Day Three

Today can be summed up by Kirsten's comment this morning "these are the things that normal families get worked up about at the hospital." As you might be able to tell from the comment, Charlotte is doing fine but has hit her first "speed bump." Kirsten and Charlotte have been working very hard to get nursing down and while I couldn't be prouder of the two of them, Charlotte has lost a little bit of weight (she's down to 6 lbs 7oz) and her bilirubin levels have necessitated that she "go under the lights." Fortunately, the lights come in a handy-dandy blanket format that allows us to keep her in the room and to keep nursing. Here's a picture of our glowing baby:


The good news is that Kirsten continues to work extremely hard on nursing and so far, she hasn't had to supplement with formula. We're not entirely opposed to using formula but if possible, we'd prefer to nurse. Again, its something we're focused on but not really too worried.

We've gotten a ton of comments about Madeleine's photos in the room as its pretty obvious that Madeleine has matured a great deal since my last blog post. (sorry bout that.) In any case, Madeleine is staying at home keeping her nurses and grandparents (Kirsten's parents) extremely busy. We're ecstatic to report that Madeleine is making great progress in her swimming lessons (she started last week) and she's gotten to the point where she begs to be dunked under water. Its hard to imagine that a child that had her trach removed in late May could take to water so enthusiastically. I've been staying at the hospital with Kirsten getting accustomed to Charlotte and her healthy lungs (wow-- big difference) and we're looking forward to Thursday when we go home and start getting settled as a family.

That's all for now-- check out our picasa site here for additional photos of Charlotte. I've also posted photos of Madeleine (and family) from July 4th weekend out on Kirsten's parents boat. Hope you enjoy!

A New Addition

We'd like to take a moment to introduce the newest member of our family: Charlotte Elizabeth Bushey was born on Sunday, July 11th at 9:13am weighing 7lbs 3 oz and 21 inches long. Mom has been a champ throughout and all of my girls are doing pretty great. Here's a picture of the whole family:

That's not a bad looking family, eh? Check out our picasa site here for more pics.

Two Years? Really?

(This was supposed to post last night) Have two years really passed? I remember Madeleine's Birthday vividly including:- Picking Madeleine up for the first time. She was so tiny and I wasn't sure I should pick her up. The NICU doctors had to assure me repeatedly that she was stable before I'd pick her up.- Bringing her over to Kirsten and seeing their eyes meet for the first time. My wife is a natural mother and that first glance made it immediately apparent to me.- Wheeling her down the hallway with the NICU doctors- they let me push the bassinet as they were under staffed- and then signing her into the NICU. I had to ask the admitting nurse for the date and she smiled and said "March 3rd is a date you'll never forget." Boy was she right.- Running frantically back and forth between the post-op room where Kirsten was recovering and the NICU- desperately wanting to be with both my wife and daughter. - Running into my father-in-law in the hallway when dashing back and forth. Steve had somehow slipped past the front desk nurses to see if everyone was okay. (I'd made one frantic call earlier that day telling my in-laws that the baby had to be born emergently and then hung up after giving them the name of the hospital.) I'll never forget Steve's expression when I told him that his daughter and granddaughter were resting peacefully.- Calling my parents to tell them the news. I talked with my mom first and then called my dad. My poor dad was in Northern Michigan driving between towns as he was spending the week judging choirs at choral festivals. My mom had been calling him but the reception in Northern Michigan was so poor that he kept dropping calls and he didn't know if the baby was okay. He was pulled over on the side of the road when I reached him and I was so overcome with emotion that I couldn't get any words out. I remember standing in the visitor's waiting area blubbering and crying, trying to tell him that he had another granddaughter to worry about. It took me forever to get the words out and I can remember everyone in the waiting room staring at me while my dad was screaming through the other end of the line for me to calm down and talk. - I remember going upstairs with Kirsten to her room and making sure that she was settled for the night. I wanted to make sure that she was going to be okay but Kirsten finally told me that I could go back downstairs to see Madeleine as it was painfully obvious that I wanted to get back downstairs ... I kissed Kirsten good night and raced back to the NICU.- I remember finally leaving the hospital sometime after midnight and going over to our good friends' house for take-out Chinese. I hadn't eaten all day and the cold Chinese was just what the Doctor ordered. I was exhausted but could hardly sleep, calling the NICU throughout the night for updates on Madeleine.
I could go on as most reading this blog are well aware that I can talk about Madeleine for hours on end. So, how the heck have two years passed? It's strange because being a dad feels extremely natural to me and I really struggle to think of myself without the label "Dad.". At the same time, has it really been two years? I think of all the challenges Madeleine faced, all of the surgeries, all of the true heroes we met at Holy Cross Hospital and then Children's hospital, all of the milestones that Madeleine has reached (yes, I'm aware that I'm woefully behind in updating you on her progress. Trust me, she's doing great) and all of the amazing moments when I walk into a room and I know that Madeleine's toothy, dimpled grin is for her big old goofy Dad and I guess it really has been two wonderful years... I guess I'm just one heckuva lucky guy. Happy Birthday Madeleine!