elias ward

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY ELIAS!!

2009-07-29T11:35:00.004-04:00

today elias is one year old...unbelievable! one year ago we were sitting in the hospital room anxiously awaiting his arrival, looking forward to meeting him for the first time.

since that time, he has provided us with so much joy, love, and laughter. we love you buddy and can't wait to enjoy many more years with you. we thank god constantly for the gift that you are and pray that he will continue to work in your life and help you live the life that he created you to live. happy birthday elias!

(we'll have some pictures from today posted soon)

10 months old - may 29th, 2009

2009-05-30T22:07:00.013-04:00

mother's day with mom and dad at the park

2009-05-10T21:59:00.027-04:00

we had a perfect day today celebrating mother's day together. we went to foster park where we took the following pictures of natalie and elias. make sure to click on the pictures for a larger view!

random month nine pictures...

2009-05-10T21:43:00.004-04:00

happy mother's day mommy!

2009-05-10T00:01:00.002-04:00

happy mother's day mommy! i love you and appreciate you so much. you are the best mom in the whole world. thank you for all that you do for me - for feeding me (even when i don't want to eat), letting me sleep with you, changing my diaper, putting up with me when i roll around and make it impossible for you to dress me, entertaining me, holding me, loving me, and playing with me non-stop on your days off :-) i could not ask for a better mom than you!

love,

elias

9 months old - april 29, 2009

2009-04-29T16:32:00.008-04:00

nine months already! to think that there are only three months until elias is one year old is both crazy and sad. as much as we have experienced and gone through over the last nine months, it has gone fast. he is now crawling all over the place, pulling himself up to stand and shuffle his way around. he has such an amazing personality that brings us so much joy and happiness. at his nine month checkup he was 26 1/2 inches long (5 percentile), 18 pounds 2 ounces (15 percentile), and his head measured 18 1/2 inches (90 percentile). he celebrated his first easter with a cars easter basket filled with toys and some dissolvable yogurt bites in place of candy. one of his favorite toys has been the alphabet magnets that play music and the alphabet song. he has said both mama and dad, waves at us when saying hi or bye. he is eating more solids along with his formula. he absolutely loves to climb on anyone and anything. he likes to help us brush our teeth (although he doesn't like having his two teeth brushed much. he played at the grass for the first time, loves going to the park, and loves going on walks in his stroller. he loves to play outside, play hide and seek, and he bounces his head with music. finally, his favorite game to play is the game of mom or dad coming to get him.

florida pictures...

2009-04-07T15:07:00.048-04:00

8 months old - march 29th, 2009

2009-03-29T13:38:00.008-04:00

elias' eighth month was another great one. he has become very active - he loves to climb and squirm. he is up on his arms and legs, can rock, and can get to where he wants to get to - but he is not able to fully crawl yet. elias' first two teeth came in. they are so cute. we have so much fun laughing with elias...he is developing an amazing little personality with a great sense of humor. also during this month, elias took his first vacation. we went to florida for a week - which also meant his first plane flight, exposure to the sand at the beach and the ocean, and swim in the pool. he loved it...he is definitely an outdoor kind of guy. and he is definitely a poop in the most inconvenient places kind of guy (he pooped on the plane - both times - and at several of the restaurants that we ate at).

7 months old - march 1st, 2009

2009-03-01T22:56:00.010-05:00

elias' seventh month was another adventurous one. it started out with his first major cold of the year (and of his life). it involved a pretty heavy cough, sore throat, and a very plugged and runny nose. it lasted for about two weeks off and on again. with that came some really bad eating, and then following up the cold was his six month checkup where he received another round of shots. this made his eating even worse. we were at a point of despair because we could not get him to eat and he had actually lost weight over the course of week (between when we took him in because he was sick and his six month checkup). we talked to the doctor about doing some additional tests, and even thought about taking him to some specialists in indy. things started to turn around though, and by the end of the month he had started eating better...not great...but better. it was sufficient - including a decent amount of formula and some veggies and oatmeal to go with it.

it is clear that he is growing now. he is still a little guy, but he is growing. he has been teething still, but there are no teeth yet. he has also been saying a lot more consonants lately - even sputtering out a "da da" at times. in fact elias even waved at tyler and said da da at the airport before his trip to israel. he is as squirmy as ever - close to crawling and he loves to climb all over the place. he laughs with us - and he loves taking showers and getting splashed in the face. what an amazing joy he is!

six month checkup

2009-02-03T23:02:00.002-05:00

elias went in for his sixth month check up yesterday. developmentally everything looked great. he is progressing just like he should. he is still having some problems with his eating. the doctor was a little unsure as to what the cause of this continuous issue is. we suspect that reflux is still a major part of the problem. but we are planning to check into other options if things persist.

his height was 25 inches (5% - really short for his age...which is no surprise considering the source). his weight was 15 pounds 4 ounces (5% - not very heavy for his age, but average when his height is taken into consideration). his head size was 17 3/4 inches (75% - he has a huge head...as the doctor said, he is all brains).

again, it is crazy to think that elias has been with us now for the past six months. please continue to keep him (and us) in your prayers as he continues to grow and develop.

6 months old - january 29, 2009

2009-01-29T21:46:00.014-05:00

wow! six months old already! the five months old to six months old transition went really fast. it was a great month (as usual) with a lot happening. during the past month elias really began to roll a lot more. he has also mastered sitting up straight - which is so fun for us to watch, and it is great for him to be able to play with some of his toys. he had his first major cold this month (nose, throat, cough, etc.) the result was poor eating and sleeping, which was not great, but he has survived. another first this month was that elias ate his first variety of vegetables. he loved peas, didn't care as much for the green beans, and hated sweet potatoes. he has continued to laugh and interact like he is a little man, and the fact that he has so much hair and wears such cool clothes makes him seem even more grown up. he loves water - showers, baths, etc. he also continues to love music (sometimes it's the only thing that can make him happy - especially his praise baby dvd). he has his six month appointment on monday, so we'll let you know how much he has grown.

random month six pictures...

2009-01-20T14:09:00.009-05:00

5 months old - december 29th, 2008

2008-12-29T23:30:00.007-05:00

elias is now five months old. during month five he celebrated his first christmas, with multiple family christmas get-togethers. he also made his first trip to coney island - a family tradition at christmastime that he will be a part of for many years to come.

as far as growth and development, we are not exactly sure how much he weighs or how long he is - we have actually been able to avoid trips to the doctor this month...hurray! so we have not had a weight check. he is obviously growing though. eating has been getting easier and easier. he is eating more with less complications. sleeping is still very tricky, but we have enough of a system in place for ourselves that it works for now. elias loves to watch us (an anyone else he sees) eat. it is clear that even though he has not been great with the formula, he will follow in the our footsteps as a food lover.

he is still teething, although no teeth yet. this makes for some challenging moments of crying and fussing for sure. with the teething comes tons of slobbering as well - as you can see in many of his pictures. elias is very squirmy, on the move whenever he is awake. he is difficult to hold most of the time because he wants to be moving...as a result, his horse jumper has been his favorite (and ours too :-) he continues to smile almost all the time and brings such joy to us and many others. when he giggles, it is unbelievably awesome!

picture with santa claus

2008-12-29T23:27:00.003-05:00

christmas get-togethers

2008-12-29T22:41:00.038-05:00

coney island...

2008-12-29T22:21:00.010-05:00

elias made his first trip last week to coney island. this is a yearly tradition that we do as a family...we travel to coney island to see the huge santa claus display and to eat some delicious coney dogs. poor guy could only drink his nutramigen though.

birthday party with friends

2008-12-29T22:12:00.003-05:00

on december 14th, we were invited to a birthday party by some friends that we met in childbirth class. they adopted their first child just before finding out that they were pregnant. so their adopted child was about 6-7 months old when their second child was born. their second child was born less than 24 hours before elias. so it was fun to spend some time with them, to celebrate the birthday of their one year old, and to get to know their little guy who is a day older than elias.

static hair...

2008-12-29T22:02:00.007-05:00

elias was playing in his bouncing horse and trying to watch tv...so we put a blanket over the back of the horse and the static caused his hair to stand up straight.

elias' first christmas get-together

2008-12-29T20:53:00.006-05:00

elias had his first family christmas get-together early in december. his first christmas gift was a chicago bears hat. it's a little big, but will soon be a perfect fit!

4 months old - november 29th, 2008

2008-12-01T23:53:00.017-05:00

elias is now four months old. he went for his four month check-up and weighed in at 13 pounds 12 ounces. this puts him in the 25th percentile for weight. he was 24 inches long, which puts him in the 20th percentile. and his head measured 16 3/4 inches, putting him in the 60th percentile. so he has a small body but a huge brain! in month four elias continued to grow and develop. he smiles all the time, coos, makes all sorts of vocal noises, and has giggled. we took him to see the doctor a few times - for swollen lymph nodes and a weird colored throw-up. the throw-up led to an upper gi test that thankfully came back normal. in month four, elias also celebrated his first thanksgiving. as far as play time goes - he definitely loves to grab on to toys, and if he can he tries to put them in his mouth. he has begun to teeth, so there is a lot of drool and some discomfort every once in awhile. he has rolled from his back to his stomach and from his stomach to his back. sleeping and eating are still tricky, but elias is growing and developing. we're looking forward to his first christmas in month 5.

watching charlie brown thanksgiving...

2008-11-25T22:22:00.003-05:00

playing in his horse jumper...

2008-11-25T22:20:00.002-05:00

riding in his car seat...

2008-11-25T22:18:00.003-05:00

riding layla and leaning on natalie

2008-11-25T22:13:00.007-05:00

random month three pictures...

2008-10-29T23:01:00.020-04:00

more wedding pics...

2008-10-29T22:28:00.003-04:00

here are a couple more pictures from matt and jami's wedding. we love our little family!

3 months old - october 29th, 2008

2008-10-29T17:02:00.013-04:00

elias is three months old today...during the past month, elias attended his first wedding, became a big football fan, continued making even more eye contact, he is able to follow whoever is talking, smiles so much, started his second medication for the reflux problem - it seems to be helping some but eating is still a real battle at times, he is still on nutramigen, is gaining weight though and growing in length, his last weigh in put him at 12 pounds 7 ounces, his eye color is still developing, he definitely knows his mom and dad, he began watching the "your baby can read" videos, began wearing number two diapers, carved his first pumpkin, wore his first halloween costume, went bowling, is very close to giggling, and is officially the most photographed baby ever!

pumpkin pics...

2008-10-28T15:33:00.008-04:00

fall pictures...

2008-10-15T23:43:00.020-04:00

wedding...fall...breakfast...big boy pics

2008-10-06T20:56:00.012-04:00

elias continues to grow - we took him in for a weight check today and he weighed 11 pounds 8 ounces. we had an awesome veg day today - napping, smiling, shopping, and enjoying each other so much. today was actually a real blessing and gift to us as elias was very content the entire day...praise god. tomorrow he will be 10 weeks old. enjoy the pictures below.

elias having fun with uncle joel

2008-10-06T20:46:00.001-04:00

enjoy the video!

2 months old - september 29th, 2008

2008-09-29T22:53:00.007-04:00

today elias is officially two months old - it is hard to believe. at his last appointment he weighed 10 pounds 7 ounces. so we are guessing that he weighs about 11 to 11 and a half pounds right now. his second month was less eventful than his first month, which we are thankful for. he is growing like he should and eating better. there are still moments when we have some flare ups, but things are much better.

in month two elias began to chunk up a little bit. he has cooed (not sure if i spelled that right) a lot lately, and he has been smiling like crazy. he still loves to look at lights and ceiling fans (who knew that we didn't really need all the cool toys - just let him look at lights and fans and he is great). we are still trying to develop sleeping patterns, but we do know how to get sleep when we really need it. elias has started to like his swing a lot more. he also likes going for walks in his stroller - thanks to his grandmas.

he's a snuggler - just the way we like it. and in month two he watched his first notre dame and chicago bears football games. he attended his first wedding reception and loved the music and lights. he visited his friend evan when we had dinner at the baker's. he is such a gift and blessing to us. we are so thankful for him. we have some additional pictures that we will try to post soon.

2 month checkup

2008-09-20T15:13:00.004-04:00

even though elias won't be 2 months old for another week or so, we took him in for his two month checkup on friday. everything looked great. he is developing really well according to the doctor, and his growth has also been good. he is 21 1/2 inches long (very short in comparison with other babies, but good for him - and good considering he comes from the ward and spaw families). he also weighed in at 10 pounds 7 ounces - which was a six ounce gain from monday when he weighed 10 pounds 1 ounce. we weren't looking forward to him getting several immunization shots, but besides a little crying he did really well. we will have a full two month update on september 29th with his two month picture.

almost 2 months old...

2008-09-20T14:41:00.040-04:00

elias loves israel

2008-09-11T16:34:00.003-04:00

here is elias playing with some of daddy's israel stuff in his office at church on wednesday night...can't wait to take elias there sometime to see the biblical lands and visit leor and his family!

watching the nd game with mom...

2008-09-11T16:33:00.004-04:00

picture of elias with mommy during the notre dame game last week. his daddy really missed him while he was at the game!

I Love My Dad

2008-09-07T21:57:00.001-04:00

(Elias asked his mom to communicate the following message about his dad): To an amazing guy who watches football games with me... reads books to me... takes naps with me...snuggles with me... misses me when he's away and loves me to death. He's my role model, I love him and I'm so glad he's my Dad.

speechless...

2008-09-05T14:36:00.001-04:00

pictures like this just leave us speechless. elias is amazing!

hanging with dad...

2008-09-05T14:34:00.001-04:00

since monday was a holiday, we were able to spend friday together as veg day. i have loaded some pics. the first one is of elias getting ready to watch rudy - in preparation for his first notre dame game tomorrow.

one month old - august 29th, 2008

2008-08-29T21:07:00.010-04:00

elias is officially one month old today. we love him so much! his first month has been an adventure - starting with the first week in the hospital and then followed up with a short stay in the nicu. since then we have been trying to figure out what makes him uncomfortable at times - gas, reflux, constipation, milk allergy??? despite all of that...he is amazing. he continues to grow, changing so much in just one month. we think he weighs about 9 1/2 to 10 pounds. he definitely recognizes natalie and me, loves to look at lights, lifts his head with his strong neck, smiles occasionally, sleeps with his arms by his head, has rolled from his stomach to his back, loves music and noise, and is a huge cuddler (which we love). we can't imagine life without him.

four weeks old

2008-08-25T23:42:00.029-04:00

more elias pictures - watching his first bears game with dad

2008-08-22T21:52:00.006-04:00

three weeks old

2008-08-19T00:04:00.032-04:00

elias is already three weeks old - crazy! he is eating well (like a ward) and gaining weight. we took him in to weigh him last friday...he weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces. he is also filling out and getting a little chubbier. he makes us laugh often and we are amazed at how much he is changing each day. enjoy the pictures from his third week of life. there are lots of them this week!

looking cool in calvin klein shirt

staring at mommy

sweet hair style

snoozin

having fun with mommy

always sleeping with his arms up

still sleeping with his arms up

leaning on daddy

getting loved on by mom

the fam

the fam at culvers

taking a nap

ready for notre dame football

one of his favorite places

getting ready for bed

"not another picture!"

same as above

makes you want to snuggle

ornery

playing with dad

holding his bottle

tummy time

looking at mom

looking at dad

burping with grandma holly

yawning with grandma holly

going for a stroller ride

stroller ride

two weeks old

2008-08-11T22:33:00.013-04:00

ditka...polish sausage...bears

2008-08-11T22:28:00.004-04:00

2 week checkup

2008-08-11T22:23:00.002-04:00

we took elias to his pediatrician this afternoon for his two week old checkup. the doctor did a very thorough checkup - especially following up elias' recent trip to the intensive care unit. everything was great. he looked good and sounded good. she said he had great color - no sign of jaundice. his weight was 7 pounds 1 ounce - so he has almost regained his birth weight, despite losing so much last week. he was 19 1/2 inches long (same as at birth). all of his reflexes were great. overall she deemed him to be a very healthy baby. we asked a lot of questions and felt like the doctor was very helpful in answering them.

we are supposed to go back on friday for another weight check, just to make sure he is continuing to gain weight. other than that, we don't go back again until his two month checkup.

we are home

2008-08-10T19:56:00.002-04:00

we got home around lunchtime today. glad to be back. elias is doing great - he even pooped tonight! we will have some more elias pictures to upload this week. thanks again for the prayers. by god's grace a very serious situation (high jaundice, major weight loss, dehydration, etc.) was overcome and elias is well.

going home

2008-08-10T08:33:00.003-04:00

they ran tests this morning to see if any of the complications had rebounded since we stopped treatment. his numbers were good (praise god) - still at around 7.2 for the jaundice test. as a result, we will be heading home soon. he still is not pooping real regularly, so we are going to keep an eye on that. he is eating well though, so theoretically things should start shooting out soon :-) we have a follow-up appointment with our pediatrician tomorrow. for now...it's back home for us though, and we couldn't be more excited.

weighing in at...

2008-08-09T13:37:00.002-04:00

they just weighed elias and he weighed 6 pounds 10 ounces - yeah! this is way up from the 5 pounds 13 ounces that he weighed when we came in. we should be coming home tomorrow unless something changes. we will keep you posted. for now...pray for food and poop.

a good morning

2008-08-09T07:58:00.002-04:00

they ran another jaundice test this morning, and elias' level was 7.24 (praise god). this is down huge and most importantly down enough to take him off the light treatment. they still have him hooked up to an iv at this point, but will probably start decreasing that throughout the day. with no light treatment they are going to test him again tomorrow morning (sunday), and if the jaundice has not rebounded much we should be able to go home tomorrow, with a follow up visit to our pediatrician on monday.

for now, he has been eating better (making his daddy proud). he also had a real nice poopy diaper this morning (also making his daddy proud - and who would have though that nice and poopy would be used together in a sentence like that). this is important because it helps him to flush the jaundice. we were able to hold him more this morning, which is great. he is sleeping right now, and so is natalie (i probably will be taking a nap again soon).

this is not the way we planned to begin things with the three of us, but god has been good. elias seems to be doing well, and as the great modern day philosopher kanye west said - that that don't kill me can only make me stronger. that was cheesy i admit, but i am going on very little sleep at this point - so please forgive me.

we are well and appreciate your thoughts and prayers. despite the ridiculous quote from kanye west, god really does use those things that challenge us in life to grow us if we let him. it's a lesson that natalie and i have learned many times in our lives - it's one of those lessons that we want elias to learn as well. thank god for his promise to us to cause all things to work together for our good as we love him. we love you lord and thank you for your goodness to us.

pictures from icu visit

2008-08-08T22:21:00.012-04:00

getting to hold him to feed him

looking at daddy

looking at mommy

soaking up the light therapy

soaking up the light therapy continued...

more light therapy

feeding time with the nurse

feeding time with mommy

working the pacifier

our hearts our relatively at ease...

2008-08-08T20:44:00.002-04:00

our neonatal doctor was in a little bit ago. our first meeting with him was very matter of fact. he explained the process from this point - if elias continues to progress, they will try reducing and then removing the light treatment later tomorrow. they will then need to monitor to see how his body responds without the treatment. if his numbers continue to go down - we're great. if they go up slightly - that is not uncommon and will need a little more monitoring, but still okay. if they go up drastically they will need to continue with treatment. he said that all things considered, we are probably here for 2-4 more days (leaving at the earliest on wednesday and the latest hopefully on tuesday). he said he thought things were heading in the right direction. we of course were concerned about long term affects, and he didn't have a lot of assurance for us. he said that he would be willing to do an mri if we wanted him to in order to scan for brain deposits.

then we ate dinner - and as with most dinners lately, having just had the conversation with the doctor, we had no appetite. we barely ate anything - which is unusual for me as any of you who know me know. we talked more about the mri and decided that we needed to ask the doctor a few more questions.

the second meeting with him was more personal, which we appreciated. we asked him to explain the numbers a bit so that we could get a better idea of what we were looking at. he told us that there had never been anyone with the jaundice level that elias had yesterday who ended up with brain damage. his level of 21.5 was well below the 35-45 range that he said they found the brain damage with. we asked more questions regarding whether or not it was possible that elias peaked in that range at all. he said based on a lot of different factors that he did not. he said if he was the parent, he would not be concerned. obviously there are no guarantees, but that was enough assurance to help us be more at ease tonight.

we are looking forward to hopefully getting all of this cleared up in the next few days, to go home and enjoy our big guy. we have a lot of work to do to get him ready for bears and irish football, so we need him in tip top shape :-) thanks for your prayers.

elias update...

2008-08-08T13:40:00.002-04:00

here is the latest on elias...he has been receiving treatment since last night. at 1 am this morning they did a blood test to determine his jaundice level. his level was 16.5 - down from 21.5 when he came in. then at 7:30 am this morning he was tested again and his level was 13.7 - which is obviously down more. this is a good sign. we still need to see that level continue to come down, but at this point it is a praise that things are moving in the right direction. he seems healthy and alert. we got to feed him and hold him this morning - talk about melting our hearts. we will continue the treatments and will keep you posted.

natalie and i are doing well. as i mentioned to her mom and dad last night, god has often allowed us to go through experiences in order to prepare us to come alongside of others who go through similar experiences. also, as i sat here last night i was reminded of so many things that i have preached on at lwc - most recently a message on security as part of our identity. i talked about the situational security god gives us through his promise to cause all things to work together for our good as we love him. i also was reminded of how many times we have talked at lwc about how these are the moments when we as christians can reveal our faith and hope in christ in the way we respond, the trust we display, and the peace we have. we are embracing this amidst the exhaustion this morning.

we did get some rest - we shared a three foot wide padded bench in elias' room. it was the most we have been able to snuggle for months (natalie was barricaded with pillows in our bed at home for the last four or five months of pregnancy). thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers. we will update more later.

prayers for elias...

2008-08-07T22:59:00.002-04:00

please pray...

we currently are at dupont hospital and plan to be here in the nicu for the next few days minimum.

little elias has a very high level jaundice and is in need of urgent attention, which he is now receiving. he is being poked and prodded as we speak in order to assess his current situation. in our conversation with a neonatologist, it was explained that his high jaundice levels are due to a few things...

first, natalie's blood type is o+, elias' type is a+...at times when the mother has this type of blood and the baby has this type of blood the mother's blood fights the antibodies of the baby - and this is what is happening in our case.

secondly, jaundice levels elevate with dehydration, this happens when the baby is not getting the milk supply that is needed. this is also a factor in his current situation.

overall, elias is being monitored by nurses in the nicu, has an iv with fluids to attempt to flush out his system of jaundice, is being treated through multiple lights and is being tested to fully assess his current needs.

we are praying that his current treatment will decrease the high levels (21.5) and that he would not #1) have any brain damage from the high levels, which can happen and #2) that he would not need a transfer exchange (full blood transfusion in order to discontinue the complications between natalie and elias' blood types).

we thought we would be home tonight...watching the bears game, unfortuntately we are here. we have hope that god will see our little man through all of this without complications and that god will restore our strength (as we are very discouraged and tired). it is very hard to see his little face covered by goggles and it's even more difficult to hear his cry when he has been poked with needles for multiple blood draws and ivs. we are just asking for your prayers during this time...

one week old...

2008-08-06T00:40:00.018-04:00

it's hard to believe that elias is already one week old. i have included below some pictures from his first week.

one week ago the adventure began...

2008-08-04T21:03:00.003-04:00

well it was one week ago that we began this adventure of going to the hospital, welcoming elias into the world, and getting used to the miracle of being parents. tomorrow he will be one week old already - time flies! things are going well. we took many pictures and some video in the hospital. the first day (wednesday) everyone was worn out - including elias. thursday and friday were more challenging as we tried to develop more of a routine with him between sleeping, smiling, and eating. the nursing went well - thanks to our amazing nurse ana! the doctor who checked out elias said he looked great - healthy as could be.

we got to come home on saturday...we couldn't wait at that point. it was so crazy to pull away from our home for a week (the hospital) to head to our real home for the first time with elias. saturday night was rough as we got settled in. last night was a little better. we are looking forward to a great night tonight. tomorrow we will post some pictures for his one week old day.

Pictures

2008-07-30T09:02:00.011-04:00

plan for the day

2008-07-30T08:12:00.003-04:00

what a night! elias was born at 10:35 pm - he is amazing. the grandparents were able to join us in the recovery room around 11:45 pm. the rest of our family who were here last night were able to see him in the post-partum room around 12:30 am. everyone left around 1:30 am. we got to sleep around 2:30 am, and woke up to feed elias at 5 am. we are in the post-partum room with him right now. as far as the plan for today, we are going to try to rest and get used to having our awesome elias with us. i will post some pictures as soon as i can force myself to leave the room and go to the lobby where there is wi-fi for my computer. we are going to plan on keeping the visiting to just family today since we have so many family that live nearby. we are asking that they wait until after 3 pm if possible. we want to invite friends who want to visit us here to do so on thursday or friday after 3 pm if possible. with the c-section we will be here until friday or saturday.

baby born - welcome elias

2008-07-30T00:44:00.002-04:00

for all of you who are still awake and checking...elias is here! born at 10:35 pm, 7 pounds 2 oz. 19 1/2 inches. healthy and happy and getting loved on like crazy. pics in the morning.

c-section

2008-07-29T21:37:00.000-04:00

no progress over last two hours. c-section to begin soon.

6 centimeters

2008-07-29T20:12:00.002-04:00

the doctor just checked natalie and she is 6 cm dialated. the baby has moved down some and it looks like there is a chance we may deliver rather than c-section. natalie is comfortable - epidural is a life saver. doctor will check again in an hour or two. if things take too long, elias will share a birthday with jaxon f. instead of christy g.

doctor was pleased

2008-07-29T18:54:00.000-04:00

doctor came and was pleased with progress, will continue to monitor.

5 centimeters

2008-07-29T18:25:00.003-04:00

natalie is measuring 5 cm right now, so it seems that things are still progressing. we think the water breaking and epidural have really helped move things along. with this progress we will continue to wait rather than jumping to the c-section at this point. with the dialation, we will still need elias to be small enough to fit and in the right position. so we will wait to see. hopefully all of you who are tuned in are ready for a long night.

4 centimeters

2008-07-29T17:21:00.002-04:00

the nurse just checked natalie and said she was 4 cm dialated. so we will continue to wait. it may be a later night than we thought.

epidural in place

2008-07-29T15:32:00.000-04:00

well the epidural is in place. it is offering much needed relief and hopefully will help with much needed rest. we will provide updates as we have them.

breaking of the water

2008-07-29T14:20:00.002-04:00

the doctor was here about a half hour ago. she checked natalie and said there was some change to her cervix, although it didn't open much more. it did move down enough to break natalie's water. she said this should help contractions and dialation. she will be back at 5 or 5:30 to check natalie again. she said we should be able know at that point whether or not delivery is an option tonight. if it is, we will wait. if not...c-section. regardless, the doctor said we will have the baby tonight either way. natalie's pain is increasing, so an epidural may be coming soon.

still waiting on the doctor

2008-07-29T12:53:00.002-04:00

we are still waiting for our doctor to come. natalie is continuing to have contractions. the baby's heartbeat is great. kara j. stopped by to visit natalie over her lunch break. now that i'm thinking about the visiting thing, just a quick thought about it - assuming we have a c-section tonight, we will probably try to keep visiting to a minimum after the baby is born, for tonight and probably tomorrow. i'm not sure what to expect. i will probably post some sort of visiting plan tonight when we have a better idea.

latest update

2008-07-29T11:54:00.002-04:00

so here's the latest since our last update. after natalie got settled this morning, i went home to shower quickly. when i got back, natalie was really uncomfortable with heavier contractions. we walked the halls a bit to try to take advantage of gravity - it really helped to give natalie some relief. the nurse just checked natalie though and she has not dialated any further - bummer. she is trying to rest now, still being induced, still having contractions, but beginning to prep herself for the c-section. the doctor should be here soon. we will update then.

our doctor was in

2008-07-29T08:02:00.002-04:00

our doctor just left. she checked natalie and said that there was no increase in dialation overnight. she is still around 2 cm. they have begun the inducing again this morning. natalie will be checked by the nurse in a couple hours. our doctor will be back to check her at lunch time.

discomfort - natalie's 1 am post

2008-07-29T07:03:00.002-04:00

at about 1 am i started having stronger contractions. who knows how dialated i am right now but my back is giving me a run for the money. between contractions are a nice break but the intensity of the contractions are definitely increasing and more often/longer. let's hope it's paying off and progressing my dialation. i have a hot compress on right now because i am refusing the nubane option, it's helping relieve a little bit. i'm tired and tyler is sleeping but i can't sleep through this...thank goodness for design star on hgtv at 3 am. gotta go here comes another one ehhhh. i just keep thinking he'll be here by this time tomorrow.

lots and little

2008-07-29T06:45:00.003-04:00

well it's 6:45 am and we are both up and awake (natalie has been for awhile). last night was a night with lots and a little. there were lots of bathroom visits for natalie, lots of contractions, lots of discomfort, and lots of informercials. there was little sleep, little relief, and little chance of me figuring out how to avoid falling off the couch bed. we got to bed around 11:15. natalie was up way more than i was due to the contractions, but it was fairly sporadic for both of us. we are excited about today though, because today we meet elias - awesome! the plan for now is that they will begin inducing again soon. our doctor will be in this morning, and if we don't have a baby by 4 pm today, we will have a c-section around 4:30 pm. natalie wrote a post at 1 am that i will upload shortly. have a great day and thanks again for your encouragement and prayers.

no baby yet...done for today

2008-07-28T17:50:00.002-04:00

so the plan for tonight is that we are taking a break from the inducing so that natalie can eat and rest. the nurse will do a few things to try to help tonight. we are going to eat and relax and get ready for tomorrow. we should get started around 7 am. we will update then, and will also update if anything changes tonight. thanks to all of you who followed along with us today!

2-3 centimeters

2008-07-28T16:37:00.004-04:00

the nurse checked natalie about ten minutes ago. not a lot of change. she is 2-3 cm dialated. we moved her to the rocking chair to see if that will help move things along. our next check may be with the doctor. i think natalie may be a little worn out from sitting in the bed all day. the contractions have been a little more uncomfortable.

no changes...just more contractions

2008-07-28T15:09:00.001-04:00

no changes at this point. natalie has continued to have contractions. we do have a few visitors right now - holly, joel, my dad.

2 centimeters

2008-07-28T13:57:00.002-04:00

the nurse just checked natalie and she is currently at 2 cm dialated. the baby has still not moved down much, so we are hoping that continued contractions will help with that. we just finished watching the movie, wild hogs. now natalie is watching a baby show on discovery. i told natalie this is like a date day together - easy for me to say :-)

contractions

2008-07-28T12:42:00.002-04:00

so the inducing has resulted in some contractions. no report at this point as to how these have affected anything, but there have definitely been some contractions.

iphones and teddy grahams

2008-07-28T11:59:00.002-04:00

so far the iphones have been our main time burner. natalie has been reading blogs with hers. i have been checking email with mine. we are now watching i love lucy. good heart rate still - up and down and up and down! no contractions yet. i just enjoyed some free teddy grahams. unfortunately natalie is limited to clear liquids only.

inducing has begun

2008-07-28T11:12:00.003-04:00

we thought that we would probably be settled and begin inducing around 11 am. we were right on schedule. natalie's iv is in and the inducing has begun! elias' heart rate has been great. everything has been easy going and stress free so far. we will let you know how things progress. we are currently watching jon and kate plus 8.

getting settled in at the hospital

2008-07-28T09:52:00.002-04:00

natalie is all dressed up in her fashionable hospital gown. we are getting settled in and will begin inducing soon. the room is great, i am hoping to watch sportscenter all day (not likely though :-)

waiting at the doctor's office

2008-07-28T08:52:00.001-04:00

we are sitting in the doctor's office waiting room getting ready to meet with the doctor. the plan is to go to the hospital from here. we will keep you posted.

last night at our house without him...

2008-07-28T00:05:00.000-04:00

well it is 12:06 am and we are going to bed for the last time at our house before we will have elias with us. we can't wait! we will have updates for you when we get rolling for the day - especially for v.t. :-)

planning to induce...

2008-07-24T09:14:00.000-04:00

we are going to be updating this blog in order to let all of you know the latest related to elias' birth. I will be updating from the hospital on monday. we are planning to induce at this point, unless something changes. as I mentioned on our personal blog, according to the doctor we will try this for 1-2 days. then at that point, if elias has not been born, we will have a c-section. again, check back here for updates, and feel free to help us pass the information on to anyone who might be interested.