Birth Story - Baby Adylyn

First I would like to thank all of you for your support and prayers.  We are blessed to have a great network of family and friends to support us as we raise Baby Adylyn.

At 5:30am Christmas morning Emily woke me and told me that she thought her water had broken.  We hadn't packed our bags for the hospital and really weren't totally prepared for the baby to come but off to the St. Vincent Hospital - Carmel we went.  When we arrived at the hospital the nurses checked everything out and informed us that Emily's water had actually broken (sometimes expecting mothers just have bladder control issues).  After that we made ourselves confortable in a labor and delivery room.  Emily's parents were already planning on heading down for Christmas Day so they came straight to the hospital when they arrived.  Emily wasn't very dialated so they started medication to make her dialate.  We all talked, watched movies, ate ice chips, and played card games (Monopoly Deal is great!). 

This went on until around 8:30pm (ya, that's 13 hours and we were expecting quite a few more).  About that time the doctor came in and informed us that after each contraction the baby's heart rate was not returning to baseline as quickly as the doctor would prefer.  The medical staff tried a few different techniques but we finally came to the realization that the baby would need to be born via caesarean section. Around 10pm Emily and I went into the operating room and baby Adylyn Esther was born at 10:22pm.  The surgery went great (I got to watch!) and everything went exactly as planned.  The doctor told us that the baby looked great and we could take her to the recovery room.

The next few days consisted of lots of rest and recovery.  We watched movies and Emily took a lot of time resting and waiting for her incision to heal.  On Sunday my parents and sisters came down to visit and got to hold Ady for the first time. Everyone agreed that she is the most beautiful baby ever.

On day two we faced a little rough patch. Emily has struggled in the past with allergic reactions from stress, skin pressure, and hormone changes. As you might guess this scenario was somewhat of a perfect storm.  Emily ended up having a severe allergic reaction the second day but after trying lots of different meds and chewing out a few nurses we got in touch with Emily's doctor.  Her doctor then prescribed her some steroids for her swollen face and body of hives (it was pretty rough).  Once the steroids kicked in we were back in recovery mode, but we were definitely a day or two behind.

On Tuesday a little after 1pm we left the hospital and drove home with Ady.  We had about 10 hours to ourselves until Emily's mother (Grandma Fox) came to help.  Since then it's been a lot of poopy diapers, learing to breastfeed, and fun outfits.  The sleep deprivation and learning curve has led to a few frustrating moments for Emily and I but we know it's all par for the course.  Overall everything is going great but Emily is very tired and still trying to fight off a large dose of crazy hormones and itchy hives while learning to take care of an infant.  I can't wait to see what we will learn tomorrow!

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayers.  If you would like to visit Baby A give Dan a call or text or send one of us a message on Facebook.  We hope to start having visitors as soon as tonight or tomorrow. We will take it slow but can't wait to start showing her off!


Grandma & Grandpa Fox



Grandma & Grandpa Stichter

You Want Pictures?

The Colts have won and life is slowing down a little (for now).  Emily is asleep in the hospital bed and has been recovering well.  I can't ask for a more beautiful wife or a more excellent mother for our children.  God has truly blessed us with baby Adylyn (ADD-a-lyn).  We have received an amazing Christmas gift and we are still praising God for His blessing. 

I keep hearing that the people want more pictures.  What a coincidence, I've taken a few (ok, maybe more than a few).  Here are some of my favorites.

The Numbers Are In

In case you haven't figured it out, I kind of like numbers/stats (a little) and I'm pretty stoked about that our baby girl is almost here. Hence the whole Baby Stichter Pick'em thing.  The numbers are in and now it's official so let's check out what we've got.  I have included all guess no matter how "interesting".  I can tell you up front that the ludicrous heights and weights were all submitted by the male half of the population. Way to go boys... 

Total Entries - 37

Male - 43%

Female - 54%

Couples - 3%

Birthdate

Average - Jan. 2, 2011 1:38pm

Median - Jan. 1, 2011 9:22pm

Earliest - Dec. 20, 2010 8:30pm

Latest - Jan. 15, 2011 1:35am

Height
Average - 21.5"
Median - 21.5"
Min - 11.75"
Max - 29"

Weight
Average - 7.84 lbs
Median - 7.78 lbs

Min - 4.69 lbs

Max - 14.44 lbs

When I looked at the data for patterns there surprising weren't many.  The one couple that entered has been excluded from the analysis.  Overall men guessed that Baby Sticher will be born 15 hours earlier than women (men - 1/2/10 7:02am, women 1/2/10 9:59pm).  Women guessed that Baby Stichter will be both lighter (men - 7.88 lbs, women - 7.72 lbs) and shorter (men - 21.80", women - 21.74") than men.  Not sure any of this means anything, just a great waste of 5 minutes if you get snowed in next week. That's all for tonight, I'm still trying to get the more interesting half of our marriage to blog some, but I don't think that will happen in the near future.  Gotta go, the wife wants to investigate hooter hiders and disposable diaper sacks on the internet.  Any suggestions?

Baby Stichter Pick'em

You are invited to participate in Baby Stichter’s First Pick’em contest!  Here are the categories:

·         Time of birth – closest over or under - $20

·         Height – closest over or under - $10

·         Weight – closest over or under - $10

Limit of one entry per person.  Winner of each category will receive a gift certificate to the store of their choice.  Ties will be broken by each entrant's average ranking in the other two categories.  If the same person wins all three categories I will award them with a $100 gift certificate of their choice.   Both kids and adults are encouraged to participate, but all entries must be submitted by Dec 12, 2010 at midnight.

A few facts to keep in mind (they may or may not apply)

1.       Dan’s fantasy football team currently has a record of 7-5

2.       Baby Stichter is due January 3, 2011

3.       The Stichter’s have a dog named Macchiato who is an 8 year old beagle, lab mix.

4.       Dan was born three weeks late.  Emily was born two weeks early.

5.       Dan is 6’2” tall. Emily is 5’4” tall.

6.       Dan drives a Honda Civic. Emily drives a Jeep Liberty.

7.       Baby Stichter is a girl and has extra long legs (according to the doctors).

8.       Emily is a certified pastry chef with experience in the cupcake industry.

9.       Emily’s fantasy football team is 6-6.

10.     Dan’s favorite number is 5. Emily’s favorite number is undecided.

Check back this week and see where you rank as we update the list of entries.  There will be a table posted on this blog.  Invite your friend's to participate too.  The more the merrier!