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.