Big Girl

Lyla went to the doctor today, and at 9 weeks old she is 90th percentile + for both height and weight. She's a very solid little baby and, like lots of breastfed babies she has many cute rolls of fat. Mark says she's going to be a softball player, and Mark calls her "Dinger" Biem. She's very strong and already on the verge of babbling, grasping effectively at things, and rolling over.

9 Weeks Old

We just returned from a visit to Altoona, visiting Lyla Joy (and, of course, her parents). She's just turned 9 weeks old. She was baptized on June 22 at the Altoona Cathedral by Father Alan. In addition on that day Katie was baptized, and Kris, Mark and I were all confirmed as members of the Church. It was quite a day. The most remarkable thing was that Father didn't know this was all happening until around mid-day. Luckily, Tammy from Altoona RCIA was fully informed and basically managed all the logistics. Father Alan was amazingly unflappable. Courtney (Cooper) is Lyla's Godmother and was present at the baptism. A big surprise to me was how many Biem's showed up for the ceremony. Uncle Bob, Uncle Ron, and the whole host of Biem's were present. It was very, very cool. I really love the Biem family. They're very cool people. Mark's brother Brian and his son Alex were also present, with Alex taking lots of random photography. After the baptism we went to Paesano's for lasagna. Cooper and Daniel got Lyla a beautiful blanking with her name stitched on it. Daniel got Lyla a book about a Golden Retriever who finds the Alabama game ball. LOL. I wonder if Lyla will become an Alabama fan.

Welcome Lyla!

Lyla Joy was born April 18, 2019 and Nason Medical Center in Roaring Springs, Pennsylvania. Apologies for not posting yesterday, but it was a pretty busy day. Kelsey, Mom and I slept in the Brown House (Kelsey in Lyla's Room, Mom in "Ron's Room", and me on the Living Room couch). Katie and Mark left the house at about 4:45 AM. Kelsey, Mom and I thought we would sleep in and go to the hospital in time for the birth, but we were all awake after Mark and Katie left. We were all way to excited to sleep. Katie's C-section was the first one of the day and was schedule to start at 7:30, but was delayed about an hour and a half. Mark kept us updated by text message and even texted from the Operating Room. Lyla was brought to the Nursery with Mark, but we were only allowed to look at her through a window, which we did for about an hour. Lyla is very strong and robust (and a little chubby, like her Mother was when she was born!). She was 19.5 inches long and weight 7 pounds, 13 ounces. She was soft brown hair with a funny little blonde spot of hair right at the top of her head. I've never seen anything like it. Lyla's additional visitors on her first day out in the world include Uncle Ron, Aunt Bernice, and Ricky, Jeremiah and his wife, and Brian, Colleen and Alex Biem. Katie is doing remarkably well, with relatively little pain from the operation. Lyla had a slow start learning how to nurse, but took off later to become a big eater. Newborns often only nurse for 10-15 minutes, but Lyla nurses for 30-45 minutes at a time and always seems to be hungry. Can't wait to see her again today!

April 18 approaches

Today is April 16, 2019. Kris has headed off to Altoona to spend a little time with Katie before Lyla arrives. She had this idea a few days ago, but her departure has been hastened by the fact that Katie is reporting odd symptoms. Her Braxton-Hicks contractions were persistent yesterday until they petered out after a walk, plus she reported "feeling weird" which really got the attention of Kris, a former Maternity Nurse (and of course Mother of 5). Kelsey and I plan to head out on Wednesday morning to be there for the scheduled April 18 C-section, but if there's any sign that Katie is going into labor, we'll leave sooner. We both already have our bags packed and are ready to hit the road at a moments notice. Kurt has to work at Starbucks, so he'll come out on Friday with Courtney and Daniel. Everyone will stay until Sunday, but Kris and I will head back on Monday. Everyone else is camping out in the Brown House, but Kris and I will be staying in the luxurious Altoona Super 8. Can't wait!

Confirmation

The timing of Lyla's birth has fouled up our confirmation for joining the Catholic Church. They usually do that on Easter Sunday, but we'll be in Altoona and Katie and Lyla will probably still be in the hospital. I hope we can arrange it so Katie, Mark, Mom and I all get confirmed together in Altoona on the same day they christen Lyla.....

Crying Katie

Katie texted the group today and asked when she went to the hospital to have Lyla, should she bring diapers, pajamas, etc... It seemed like a fairly simple question, but soon Katie was crying and Mom and Mark calmed her down. Her hormones are screaming out of control right now. It'll only get worse! LOL. We're busy making arrangements- Courtney and Daniel (aka "the Coopers") and Kelsey and Kurt (aka "the Rats") will stay at the brown house, Mom and I will stay in a hotel and Butters and Moose will get boarded back in Kentucky. I think Mom will stay longer to help Katie, but that's up to Katie and Mark and how everyone feels.

Future Birthday

Today we found out Lyla Joy's birthday. It will be April 18th, at around 1 PM. Lyla is breech (upside down) and too stubborn to turn around, so she'll have to come out by C-section. She's very active and always kicking Katie and poking her mother in the ribs. We've been very busy since we found out the date for the surgery today, making arrangements for everyone to get off work and come up to see the baby as soon as possible. Daniel is trying to get off work to come up early with Courtney, Kelsey has enough time off at David's Bridal to go our the 17th or 18th, and Kurt is trying to get time off at Kroger. For me and Grandma, we're just dropping everything and going. I've had a customer in the UK waiting to audit our facility in Hungary and they've been waiting to find out when my grandbaby will arrive so they can schedule the visit. They've had a good time kidding me about it. New babies make everyone happy.

Baby shower follow up

For the baby shower, I ended up getting books. I got Mark “Bringing Up Girls” by James Dobson. Kris and I’s parenting style was greatly influenced by Dobson, and I think Mark will like his simple, consistent, loving approach to parenting. I got Katie “The Strong Willed Child” because I have a feeling this is going to apply to Lyla. For them both, I got the set of Dr. Seuss books, which is some of the finest literature ever written in the English language. All in all, my first baby shower was fun. Colleen put on a great party. The only downside is I won the first game we played and after that I couldn’t try to win anymore because that would be weird and rude. I noticed Brian Biem was also attempting to lay low and not win. LOL.

Baby Shower

Lyla Joy's Baby Shower is coming up soon, on February 9. I'm planning to attend, but I have to admit I feel a little weird about it. I'm 52 years old and have never attended a baby shower before. Back in the day, this was a woman thing but I guess now it's different (I have to admit I harbor a feeling that only women think it's different now and all the men secretly feel uncomfortable). I'm wondering what gift to get. I'd like to buy something personal and helpful for Mark, but I'm lost on what that might be......

Ultrasound, January 7, 2019

April 19

On a whim, I looked up the moon cycle around Lyla’s due date. There’s is a full moon on April 19, so this is my prediction for when Lyla will be born. Full moons are actually strongly correlated to women going into labor and are often tracked in OB wards.