Introducing ...

The newest little member of our family. The doc was right, he sure is hairy! ...

Okay, Rob broke down Saturday and took Miciah to pick out a baby cat. He's a cute 10-week-old (this is twice as old as Max was when we got him. And this cat is already neutered) tabby cat. Miciah likes him cause he's got "stripes." I like him because he's very loving, something Max was not. But he's also pretty playful, so that's fun. We named him Peek-a-boo because when we brought him home he hid twice from us and we couldn't find him for a few hours. The first time he was under the entertainment center. How he fit down there, I don't know. So now the whole front of the entertainment center is blocked off with Rob's science textbooks (we knew they'd come in handy someday). Peek-a-boo is now almost always behind our couch, just chillin' out. He comes out to be petted and loved on, but he still runs away from Elijah. Go figure.

Peek-a-boo isn't the healthiest cat. We took him in to the vet to find out he has fleas, he's underweight and scrawny, and his diarreah is caused by roundworm. Wonderful. So he's being treated for all that and hopefully we'll have a healthy cat soon. Rob was bugged that Peek-a-boo isn't that healthy and that we're having some struggles with him (the diarreah means that he's pooped all over our house and us), and I reminded him that he's the one that wanted to get a kitten a week before we had a baby. :) But it's all good. We like him.

Elijah's Surgery

We took Elijah in for his operation consultation. The doctor thinks she felt an opening on the other side as well, so she said when they go in to operate, they'll scope the other side, too, to see if they need to fix it, too. Good plan. She also said that because he was in so much pain that one time, they want to do the surgery ASAP. He has complained a few other times, and once Rob pushed it back in, but no more screaming in horrific pain, which is good. Anyways, the surgery is scheduled for August 14th. We have yet to decide what we'll do in terms of Miciah. Obviously both Rob and I want to be there for the surgery, and if we have a clingy-needy Elijah and a not-really-fully-recovered-from-surgery Mommy, we'll probably have Miciah go somewhere for a few days. Though she's not really hard and she might be helpful, even. Who knows. Maybe I'll ask her what she wants.

T minus Two Days

That's about all that's going on around here. Miciah and Elijah are getting pretty anxious to have the baby here. So are Rob and I. :) It's time to have this baby. We found out some good news from the doctor about the C-section, so I'm anticipating this being a little better than previous experiences. Before, they cut me open and almost immediately the baby was taken to another floor and washed and given first shots and all that. I didn't see Rob or the baby for a few hours--they could have brought me another baby and I wouldn't know. Dr. Froehlich looked at me like, "How inhumane that they would do that!" He said the baby stays in the room with us the entire time they are stiching me up (unless the baby isn't healthy, in which case they would take him, but that makes sense) and doesn't leave until we leave. How nice is that! So I'm excited to have us all together, especially since this time that was my desire.

And honestly, I can't think about anything else other than baby-on-the-way. I feel like it's taken over my brain. It feels like there's so much to be done, but I don't have the energy to do most of it. I don't sleep at night any more. At all. I stare at the cieling until 2 and then sleep fitfully after that. Luckily Rob is home all this week and so I've been able to sleep in. Otherwise I think I would be in tears at the end of the day. But only 2 more nights of torture. Actually, only 1. Because the last night neither Rob nor I sleep anyway, so it'll be a relief to NEED to wake up at 4:15 a.m. At no other time in my life would I think this is a blessing.

We know you're all praying for us and thinking of us and we appreciate the support. Thank you! and we'll let you know how it goes as soon as one of us gets back on-line, though most of you will have heard by then.

Tamra and family

Not Much to Report On

Elijah's Surgery News

Things here are good. Elijah has not complained any more about his hernia, and we are hoping to keep it that way. We have a consultation with Children's Surgery Center on July 18th. I am assuming we will then set up the surgery date. I'm guessing that since the appointment isn't until July 18th, the surgery won't be until late August or September. Who knows, though. Even if they could do it earlier, though, I have a feeling I won't want it to be much earlier than that. ... I'll let you all know when the surgery is and if there's anything you can do for us.

Pregnancy - T minus Two Weeks

No, Dad, this is not an update to say I'm in labor. Braxton-Hicks all day long, but no labor. We are hoping to avoid all labor until the safely scheduled 21st. That's less than 2 weeks away, so I think we'll probably make it.

Go Mode!

In terms of how I'm feeling. I have hit the final go mode (nesting just sounds so weird to me). I have cleaned the house from top to bottom about 5 times. I think I have used an entire roll of paper towels cleaning every piece of glass in the house. I keep looking at things going, "This is dirty. I MUST CLEAN IT." It's compulsive and weird and I will be glad to put this stage past me. I think Rob will, too. I worked him hard yesterday cleaning and doing things. But, because I'm in the Ready For Baby Stage, it means I have a little more energy. So I feel better now just before baby than I have for at least 2 months. I can handle that.

Having said that, I don't have much energy at all. And on top of that, my body still can't handle a lot. We went to the store as a family on Friday. Intended to go to another store, too, but I just wasn't up for it. I have been avoiding the sun and going outside at all costs. The sun and heat drain me really quick. We went to a BBQ last week for 2 hours. I came home and slept for 2 hours. There's a picnic next Sunday that we're all invited to. I'm sending Rob with Miciah.

P's Baby Blessing

We had company today, and that was a lot of fun. Our good friends the T's had their baby the first week of June and the baby blessing was today. They have a little one bedroom apartment, so we invited the whole clan over to our house so they could all be in the same room together. It worked out well and it was a lot of fun to have company that brings their own food! Rob and I worked really hard to clean the house, but they didn't leave a mess when they left, so it's still clean now. That's the best kind of company. Brings their own food and eats off paper plates. :) They were here for a few hours, but it was more draining than I assumed it would be. Rob and I both just chilled for a few hours after they left. My body obviously was a little stressed, but hey, it was worth it. And their little baby is really cute. It's been weird to hold their little one and think, "I will have one of these very soon." But we're ready for it.

The Secret Baby Name

We have picked out a name, but we have decided to keep it until he is born to announce. Seems like if we've waited this long, might as well keep it till the end. We went through 25,000 baby boy names from a baby book and to top it off, the name we chose wasn't even in there! How's that for funny? But we've been using the name amongst ourselves, so it's finally feeling like his name. So that's a comfort. For a while it seemed like nothing would sound right except Baby Robert. And Elijah says the name really well, so that makes me happy, too.

Last Ultrasound

We had an ultrasound for week 36 on Monday. It was fun to see the baby so big! He is still a boy, so no worries there. Everything looked good. The doctor predicted that he would be just over 7 lbs. (like 7 lbs. 2 or 3 oz.), and have a full head of hair as well as hair all over his back. :) It was really cool to see this hair floating there. You really could see it! It was neat. About the hair all over his back, Rob said, "See, dear, we ARE having a monkey." Great. Maybe he'll be blonde-white like Elijah and you won't be able to see the hair on his back. :) It'll be fun to see what he looks like.

We're excited to have the baby and see everyone soon. Hopefully we can keep things calm between now and then. The next 2 weeks of my calendar are clear, which is a nice feeling. It will be nice to not have much to do.

Thanks for all you guys do for us. We love you!

Tamra and family

Special Report

(As an aside for any of the T family: JG has left SBHS for LH and Latin in San Jose. She's been pretty frustrated with SBHS for a while and I'm excited for her to move on. She asked me to pass on her love and news to the family.)

We had a very interesting night last night and since it was a momentous occasion, I thought I'd pass it on. We had our first Emergency Room visit for either of our kids. Last night at about 7:15 or so, we got home from the church and Elijah pointed to right below his tummy and said, "Ow." I told Rob he might have a tummy ache and asked him to look at it. Rob took off Elijah's diaper to look and there was a huge bulge to the side and up a little from his penis. Okay, not normal. In about 10 minutes time, Elijah was screaming and writhing in pain. He wouldn't straighten his legs and he could not be consoled. Like I said in the last e-mail, this kid doesn't cry like ever, so this was scary for us. Rob drove him down to Children's where surprisingly he got in very quickly. Probably because on that 1 - 10 pain scale, Elijah looked to be at a 9 or so (which has only happened to me maybe twice in my life). It was painful enough for us to just watch the poor kid in so much pain.

Anyways, the nurse looked at Elijah and said he probably had a hernia. And by the time, about 10 minutes after that, that Elijah got to see the ER doctor, the hernia had corrected itself and as immediately as it came, Elijah was in no pain at all. It was an hour and a half of Elijah screaming and then it was just gone. Rob said when it went away Elijah started tentatively moving his leg, testing out to see if it was really feeling better. Two doctors saw Elijah, the first one to say it was gone and the second one to tell us a little about where we go from here. The second one felt around and said that Elijah has a hole from where the testicles drop. Usually this hole closes on its own, but in his case it hasn't and it won't unless it is surgically fixed. And if we don't get it fixed, then this will be an on-going problem. Well, the idea of surgery for my 2-year-old doesn't thrill me, but what thrills me even less is the thought of my 2-year-old having to go through this again. So we will be calling the surgery center at Children's and scheduling a surgery as soon as possible. They said it's an outpatient surgery and isn't that big of a deal, but I'm thinking that for a little guy like him, any kind of surgery is a big deal.

However, an outpatient surgery for a problem that's fixable is much better than many of the alternatives. I will let you all know when it is scheduled and what it'll mean. I really am not sure what to expect. We will probably pass Miciah on to someone else so we can focus on getting Elijah well. I'm hoping that the surgery is in the next 3 weeks. After the 21st, it'll be no fun at all. My aunt suggested (as a joke) that I schedule it for the 21st, the same day as my C-section. We got a good little laugh out of that. Either way, whether it's before or after the 21st, it'll be as soon as they say it's possible.

Please keep Elijah in your thoughts and prayers. They told us what to do if he gets another hernia, but we'd of course prefer that it doesn't happen at all. He is happy and well and healthy as ever, and we'd love to keep him that way.

Love,
Tamra and family