Tessa Mary

I first got acquainted with beautiful Tessa Mary in June of 2004, two months before her anticipated arrival. At that time her family was moving from Slidell, Louisiana near New Orleans to Ft. Leavenworth, KS. It was a move that her Daddy, Major Dan was effecting himself with just a little help from Mr. Right and I. Once their giant U-Haul was packed, our caravan began the 900 mile trek to their new home. My job was to drive Tessa, safely ensconced in her mommy's womb. (Mr. Right's job was to drive the cats - I won that round - lol)

Throughout the drive, no baby's movements were as closely monitored as hers; and, Teresa and I cheered over and over again as her little movements corresponded to the cues of her mother. When taking a break from driving and walking around failed to generate the kicks and movements we were looking for, there was always the carbonated beverage that worked every time. We were so proud of her!

Fast forward two and a half months and Mr. Right and I were back at Ft. Leavenworth for Tessa's much anticipated birth.

Her labor was seamless - at least from my point of view. Teresa's past experiences had epidurals slowing labor significantly so she was absolutely determined not to have one until she was CERTAIN that delivery was close enough not to be slowed by any epidural. She labored beautifully and her focal point? Dan's eyes. She seemed to have to sink deep into them with every contraction and the intensity of her stare corresponded to the strength of the contractions. By the time she had the epidural, it was pretty much over. A few minutes later this beautiful, perfect little creature was in her daddy's and her mommy's arms and the hearts of everybody who knew her forever.

Teresa always looks like a movie star after giving birth and she didn't disappoint this time either.

And Tessa was the baby doll for both her big brothers and her parents. It didn't take her any time at all to have everybody wrapped around her tiny fingers. Everything requiring assistance had a ready and willing assistant nearby.

For climbing stairs, there was Grant:

For playing, Evan:

See? She knows! And she's very pleased with herself.

For swimming, she turned to Daddy:

And once again:

When we came to visit, there was no warm-up required. She was ours from the moment of our arrival. One time we visited and as soon as we got there, she put her little arms up to me and I carried her around as we saw the changes they'd made in their Colorado Springs house. Finally, Teresa said, "oh, you don't have to carry her around". And I remember thinking, "are you kidding. I can't believe she's letting me!" That's the power of this sweet little angel!

Here she happily poses with us on the steps when we ask her:

And she just never seems to get tired of giving us the attention we require!

I've heard stories that when she gets in trouble from her mom, the three men in her life (Dan, Grant & Evan) have to leave the room because they just can't bear it. I think it's true too because who can resist this look?

which only appears when things start to go awry in her little world.

She's sweet:

Loving:

Generous:

Adorable:

And brave! We were there once when she had a terrible cold with a nonstop runny nose. She soldiered through and the only time she gave it any mind was when she'd announce in a sad little voice, "nosey running". And she'd run for a tissue.

Finally, here are a few miscellaneous pictures that I just couldn't put back after I'd imported them!

So happy 4th birthday, to a captivating beautiful little girl. We love you!

Amazing Dane's Arrival

I went to Garden City, Michigan last Wednesday where Amber, my oldest granddaughter who, with her mother, lived with us for many years, was about to give birth to her second son.

She was admitted to the hospital at 8 p.m. for an overnight induction. This seemed like a good idea to me because I pictured a few hours of labor and then an epidural which would afford some good sleep to mom, dad, grandma & great grandma while she painlessly labored to the magic centimeter number that would signal an imminent birth.

Since then, I'm re-thinking overnight inductions because they can, and did for us, mean no sleep all night. This is particularly difficult for mom who will spend the following day going on total sleep deprivation with no opportunity for anything more than a ten minute catnap - if she's lucky enough to grab that. That, coupled with the exhaustion of labor and delivery, makes for a very difficult start in a brand new life experience.

She was slightly dilated when we arrived and 50% effaced. Hours later, despite a couple of different techniques designed to speed along the dilation, she was just short of 3 cm. The overall protocol seemed to be to check her as seldom as possible and, I thought, report as conservatively as possible. Just the fact that they started the epidural when she was supposedly less than 3 cm made me suspicious. In the morning when her attending nurse finally decided to check her again, she reported 4 cm. I found this hard to believe given the fact that the epidural, if it was working at all, wasn't working well and that contractions that were mountainous and prolonged on the graph, were coming at about 2 minute intervals. And even if we politely suggested that they might check her again, her nurse demurred saying I just checked her. She said this 20 minutes after she checked, 45 minutes later, and over an hour later. "I just checked her." Then an anesthesiologist came in and noted that the epidural wasn't working well at all and decided she should have a boost in pain medication but first she HAD to be checked. About two hours after her nurse announced that she was 4 cm, this doctor caused this reaction:

Finally! Then, this angel of mercy, suggested that Amber stay upright for a little while to facilitate the movement of the baby from station 0 to +2. This took maybe 10 to 15 minutes. Little Dane was on his way.

The only annoying thing about this birth involved the hospital staff. I know I sound negative and I am probably a little hyper critical where my nearest and dearest are concerned, but through all the commotion of getting everything ready for the birth, there was a loud, overriding narration going on delivered by the substitute Obstetrician overseeing the birth. He was loudly explaining to a trainee all the procedures involved in birthing the baby as it came through the birth canal. Every detail was announced to everyone in the room as he self-importantly shared his vast knowledge and wisdom. Nobody was talking to Amber. Nobody was coaching her on pushing. And nobody was re-assuring her that everything was going as it should. In fact, the impression was that there was a huge complication, and the doctor was preparing for every eventuality once the expected complication became more imminent. And this wasn't lost on Amber who was sure that something was very wrong and that the baby was stuck.

As I tried to coach her and encourage her as much as I could I was increasingly distracted by this self-involved, pleased-with-himself, Obstetrician. Finally, I interrupted his narcissistic lecture and asked if he could pay attention to his patient and I broke the news to him that Amber thought something was terribly wrong. (Why else would a physician completely ignore his patient while lecturing everybody in the room?)

He immediately thanked me for letting him know. Are you kidding me? And assured Amber that everything was going perfectly, and within a push or two of this reassurance, Dane was born.

This was the same obstetrician who an hour before the birth, told Amy and I to go home and get about six hours of sleep and they'd call us when anything changed. (In his defense, he was basing his advice on the information given him by the attending nurse. "I just checked her and she's 4 cm.) Oy

All this trauma and drama was pushed into the background when we saw this healthy beautiful baby with this sweet face. His Apgar ratings were 9 and 9 and the nurse said those were the highest ratings given at that hospital. (Of course, now I believed the nurse implicitly.)

Here's Daddy Chris holding him for the first time as he delivered him to Amber:

And here's Grandma Amy holding him for the first time:

Then there's this picture that the Obstetrician insisted on taking with my camera. He was quite intrigued with the idea of four generations at the birth.

So you see, he was nice enough. Just caught up in his own priorities and his own world.

And here are a couple of pictures of this bright, beautiful baby.

Once again, I've been blessed beyond measure. I got to be there to help welcome this wonderful little man into the world. And it just doesn't get any better than that.

Best Early Christmas Present EVER!

I'm back. Back to Indiana, back to my blog, and back to my old routine - at least for a couple of hours. That's when some of our Christmas family will start arriving. But that's not what I'm here to talk about at all. (Although having the kids and their families come home IS the GREATEST on-time Christmas present ever.)

Friday we went to Louisville. Sarah, our youngest was having strong, regular contractions off and on for several days. We (Beth and I) just couldn't take a chance on missing the labor and delivery that we felt so honored to be invited to. We spent the weekend walking and shopping and timing contractions that came and went at the whim of Somebody with a great sense of humor. We were relaxed, though, knowing that Monday would be "B" day since, at 1 day short of 41 weeks, she was scheduled to be induced.

Monday morning she went in and even the machines clocked regular, close and strong contractions. The doctor broke her water and that was the closest she came to be induced. One thing about Sarah...she labors beautifully.

Here she is at about 4 centimeters. (She was 3 to 4 centimeters and 80% effaced when she arrived.)
Here she is in the throes of the greatest agony she had experienced ever ... and at 5 centimeters:

And here she is about a half hour before the birth but an hour or so after her epidural.

And here she is with the greatest early Christmas present EVER 13 minutes after he arrived:

And again at 39 minutes post birth:

Does my daughter know how to have a baby or what!!!