Brian & Michelle Fuller

     It's been 2 months now. Laci went to the doctor yesterday and was deemed normal. She also got 4 shots which (as always) was more painful for Michelle than Laci. She was smiling (alot) less than an hour later. So far no symptomes from the shots have surfaced.

     The Dr. was originally lightly concerned about the abnormalities of her head shape, but said during this exam that she's looking much more normal and doesn't have any worries that that won't continue to straighten itself out. You could only really tell from the back of her head anyways.

     I am going hiking out at Lake Texoma with Chris Layton, probably Jonathan Williamson, and possibly Marc Pond. It's a good 6 mile trek (each way), though if things go smoothly, we may go further. It will be my first experience with primitive camping.

     We've freed up some money by paying off another car and my school loan. Hopefully that will keep us afloat now that Michelle is a full time home-maker/ parent.

    So Laci is now 22.5" and 10# 11oz. Those are both almost exactly in the middle or the normal range for her age.

    Now that we've mastered raising a baby, we can turn our attention to summer plans (right). On April 20th, Michelle & I plan on going to see Andre Rieu. You can tell we are getting old when we get pulled into watching a concert on PBS and then going out and buying tickets for it. We're still looking for a sitter, but I think we're close to completing that task.     Also on the agenda is finding a location and willing participants to do an 'extended' hike. I don't want to offend real hikers; thus the quotes around 'extended.' I have mentioned the idea to Robert Garcia, Jonathan Williamson, and Corey Daniels. There are a few others I need to ask but they are game depending on the timing. I don't want a really large group and I know I need to "interview" the players to be sure no one is going to hold the group up, but I also know the odds of getting these 3 guys on a weekend convenient for all is unlikely. I've scouted out a few places (online) - all about 3 - 4 hrs away. The backup location would be Enchanted Rock, but there are 2 others I need to research that seem interesting: (Copper Breaks State Park is the only one I remember right now).     We also are planning an authentic euro night - with tuna or salmon pizza and crepes. We only have one oven, so this can't be huge, but we plan on having maybe 10 people over including our neighbors. Euro pizza is very different, but very good.     Other things going on with us include: working out the stress from baby cries and related chores; working through differences such as me feeling tired of being away from home and Michelle feeling tired of being stuck at home; preparing for my annual performance review (shortly after lunch today); scheduling carpooling with a coworker to save gas.

It's easy to keep up a website before the kid arrives. Afterwards......  

I don't have anything to write now. Laci's fine. Michelle's fine. I'm.... working. I've almost got my surround sound installed. Will be glad to get it out of the way, Our living room is a mess right now.

 Michelle has lost so much weight, I'm getting the urge to lose a bunch myself. With taking care of Laci and making sure Michelle isn't forgotten, it's hard to fit in some exercise besides my weekly hockey game, but that isn't enough. I need to do things 3 or 4 times a week atleast.

      More of a single long term plan, I have really had the desire to climb a mountain. I don't know when I'll do that, but I know that since summer is coming, I can schedule a time or two with someone to go out hiking. And I mean a long hike as in arriving in the morning; hiking all day; setting up a campsite (miles away from any vehicle); and then the following morning - hike back. Now I just need to find an agreeable campmate. I know my wife wouldn't be able to go (nor would she want to hike that far), so I've got to find a guy whose wife also isn't interested in attending.

THE MOST frustrating part about computers is when you write a long posting and it loses it and you have to rewrite it. Thus is the case here.

In summation: Laci had a cold last night and had trouble breathing due to nasal congestion. Today she is much better. It does keep you from going to sleep when she has so much trouble breathing through her nose and of course eating is a chore since it prevents her from breating through her mouth.

Also, the food we are receiving from friends is great. Make's you want to have another baby to get more home cooking. Americans eat too fast and don't take time to enjoy it. overseas it's different. Kate & Leopold (the movie) does a good job explaining what I mean. Cheesy movie, but a good date movie. Try spending a couple hours enjoying your dinner sometime. Don't plan for anything afterwards.

   Thank you to Russell & Claire for answering the phone late at night and helping Michelle & I with baby Laci. You are very good friends.

This is very short because I need to get back to my wife. We had a baby girl born at 10:21pm on Thursday March 6th, 2008. She was 20" long and 8 lbs 11 oz. Everything has been fine with Michelle and Laci and we expect to go home tomorrow afternoon (Sunday). The staff at Grapevine Baylor and also the doctors and nurses from Women's Integrated have been very friendly, very helpful, and very sincere. Hopefully our next child will be through their services as well. I will write more soon. Thank you everyone for the gifts and congratulations and etc...

Michelle has to be at the hospital by 8am. 2 hours of preparation (her and me) and info. The C-section is scheduled for 10am. To deliver the baby takes 5-15 minutes and then there is another 30-45 minutes for delivering the placenta and stitching/stapling Michelle's belly back up. So the total surgery time is about one hour. Then Michelle gets wheeled off for 1-4 hrs of observation in the recovery room. So visitors will be able to see her starting some time between noon & 3pm.

    We will be staying in the hospital for 3-4 days after the delivery, so we'll get home Sunday or Monday if things go as normal. Then we will be all back to normal. Well except having a baby now, but that shouldn't change much of our usual routine right?  Also, Michelle will be very limited in activities for atleast 2 weeks and up to 6 weeks before she feels up to speed. It's possible she can have some pains attributed to the surgery for up to a year, but I doubt that for someone as young as Michelle and it's not like she'll be out climbing or playing hockey.

    Michelle is nervous about the surgery, but I'm sure she'd be just as nervous about a regular delivery too. Do pray for her. Her biggest fear with any significant risk would be the possibility of not being able to have a regular delivery sometime down the line. Even that isn't a high risk, but may be at the top of all the possibilities no matter how rare.

    Michelle's mom should be in town for about a week and her dad along with my parents don't live far away, so I'm sure they will be visiting often. Feel free to come by whenever. I won't be shy to say we're too busy right now or we'd love company right now.

We're now at a full 41 weeks. Michelle had her Dr. appt this morning and all the test came back perfect. Laci is still breech, but all else is good. Michelle is mulling over when to schedule a C-section, but right now it's looking like this Thursday (03/06/08). I think I might be coming down with something, so I'm leaving soon for my own dr. appt. Also, as part of a great "waiting for the baby" weekend, I think I passed a kidney stone Saturday night. It was very painful, until my medication kicked in. I had been saving if for 18 months - since my last kidney stone. The stuff worked.

     My plan is to start posting pictures here as soon as possible, but you never know - especially since we don't have a computer at home. I'm sure I'll be able to borrow some time at a friends house.

Michelle has a Dr. appt on Monday. May be scheduling a C-section then. Right now, we're living life like normal. Doesn't even seem like she's overdue at times.

     Michelle's visit yesterday to the doctor did not provide much information. The baby is still turned the wrong way and will most likely stay that way as there is little room for her to turn. She has another appointment on Monday. We are just sitting and waiting. If she starts contractions or definitely if her water breaks, we will be heading to Baylor Hospital. Until then, it's life as normal (as normal as being overdue life is). Michelle is fine. She doesn't even waddle. I think she's preparing herself for accepting a C-section if that is what is best for her and the baby. That would probably be decided on Monday (03/03/08) and would probably be done very shortly afterwards.

I'm just sitting here at work waiting for a call; trying hard to actually work. It's not easy.

     It's now the day after Michelle's due date. That's very normal for first time moms. It's common to go even up to two weeks past. Michelle has an appointment scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday). If the baby is still breeched then, they will probably come to some agreement as for a time to have a planned C-section. I would guess that to be in the next seven days.

      The baby has really been trying to flip it seems. Every day there is atleast one point where she is moving like crazy. Michelle feels like she having more pressure down below and of course the baby is continuing to grow. It's very likely she'll go into labor soon. We're getting resolved about a c-section - through lots of prayer, and talking with friends around us. I mean it's a very normal common thing (almost 30% these days); it's just that it isn't what Michelle desired and not everybody desires a natural birth. C-sections can be so convenient.

     Either way, Michelle has all of her necessities and the babies needed belongings in her car. The car seat is set up; and I have been lugging my backpack (full of camera/camcorder, batteries, and my clothes, etc...) from home to work each day just in case I don't have time to go home. I don't like the idea of keeping that many valuables in the car, so I bring them in the house and in to work.

     Our countdown continues. I think we both are getting a little anxious. It's a little harder to sleep and definitely harder to focus at work.