It's been a while

It's almost been a week since my last post and I think too much has happened to recall. To start, on Sunday Brielle threw a super bowl party and invited my cousin Owen, his wife Leah and two girls Clara and Elsie as well as my cousin Lisa all from Sioux Falls. It was alot of fun to see them and them see Brielle. They are some awesome family that we enjoy spending time with. Unfortunately no pics were taken...my bad! Wednesday my parents came up early for Jerome and Jacey's game(both played=we won;). Aubyn and Brielle even made it to the game. It's alot of fun for us and Grandma and Grandpa to spend some time with Brielle, we look forward to more of them. There have been a couple rough nights and one tough day especially for Aubyn as Brielle doesn't clean her room and go to bed when she's asked. For now we'd settle for her to simply fall asleep and keep sleeping at 3:00am. No allowance for her this week. We've gotten meals and gifts from friends, neighbors and family. We appreciate everything and most of all enjoy them all sharing in our happiness. I hope to include some pictures of those gifts at some point. Here are some random pictures mostly from this week.

Going Home

On Thursday we left the wonderful staff at the hospital and headed home. It was an emotional day but a very good day as we got to introduce Brielle into her home. We are very grateful for the hospital staff especially Dr. Shepard who performed the C-section and Gwen Starkweather as well as the entire nursing staff who took care of us and our new little one. We are also very thankful for each of our friends and family who stopped by or sent packages. I know there have been several times where Aubyn has commented that many of her friends have had such encouraging advice. We do appreciate each of you. Above are some pictures from the past few days at home. Little Bri is sleeping good for the most part although at times is like her father and refuses to go to bed right after a meal as we'd like. Unfortunately there is no nurse to help us now. When Tina, one of the nurses asked us if she could do anything else for us, we told her she could come help at home. She laughed, but we were serious:)

Is she changing already???

Question: Am I over the top with the pictures and posts on the blog and am I overly obsessed? Answer: Debatable but probable. Question: Do I care and will I apologize for that? Not a chance. We can't stop watching her every movement and smiling at her little faces. Things are going good, Aubyn is getting more and more attached with that motherly instinct kicking in. I'm very proud of her for already taking such good care of little Brielle. Feedings are going much better and she has dad's appetite which is good. After one day she was down to 6 lbs 15oz. After two day she's back to 7lbs 2oz. Hopefully nothing but up from here. Pictures above include the first time we bathed her and washed her hair. And yes, I think I'll continue being obsessed:)

Visitors for Brielle

Brielle has been introduced to alot of people in her less than 24 hour lifetime. Aubyn's mom Elaine was the on-call nurse who wasn't allowed to be in the surgery room during the process but was able to be there shortly after to see us and of course little Bri. Aubyn's sister Kalie as well as my brothers Jerome and Jacey were all able to stop by a few hours later. It's great to have all of them so close by. My mom and dad along with sister Jaime drove up this morning and will be back again in a couple days. Aubyn's sister Elise drove from Minneapolis last night with her daughter Addison. Addison is two and is excited to share her toys with "cousin Brielle". Each family member has enjoyed holding her and are reluctant to give up their time once they've got her. It was so good to see each one of them meet her and react to seeing the miracle that God has blessed us with.

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.