A few more weeks

Here are the weekly pictures from the last few weeks. I'll plan to add some additional pictures from Christmas.



Hope you had a great Christmas!!

Weekly Ritual

We got a really neat idea from our friends, Mike and Jodi. When their daughter was born last year, they took a picture of her each week on her "birthday" to document her progress.

We decided to do the same thing with Alixandra, so here are the pictures from her first two weeks.

Week 1 (still in the hospital)

Week 2 (At Home)

Homecoming Christmas

Oh the Happiest Christmas,
Is a Homecoming Christmas,
With the Snow Flitterin' Down
To the World seems new.

Bright Candles Burning,
Old Friends Returning.
The wishest of Children
Coming True.

And the Happiest Wishes
Are Just Old Fashioned Wishes:
May your days be Merry,
May your sorrows be small.
May the ones you love,
Be near you.

That's the Happiest Chirstmas Of All

On Friday night, December 1st, Susan and Jeremy were blessed to attend the Michael W. Smith concert in Sioux City, Iowa. We had fantanstic seats, as shown in the picture above (taken from our seats in the second row). We loved hearing the Christmas music and enjoying a great date night. Since Alixandra is coming home tomorrow, we felt comfortable leaving the NICU for a few hours while Grandma Stoltenow stayed with Alixandra in the hospital.

On Saturday, we got to enjoy the Homecoming Christmas that Michael sang about. We brought Alixandra home from the hospital!! It was so great to put her into her own clothes and to strap her into her car seat. We even stopped to take some pictures on the way out of the hospital.

Mom, Dad, and Alixandra in the NICU room

A cute tree outside the NICU decorated with baby supplies

Riding home in style in a Pink Cadillac!!

It's great to be home now as a family!!

Meet the (Grand)parents

Battling an unexpected ice storm, Jeremy's family was able to come to visit Alixandra on Sunday. The drive took longer than expected so they didn't arrive until late on Sunday night. Needless to say, they were anxious to get to the hospital on Monday morning!!

Because she was born almost 5 weeks early, Alixandra had to stay in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for her first week of life. This meant that only 4 people could visit her at one time. We also were required to "scrub in" for 3 minutes each time we entered the NICU. It sure makes for a long 3 minutes when you're waiting to see your grandchild!!

Auntie Susan (pictured above) was super excited to see her new niece and really enjoyed holding her. It was neat that she and Aunt Lora were able to come up to Sioux Falls after the Thanksgiving weekend.

For a few days, Alix needed some special treatments, like an IV to make sure she was getting enough nourishment. She also had a little bit of jaundice, so they put her under a "billi" light. To protect her eyes, they had her wear some cute purple glasses, shown below. She was already working on her tan, but she won't be able to got topless ever again :o).

On Wednesday morning, Alixandra was removed from nearly all of her cords. It was much easier to hold her and to cuddle her without worrying about disconnecting a wire. She sleeps for most of the time, but when her eyes are open, it's quite a treat.

More to come . . .

Alixandra the Great

Alixandra Grace Bill

A beautiful name for a beautiful little girl. We enjoyed our first full day with her and are trying to savor every minute.

Currently Alixandra is in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) so that they can monitor her growth and development. Since she was born at just over 35 weeks, they want to make sure everything is going well before they send her home. She is quite jaundiced and has some respiratory distress and low blood sugar. At this point, she is doing very well and hopefully will be able to go home sometime next week.

Susan is recovering well from her C-Section, and is working through the pain and discomfort from her incision. They will likely send us home on Tuesday, but we'll probalby still spend most of our time at the NICU with Alixandra.

We also got to introduce Alixandra to one set of grandparents today. Susan's parents (Terry and Sharon) got to hold her and they were in heaven!! We also were visited by several friends and even got to spend some "alone" time with Alixandra.

Please continue to pray for Alixandra's health and development. We are so thankful for all of you and your words of encouragement.

Love,

Jeremy, Susan, and Alixandra Bill

Pretty in Pink

Friday, 3:30 p.m.

It was all a whirlwind adventure this morning and we're still recovering, but we're the proud parents a new baby girl!!

Born: 7:59 a.m.
Weight: 6 pounds 7 oz.
Length: 19 inches

We'll share the entire experience when we have more time, but for now enjoy the pictures.





We are so thankful for God's newest blessing on our lives.

Won't be long now

Friday, 7:30 a.m.

Water Broke. Another Placental Abruption. Emergeny C-Section coming soon.

Not long now. Very exciting!!

--Jeremy

Goodbye to Pain

Friday, 6:00 a.m.

Epidural is in. Life is Good.

--Jeremy (for Susan!)

Dealing with Pain

Friday, 4:00 a.m.

Susan continues to progress through her labor over the last several hours. She's been trying to find ways to deal with the pain, so we have tried walking and sitting, and other various strategies.

Fortunately, she found quite a bit of relief by sitting in the whirlpool, so she's been "soaking" for the last 2 hours or so. That's allowed Jeremy to get a little rest, although not a lot.

Currently, Susan is receiving 4 different treatments through her IV: Insulin (to control her blood sugar), an Anti-biotic (to protect against infection), Pittossen (to help produce conctractions) and fluids (to keep her hydrated).



Depending on the pain, Susan will likely get an epidural at some point in the next few hours. When that happens, she'll be confined to bed until after the baby is born.

We'll update you when anything changes.

A Labor of Love

Thursday, 8:55 p.m.

We're continuing to progress about as expected. The first pill helped to thin the Cervix and start the contractions. At around 8:30 p.m. the doctor gave another pill to help continue the process. Since they don't want Susan to eat much (and they need to control her blood sugar), they are going to start some fluids and insulin through an IV.

In around 4 hours they will start to administer some Pitossen through the IV. This should make the contractions more intense, which will increase the pain level.

The doctor is staying at the hospital tonight and will check in every few hours. It looks like Susan's labor will continue to progress throughout the night and we will reach the delivery stage sometime in the morning. Of course, that could change as the night goes on.

We appreciate your continued prayers and thoughts.

Hurry up and wait

Thursday, 6:15 p.m.

We finally got everything moved out of our "old" room and we've settled in to our new room.

At about 4:30 p.m., they gave Susan the pill to help thin her Cervix. After 4 hours they will determine if the pill is working and then will evaluate the next steps.

If the pill does work, then they will give her Pitossen, which helps start the contractions. If not, then they will give her another pill and wait for 4 more hours. Overall, it could be 12 hours before they see any results.

If at any point the baby is in distress, they will do a C-Section.

We'll keep you posted.

The Green Light

Thursday, 3:47 p.m.

And we're off . . . .

We just got the results back from the second test and the baby's lungs are developed enough that we're going to proceed.

We're in the process of packing up our stuff and moving rooms to the "Labor and Delivery" section (just down the hall). It's amazing how much stuff we've packed away in the last 21 days here! We'll only stay in the Labor & Delivery room until the baby is born, then we will move to "The Birth Place."

We're very excited to move on to the next stage, but it will likely be another day or so until the baby is born. Jeremy just hopes that it arrives before the Husker game kicks off :o) Just kidding.

Inconclusive

Thursday, 11:45 a.m.

The initial tests results just came back and they were "borderline." Thus, we'll need to wait for a few more hours before we know whether we will proceed today.

Thanks for your continued prayers!

Thanksgiving - Morning

Thursday, 10:00 a.m.

Surprisingly, we both had a pretty good night's sleep considering the anticipation for today (Thursday). That may be the last full night's sleep we'll have for a while!

The doctor just completed the amnio and is sending the sample to the lab. It will probably be one to two hours before the initial results are back. If the initial results are inconclusive, it will be another 3-4 hours before we will have the "final" results. If the baby's lungs are developed, they will then start the process of inducing Susan.

The first step in the process will be to give Susan a pill that will help to soften the cervix. The pill takes 12-24 hours before it takes effect, so we will likely have some waiting to do. Eventually, they will give her medication that will start contractions and (hopefully) move her to delivery. If they find that Susan is not progressing, they will stop the process and do a C-Section.

We'll keep you posted as we get additional information.

The Waiting Game

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock.

The clock in our hospital room continues to tick away the seconds.

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock.

It's been a long road the last 4 weeks here in the hospital, but the time is drawing near.

So how have we filled the time? Well, there have been LOTS of visitors. We've been blessed by so many wonderful friends and family members who have spent time with us. We have been reminded just how much we are loved.


Susan even got to enjoy a special 4-legged visitor last week. She was thrilled to see Rudy and to get to spend some time with her. Don't worry, Rudy just stayed in the lobby and Susan came down to visit.

The nurses and workers have been extremely friendly and have done a great job of taking care of us. They even let us bring in some "real food" from time to time.

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock.

The clock continues to run, but the weeks have turned into days, and now into hours before we get to meet our new child. We are excited, nervous, scared, and relieved, all at once. We appreciate all of your prayers and the encouragement you have given to us.

We will keep this site updated throughout the day on Thursday (Thanksgiving), so be sure to check back often.