Introducing Our Daughter

Hannah Grace Calonder

September 16, 2008

1:38 pm

7 pounds, 4.7 ounces

20 1/4" long

Everyone is doing fabulous! Austin and Aidan are totally in love, as are Nathanial, Ethan, and Noah. So far, everyone is loving being a big brother (some for the first time, some for the fifth!) and they are all protective of their baby sister. We are home and I will try to update with more pictures and details as I feel a little better. I am feeling actually really good this time around...just exhausted! Hannah is doing great! She is down to 6 pounds, 9 ounces, but hasn't lost anything in the last 24 hours. She is a petite, tiny little peanut and just beautiful! As soon as we get the link from the hospital, we will send those pictures (much better than mine!).

Thanks for all the prayers....God is great!!!

Name Poll Results

Well, the name poll is officially over (as of 11:59 pm yesterday) and it was a lot of fun. And very interesting. Here's how it ended (it ended up getting removed when I switched the background):

Grace - 25 votes
Hannah - 16 votes
Maria - 7 votes
Ruby - 13 votes
Faith - 8 votes

I am curious....did Grace receive so many votes because it was first on the list, and therefor people assume it is her name?? Or is it a name you all really love? That's been my most interesting thought through this process.

Originally, we said that her name is a combination of the names that were in the poll. Lately, however, Steve and I have discussed her name and decided on.....





.........DRUMROLL PLEASE............








Palin Joan Calonder!!!!


Now....are we serious?? I guess you will have to wait until Tuesday to find out!!! (Don't be surprised if we are serious, though!)

Thank you to everyone who voted...it was fun to watch and I really enjoyed everyone's input. Even if we do choose Palin Joan instead!

As for how little Palin is doing....pretty good. I went in yesterday for my final OB appointment and everything is "pretty much the same." So, because she is not in distress, holding up fine, and yet unaffected by everything, we are waiting until Tuesday to deliver. Whew! According to OB's calculations, that will put Palin at 37 weeks, 6 days gestation...pretty perfect! (According to my calculations, it puts us at 38 weeks, 2 days.) She is moving much less these days, but I am hoping because she is running out of room. She is still making breathing movements, though. I am still having pretty regular, kinda intense contractions (thank goodness for a cervix that is "uncooperative" in this situation!) and bleeding. She still looks exactly like Noah and Aidan in her ultrasounds. Round face with big cheeks and appears to be bald. I would attach a picture, but for some reason our printer/scanner/copier is acting up. Ugh!

We cannot wait to meet little Palin!! Please pray for her safe delivery and health on Tuesday.

Yet Another Appointment

Well, I went in again this morning for my normal check, which now includes an ultrasound. I was still having quite a bit of bleeding when I arrived. He checked everything. Everything with little Miss C is doing well still. She was not as "reactive" as he wanted her to be, however. Her heart and blood flow to the cord and brain all looked great. My blood pressure was a tiny bit elevated, but nothing terrible. I lost another 5 pounds again.

When he was done with the scan, he decided he wanted to do a non-stress test to make sure everything was OK and also moved up the c-section date. I was glad for that because the stress is really getting to me. We are now scheduled for September 16 (Tuesday) with my physical next week. Under two weeks left. Wow!

When I went in for the NST, everything was OK. She was still not very reactive, so they fed me apple juice...yuck. Then she finally had the accel they wanted (after over two hours!) and I was allowed to go home. Thank goodness.

Continued prayers would be greatly appreciated for the next couple of weeks and for a safe delivery and healthy baby.

Another Appointment

Today we had another OB appointment. Everything looks good and is going well! Little Miss C is growing and I gained three pounds :-O in the last two weeks. My blood pressure is "hanging in there" according to Dr. H. All very good things at this stage of the pregnancy. I have some swelling, but nothing major yet. I have been noticing a bit more the last few days, but it's not severe by any means. I do not have to go back for another two weeks. Yay!

Little miss is definitely developing patterns that are extremely recognizable. She's still very quiet, very similar to Nathanial in there (which would be a great personality to have!). She moves a bit in the late morning, then again in the afternoon, and around 11 every night, she gets hiccups. She also tends to have a ye old time in there at that hour. That is her most active time of the entire day...probably because I'm trying to sleep! Her newest thing is to see just how far under my right rib she can wiggle herself. Ouch! That has not been pleasant! It's not too bad, though....compared to the triplets! I'm really cherishing this time because I know this is our last baby and I want to enjoy every minute of it. Feet/butt in ribs, heartburn, hips aching, little stretches, hiccups, soccer try outs....everything. I cannot believe that in one month and two days she will be here!

We Have a Date!

Today I had my regular OB appointment. Do you know I am now far enough along that I go in every two weeks from here on out??! I was shocked when she told me the date of the next appointment...I couldn't believe I am that far!

Everything was fantastic. My blood pressure was slightly elevated from last time, but compared to my other pregnancies at this stage, it was pretty good. I lost another three pounds since my last visit, but that was from all my carb restrictions, I am sure.

I asked Dr. H about the a1C and he said I did not need to be watching what I am eating...just make sure it's all balanced. I thought my a1C was OK, and he said it was "well within normal limits." If it hadn't been, even though I had passed the three hour, he would not have hesitated to diagnose me with GD. What a relief! I am still not going to go out and eat a huge amount of sugar, but it made me feel better that I am able to eat "normal" and not panic at every morsel of carb I put in. Which, lately, I have been eating almost no carbs whatsoever, just to be sure, so that probably explains the weight loss, also.

I asked him if he had a date in mind yet, as we need to know for childcare purposes. He again mentioned the 19th, which is Austin's birthday. As much as I want to meet this little girl, I am not going to do that to Austin. Birthdays should be special, if at all possible, and not shared. (Obviously, the triplets don't have that advantage, but they're special in their own way!) So his second date was the 23rd. This is extremely close to my actual due date (three days), so if something happens, we may have to go earlier. But I have never, ever, not even with triplets, gone into labor on my own, so I am confident she'll wait also. My body just has no clue how to get babies out once they are in there for so long! As it stands, we now have a scheduled date of Tuesday, September 23 in the afternoon!! I am so excited and cannot believe we are this close to meeting her!!!

Baby's Room is DONE!!!!

Yay!!! Shawna has been here all week and we all finally finished Baby Girl's room last night! We still have to get the crib up and dresser in the room, but it's DONE! It is getting really exciting to see everything coming together for her! Steve did the ceiling for me, since I am a smidge on the short side and don't really want to climb the step ladder this pregnant.
One wall with hooks:

Crib wall:

Wall on one side of the door:

Wall on other side of door:Far wall:

Place Your Vote!

We have already named Baby Girl, but I thought it would be fun to put up our top 5 names and have you all vote for your favorite! You can place your vote to the right in the side bar. Have fun! You'll find out on her birthday what her name is!!

The Baby Is.........

Beautiful and healthy! Everything looked fantastic with little Baby Calonder #6 tonight. Everything with the heart, spine, kidneys, everything was perfectly formed. Ten little fingers and ten little toes. Yawned twice and sucked on the same two fingers Noah fancies. Uh-oh. So....I guess the question is....is it a he or a she?? Do you really want to know??? Are you sure???? Maybe we couldn't tell!?!



The baby is a...............




Girl!!!!!!!!!!

You read that correctly....after five boys, looks like we are having a little lady, a beautiful little girl, a healthy, miracle little girl join us!!!! I think I am still in shock, personally. We told Austin by giving him a flower onesie. He didn't get it at first, then smiled big and said "It's a girl?" He looked pretty happy about it, actually. He was half-asleep though. Aidan didn't want to wake up and find out. He's right anyway....he's known all along this baby is a she. As he put it, God wouldn't give us another boy. I guess not.

We are so happy little Miss Calonder is happy and healthy in there. Now our prayers are that she stays put for the next few months, but we can't wait to meet her when it's time! She does have a name, but we are keeping that secret. And actually, now it is between three names. We have thought of a few more that we really like. I guess you'll have to stick around until September to find out her name!