Water Broke - Uh Oh

Jeff and I are expecting the birth of our little girl. Her due date is November 29, but she decided to get things moving a little sooner. My water broke prematurely at 5:30 a.m. on Monday morning (9/27) at 31 weeks. I was admitted to Fairview Riverside hospital that morning.

After a series of tests, the conclusion was that my water broke early for no known reason. Since the baby is at 31 weeks, her lungs aren't fully matured, so I was given a series of steroid shots over the last two days to aide her lung development.

I am on bedrest in the hospital for the forseeable future until I go into labor. We have no way of knowing when that will be. However, the doctors will do a c-section if any complications arise. If nothing happens and we make it to 34 weeks and still haven't gone into labor, the doctors will do a c-section.

Regardless of when our little babe arrives, we're looking at her spending some time in the Newborn ICU. We've been reassured by all of the doctors and nurses that even if our baby is born at 31 weeks, she will do well. Of course, every day that she stays put, the better her development will be (better to grow on the inside than outside), hence the bedrest.

My ultrasound indicates that baby is about 3 lbs 12 oz, a good size for being a preemie. My doctor says it's a good thing that I can grow big babies (Cece was nearly 9 lbs).

We're in very capable hands here at Riverside and the doctors and nurses have been outstanding. We had a tour of the NICU last night and saw a bitty baby that same size/age as ours (if she was to be born this week). Much bigger than we had envisioned. The NICU staff must be made of angels, because they give those little miracles the best care and attention.

Jeff and I will continue to post updates about our little girl.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers! We're staying positive over here!

Love,

Bridget & Jeff                    

Season Tickets

Our Twins Season Tickets arrived today! Here's Jeff holding them. Exciting!

Target Field

This post is not technically about Cece (although we hope she'll enjoy going with us to Twins games this year and in years to come), but Bridget and I went with my brother Chris and his wife Katie to check out Target Field today. (We are splitting a quarter season with Chris and Katie and my folks.)

First, we checked out Bob Norland's seats, in section 126 (along the third base line, toward left field). Here are some pictures from Bob's seats.

We found our seats (in section 102, on the opposite side of the field from Bob's seats) and took some pictures.

Here's a picture of the huge new video board at the park, one of the biggest in the league.

Here's the Metropolitan Club, a big space reserved for season-ticket holders overlooking the first-base line that will offer a buffet and a-la-carte menu.

Here are "Minnie and Paul." This feature will light up at night when a Twin hits a home run.

We are looking forward to opening day!

Camera Class

On Saturday, March 20, we finally took the first part of a two-part class at National Camera Exchange to learn more about the DSLR camera we bought this past summer to capture cute pictures of Cece. We learned all about camera anatomy, aperture, shutter speed, and ISO (at least enough to know how to spell those things).

The instructor told us to go home and practice using the camera on the new, less novice, settings. Here are some pictures Bridget took after we got home.

I can pull myself up

About a week ago, Cece mastered pulling herself up. It was a Friday afternoon and Bridget was home with Cece. She'd been working on her new skill all week, but nailed it on Friday when she managed to pull herself up from her tummy by pulling on her monkey jungle gym. She now can pull herself up to standing on just about anything. Here she is in her crib. She managed to do this today. Thank goodness we lowered her crib a few weeks ago! It's truly amazing at how much she's growing and changing. She's no longer a tiny little baby! We're watching her constantly because she's now getting into everything, inch-worming around, pulling herself up, sometimes falling down. She's very much into doing things for herself! Practice makes perfect. Plus, look at how proud she is! Way to go kiddo!

Water Baby

Cece has been taking swim class at Como Elementary the past few Saturdays. It's a therapeutic pool, so it's nice and warm. The class scene is a bit crazy, with dozens of toddlers and babies. She's a natural born swimmer and loves the water. Splashing, kicking, floating. Class is during her morning nap time, so she sometimes decides to catch a few Z's as she's floating around. Cece even has a friend in class, Treva. Treva's parents were in birth class with us at Fairview and Treva was delivered a few days after Cece. Small world. Class goes through mid-March, so she'll be all set for future aquatic activities this summer! Highland pool, here we come...now where's the 90 degree weather???

Changing so fast

Cece has changed so much in the last few months. She's really mastered her mobility, taking her inch-worm skills to new high-speed levels. She's all over the house! Kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms - so many places to explore.

Also, she's really become a good eater! She's starting to really get the hang of dinner time, feeding herself tasty finger foods like Tater Tot Hotdish (a favorite), Veggie and Rice Stir-Fry, and cereal with blueberries!

We just love her personality - always laughing, exploring, acting silly. She has a special squak/squeek she does when she sees someone she likes - Ole, Mommy, Daddy, her cousin Briton. Too cute (perhaps we're biased).