We woke up Christmas Eve to a blanket of snow on the ground and more snow coming down. Dave took Emma sledding on a nearby hill and the hill was small enough that she was even able to go down by herself. She LOVED it!! We went to the 4 PM "Family" service at church and let Emma try joining us in "Big church" - it was definitely an experience! After a quiet dinner at home, we opened gifts from under the tree, and Emma kept finding a new favorite thing with each package that she opened. Christmas morning, Emma was amazed that Santa ate the cookies and chocolate milk left out for him. She loved seeing the surprises he left for her and seeing all the goodies in her stocking. We spent the afternoon and evening with some of Dave's extended family and had a lot of fun visiting with everyone.
On the day after Christmas, we actually braved a few of the stores to take advantage of a few sales. The rest of the day was spent resting, doing laundry, and trying to put the house in some kind of order.
The biggest piece of excitement for our little family actually came on Monday, December 27. We got Emma settled with Shannon, the babysitter, and headed to Hinsdale hospital. We welcomed Tyler David into the world at 4:40 PM. He weighed 8 lb 7 oz and was 22 inches long. We found out on Tuesday that Tyler had a pretty bad case of jaundice (made worse because of a conflict of our blood types) and was going to go under the lights. From about 10 AM on Tuesday until 2:30 PM on Wednesday, we could only see Tyler for about 30 minutes every couple of hours so he could eat. A small exception was made on Tuesday afternoon when Dave brought Emma to the hospital to meet her little brother for the first time. Tyler's bilirubin levels came down enough that he was allowed to leave the hospital with me on Wednesday afternoon, but we were due at the lab and pediatrician the next morning. After lab tests on Thursday and Friday mornings - we got the bad news on Friday that Tyler had to go back to the hospital because his levels were approaching a dangerous level.
Tyler and I rang in the new year in the pediatrics unit of Hinsdale hospital while Dave and Emma stayed at home. He was under the lights beginning at 1 PM on NYE and was only allowed out to eat and get his diaper changed every two hours. While in the hospital, Tyler had his very FIRST family visitors. Dave's cousins, Sandy and Sheri, had planned to come see us for lunch on NYE and were already on their way to our house when we found out we were headed back to the hospital. They were nice enough to stay with Emma for a little while so Dave could join us briefly at the hospital - just long enough to realize that there was no point in both of us sitting up there staring at Tyler in the incubator. Sandy and Sheri ended up joining us at the hospital to meet Mr. T. It was so nice to see them, even if the setting wasn't ideal. Dave and Emma joined Tyler and I at the hospital for New Year's Day and were there when we got word that we could take him home.
Sunday, the 2nd, was spent with Dave's parents, sister, and her family so that Tyler could meet some of his extended family. Everyone was very excited to see him and we had a great dinner - we even got to bring a second night's worth of dinner home with us. :)
On Monday, Jan 3 - We got the best present ever - the pediatrician gave us the news that Tyler was out of danger and could go on his own feeding schedule vs the forced schedule he'd been on. Since then, we have been trying our best to get settled into a routine. Dave goes back to work on Friday, so that will be our first big test.
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