Weikra Christmas

"Eight is Enough"... well, actually, we had 10 in the house this Christmas. Wait, do you count Johnny and Ebby? 12!?! My family came up from the Bay Area, and Bob and Marilyn were fabulous hosts. Can you believe we all were able to fit under one roof!?! So on Sunday, we celebrated the first ever Weikra Christmas (Weik family + Krake family... get it? Snappy name, eh?). It was nice having everyone around, and it was surprisingly relaxing, just kicking around the house. Without a big agenda of things to do, seeing as how we were still adjusting to having a newborn in the house, we enjoyed lounging. The Christmas movie trilogy came back this year as well. It's a little tradition my family has in that we watch a film trilogy over the course of the break.

SIDENOTE:
It started a several years back with the Godfather Trilogy. We then did an "Edward Norton" trilogy with Primal Fear, American History X, and Keeping the Faith. The lighthearted family-friendly finale that year inspired us to find trilogies that the whole family could enjoy (Cheryl and mom couldn't quite stomach American History X). So the following year, we did Ocean's 11 trilogy with the original Ocean's 11 film, the remake, and Ocean's 12. This year, we enjoyed the Bourne Trilogy as Shatrine received the Ultimatum as a gift. Good times. Any ideas for next year's trilogy? I'm thinking about the mock-u-mentary trilogy... Waiting for Guffman, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Spinal Tap... what do you think?

All that to say, it was a fabulous first Christmas, and with the full house, there was no shortage of arms willing to rock Audrey to sleep.

Welcome Home!

After 7 days in the hospital, we finally got to take Audrey home. Here I'm a little excited to get to finally go home and not eat hospital cafeteria food.

Johnny Cash missed having us around while we were at the hospital, and he's not quite sure how to react to this new addition to our home. This picture sort of captures the mood of the scorned dog, now playing second fiddle to the new center of attention.

He really is sweet with her, though. he's very gentle, and is on all alert when he hears her stir. It's like he can't rest if she's uncomfortable. It's pretty sweet. One of these days, we're going to train him to change her diaper.

Last Day in the NICU

Audrey gets her first bath! So we had to run down the checkout list (including instruction on properly putting her in her car seat, using a bulb syringe incase she chokes, and how to give her a bath). She had her last dose of antibiotics this morning, so we should be able to leave this afternoon after the doctor gives us the clearance!

Look at that strong neck, up and looking around.

White Christmas!

So if Audrey's first Christmas wasn't eventful enough, at about noon on Christmas Day, it began to snow! This was the first White Christmas in Portland in a long time, too. My parents are coming up from the San Francisco Bay Area tomorrow, and it looks like Portland is supposed to have the most snow in years (granted, that's only about 2 inches). Should be fun.

On to other news, I was changing Audrey's diaper after a feeding and made a rookie mistake. I cleaned her #2 up and threw away the dirty diaper, and before I could get a new diaper in place, she decided to teach me a lesson. Projectile poo. Good times. Thankfully, nothing was ruined (except perhaps my pride)... the only casualties were a hospital onesie and a couple of NICU blankets.

After a we stripped her down, we had to remove all her monitoring cables (I'm not kidding; she got the stuff everywhere), and so I was able to walk around the NICU with her. We got to look out the window at the Christmas lights on the trees in the hospital courtyard, and even got to do some dancing!

Here's a happy Audrey and Daddy before the excitement.

Here we are dancing through the NICU...clean of all poop.

Merry Christmas from the NICU

So Audrey and I had a really special time Christmas Morning. I got to go in for her midnight feeding, and she was awake and alert for a good hour after eating, so we chatted, hung out, and sang some Christmas Carols. What a Christmas gift!

Shatrine is getting discharged as I type. They have a room near the NICU that they're going to let us stay in while Audrey is still here. It's in the labor area, so as long as no one shows up needing the room, we can crash there (but we have to be ready to leave at a moment's notice). So we're going to run home for a little Christmas brunch with the Weiks, then we'll be back and lay low here at the hospital for another two days while Audrey finishes her antibiotics.

Keep praying for Shatrine as she adjusts to her pain medication (which is still leaving her itchy and uncomfortable...not to mention tired... but she's such a trooper).

Merry Christmas to you all!

Four Days Old

Shatrine had her staples removed today, and is feeling great. She's still a little itchy, but she'll be discharged tomorrow, and once she phases off the pain medication, she should be more comfortable.

Audrey looks like a normal, healthy baby. It's obvious she doesn't belong in the NICU. Only three more days of medication for her, and we get to take her home!

She's Breathing on Her Own!

Since 11:00pm Saturday night, she's completely off the oxygen and breathing on her own. By Sunday evening, she was even off her IV fluids because she's been eating well out of her bottle. All that's left is to get through her medicine, which we found out now will take untill Thursday, so that's when we'll get to take her home.

Here are some pictures I was able to snap of her while she conked out after a feeding. Isn't she lovely?



OK, here's a good closeup. What does everyone think... does she look more like mommy or daddy!?! Leave a comment, and let us know what you think.


Shatrine's been trying to find the right medicine that won't make her itch (she was taking Oxycodine, we think she might be allergic to it, since it made her itch like crazy). So she's on Vicadin now, and doing much better. The doctor said she can go home Christmas day. But we'll try and find space in the NICU family housing on campus so we can be near for Audrey. Because mommy is happiest when she gets to snuggle with her baby.


Rob came to visit, and was a real pro with her. She was enamored with his dashing good looks. By the way, isn't that a stylish blanket Audrey's sporting!? Her Uncle Rob got it for her (dashing good looks, AND a sense of style... good job Uncle Rob).

Big Improvements!

At the end of day 2, Audrey's gotten much better. She's almost completely off her IV, and eating about 20ccs out of a bottle. She's still getting a little air through some tubes in her nose (hardly any at all, though), but for the most part, she's breathing great on her own. In fact, when we left her at 9pm, the nurse said that by tomorrow, she probably won't need the air tube anymore! We got great news from the doctor as well: no menengitis! We'll most likely get to take Audrey home in 5 more days once she completes the series of antibiotics. I got to feed her today, and spend quite a bit of time with her (I even changed my first poopy diaper today!).



I got to tell Audrey all about the Dodgers. Here, I'm singing her "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." I think she likes the idea of peanuts and crackerjack.

Grammy and Gramps got to come and visit as well, and Audrey was able to put on her first outfit. Shortly after this picture, Audrey moved out of the main NICU, and into a "big girl" bed on the other side of the NICU because she has gotten so much better.

Audrey and Mommy

Ready for a cinematic tearjerker!?! Alright, maybe not a tearjerker, but I thought it was fun. Let me set up the story: Audrey was whisked away after the C-section, so we didn't really get to see her much, and Shatrine had to be in the "Recovery" room for 4 hours afterward. When she was finally released from recovery to go to her room, we took a detour through the NICU so Shatrine could finally be united for the first (almost) time... cue the violins and tissues...



Day 2, and Shatrine is feeling much better now that she gets to hold her little girl. (And look at mommy's adorable, stylish outfit!)

There's just something about mommy's skin that puts Audrey at ease.

Look at those beautiful eyes.

It's Official!

So at 2am Thursday morning, Audrey woke up Shatrine with her contractions, and by 4:22am, we were at the hospital. A wonderful doctor, Helen, from the UK (whom Shatrine had already met) welcomed us and tried to get a monitor on Audrey's heartrate. It was dipping and peaking, and Shatrine was only dilated 5cm. We tried getting Shatrine in the jacuzzi tub, but it didn't seem to help much as she was in just as much pain between contractions because of the pressure on her hip. Helen did some checking to see how Audrey was coming along, and noticed Shatrine's water had broken (which was news to us). Come to find out, the water broke Thursday morning, and when we called to tell the hospital, based on the description/amount of fluid, etc. they told us it was the mucus plug, and as long as Audrey was still moving, we could wait to come in. So, with that information, Helen took a closer look and it was apparent that Audrey had been working hard, and her fluctuating heartrate suggested that she was tired and ready to come out. But since Shatrine was only 5cm at this point, it was apparent that Audrey wouldn't have the strength to wait it out, so another doctor came in for a second opinion, and definitively said, "You're going to have a C-section." Someone threw some scrubs at me, and minutes later, I was in the hall, and a nurse said, "You're going to have a baby girl in your arms in five minutes." It happened that quickly.

So at 7:01am, little Audrey Elizabeth Krake came into the world. She was 7lbs 2oz. and 20 inches. As soon as she came out, though, they immediately noticed there was an infection, and Audrey was having some trouble breathing. They cleaned her up and I got to hold for a moment and Shatrine gave her a kiss. Then they whisked her away to the NICU. They started her on antibiotics to kick the infection, and did the same for Shatrine.

Shatrine's feeling great, and only 7 hours after surgery, she made her way across her room on her own! Audrey's breathing has improved, and at this point, we're waiting to let the antibiotics work their course. As of 9:45 Friday night, it looks like Audrey is going to have to be in the NICU for at least 5-7 days to let the antibiotics kick the infection (simply because they have to administer the medicine through an IV, so they have to monitor her). If the infection has spread to pneumonia, it could take 7-14 days of medicine, and worst case, if the infection has spread her spine, then it would be menengitis, which would take 14-21 days in the NICU for her to be able to kick. All in all, spirits are high, and we're confident it's just a matter of time for the medicine to run it's course. We know God is in control! We'd love it if you took a moment to pray that Audrey's breathing continues to improve on her own, and that the medicine takes effect.

We'll let you all know as soon as we know more!

On her way from surgery recovery to her own room, we were able to wheel Shatrine's bed into the NICU so she could get to see Audrey.

Grammy Marilyn got to come in and visit with Audrey.

My sweet girl!

Gramps and Uncle Rob got to come visit as well!

Cheesy Christmas Photo

We thought we would pose in front of our tree, just for posterity. We're living at Bob & Marilyn's and we've sort of taken over the downstairs, so here we are in "our family room" with our tree (and you can see Audrey's stocking hanging above the mantel in the background). Audrey shold be here any day now!

***edit: as it turns out, Shatrine is in labor in this photo. Unbeknownst to us at the time, her water had broken the morning this photo was taken... Audrey would arrive 9 hours later!***