Stellar has a bib that says “Saturday” across it. Look carefully at what it says when the car seat straps are around her.
It says “turd”! Someone else pointed this out at a baby shower party we were at.
Here are some other pictures with her new friend Cayden.
That’s the city of Ottawa for my non-Canadian friends. Quite possibly my future home.
As the years go by I’ve felt more tentative about church planting in Ottawa. Although I managed to see some excellent friends there, as well as fellow voxtropolitan Nate, my roots there seem to have shrunken and many people I once knew have moved away. Still, I love the city, and I always love challenges that start from scratch.
Check out the innovation of my mother-in-law. We demanded that she not spend money on a crib for the short time that we were staying there. So instead, she makes one out of an old desk, a headboard, some bungee cords, textbooks, a garbage pail, and some cushions!
Here’s my brother-in-law Norman, with Stellar standing tall
Actually, it’s “gentian violet”, for treating any possible infections. It doesn’t come off for a couple days. We ended up calling Stellar names like little hobo, drunk, and sailor, during that time.
Here’s some other hilarious photos of babies with the purple beard on flickr.
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Family…
A new generation of babies this year, Stellar, Carter, and Evan Noah
Home torched Creme Brule
And what’s Christmas without a present for daddy… Nothing like newborn poo shot out on the sleeve!
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Wednesday
We get called that Stellar needs to be rushed to the emergency unit.
I realized I've lost my keys as I'm speeding home to take our family to the hospital.
We get sent to the wrong emergency ward putting off urgent treatment that she needs for an hour
Stellar is diagnosed with severe Jaundice. Half of newborns get this but her level is debilitating and can result in hearing loss and brain damage.
Doctor's tell us that babies that come in for treatment usually have half of her levels and don't move much. Stellar's strong and moving frantically which is good.
Stellar needs to go through multiple lamp phototherapy for the next 48 hours. Nurse's take 6 stabs at my baby trying to find her tiny veins to plug the IV into. They say she may need a blood transfusion.
Thursday
Yvonne and I don't get much sleep lying together on a single bed/stretcher for the night wondering what we could have done differently.
Stellar's bilirubin levels drop by 300 points which is excellent.
I find a way to finish my final paper in the hospital.
Yvz and I take solace in God, our praying friends, trusting that the medical staff are doing all that they can.
Friday
Stellar is taken off of her IV and the phototherapy treatment for monitoring.
We discover that she is missing an enzyme called G6PD that led to her jaundice. Because she's a girl they traced that the genetic disorder was passed on from me! It's a rare disease and somehow I managed to get through life this far without it showing up.
Stellar's been finger-feeding while in the incubator and is having a very difficult time returning to breastfeeding.
Yvonne and I both get food poisoning. She vomits once, I vomit five times.
Stellar's okay and we're released from the hospital. We need neonatal follow-up to see if she's going to have any development issues.
My keys still haven't turned up and I've spent over a hundred dollars on parking this past week at the hospital. But all that matters to me right now is that I'm back home with the two most precious people in my life.
Stellar in an incubator with IV and phototherapy lights.
Stellar with her goggles on looking like a superhero. And she is.
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After Steller giving me one of these...
I had to give her five back-to-back diaper changes to clean up the constant oil slick coming out of her rear...
Just so she can peacefully do this...
Overall, things are just borderline insane. I don't mind getting up every hour, but feeding's been a huge challenge. I think we finally hit milk today though.
I can't believe this beautiful life I live is just getting even better.
Now if I can only get rid of those funky smells...
Here's one of the funniest 9 second video's I've ever seen that captures the essence of this post.
