http://LillianTheBeautiful.blogspot.com

Now that Lillian is home, we are posting all updates and pictures of her at...

http://LillianTheBeautiful.blogspot.com

And We're Off!!!!!!!!

9/15/2010 8:55PM CST:

And we're off... OFF OF OXYGEN! Off of pulse oximeter. Off of caffeine for apnea. Off of the NG feeding tube on nearly all feedings. Off the isolette and into a crib.

All photos of Lillian are at 74 days!

Dads are both so exhausted. Life at the NICU has been an ordeal unlike any other we've faced. Thanks to the wonderful neonatologists, surgeons, neonatal nurse practitioners, nurses, respiratory therapists, social workers, discharge planners, cardiologists, and staff that have made such a trying time a little easier.

7 Weeks Old, 50 days at NICU

8/22/2010 9:20AM CST:
Lillian is now 7 weeks old, which makes day 50 at the NICU. Robbie has been staying in California for nearly 8 weeks at this point. Lillian is 1,414 grams - 3lbs 2oz and has had a run of very strong days. We are working towards a discharge date around end of September, and being able to fly her home the first week of October.

Pictures of Lillian at 48 days old. And the screen we've been watching for 7 weeks now... Heart rate, respiration rate, blood oxygen saturation...

Lillian - Now 6+ Weeks Old, 31 Weeks Corrected Gestational Age

8/17/2010 11:55PM CST: Photos of my last trip to California. Pictures are of Lillian at 39-43 days...

5 Weeks (+1 day)

8/9/2010 8:15PM CST:

I leave for the airport at 4am tomorrow to go see Lillian! Pictures below were taken 8/7/2010.

August 4th

Lillian is one month old today. Happy one month!

4 Weeks Old

8/1/2010 11:35PM CST: Pictures courtesy of Jessie's iPhone. Many thanks.

Baby Lillian 7/24-7/28 Visit

7/30/2010 10:55AM CST:
Part two of pictures from last visit.

Graduation

7/30/2010 10:45AM CST:

Visit to CA - 7/24 - 7/28

Lillian's progression back from CPAP to nasal canula, and her first outfit. Lillian has now been at NICU for 27 days, and we're hoping to keep the track record of very strong days...

Hi, You're Early.

Welcome Lillian Kirk Warren, born on Sunday, July 4th at 12:20PM PST. She was very eager to get here, weighing 1lb7oz, but has shown amazing strength and perseverence. Here's what happened:

• June 28th: Jessie has some bleeding and goes to hospital. Doctor identifies some dilation of the cervix and has her transported by ambulance to nearby hospital with Level III NICU. Jessie begins hospitalized bed rest.







• June 29th: Mike and Robbie pick up Michelle, Robbie's best friend to help Mike pack up the condo and move into the new house.







• June 30th: Robbie flies to California to keep Jessie company. Mike and Michelle pack.







• Waiting and hoping that everything goes well...







• July 4th: Mike's Birthday. Jessie has more discharge while on-call doctor is on rounds. Sono shows that the amniotic sac has protruded into an hourglass shape. Small blood clot is noticed at edge of placenta indicating possible small abruption. Emergency C-Section. Lillian's Birthday now too. Lillian came into the world quite vigorous and fiesty.







• July 6th: Mike does walk through of new house.







• July 7th: Mike closes on new house. Michelle and Mike work with movers to get everything done in one day.







• July 8th: Finally, Mike, Robbie and Lillian are all together in California.

Now, Robbie is staying in an apartment in California near the hospital during Lillian's NICU stay. Mike works 10-12 days stretches in St. Louis with 5-6 day visits in California in between. Lillian has continued to amaze the staff with her strength and progress.

Many Things in One Day

6/16/2010 7:15AM CST:

Left picture of 2D ultrasound from 6/11/10. All systems and baby's health moving along perfectly.

Many things happening at the same time. We just received an email that the parental judgment came back from court, and certified copies are being sent to the attorney. The attorneys will be facilitating the pre-birth order and birth certificate with the hospital.

I also received my loan commitment letter yesterday to prepare to close on the purchase of our new house.

We are definitely preparing for Bebe Girl now. We are getting organized for our registry, and picking out the zillion things we will be needing to prepare. Even though time passes slowly, it doesn't seem like we have much time left to get ready!

Doctor Says...

6/13/2010 8:50AM CST:

The OB appointment went very well. According to the doctor, we are definitely having a girl. She had a heartbeat of 165. All organs and systems looked great. She is 15oz as of Friday. Everything looks perfect so far! Pictures to come soon...

Looking In

6/11/2010 8:35AM CST:

Regular ultrasound at OB appointment will be this evening... Can't wait to see more!

So Much To Buy

6/4/2010 9:10PM CST:

Now that we're at 21 weeks pregnant, it does begin to seem like there is a lot left to do in a little bit of time.

There is an OB/ultrasound appointment on Friday, June 11th, at nearly 22 weeks. We'll wait to hear word back on that before we start buying things in pink.

We're also almost exactly 1 month from the close/move into our new house. We're anxious to buy all of our baby stuff today, but we know better. We're doing our best to hold off on the shopping and not accumulate any more things until we're in the new house - no need to move it all twice. It doesn't mean in the interim, we can't do some fun window shopping and list-making!

Half Way

5/30/2010 9:20AM CST:

After this weekend, we are halfway through the pregnancy. Soon, we'll be laying out pounds of breadcrumbs to tempt the stork!

For Memorial Day Weekend, we will probably go to historic Kimmswick for brunch and their famous levee high apple pie, maybe watch a True Blood Season 2 Marathon, make some dinner, and enjoy a beautiful day!

We are also now 5 weeks from the close on our new house, still pending final agreement on the inspection addendum. We should have final contract by end of this week!

We Are Homeless, and That's a Good Thing

5/28/2010 7:27AM CST:

Left Picture: Yay!

Yesterday morning at 8:30AM, we closed on the sale of our house in Louisiana. After one year of sitting on a very weak housing market, the house is finally no longer our responsibility.

Today, we have a contractor bidding on roof replacement on the house we have under contract in Defiance, Missouri. We hope to lift the final contingency (inspection contingency) within a week. We are moving towards a close date of July 8th to purchase the house. We are looking forward to finally nesting in our new home.

A Gift!

5/24/2010 8:50AM CST:

Photos of the first girly clothes for Bebe, a gift from my buddy Melissa. So cute... little Righteous Bebe!

Old House, Baby Girl, New House

5/24/2010 8:30AM CST:

Left photo of Jessie's pregnancy bump at about 19 weeks. Baby girl inside.

Today, we are waiting for the Title company to notify me of the payoff balance due so I can wire money to close on my house. The sale is now scheduled for Noon on Thursday... 3 more days.

As soon as we have that finished, we will look to move up our close date on the new house, and begin to prepare to move. We are very much looking forward to a very active distraction which occupies our thinking (other than waiting for time to pass).

We are very excited that we are having a girl, getting rid of the old house, and buying the new house! So many changes, but so little to do in the meantime... except wait.

It's a Girl!

5/19/2010 11:40PM CST:

Left picture of today's ultrasound. We are having a baby girl, and we are exactly 5 months from our due date of 10/19/2010.

See the ultrasound and 3D ultrasound at this link:

http://www.AnticipationBabyView.com/PeekABabyCA/Baby1005191944.asf

The Question

5/18/2010 8:50PM CST:

Left picture: We will know by this time tomorrow. We'll be due in exactly 5 months.

Time Keeps on Tickin' (Slowly)

5/16/2010 9:34PM CST:

Left photo of view from beach house in Folly Beach during recent visit to South Carolina. Great to have family with houses with views!

I had a great visit to SC where I saw friends, lots of family, went to a wedding, and had a chance to unwind.

Now that I'm back, it's been a huge amount of catching up. We spent weeks looking at houses online, did a whirlwind tour of homes, and are under contract for our next house. Tomorrow morning, we will go to the house for inspection. This should complete addendums to lift the contingency on the inspection portion of the contract. Our Louisiana house closes in 9 days. We have paperwork to complete our power of attorney to the title company to complete. Next week, I'm sure I'll have to wire a painful amount of money to pay the deficit and close on the sale.

Otherwise, time in the pregnancy seems to stand still. Now that we've finished the home search, we have a few weeks to wait to close and move. In the meantime, we wait for Bebe to grow, we wait for sale of one house, we wait for the purchase of another. In June, my best friend Tara and her partner will be visiting us for a long weekend. I welcome the distraction, and the chance to see my buddy. Around this time, we'll also move into our new house. Until then, we do everything possible to make time go by. We are watching hours of TV on DVD (Heroes Season 3 at the moment, Lost Season 5 next, and perhaps Deadwood again, then maybe Friday Night Lights Season 4), running unnecessary errands, and keeping busy. I look forward to having a new house to occupy our time and thoughts... anything to speed up the clock. I couldn't imagine if it took 18 months to fully gestate a Bebe (Jessie could imagine that less).

From Robbie #2

5/13/2010 11:20PM CST:

"We bought a house. Yay. One step closer to being ready for the baby. I'm going to have a strawberry patch, and quilt a baby blanket, and you're going to buy me Tiffany lighting."

Maybe the pregnancy has made him delusional.

Our House Is a Very Very Very Fine House

5/13/2010 11:04PM CST:

Left photo of the house we are now under contract to purchase in Defiance, Missouri. Hello 3+ acres!

We are quickly approaching the sale date of our house in Louisiana on May 28th. Today, the title company began coordinating power of attorney for the act of sale and payoff balances for the existing mortgages.

As of yesterday, the sellers of the house we will be purchasing accepted our counter-offer. We are looking forward to our bright, 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath house with finished lower level, large deck, 3+ acres, large eat-in kitchen, separate dining room, vaulted master, main-floor laundry, very desirable location, 2 car garage, family room + den/office home!

We will find out Bebe's sex in 4 weeks, so we'll be better able to plan the nursery.

House House Go Away

5/5/2010 9:28PM CST:

The inspection went well, and turned up only very small items. In lieu of repairs, we offered to pay cash at close. After having contractors come by and give estimates on the work, the buyers accepted our counter. So we're now fully under contract, and counting down to closing day on May 28th.

We've been house shopping online and driving through areas for a few weeks now, and are scheduled on Saturday and Monday to do a blitz of home touring with our St. Louis realtor. We are ready to nest!

The Test I Can't Study For

4/26/2010 11:36PM CST:

Left photo of what I fully expect will happen tomorrow.

Our house in Louisiana has now been under contract for 6 days, and tomorrow is my last big hurdle in the process: Home Inspection.

Fingers definitely crossed!