The Finger, The Stone, and The Baby! September 27, 2008

I feel terrible that it has taken me so long to write.  Our little girl, Winifred Beth Deitrich, came into this world a week ago Friday, at 10:31pm.  She was a big girl, weighing 8 lbs, 13 oz, and 19 and 3/4 in long.  Overall the labor went smoothly, the worst of it lasting about five hours.  She is beautiful, sweet, doesn’t cry much (yet) and seems fairly easy going overall.  She’s eating well, gaining weight, and is fairly easy to soothe.  I’m not getting much sleep right now, but Toby is home for awhile and has completely taken over the running of the house, and Phare and Noah.  We have also had a lot of help from family and friends.  My mom has been a total Godsend, along with my friends Jonica and Leah.  I don’t know what we would do without them.  Thank you!

We’ve also had some other adventures this past week.  On Wednesday afternoon we got a call from school saying that Noah had probably dislocated his finger and would need to go to the ER.  Toby left with Phare to pick him up, and not five minutes after he left I began experiencing terrible abdominal pain that quickly became unbearable.  I couldn’t get up off the floor and started to panic about what I would do if Winifred woke up.  Having just given birth five days earlier I was concerned that something was going terribly wrong, but I also thought it could be kidney stones again, since I felt like vomiting and had chills.  I called Toby and told him to come pick me up and take me to the hospital too!

So, Toby dropped me off at the midwives section of the hospital and then took Phare, Winnie and Noah to the ER.  Eventually I was taken to the birthing pavilion where they set up a cath and did some blood work.  Meanwhile I was getting anxious about Winnie waking up and needing to eat so I called the ER and Toby delivered Winifred to me, Noah pushing the stroller all through the huge hospital with his broken finger and Toby carrying Phare.  They then returned to the ER and got back in line for Noah!  What a sight it all was!

We are all okay now but seriously could have done without all of that stress.  Noah was such a big help and didn’t complain much.  He is wearing a little cast now on his middle finger and has been told he can still play soccer.  As for me, I find it quite ironic that we found out about this pregnancy in the ER, when I had kidney stones back in January, and now it has ended with kidney stones!

Hopefully we won’t have too many more adventures for awhile, and will somehow have the strength to get through these next few sleepless months.  I feel hopeful, and so grateful for the help and love we have in our lives.  Thanks for checking in and I will try to be better about writing in the future!  Here’s my big guy, being very appropriate!

Happy Birthday to Wayne! September 15, 2008

My father-in-law Wayne celebrated his birthday on September 13th.  I won’t give away his age in case that  makes him uncomfortable!  To me he is younger than ever, still kickin’, in body and especially in spirit (oh, and in mouth too).  I adore my father-in-law:  he is like a second dad to me, gives great hugs, encourages me, and he makes me laugh.  We do have a bit of an antagonistic relationship but it’s all in good fun and he is learning quickly that he must be able to “take it” if he is so willing to “dish it.”  I do love him very much.  I also love how much he loves our kids, how he wants to teach them things and wants to be invested in their lives.  I’m even more grateful for his gift of Toby, an amazing man, father, and husband.  Surely he gets some credit for that!  I’m grateful for his generosity too–he is always willing to lend a helping hand and support us in any way he can.  Thank you, Wayne, for being such a special part of my life, and a blessing to all of us.

Phare and Papa Wayne (July 08)

Everything is MORE than fine! September 4, 2008

Our baby girl looks great.  In fact, I must admit some shock at hearing that her estimated weight right now is 8lbs 3 oz!!!!!  Holy cow!!!  It would be nice NOT to give birth to a 10 pounder.  Anyway, we are relieved and praising God that she seems healthy, strong, active, and is growing just fine.  One of the explanations for this measurement issue is that as you have more kids, your uterus stretches and the baby can take on all kinds of funny positions that make it difficult to measure her vertically.  I know they know this, but wanted to make sure.  She is very far down in my pelvis, another contributing factor to inaccurate measurements.  Thanks for praying with us, for us, and for thinking of us.

Trying Not to Worry September 4, 2008

Today we are going in for an unexpected ultrasound, after our appointment this morning indicated no change in the growth of my uterus. Last week there was already some sign that my measurements seemed a little small given how far along I am. My fundal height (distance from pubic bone to top of uterus) should measure 38 weeks today (38cm), and in fact it has not changed at all since last week. Usually it’s normal to be off by two cm in either direction but today I am off by 4. So, as a result, they want to do an ultrasound to verify that the baby is small, and that she has moved far down into my pelvis (which I can tell you has happened given the intense sharp pressure and piercing pain I have been feeling down there). I don’t think there is anything wrong, but there is a possibility she is not growing the way she should be, or that the fluid in the amniotic sac is low, indicating a problem. So, obviously the not knowing is unhelpful, but she does move a lot and has a healthy heartbeat, so things look very good in a lot of ways.

Of course I keep quoting that Bible verse to myself, “Who by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” It’s not really helping right now, although intellectually I know it’s true. If you think of praying for us today please do, especially for the grace to handle whatever it is God has in store for us with this new little baby. I will keep you posted.