picture of Izzy, but it also is good for demonstrating how swelled Becky's hands are from the fluids being pumped into her. She also has Fred Flintstone size feet.

Grandma and Grandpa Bathje came to visit on Tuesday.

Alice playing with Grandpa.

Grandma and Grandpa Bathje brought M&Ms. Yum!

That is all for now, more to come as cute things happen.

Good bye creepy alien

I have removed the creepy floating alien baby from the side bar.

You are welcome.

Hope to have some more pics up tomorrow or Monday. The ones of Alice holding Izzy are extra cute.

Here She Is!

Isabel Rose
4/17/09
4:23am
7lbs. 12oz.
20.5in.

Born via emergency c-section - mommy and baby are doing well.

Thought You'd Like to Know

My water broke at 4:45pm! No real contractions though so they just
started me on pitocin to get things moving. I have to stay in bed
because she's not in my pelvis and since my water already broke there
would be a greater risk of cord prolapse (pinching of the cord between
head and pelvis) until she drops. I'm not happy about that, but there
isn't anything I can do about it.

So since my water broke she has until 4:45pm tomorrow to make her
appearance or they'll have to take her or risk infection.

So not long now and we'll be a family of 4!! I'm so excited!

Alice and Daddy Have a Conversation About Dessert

Alice: But why do I have to eat eggies?!

Daddy: Because the cookies said so.

Alice: Wahhhhh.
*pause*
Daddy, cookies don't talk!

This kid is wise beyond her years!

Ten on Tuesday

So...we accidentally missed a few Tuesday's, and everybody is clamoring for an update so I'm going to do one for you.

1. Here are some Christmas pictures, since we haven't done a real update about that.
   
   Santa got Uncle Ryan a sweet new toy. The girls weren't allowed near this obviously.
   
   
   The leopard girls.
   
   
   
   Alice and Kaylee got matching strollers and dolls for Christmas and had a blast running around Grandma and Grandpa's house with them. Unfortunately this is the best picture we got of that.
   
   
   Alice and JJ. Not sure why Alice is attempting to pick her nose through her upper lip, I taught her the proper way...
   
   
   Alice tracing her hand on the day after Christmas.
   
   
2. We had several visits from Auntie Tori, and Grandma Cindy/Grandpa Charlie/Maggie made a visit as well. The chicken and dumplings were (was?) awesome, it just took about 3 hours longer to cook than we thought it would.
   
   
   Alice and Tori playing with the easel Alice got from the Arizona Rice's for Christmas. She loves this thing, thanks guys!
   
   
3. Alice LOVES to read. We read her books every day, and she reads them back to us as well. When she is reading, they usually go something like "once upon a time, there was a girl named Alice and she was a princess - she had a mommy and a daddy, THE END". I've read War and Peace 3 times, and that was definitely the best version.I think Becky was just testing the camera or something - but this is a darn cute picture.
   

   
   
4. Becky and the baby are doing OK - Becky is mostly just tired of being pregnant and can't wait for it to be over. As of her last doctor visit the baby was breech, but they said that is nothing to worry about...yet. We think she (the baby, not Becky) flipped sometime recently, but neither of us are doctors.
   
   We just got back from our successful "Steal the Watermelon" caper. Strong Bad would be proud.
   
   
   
5. Alice is getting very excited, and talks to the baby in mommy's belly a lot. She also comes up with elaborate little stories about how she is going to help us with the baby, or play with the baby. Some of it is in the video below, but she wasn't really into it when I recorded this.
   
   


6. Unfortunately, both Alice and Becky have been perpetually sick for...a long time... Alice has a hacking cough that won't go away, and Becky keeps getting cold/flu like symptoms on and off. We've all been to the doctor (I had it for a few days myself) but it looks like this is a (non-flu) virus so they can only treat the symptoms. No pictures for this, that would be gross.
   


7. Thanks to the unseasonably warm weather recently, Becky and Alice have been outside to play a few times. One day they even got to go out for a picnic, and Alice loved that.
   
   At the park
   
   
   Playing hopscotch - only missed it by 3 feet
   
   
   Eating at the picnic in the backyard
   
   
8. The picnic made me sad - because when I got home from work that day, this is what Alice said to me "we had picnic and ate apples and peanut butter sandwiches and you were at work and I miss you!" (I'm paraphrasing of course.)
   
   
9. Alice has grown up a little since our last blog post - she is talking in fuller sentences, and can mostly hold a conversation. This also means a change in her TV viewing habits. She isn't on the Caillou and Sesame Street so much anymore, but she LOVES Dora.
   
   Too bad she's already outgrown this shirt
   
   
10. For whoever was frightened by my poor attempt at a beard - that scraggly, wispy, ugly thing is gone. The result of my experience is this - it is not possible for me to grow a ZZ Top beard in 3 months. Even 3 years seems dicey.
    
    Seriously? This is nearly 3 months of growth?

That is 10 things, so hopefully this is good enough for you all. Becky says she will be doing a post soon, but if not I'll try to be better at keeping them going. Here is one last picture of Alice to get that ugly visage of me out of your brains.

Oooohhh, a movie star!