Life

Once again I have not kept with my original goal of writing every week... my bad... Life is pretty much the same for me. Nothing has yet to top the excitement of Lena's arrival. (not unitl Matt gets home for mid-tour that is....) I really could not have imagined how quickly I have fallen in love with my little niece. Seems that everyday I love her more than the day before. One thing that has truely caught me off guard is that I have lost all ability to remember the Nursing basics of caring for newborns. This is quite odd because everyone says it happens when you have your own kids.... who knows what I'll be like then! For example, one night while staying with Julie and Mike, I was responsible for the midnight feeding. So little Lena is sucking away at her bottle and starts coughing. (She often does this cause she drinks too fast) Almost instantly a little panic ran through my body. I was thinking 'Oh no, shes not gonna stop, shes gonna keep choking, what will I do, Julie and Mike are asleep, it's up tp me.' Then, she stops and everything is back to normal, and we get back to the feeding. My next thought is 'Geez Amy, you are a Nurse, you know what to do, you had all the classes, don't worry so much.' So Lena finished off her bottle with a great big "baby man burp" and I put her back to bed all snuggly and with a full belly and off to bed I went. Yet my worries had not ended.... I thought to myslef 'I better go check her one more time and make sure she laying just right.....no blankets near her face, head to the side....' So I crept back into the room and there she was sound asleep, safe, and warm. The next day I told Julie about all of this and she had a little laugh at me, but she understood.

Although Lena is wonderful, the highlights of my days continue to be talking to Matt. He has been incredibly busy the past few weeks. Lots of flights and tons of paper work, and doing stuff for other people. He has expressed to me many times that on mid-tour we are sleeping in everyday. My respones of course is I don't care what we do just as long as we are together, (yes, cheesy I know, but true) and most of you know I don't ever mind having to sleep late! So, the countdown to mid-tour continues....

Matt

Now that all the baby excitement has slowed down a bit, its time for an update on Matt!! The rain has continued, but is less severe now. Matt has had a few short flights recently....all of which went well. We are both counting down the days until midtour! Matt is counting down the days by TV episodes. He has planned a schedule of what TV series he is going to watch to ensure he has something to watch everynight. (I'm sure this is no suprise to those of you who know him well...) Matt has seen all the pictures of Lena and has gotten to hear her cry over the phone. He is VERY excited about her arrival and is ready to meet her when he comes home.

LENA KATHRYN HOLLY

Congratulations to Julie and Mike!!!
Feb. 8, 2006 at 10:12pm.
7 lbs 9ozs
20 1/4 inches long
Mom and baby are doing great!!

Julie

I have just returned from a weekend trip to Trussville to visit Julie and Mike. Julie is still "great with child" and we are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of Lena. Julie has been off of bedrest for a little over a week now, but is still taking medication to slow/stop her contractions. However, she does get to stop taking this medicine on Wednesday, so we'll see... Lena is still kicking away and moving around. Julie continues to show signs of labor progression, so we are all on call. Our mom even has a suitcase packed and ready to go!

Update on Austin Pullen

Austin will be going home on Monday!!! He has been released from St. Judes but remains in the area for another day. On Friday he had surgery to place an IV access port. This port is under the skin and is accessed with a "magic needle". This type of access is much easier to maintain and lasts longer than a central line. Austin tolerated the procedure pretty well and was very happy to no longer have any IVs in his hands or feet!

My Hubby

Matt got a flight in yesterday, but nothing exciting to tell. However, we did get some exciting news the other day.... Matt got his date for midtour!!!!!! We are both very excited to get to see eachother and to have a break from work. Matt is especially looking forward to going to eat at some of his favorite places and trying some new ones. Not much else new going on.