End of a Decade

On the 29th of December, while Grampa Dave and Grandma Marcia entertained Ian… See this image larger.

Seth seemed to keep himself busy, watching the fish go by! See this image larger.

Grampa Dave takes Ian for a “drag” around the house despite being very tired. (Did I mention they are building next to us?) See this image larger.

There was fun to be had in warmer places as well! Sorry about the lack of Grandma Marcia pictures in this entry… she was a blur, doing things around the house! Thanks again!!!) See this image larger.

By this time Ian had seen his sister many times. Was this maybe the first time Nina got a clear vision of her brother? See this image larger.

…and an even clearer vision of Lucky! See this image larger.

Soon we prepped Nina for her first trip to the physician’s office. See this image larger.

As Dr. Bultje was not in town when Nina was born, this was their first meeting. See this image larger.

Our physician looked at Nina and said her Jaundice was maybe a “15 out of 20” where “20” required hospitalization, and anything above 15 would mean it was time for the bili blanket to bring the number back down. See this image larger.

We were at Home Depot purchasing a new clothes washer when I got the phone-call that Nina’s number was actually an 18 out of 20, and that the bili blanket was on its way to our house. This is what it looks like, it is a flat pad at the end of a length of optical cable, that becomes lit when the machine is on. The light helps her break down and get rid of the stuff that’s making her yellow with jaundice. Sunlight also helps, which is why that “soak up the sun” song was appropriate for the video. See this image larger.

The blanket did not make for a good sleeping surface, so Nina was up a lot. She wanted to be held. Everybody took shifts throughout the week. On the 30th, while Ian was being watched, it was time for Nina’s cardiologist appointment. I ignored about 32 signs that said to turn off my cell phone so that I could snap this picture. Look at how many sensors they put on her! See this image larger.

This was also the appointment where a 45 minute ultrasound in silence was followed by the prognosis that Nina’s heart had some serious issues, and the potential for a Down’s Syndrome baby was first described. The cardiologist drew out this picture for us and compared it to a drawing of a normal heart. See this image larger.

After the cardiologist appointment, we went to our physician’s for a quick blood-draw to check Nina’s levels, however our physician was able to get us in to see somebody at the hospital to do both the jaundice AND chromosome test. The jaundice test put Nina up at 19.6… (as you’ll see this turned out to be the peak, and her numbers came down over the next few days, and the chromosome test results took a long, long week, and came back “normal.”)

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