What a Day!

Sue, Thank you SOOO VERY MUCH for your updates on the blog. They will be nice to look back on later, as well. :) It was a loooooonnnnng day with a lot of down time. I have a new respect for all those helpless fathers waiting for baby to come.

The good news is that Ellie is okay. The bad news is that she is currently in NICU. :( During the delivery, she swallowed some meconuim. They were able to get most, if not all of it out. She also didn't breathe on her own for the first five mins. That was quite a scare. Her APGARS were 4 and 8. They were able to stabalize her. Howie, Gabi, and I spent some time alone with her in the pre-op room for a bit. That was very nice. They moved her and "A" upstairs after a while. We of course, tagged along. :)

The nurses took Ellie for what they said would be about 2 hours so they could bathe her and such. I sent Howie and Gabi back to the hotel for some swimming and dinner. I pretty much hung out with "A". The NICU dr. came in to tell us that Ellie was in a bit of distress, not breathing quite well on her own, and that they had taken her downstairs to NICU. It was very nice, because they had told the staff down there about me, and I was encouraged to go down. Which I immediately did.

She has a feeding tube, a tube to help her breathe, and an iv. It's scary to see, but compared to some of the other peanuts in there, she is doing GREAT. Hopefully, tomorrow she will be back upstairs. I don't really have any "good" pics of her yet though, because of this. Thanks for your kind words and thoughts today!!

STATS: 7 pounds 2 oz. 20 inches long. Born at 2:21 pm.

D-Day

I will continue updating throughout the day as news trickles in. ~Sue

4:30- spoke with teri, ellie is doing wonderfully. there were a few rough moments. but all is well now. she was able to feed her her first bottle. howie and gab are back at the hotel for a bit. the hospital is not letting teri stay the night. so i am sure she will post more about the day and additional photos later this evening.

3:45pm- just received word that ELLIE HAS ARRIVED!!!!!!! so adorable. dark hair, chubby cheeks. picture perfect. Yay!!!!!!!

3:30pm- nothing new other than sue is officially going CRAZY!!!!!!!! BTW, I would love to see how many hits this blog is getting today, lol.

2:20pm- just took "A" back. teri waiting in recovery.

1:20pm- still no baby. surgeries are running behind. UGH. "A" is really nervous and wants her mom. teri is back out waiting with Howie and Gab. keep those prayers coming!

11am- they made it to the hospital and Teri is with "A". ooo i have goosebumps....and tears of course! her cell phone is getting turned off now. more later.

9:30am- helped her choose her outfit via picture messaging. so neat. it's almost like being there in person.

8am- spoke with Teri. still at hotel. she seems very calm.

Happy BIRTHday Elliana!

Amazingly, I think I grabbed a few hours of sleep. The bed was actually quite comfy. I woke up a lot, but each time I did I broke into a giant smile, rolled over and drifted back off. Mr. Sand Man had quite the interesting subject to watch last night! It's about 6:30. I ran down to the lobby, grabbed a few cups of coffee to bring back to the room and here I sit. Howie and Gabi are in the other room asleep. I am praying that all goes well with the birth today. Wow! Wow! Wow!

Indiana, it is!

Well, we have arrived safely at our hotel (despite several shards of ice decimating our car along the way). :) The second we hit South Bend, I was a mess of HAPPY tears. It's such an amazing feeling to arrive at the end of a long, long journey (both literally and figuratively). Tonight, we went shopping at Super Target (a first for us) for some food and then ate dinner at I-Hop.

Afterwards, Howie took Gabi swimming while I took a shower and readied our room. We haven't met up with "A". I think we are both feeling excited, but nervous. We need to be at the hospital tomorrow am at 11. Surgery is at 1. Going to check out the campus of Notre Dame before hand as it is about a mile from here. Sue will post pics and updates tomorrow! Thank you ALL for your love and support!

...and We're Off!

The bags are packed. The car is loaded. We are ready to go! Woo-Hoo! We are on our way!!!! We couldn't be more excited if we tried! Gabi was singing about Indiana in bed tonight. Life is GOOOOD! Praise God!

Ummm, HELLO?!?!?!

THREE DAYS!!!?? DID ANYONE ELSE NOTICE THAT I HAVE THREE DAYS LEFT ON THAT TICKER UP THERE????? OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

Lawyer called today. All is still as planned. Let's just hope this ice storm doesn't try to get in my way of Ellie!!!

Prayers for Tyler

Please, Please, Please lift our little friend Tyler and his family up in prayer. Tyler is the son of our dear friends, Jodie and Brent. On Friday, he was diagnosed with lukemia. That horrible, terrible "C" word has infiltrated our world. The life of someone I love has been turned upside down by the utterance of one evil word and I'm PISSED! I hate when I allow myself to forget that life just isn't fair.

Tyler is the strongest little guy I know. He has overcome some pretty serious health challenges thus far in his life. He isn't even four yet. We are praying for you, Ty!

WE LOVE YOU!!