Family Ties

I have been chided by a few lately for my lack of new posts on this blog. I was really good about writing a few weeks ago, but lately I have let other things get in the way. After the second week, Himaya was up to 6lbs 5oz and she is growing right before our eyes. Emily and Maya had an appointment today and we found out that she is now up to 7lbs 10oz. Hew newborn clothes now actually fit her, which is nice. The next bit of news will temporarily fill most mothers with a slight sense of disgust and dislike for Emily. At todays appointment, the nurse weighed Em too and we found out that she is already back to her pre-pregnancy weight. Funny thing is... she wasn't even trying to lose the weight. Im jealous.

The past few weeks have been fantastic. First, we were lucky enough to have Emily's sister Sarah stay with us while Em recovered. After only a few days she left us with tons of advice, recipes and pictures. Thanks for your help and your sacrifice (leaving your family behind) while you were here Sarah.

Then Emily's mother Ann came to stay with us for about a week. Due to recent eye surgery, Ann was unable to fly, but thanks to her husband Tony she was able to come just the same. They drove here from Green River, Wyoming arriving on a Sunday night. The next morning, Tony flew home to work out the week, and he returned Saturday to drive Ann home. The whole plan (to be quite honest) sounded ludicrous upon initial hatching, but the help it offered was soooo appreciated. so my next thanks go to Ann for all her help, advice and groceries; and to Tony for being such a nice guy.

The third wave of visitors only said a teary-eyed goodbye this morning. My parents flew in last Wednesday and spent a great week with our new little family. I felt bad for a while there, because they came as I started my finals. They were not only understanding, but they pushed me to study. I had also left off writing a paper until only a few days before it was due... so like me, but not so smart to have procrastinated knowing what the end of this month would be like. My mom spent (who know how many) hours working on the dress for Himaya's blessing, and it was fantastic. Blessing dresses are supposed to be way too long (according to an unwritten rule) and this dress pulled it off nicely. She was beautiful. So my last thanks for now go out to my mom and dad; for making the dress, making the trip, putting up with my studying/procrastination, for all the restaurants and for the good company.

I understand that in the near future, Em's dad (Bob) will be coming for his turn to see us and to see his new grand-daughter. When he comes, I will be sure to get that up here too. I wanted to apologize again for falling down on the job (blog-wise) . I would make some promise to be better, but that would just end up being used as ammunition against me someday if I slack off again. Thanks for stopping by, and for caring about our family and I hope you have a great day!

Branch

Catching up

Wow... I can't believe Himaya is already a week old. We came home last Friday around 4:30 pm, and the first thing we did is take a nap (Emily's sister Sarah made us). As all babies do, Maya has lost a bit of weight since the initial weighing, but because she was so small to begin with, the pediatrician has had us back to the hospital twice now for weight checks. They sad yesterday that if she doesn't put some weight back on by next Monday, they will likely put her on a supplement. Other then the weight issue, she is doing really well. I wouldn't say that it has been a breeze but things are going ok. It was really great having Sarah here to help us over the weekend, and now it's great to have Em's mom here until Saturday. There is so much to learn about taking care of a baby, and they have been amazing resources. Last night, Maya slept fairly well... she was up at almost exact 3 hour intervals, and after eating/changing, she went right back to sleep. The night before, however, was another story entirely. Sunday night, she was up about every hour and was always hungry. Then, all 4 times we had to change her she screamed her head off from the time she made the diaper-deposit until she was re-wrapped in a blanket and picked up. Our neighbors must hate us already. It really sounded as though we were slowly torturing, and eventually brutally murdering a cat in our apartment every few hours.
I am amazed at how quickly a person can absolutely capture my love. From the first time I held her while the doctor was still finishing with Emily, I looked down at Himaya, and I knew I would do anything for her. I knew that she had almost complete control of my life, and that she already had me wrapped around her tiny little finger. Every time I hold her, I can hardly take my eyes off of her. I just look down and smile, wondering what she is thinking and dreaming about. I can't believe we get to keep her... it's like a dream that has finally come true.

The First Day

Let me first apologize for the lag in posting... I hope it doesn't seem as though I lost interest. If I thought that yesterday was great, it was nothing compared to today. Yesterday she spent the majority of the day sleeping, but was almost never in her bassinet, cause we couldn't put her down. Then the night came, and she was awake the whole time. She spent most of the night down the hall in the nursery, returning every 3 hours for feeding. The nurse kept telling us that she wasn't sleeping, but she wasn't crying either. She just laid there and looked around. This morning I begrudgingly went to class, thought it is only across the street and takes only about 5 minutes to get there from here. I came back and ate lunch in the middle of the day, and we had quite a few visitors. We hung out and she was awake for most of the evening, and we even went for a walk. Emily is looking forward to getting home tomorrow, though she is a little nervous about losing her safety net (doctors, nurses, lactation consultants, etc.). Here are a few pictures we snapped today, and a video as well. Thanks for stopping by to read about our little family!

Branch Emily and Himaya

More about Himaya

Just now thinking about it, I realized that I should mention the significance behind the name Himaya. I had a great opportunity to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Philippines, and I was there for about 2 years. While there, I learned to speak a dialect of Filipino called Ilonggo (ee-long-oh). One of the many many words I learned was Himaya, which means glory in Ilonggo, and I thought that was the perfect name for a baby girl. Other important information on our new baby girl, is that we just got her back from the nursery, and we just found out that she is 20 inches long (tall)... a piece of info that we had been waiting for since they took her for examination at 10:30 this morning. Here are a few more pictures, and another video. Enjoy!

Introducing Himaya Grace Hunsaker

The doctor got here at just after 8:00 this morning, and when she checked Em, she said that she was ready to start pushing. For the first about 40 minutes Emily was talking and smiling between sets of pushing, but after they turned down the epidural, it got a little harder. The last 20 minutes were a lot harder on Emily, but at 9:15 am Himaya Grace Hunsaker was born. She weighs 6 lbs. 1 oz. and we will find out the length in a little while after she goes to the nursery. She is the cutest baby I have seen, but I may be biased in my opinion. Her are some pictures and a couple of videos. Thanks for all your prayers and support!

Branch Emily and Himaya

Comfortably numb...

Well at about 5:20 am, Emily's pain crossed the threshold of what the stadol could do for her, and she bolted upright in the bed. The staff here are amazing, and within about a minute they had 3 nurses, and an anesthesiologist in here. Em said that while she was worried that it was going to hurt to get the epidural, all she felt was the first poke and burn of the local anesthetic. By 5:30 she couldn't even feel the contractions any more, and after the nurse was finished tying up all the loose ends, still loopy from the 3am stadol, she went to sleep. Before I could finish this blog, she woke up at 6:15 and said that she thought her water had just broken. I got the nurse who conferred, and withdrew her earlier prediction of noon for a delivery time saying that 10am sounded a lot more realistic. It's easy to feel like we are almost there, but I know the roughest part is looming on the horizon.

Progress

The labor is progressing, and Em is having a hard time finding a comfortable position. We tried the bed and couch in all positions as well as the rocking chair. Up until now, the pain has really only been in her back, and she has been having semi-low level contractions for 6-7 hours, but she is only dilated to between 3 and 4 cm. Now that the pain has moved to her abdomen, the nurse just gave her Stadol for the pain, and Phenergan to keep her from feeling nauseous. Right after the nurse administered the dose, Em fell asleep again, and I hope she will sleep for a few more hours (since she has only got 3 hours in bits n' pieces). Looking at the monitor, I can see that after the meds, her contractions have dulled considerably, and are fewer and further between.

Easy labor

Now that things have settled down, and the nurse has given Em some medicine to slowly start the process of labor, Emily is in a much better mood. Especially when she has her favorite things in life (i.e. a strawberry slush from Sonic, Reese's peanut butter cups and American Idol). She is about to have some ambien, and get some sleep so she will be well rested for the work in the morning. If anything new crops up, I'll be sure to post it. Otherwise, have a good night and wish us luck!

P.S. I just now figured out how to add videos to this blog, so I won't use that other site any more.

Branch

Turn Baby Turn!!!

Woo Hoo!!! They were able to get her to turn after all. Though it took forever to get the required personnel and get Emily ready, they get her to turn with a maneuver that can only be described as an attempt to unscrew Em's belly like a jar lid. To tell the truth, it was freaky to watch, but the after effects were worse. Dr. Littles said that manipulating the uterus can cause some vagal nerve distress, and thats exactly what Em experienced. She said that it didn't hurt nearly as bad as she was led to believe, but after it was over Emily went pale and kinda started choking on her tongue, then her blood pressure dropped to about 55/34 (for readers who may not be aware... 55/34 is not good - it's bad). The Dr. put her head down and started squeezing her I.V. bag like she was wringing out a wet washcloth. They gave her some ephedrine and within a minute or so she perked right up. The Dr. wants to keep an eye on her for about an hour before they start induction, and they are going to take it slow and easy. They said that she will most likely deliver tomorrow morning. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Branch

Pre-spin update

Dr Littles was finally able to get here, and the first thing she wanted to do was to check the position of the baby and make a spinning plan. She also checked the fluid level because she was a little doubtful of the fluid level reported from last weeks ultrasound. She decided that the level is not as high as was reported. So, not wanting to just give up and go straight for the C-section, we are going to try the version (baby spin maneuver thinggy). The nurse just showed up to administer the muscle relaxer, and in five minutes or so, they will give it a try. Keep in mind though, that a time-line never flows like it should around here.

The update as of 10:20 am

Well... today may be a game of hurry-up and wait. We arrived at the hospital at 7:30 am as directed for the 9:30 "baby-turning", but we just found out that we will have to wait until 12:30 for the doctor to get here. There will soon be videos from throughout the day at http://branchemily.myphotoalbum.com it will be in the D-Day album (D for Delivery). Anyhow, Ill keep you posted!

Branch

Almost there...

Emily and I went to see her doctor yesterday for what was hopefully her last visit. Dr. Littles made us an appointment for Tues. the 8th at 9:30 am in the labor & delivery ward of the hospital. Of course, it still may not go according to Hoyle due to the baby still being breach. The plan (as it currently stands) is that Dr. Littles will hook Em up to a lot of monitors, and then she will try to turn the baby for delivery by pushing on the outside of Emily's belly. The procedure is supposed to range from being uncomfortable to painful, and Em is not exactly excited for that part, but if thats what it takes....
Of course the monitors are there for a reason. If in the process, Himaya should have a dramatic change in heart rate, or if they think the cord has been pinched, they will perform an emergency cesarean... but we are hoping it doesn't come to that. The C-section might also be warranted if Dr. Littles can't get her to turn. Either way, the time is finally come, and I couldn't be more excited!