One Month Old

Aiyana is now one month old.  This past month has flown by and it is hard to believe that she has been with us for this long already.  We are still waiting for her to give us that first "real" smile, but I have a feeling we won't have to wait too much longer.  Ashlyn continues to be a super-star helper big sister.  She's getting the hang of feeding Aiyana with a bottle without letting Aiyana swallow too much air and without squishing Aiyana's nose with the bottle (who knew that feeding a baby was really harder than it looks?).  We are all happy to have Aiyana in our lives.

Celebrating Aiyana's Baptism

After experiencing everything that we went through with Lynnea, especially her baptism in the emergency room when she was seven days old, we decided not to wait very long to have Aiyana baptized. We had a private baptism for her at church on Friday, December 30, when she was three days old.  Last Sunday we celebrated her baptism by having it publicly recognized during the church service, and we named her sponsors at that time. 

Welcome, Aiyana Faith Callison

Aiyana at the hospital.

Ashlyn helps feed Aiyana

Already one week old!

Ashlyn's picture of her new sister

Ashlyn gives Aiyana kisses

Ashlyn's picture of Daddy and Aiyana

On Tuesday, December 27, 2011, at 4:38pm we welcomed Aiyana Faith into our family.  She was 6lbs. 14oz. and 19.5in.  Most importantly, so far she seems completely healthy.  She is already 8 days old...this past week has flown by and it seems as though she has always been a part of our family.  I admit that I've practically been holding my breath since she was born in fear that something was wrong with her -- when Lynnea was born we had her at home with us for seven days before it became obvious that she was very, very sick, and the fear that we could be blindsided like that again is still something that lingers on.  But, like I said, so far Aiyana seems to be completely healthy; the only issue we've run into is that she seems to be lactose intolerant, so we've decided to bottle-feed this time around.

Ashlyn was very excited when she heard the news that her little sister had arrived, and has been an amazing big sister.  She loves to help out in any way that she can (throwing away diapers, getting blankets, picking out clothing, feeding, and burping...).  She also enjoys taking lots and lots of pictures of her new baby sister with the camera that she got for Christmas. 

A Trip to the Children's Museum

Last week we went to the Minnesota Children's Museum for a HopeKids event.  Ashlyn was very excited about this -- she remembers when we went two years ago with Lynnea and has been asking to go there again ever since (we didn't make it last year because Corey had to work).  The first thing she wanted to do when we arrived was go and play in the bubbles, just like she had with Lynnea.  After that she had a fun time exploring most of the other exhibits in the museum.  It was fun to watch her get so excited, and we had a great evening out as a family.

Things Ashlyn is Thankful For...

Over the past week Ashlyn and I have had several conversations about things that she is thankful for.  Here is the list of things that she came up with:
She is thankful for her swimming pool, her pink car, Daddy -- especially when he helps her drive her pink car, her backyard, trees -- because they give her shade and help keep the air clean, Mommy, and Baby.

Lynnea's Birthday

Lynnea would have been three years old today.  In order to mark this occasion, Ashlyn and I baked cupcakes, just as we did last year.  I think this will be our yearly tradition. 

I thought that Lynnea's birthday this year would be easier than it was last year when her death was still so fresh in our minds, but this year wasn't really any easier.  This year the reality hit that every year her birthday will come, and every year she will not be here to celebrate it with us. 

We spent time today remembering her and some of the best moments that we had here with her.  While remembering her, of course, it is always impossible to only remember the best times; all of the suffering that she went through cannot be forgotten.  The comfort still comes from knowing that, this year for her birthday (and everyday), she doesn't have to hurt or suffer at all because she is in heaven where there are no more tears and no more owies.  I am happy that she gets to spend her birthdays in such a wonderful place, even though I miss her so much.

Fetal Echo

Today we went down to the U of M for a fetal echocardiogram.  We brought Ashlyn with us because she really wanted to see the new hospital.  One of our favorite echo techs did the scan for us.  The baby's heart looks perfect (and she has a beautiful aortic arch).  Ashlyn was very well behaved during the scan, and seemed to like getting to see the baby's heart beating.  Ashlyn also enjoyed playing in the waiting area and in the hospital lobby for a while. 

First Day of Preschool

Today Ashlyn started preschool.  She made a necklace out of Froot Loops, and said that there were lots of fun toys to play with.  She is looking forward to going back again next week.

A Day at the State Fair

On Monday, we spent the day at the State Fair.  The weather was beautiful, and it wasn't overly crowded, so it was a great day to go.  We didn't try any new foods this year, but instead stuck to ones that we've liked in the past.  This year Ashlyn enjoyed the deep fried alligator much more than she did last year (she ate nearly the whole batch without saving much for me or Corey).  She had fun going down the giant slide with Daddy, and riding the Merry-Go-Round with Grandpa.  She was a good little farm worker and appreciated her hard earned apple.  At the end of our day, we stopped to watch a show on one of the free stages, and Ashlyn was very excited when all of the kids in the audience were invited up on stage to dance at the end of the show. 

Level 2 Ultrasound

Today I went in for the level 2 ultrasound of the baby.  Unlike in my past pregnancies, this time gender wasn't the thing that I was most anxious to find out about, but rather the cardiac anatomy.  When I was pregnant with Ashlyn and Lynnea, we would often comment about whether we were going to have a "pink baby, or a blue baby," with the reference always being about the gender.  After having Lynnea, who was literally a blue baby because of the way her cardiac anatomy functioned, this time the speculation had a different meaning.  Fortunately, the baby's heart appears to have four chambers, all the correct size, and there were no cardiac defects that could be detected.  Everything else looked good too.  Of course, the baby was kind of a stinker during the scan -- when it was time to look at the heart, it moved so that it was hard to get a good look at the left side (eventually it moved back into a good position); when it was time to look at its face, it kept putting its hand over it; and, when we wanted to find out its gender, it kept its legs crossed (though we did also manage to eventually sneak a peek).  So, this time, when it comes to color, the baby is pink in the cardiac sense, meaning that its blood all flows the way that it should, and it is also pink in terms of gender.  Yes, Ashlyn is pretty excited to have another little sister.  In a few weeks we'll go in for a fetal echocardiogram just to make sure that the baby's heart really is in good shape (because this gives an even better look at all of the structures of the heart than the level 2 ultrasound can), but at this point the odds of there being anything seriously wrong with it are very low.