Nell Felicity

A tiny beauty, an answered prayer, a miracle, Nell Felicity was born October 3 at 6:36 pm (6 lbs 9.8 oz, 21")! 

 She's perfect and we simply cannot wait to trade the Facetime visits for a real one!

One of these things is not like the others

Can you see the difference?

Welcome Grandma H!

Grandma Lois joined us on Friday and will be helping out for the next 3 weeks. We're excited to have her, especially Natalie & Audrey!

Skittle and Dot

Natalie and Audrey met for the first time yesterday!  Since Audrey graduated from her isolette to a crib she's now allowed to travel to the NICU's family visitation rooms, one of which has a window into the waiting area.  (Siblings under 12 can't go inside.)  Natalie has done an amazing job understanding that she has a sister (since she'd never actually seen her), that her name is Audrey, and she was excited to finally catch a glimpse.  She pointed out Audrey's nose, eyes, hair, and fingers.  Glad we have our quality control expert. :)

My mom says that she has the 2 best girls in the world but she has to fight me for that claim now.  My heart was full watching these 2 yesterday.

Open Air

Audrey's been fattening up, and this morning she was given approval to sleep in an open crib!

It's very reassuring to see her out of the isolette...she feels less like a science experiment and more like a baby girl.

She's back to her birth weight, and if she maintains her eating & body temperature, we'll be able to show her off through a small porthole near the NICU waiting area (Yep, just like orangutans at the zoo.).

Thanks for your prayers; we look forward to showing her off in person soon!

Audrey This Week

Audrey continues to make good progress every day. Highlights since our last post:

- She's up to 36 mL of food (her current max - just over an ounce) every 3 hours and is tolerating it well so it's also being fortified with extra calories and protein to aid weight gain.

- She's eating some of her 36 mL from a bottle a few times a day. Learning how to eat is her biggest remaining hurdle.

- Her IV was taken out on Friday which means that Grandma and Grandpa can finally hold her. She's now only left with a feeding tube and monitors!

- Her weight today was 3 lb 15.4 oz so she's almost back to birth weight (4 lb 0.7 oz). When she gains weight consistently for a few days in a row she'll be moved out of her isolette and into a bassinet.

- She's making eye contact when we hold her. We have a feeling she's plotting how to wrap us around her finger. Shhh - don't tell her we already are!

Bath Time

Mom & Dad got to give Audrey her first bath today! Like Natalie, she wasn't too sure at first, but the close resemblance to a hot tub and day spa put her back in her comfort zone.

Hands On

As posted elsewhere, Audrey got her IV out Friday morning, so she was finally able to get some hands-on time with some very eager Grandparents.

She's impatient for Grandma Lolo (Holley) to visit soon!

Ready For Her Close-Up

We've had lots of requests for pictures of Miss Audrey, especially since the NICU limits visitors. You can find an album on our photo site with lots more than just what we've posted here so far. Below is one from this morning.

Audrey went off all respiratory support yesterday and is doing wonderfully with her breathing. She's making great progress and is now doing some of her eating from a bottle instead of exclusively the feeding tube. Her feedings are being increased by 2 ml every 6 hours. Now she needs to focus on digesting all of the food at each feeding and building up stamina at the bottle. Given her genetics we have great faith in her ability to do this!

2 Days Old

Audrey was awake tonight for her dinner feeding so we got a little video of her wiggling around. No wonder she kept Erin up at night!

Peekaboo!

I see you with my big beautiful blue eyes

Audrey Rose Deschane

We welcomed Audrey Rose into our growing family at 05:04 on January 21st. She weighed 4 lbs 0.7 oz, and measured 17" long (much longer if you stretch out her feet - they look like waterskis!).

Audrey is very excited to meet her Big Sister, cousins, and all of her wonderful family & friends! Unfortunately, that won't be for a few weeks while she rests up at the local spa (aka hospital NICU). Natalie's waiting impatiently to teach her Sis important things like how to wear enough beads and tell Grandma "cookies please."

Like her big sister, Audrey's petite but getting high grades for everything she's supposed to be doing, and wowing all the nurses with how cute she is. Mom's feeling wonderful & Dad is drawing up plans for a state-of-the-art "No Boys Allowed" security system.

Ready or Not!

We're excited to welcome Dot into our family and it looks like we'll get to a bit earlier than expected. I will be induced on Feb. 15 (37 weeks) at 7 am so we expect her arrival that day. (Original due date - March 8.)

Due to what may be a kidney issue or the beginnings of pre-eclempsia I have been on bedrest at home since the week before Christmas. We've had a schedule of family staying with us to help with Natalie. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to Linda, Emily, and my mom. Thank you also to our friends who've brought food and come to visit.

I now go to the OB twice weekly to make sure both Dot and I are safe. I will also see a nephrologist (kidney specialist) on Monday for some initial testing. A great team of doctors are keeping a close watch on over a dozen things for both Dot and myself and as long as they remain steady we'll proceed with our Feb. 15 induction. If anything changes we may get to meet our little gal even earlier. We're doing our best to let her bake a bit longer and praying for the safe arrival of our 2nd beautiful girl.

One pleasant side effect of our many trips to the doctor are weekly ultrasound peeks at the little one. Here are some from the past few weeks.

Profile shots


A hand

Our sassy girl sticking her tongue out

Creepy 3D pics



Now the race is on to decide on a name. We're taking suggestions! Email and text lines are open. Cash bribes may improve your chances. :)

Welcome, Calvin Gerard Deschane!

This Tuesday morning at 10:17 am Brian and Emily welcomed their first child, Calvin Gerard Deschane. He weighed 9 lbs and measured 21 in. After a bit of a stressful arrival and some time in the NICU he's doing well. We're so excited about our new nephew and are honored to have been asked to be his godparents as well. Congrats again Brian and Em, we love you, and we can't wait to see you 3 this weekend!

Welcome, Michael Robert Taylor II!

Our dear friends the Taylors welcomed their 2nd child this morning at 7:58 am, Michael Robert Taylor II. He was happy and healthy at 8 lb 12 oz and 21 in. We're thrilled for the Taylors and wanted to give Michael Robert his first shout out on our blog. We can't wait to meet you on Skype!

Congrats, Steve and Michelle - we love you!

Here we go again

Natalie's going to be a great big sister

don't you think?

Natalie Grace Deschane

We are very pleased to introduce Natalie Grace Deschane, born May 11th, 2009, at 11:10pm. She's a junior bantamweight at a lean 5 lbs 5 oz., with a good set of lungs and some red-carpet-ready attitude: the picture above was taken less than an hour after she was born. Everyone came home from the hospital this afternoon, and Mom and Natalie are healthy and happy; Dad is just realizing that he's now outnumbered by women...

Thanks for all of your well-wishes & prayers, and mosey on over to our photoblog to see a few pictures of Skittle with her visitors taken shortly after she joined us!

Ready or not, here she comes!

We found out on Friday that if Skittle doesn't decide to make her appearance on her own, we'll force her out! We'll be induced Thursday (May 14) at 7:30 am so we should be parents by the weekend - whoa! We're being taken very good care of here and we're REALLY excited to meet our daughter!! More updates to come as there's news...

Nursery Finished!

We've been pretty slow about posting, but we're happy to announce that Skittle's nursery is
finished. To see pictures of all of Erin's handi-work: handmade beadwork, striped walls, and frames for Skittle's initials (once we figure out a name!), click on the link to our photosite.

We've also posted some pictures of our recent convalidation ceremony; yes, we're already married, but since Erin has decided after a long year of study and prayer to join the Catholic church, we said our vows once more to one another to receive the sacrament of marriage in the Catholic church.

Skittle's a girl!

So we're a bit behind on the posts, but here's a picture from right before Christmas 2008 - Skittle's 18-week ultrasound! It's the first time that we can officially announce that we'll be welcoming a beautiful baby girl into our family in just a few more months. Enjoy!