Black and white Lily.

Momma and Lily.

Taking it easy.

Grandma and Lily.

She always holds her thumb.

Nap Time.















Duck Towel Lily.

Bath time and diaper changing - the worst part of Lily's day.

Little hand, big finger.

Auntie Ambree.















Sleepy smile.

















Wow!

















Big yawn.

Good news: Lily is home. Despite the small hiccup that we had with the white blood cells, etc., Lily was discharged from the hospital this morning about 9: 30 am. Her blood culture came back negative (there are no little nasties growing in her blood) and she has eaten and behaved quite well. We weren't too worried, but were relieved nonetheless. Melissa was also pretty glad to be getting out. When she started referring to the hospital as Shawshank I knew it was about time to get her out. I guess it basically came down to get busy livin', or get busy dyin'.

More pictures are to follow, check back in a couple days if you like.

Drum roll please....

Introducing the newest member of the Jake and Melissa Baldwin family,
weighing in at 7 pounds 14 ounces and standing tall at 22 and one half inches,
LILY CATHRYN BALDWIN!!!!

(And the crowd goes wild.)

16 September 2006 - 11:48 P.M.

Mother and baby are doing well. Lily has all of her fingers and all of her toes. She already has more hair than her old man. (She has been quite a celebrity among the nurses here because of it.) This was our second try to get Lily here. Saturday at about 2 pm Melissa noticed that she was leaking a little fluid. We'd been in the night before because of steady contractions, but were sent home because they weren't "intense" enough and Melissa was only dilated to a 1-plus. The contractions continued through the night and into the day until Melissa noticed the fluid. We went to the hospital and she had dilated to a 3. Dr. Larkin was on call and, given that Melissa was a couple of days past due (and perhaps little persuasion from Cyndee), he decided to break her water completely. We were both thrilled because at that point we knew that we would not be going home until Lily was on the outside.

Melissa progressed somewhat slowly at first and the staff expected that she would most likely have to endure and long labor. Fortunately for her, by the time she was finally dilated to a 6 things started to move quite quickly. We arrived at the hospital at about 4 pm and by 10 pm it was time for her to push. Melissa responded with vigor. She truly played like a champion yesterday. She pushed and pushed and pushed and nearly two hours later Lily made her triumphant entrance into the world. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice (which the doctors suspect could have contributed to a fairly drawn out pushing period). It didn't seem to affect Lily much, though. She didn't sustain any bruises or noticeable ill effects from the cord. She was pretty purple when she arrived and it took her a few seconds to cry. However, she warmed up quickly. She has already shown herself to be quite capable at making her displeasure known. On the positive side, Melissa has been able to nurse her a couple of times and I even got to change my first diaper ever. My streak is dead.

We are staying in Cottonwood Hospital in room 131. We will most likely be here until Tuesday. Lily's pediatrician noticed that she looked a little pale and she has had some minor difficulty maintaining her body temperature. The doctor did a CBC (complete blood count) and found that her white blood cell count was a little higher than normal, which can be an early signal of a developing infection. He has taken the precaution of starting Lily on a dose of antibiotics which will make it necessary for her to stay here until Tuesday. (We had originally planned to leave Monday.) The doctor assured us that all would be well and that he was simply being cautious. Either way, your prayers in Lily's behalf would be most appreciated. Other than that little hiccup, everything is going well. She is a beautiful little girl and I've already started to spread the word to the newborn boys in the area: keep your distance.

I've included a few other pictures that I like at the end of this post. Many heartfelt thanks to all of those who've offered prayers and well-wishes on our (especially Lily's) behalf. The support that we've felt has been tremendous. Your continued prayers on Lily's and Griffin's behalf mean a lot to us.

NO DICE.

Melissa is currently dilated to a 1. According to Dr. Terry, she needed to be at 2+ in order for him to induce labor tomorrow. We're pretty tired of waiting and I think that Lily is going to be grounded upon arrival. I'm afraid we're just going to have to wait. I hate waiting. We are scheduled to go into the hospital next Wednesday morning. Here is the good news: Dr. Terry is not going to push the due date back any further than that. Cyndee (my friend Greg's mom, and our nurse) seems to think that Melissa will go into labor before that, but at this point I've just about passed out from holding my breath. With all of my complaining one would think that I was the one with miniature human being living in my stomach. Well, Melissa isn't complaining so I don't know what to tell you. Someone's got to do it. Actually, she is doing a great job and I have nothing but good things to say about how she has managed her pregnancy from the very beginning. For the few of you who haven't already figured this out, I definitely married up.

Due to overwhelming public demand Melissa and I have decided to publish a sneak preview of the kids' room.


Special thanks to all those who contributed to their room. Many of the items that can be seen in the pictures were given to us by friends and family. We've also been able to borrow many things for them. That has been a great blessing for us and we are sincerely thankful. Also, many thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Baldwin and Grandma and Grandpa Harker for their help in getting the room ready. They contributed from the painting to the final decoration and their help was greatly appreciated. Lily and Griffin have not even arrived yet, but, as you can see, they are spoiled already.

HOSED.

Melissa is still not dilated at all. Therefore, Lily will not be making her debut tomorrow. She is such a diva and seems to love to keep people waiting. The worst part of this situation is that I must now show up for work tomorrow. Actually, the real worst part of this is that with no progress as of today, what to do next week, if there is still no progress, becomes a tough decision. Dr. Terry was not very definitive on that point, and acknowledged that there was no clear cut answer for that question. The plan is basically just to wait and see. Fortunately I'm a very patient person. I love the uncertainty. How exciting. (I'm not sure how well sarcasm comes across in print, but I've tried to make it pretty clear.)