My 2nd week, by Haven

Mom and dad said that now that I'm two weeks old, I'm big enough to write my own blog every week.

This week we are all just trying to get the hang of a new routine around our house. I'm just starting to sleep longer at night and I try to stay awake more during the day. I still have jaundice and haven't gained a whole lot of weight so mom has to wake me up at least every three hours to feed me. I have my next doctor's appointment on Thursday, so we will see what the doctor says then.

I think mama would say that the worst night we had was last Thursday night when I just wasn't sleepy at all and didn't let her sleep. I felt bad that she was so tired, though, so the next night I slept five hours straight!

On Sunday morning my grandma Stacy and Aunts Kalli and Jacee left to go back to Texas and my Nana and Papa (daddy's parents) came Sunday night. I really miss my Texas family, but am so happy to meet Nana and Papa. They think I'm pretty special and they already spoil me! :)

I think the other highlight of the week was the big party that my great aunt Bunny held for me on the 17th. It was called a baby shower, but I think it was more a party for the adults that were there. There was lots of food and drink and LOTS of people. Once again, I was spoiled, and got a lot of presents. Good thing I don't have to write the thank yous! Mama and Daddy are going to be busy for awhile! I got a lot of really nice things.

Mama is trying to decide when to go back to work and thinks it will probably be next week. We don't know if Nana and Papa are going to be going back to their farm then and if they are, I will go with her to work all day long. Otherwise, we will probably do half-days so that we can adjust to the new atmosphere and mama can get accustomed to working with me around. She is dreading going back, though, just because I know she really likes being home with me.

Well, I think that's all for now. I'll write again next Tuesday to keep everyone posted!

Haven's first week

We spent Haven's first four days of life at the hospital, which we did really enjoy, we might add. It was nice to have support there from nurses and doctors to help new and naive parents like us get accustomed to the ups and downs of parenting. The hospital has adopted a new way of care with the newborns now, and we had Haven in our room with us the entire time we were there so it really gave us the opportunity to experience the long nights before we went home, making the first night at home a little more handle-able.

We got home on Friday (8/10) afternoon and settled in, although getting a routine down still hasn't taken place. All of a sudden our house, once void of any sign of babies, became an explosion of Haven. Baby stuff was thrown everywhere due to our inexperience as parents. We were still in the stages of excitement over the whole thing and really didn't mind having to get up in the middle of the night.

Now, 1 week since Haven's birth, we are feeling some of the aches and pains of parenting. We are pretty sleep deprived, but that doesn't take away our excitement of having our little one around. She's extremely precious and adds a whole new aspect to our lives that we could never have known before. Neil had to go back to work today, to Sharli's dismay. It's so nice having him around since Haven really loves her daddy. She quiets down in his arms like it's the most natural thing in the world (which it is!).

Sharli's mom and step-sister arrived to help on the 12th and their help has been greatly appreciated, especially since Neil is back at work. Unfortunately, grandma Stacy got pink-eye today so we have to quarantine her to a spot in the house for at least 24-hours so Haven doesn't get it. It's pretty hard on her to be here for the one reason to spend time with her new grand-daughter and she can't even hold her.

Neil, Sharli, and Haven are planning on being back in North Dakota over Labor Day weekend to spend time with grandma and grandpa Kiner, grandma and grandpa Ziebarth, and aunts/uncle. We are little nervous for the travelling when Haven is so young, but have talked to other parents about traveling with a baby and feel a bit better about taking the trip.

We are expecting Grandma Kiner (now going by the title of "Nanna") next week. We feel so bad that Haven's birth fell over a very important time in harvest, so she hasn't been able to come right away. We know she really looks forward to holding her first grand-daughter so we are excited to have her here.

That's all for now. Hopefully we'll get a new update up in a week or so!

Welcome Baby Haven - Aug. 7, 2007

Sharli started having contractions on Monday (6th) evening. She thought that they were only Braxton-Hicks, but Neil kept telling her that he thought she was going into labor. He also reminded her that Tuesday was grandma Shirley's birthday.

Tuesday morning came with a few more contractions throughout the night. But, nothing painful or even noteworthy, so we thought. We had a doctor's appointment already scheduled for 11:00 am, and while we were there, Sharli had two contractions, spaced about 4-5 minutes apart. With the baby being Frank breach, we knew that natural birth was unlikely, and a c-section would be necessary. The doctor on call (our OB was, of course, on vacation) asked us if we wanted to have this baby in the afternoon. We were very shocked to say the least. The doctor said that we could go home, but more than likely would be back, checking in to the hospital, by midnight anyway. She actually said that the on-call OB would be much appreciative if we went in to surgery in the afternoon, rather than middle of the night.

After frantically running home and grabbing her dufflebag and doing a quick once around the house, we headed to the hospital. By 2:30 pm, Sharli was prepped and ready for surgery. The nurses and anesthesiologist had a difficult time of getting her IV in as well as the spinal. The IV took 5 pokes, while the spinal was 'only 4'. Neil had to wait outside the OR and watch through the glass while the doctor kept poking her spine. Sharli just about crushed the bones of the delivery doctor's hand while going through the spinal procedure.

The delivery doctor began Sharli's surgery at about 3:00, and by 3:11, our little Haven was shown the really bright outside world. The doc's first words were, "wow, this baby has been breach for a very long time." Her body was folded to where her legs were bent straight up with her little feet by her ears. No bend in the knees, just a very uncomfortable looking position, to say the least.

Upon cleaning her and doing a few tests, the nurses handed her to us for the next few days in the hospital. She entered the world at a whopping 6lbs 3oz. and a basketball player's height of 17".

Precious