Weadababyitsagirl!

That's right, We had a baby, its a girl!!! Brielle Janae Hoegh, 7 lbs 7 oz. 21 inches long. Aubyn started having some more serious contractions on Saturday at 9:00AM. So after waiting it out until after church on Sunday, we went in. The doc checked a few things, and said "it's time to have a baby". Shortly thereafter we were in the operating room behind the curtain with several doctors performing the C-section on her. Towards the end I peaked over the curtain and watched them pull her the rest of the way out, turn her over and announce "it's a girl", and "what's her name?" Aubyn quickly responed by saying, "Brielle Janae" then looked to see if I agreed. I watched them clean Brielle up, I cut the cord and then was able to carry her to Aubyn. After Aubyn got a peak I carried her to the nursery for measurements. During the next hour while Aubyn was getting stitched up, I was able to have some quality father-daughter time with the little peanut. I hope to have alot more time like that with her in the future. They performed the usual tests and an EKG on her and everything checked out great. We have a beautiful healthy little girl. We're so excited! Later on, Aubyn was reunited with Brielle. Both mom and baby are doing great! Praise God for this little miracle! The three of us could not be happier! Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers.

Viewer Discretion Advised

Don't let the title scare you off, it's just a pregnant belly. On another note, this is Aubyn in her 37th week. The hospital shots are when she's waiting for her ultrasound before her 'External Cephalic Version'. This 'version' procedure is when the Dr. tries to turn the breach baby into the correct position for labor. It was a long day, we got to the Dr's at 8:15 and left at 2:30. The major point was when the Dr. pressed firmly on Aubyn's stomach against the baby with both hands. One hand holding baby's butt up and the other pushing the head over. After 10 seconds or so, baby's heart rate dropped slightly(not uncommon). The Dr. let up and waited for it to rise again. When it came back up, he tried an even firmer round of pushing for 10 or more seconds. The heart rate dropped again, significantly this time, so he let off. After a few seconds of it not coming back up to the correct pace, the dr. asked Aubyn to turn on her side, then the other side, then asked the nurse to get Aubyn some Oxygen. Another nurse left the room quickly and 2 other nurses came quickly in. By this time the heart rate had sped back up quite a bit and after probably only 30 seconds to a minute, but what seemed like 10 minutes, the heart rate(which I was watching on the monitor)was back to a comfortable level(mine was racing). The dr. told the nurses things were fine and everyone calmed back down. Normally the dr. tries 3 times but after that one simply said 'baby doesn't like that, sorry'. The 75% success rate that the doc had was no match for the odds that the baby is a stubborn Hoegh, not doing anything that wasn't his/her idea. Thankfully though he/she is still a very healthy Hoegh. After that experience, we'll gladly deliver by C-section. Aubyn and I are both relieved its over, happy we tried and thankful for baby's healthy beating heart. We also now understand why she was admitted to the hospital, in a gown with an IV ready for a seemingly simple procedure. If the heart rate would have stayed down they would have had the baby out by Emergency C-section in a matter of minutes.

In the 36th week!

Here is Aubyn at 35 weeks(1/09/10). We were heading out the door to watch Jerome and Jacey's game. We lost the game and its obvious to all Hoegh's that we need more Hoegh minutes on the floor. I hope they figure it out.
Back to Aubyn, She's feeling good still with just around 2-4 contractions an hour. They've been pretty light but every once in a while she'll get some more achy ones. She says "I'm not worried about it". I think that's her way of showing confidence in her pain tolerance. She also just told me that she doesn't like pain but she's not afraid of it. These are quite the statements considering we had our first birthing class this week. They showed us some video of labor. If Aubyn isn't afraid now, she won't ever be. I'm not nearly so tough. I got the picture after seeing 30 seconds of the video. I didn't need to see the next 15 minutes. I will admit that its educational and eye opening but enough already. I'll do my best to give her support.
A couple of these pictures show Aubyn lying at an angle upside down, holding headphones to her belly to get the kid to flip. She thinks its trying but hasn't gotten there yet. We'd sure like it to flip but regardless are extremely thankful for the overall health of both Aubyn and baby to this point. Side note: I'm almost a week late on this post, so really we start the 37th week tomorrow. Wow we're getting close!

Aubyn's baby shower

Here are some pictures of Aubyn's baby shower. It was held at Rachel Fernstrum's home just a block away from ours. Rachel and several of the other gals who were there attend Monday evening bible study with Aubyn. Others who attended are some other neighbors and friends as well as Aubyn's mom and sister Kalie. Luckily I wasn't invited but I can say second hand that alot of fun was had by all. Aubyn really appreciates all who made it and all who put it on as she's sure it was a lot of work. A special thanks to Rachel as well as Neliegh Ranschau for making it a very special day. Also, a big thanks from both of us to all who brought gifts and advice as the D-day is fast approaching we realize how unprepared we are. Everyone has been so supportive and helpful already which eases our worries.

These pics are Dec 21, Aubyn is 32 weeks and a couple days here. She's getting tired of taking pictures by herself. Maybe deep down she likes the attention and would like it if we all just took pictures of her and always asked her about how she's doing...or not. Either way this is what we've got, she's feeling well. She's had light contractions at around 4 an hour so its almost to the point where we should be concerned. Last night she was having around 5 or 6 an hour. She plans on checking with her dr. today to see if she has another bladder infection. She/we survived the weekend in Elk Horn as we got there just before the blizzard(wednesday) and left shortly after(sunday). Despite being stuck inside it was an enjoyable trip as Jerome and Jacey left for Denver with the team on Saturday, Jaime and Chad were there for most of the time and left on Saturday and of course Mom and Dad were there the whole time. Janna didn't make it back as she'll come later this winter, likely when the baby comes. No one else from the extended family came although Dan and Allison's crew came after we scooped them out with 3 tractors as they were out of electricity for a day or more. It was a very blessed Christmas even though none of the cousins made it. Jerome, Jacey and I did go sledding for a bit on the icey roads which is always a fun time.

Ultrasound

Yesterday Aubyn and I went to SF to have our regularly scheduled ultrasound. The baby's heart continues to look good, the heart rate is consistent and strong. It was at 158 bpm yesterday. Aubyn will be 32 weeks complete tomorrow. The pictures aren't nearly as good now in comparison to earlier in pregnancy as the baby doesn't have much room to show itself. He/she is still breach and has it's legs up above its head still. We asked multiple questions regarding that and the Dr. Boyle isn't concerned about it and explained that the baby's torso is small now and as it fills out more that can cause the baby to flip. He also said that if we have to have a C-section, that wouldn't be a terrible thing, as baby is healthy and that's the main thing.
After the appointment and some shopping, we went ate at Texas Roadhouse with Owen, Leah and Clara. On a scale of 1 to 10, they are some cool people. It should be noted that Clara beat Aubyn in Guess Who later on. This is noted only because I think it has to do with pregnancy brain and should be documented.

In the 32nd week

Here is Aubyn at 31 weeks and 1 day. She's looking a bit more plump. She's feeling more and more stretched as the baby moves and kicks constantly. It also is not seaming to be in good positions. It's side to side instead of up and down and seems scrunched in there. The last ultrasound she had the tech even said it looks like its getting scrunched. Its still measuring big, healthy heart rate and Aubyn keeps gaining weight. The book says its at 4 lbs and 19 inches by now. I'm guessing it's 4 lbs and 25 inches. When Aubyn stayed in the hospital the other day the heart rate varied from 138 to around 170 at times. They say that's healthy. I might have mentioned it before but they also say that a high heart rate can indicate a girl. However, they say thats not always the case. Regardless of the gender, each checkup the baby's heart has been healthy with no signs of heart block. We are very thankful for that. We continue to pray for a healthy baby and thats all we care about. It continues to be enjoyable for us both and we are getting more and more excited as the weeks go by. Although after staying in the hospital we looked a little more seriously about names...just in case.

Unexpected trip to the hospital

On Thursday night Aubyn was having some lower abdominal pain. She reluctantly decided she should go in to the hospital where her doctor was the ER doctor on call. Expecting to be there 1/2 hour, the doctor checked her out and told her she'd be there atleast 1 night. The situation was that she had a bladder infection(UTI). The UTI was causing her to have contractions(1 every 3 minutes). At one point the doctor gave a steroid shot to Aubyn which helps develop the baby's lungs as the doctor said "in case this is the real thing". Aubyn's response was something to the effect of "no this can't be the real thing". Anyway, they gave her the shot and treated her infection as well as gave her muscle relaxer for the contractions. She ended up staying thursday night, all day friday, and friday night. She's out now and feeling good. She has had small contractions but only a couple an hour so with rest today and tomorrow she should be fine to work on tuesday. She's only 31 weeks complete now so its too early. The baby is in strange positions. Still breach and moving and kicking all the time. Hopefully it turns at some point. The hospital stay wasn't much fun but it did give us good orientation of the hospital and got us used to the atmosphere. We hope not to go back until early February.