Two Week Checkup!

Cousin Emily holding Elizabeth.

Elizabeth (12 days old), Emily (3 years old) and Anna (10 months old)

It has been a few days since I last blogged, so this one will be a wrap up of what has been going on in Libby's life the past few days.

Last Friday, we loaded up the minivan and took Libby on her first weekend trip. After a stop in Alexandria to pick up Grampa Curtis and Grandma Rosemary, the van headed down I-94 for Mosinee, WI, just outside of Wausau. We were all on our way to visit Denise's sister Lisa, her husband Eric, and their two daughters, Emily and Anna.

We left Alexandria around 10:15 in the morning and we made a quick food stop in Hudson, WI, around 1:00. After the McDonalds was consumed and Libby had her bottle and diaper changing, it was back on the road. After a while, we realized we were probably making too good of time and decided to stop at a truck stop for some beverages, ice cream and any other munchies we needed. Of course, Libby needed another diaper change and bottle, but that was easy enough to do with four adults in the party.

We arrived at Lisa and Eric's around 5:00 Friday evening. The evening was pretty much spent catching up on events since the last time we saw them (August) and introducing the cousins to each other.

Saturday, we all decided to head into Wausau and catch the United Way Community Day Parade. The weather was a little chilly and it was drizzling off and on during the parade. It was a pretty good parade and Emily came home with a bucket full of candy. It was nice that the candy was actually handed out to the children along the street rather than being thrown out and having the kids go running for it. Everyone got some and it was a lot safer.

After the parade, we headed out to a local establishment (The 2510) for some food. It was outstanding food, the portions were huge and the cost was decent. The Minnesotans in the group decided to go off and find a cheese shop that Curtis and Rosemary had been to before before heading back to Lisa and Eric's. Due to road construction, we got to see more of the Wausau/Mosinee area than we bargained for. We did find the cheese shop and made our purchases just in time as they were closing soon. Once we got back to Lisa and Eric's, more conversation and some college football finished the evening.

Sunday, it was time to load up the van and head back to Garfield. A little over 6 hours and Libby handled it very well. With her in the vehicle, it kind of forced us to take a break about every 2 1/2 hours, which worked out great.

On Tuesday, Elizabeth had her two week checkup, which she got through with flying colors. She is up to 10 pounds now, so she put on almost a pound over the last week (15 ounces). She measured in at 21 3/4 inches, so needless to say, Dr. Peterson was very pleased with her progress. That also meant no more checkups until 6 weeks from now, when Libby will be two months and it will be shot time. We are all looking forward to that.

Today, Wednesday, we took Libby to Walmart for her first photo shoot (they were offering a great deal on pictures). She handled it pretty well, and the photographer did a great job with her. We got 18 shots taken while there and were able to narrow it down to three poses. I am sure those pictures will make it up on this site once we get them in the beginning of October.

Otherwise there is not a whole lot else going on here. We are working on getting the yard and the house ready for winter as the weather is still nice. On Friday, we plan on heading up to Verndale to catch the Verndale / Bertha-Hewitt football game. Not only is it a big rivalry, but Verndale's football coach will be going for his 307th win, which would be a Minnesota State Record. Then next Tuesday and Wednesday, we are planning on heading down to White Bear Lake to visit Stacy, Dave, Abby and Maddy, and to go to a photographer that has done excellent work with the twins.

So, all in all, not too busy, but busy enough to keep us from getting bored!

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Love
Troy, Denise and Libby

Trial Run at Traveling

On Tuesday, Libby, Denise and myself decided to take a little trip as a trial run at traveling. We decided to take the afternoon and head up to Staples to visit the hospital pharmacy (my place of employment), Wayne's Hardware in Verndale (to see Grampa Mills) and then to Wadena to meet Great Grandmas Mills and Soderberg. All in all, things went very well and we even had a little time to grab supper at The Uptown in Wadena and then stop by our friends, the Formaneks, before making the drive home. All in all, we feel Libby will travel very well as she handled everything outstandingly. Here are a couple of photos from the day!

Great Grandma Rosa Mills (part of Libby's middle name along with Grandma Rosemary) with Libby. We showed up and kind of broke up the bingo game going on at Fair Oaks.

Great Grandma Rosa Mills, Libby and myself, three of four generations of Mills.

Great Grandma Millie Soderberg with Libby.

Three of four generations of Soderbergs.

That is about all for tonight!

Love
Troy, Denise and Libby

One Week Checkup

Good Evening Everyone!

Today we had Libby's one week checkup, okay, six day checkup. Everything is going really well. The main thing they were concerned with was her weight. She was born at 9 pounds, 6 ounces, but then dropped very quickly to 8 pounds, 7 ounces. By the time we left the hospital, she was at 8 pounds, 9 ounces and today she weighed in at 9 pounds, 1 ounce. Dr. Peterson was impressed with her growth, the way her eyes follow things around and how she moves her head already. We go back next Tuesday for her two week checkup and hopefully that will be it until her two month checkup and, GASP, "THE SHOTS"! Although she did have her Hepatitis B shot today and handled that great.

Evenings are going very well. Libby will take a bottle (either formula or breast milk) around 10:30 PM and then it will take about a half hour to rock her to sleep. So by 11:30 PM, she is out and we usually do not hear from her again until around 3:30 AM. After that, it is usually around every two hours until around 10:00 AM, and then it usually goes to three to four hours. She is usually pretty alert from 10-12 and then again around 3:00 PM.

This past weekend, Grampa and Grandma Mills made it down and spent some more time with their newest granddaughter. We also have had time to spend with Grampa and Grandma Danielson and tomorrow (Tuesday), we are going to head up north to Wadena to see Great Grandma Mills and Great Grandma Soderberg. Then this weekend, we are going to make the trek out to Wausau, WI, to visit Denise's sister, Lisa and her husband Eric, and their two children Emily and Anna. Grampa and Grandma Danielson will be along also, so we will have help on the trip. So that leaves Wednesday and Thursday as a chance to give a little yard work done, at least that is the plan.

Here are some of the latest pictures we have taken.


Three generations of Mills with Grampa and Grandma Mills, Libby and myself.

Denise and Libby in front of the "It's A Girl" sign that appeared in our yard.

Libby likes to put her hands on her bottles from time to time.

I just had to throw this cute picture on the blog!

Libby's deep blue eyes, chubby cheeks and blondish-red hair! I am not quite sure how she ended up with all of those!

Have a great evening!

Love,

Troy, Denise and Libby

We Are Home!

There is just something to be said for being in your own house!!!

Denise, Elizabeth and myself made it home today around 3:00 in the afternoon. It feels just awesome and Libby seems to be taking to it very well. Once we got home, Denise tried feeding Libby, which we are finding out to be a problem at times. She only seems to eat when she wants to eat, which is a little bit of a problem for her. As you know, she weighed in at 9 pounds, 6 ounces, and at one point of our hospital stay, she was down to 8 pounds, 7 ounces. When we left today, she was just under 9 pounds, but she just will not eat on any type of schedule. But when she does eat, it is close to 45 minutes of breast feeding followed by anywhere from 1 to 1.5 ounces of formula. Then it is back to sleep for Libby and she sleeps until she is hungry the next time. The nurses would like to see her eating every three hours, but at times when we wake her, she just doesn't want anything. But we are going to try and keep to their schedule.

Mom is doing really great today. The pain isn't nearly as bad as yesterday, and we are keeping her on the Ibuprofen scheduled and the Percocet as needed. She is getting sleepy with Libby on her chest right now, so we may be off to bed here shortly and await the next feeding. Which will it be, scheduled or demanded?

Dad is doing great also. I have gotten two loads of laundry done today and the luggage put away from the hospital stay. Once Denise is done feeding, it is up to me to burp Libby and feed her formula if needed. We take turns holding her as she sleeps really well laying on our chests. Hopefully the crib will work as well for her as the bassinet did in the hospital.

It is about time to sign off today, but I am going to leave you with a couple of pictures from today. Most were from our bath teaching at the hospital before discharge.

Good Night Everyone!

Troy, Denise and Elizabeth

Last Day In The Hospital

Hello to one and all. Today will be the last full day in the hospital for us as they will be releasing Denise and Elizabeth to my care tomorrow morning. We could have went home tonight, but Denise and I decided to give it a few more hours. Her pain has been more intense today and we hope to maybe get a little more sleep tonight. Last night we had Libby in our room all night as they had some problems with a newborn last night in the nursery and felt she would be better off with us. We will see if we keep her all night tonight or let Libby sleep there and come in for feedings.

Libby is getting us trained very well. Last night she wanted to eat about evey hour and a half, which made for a very long night. We eventually had to break out the bottles and supplement the feedings with them. Then today when the lactation nurse was here, Libby would sleep for 3 hours (yes, great nap time) and only eat for about 15 minutes. Needless to say, the nurse was not too happy about this, but what can you do if she just doesn't want to eat? Now tonight, she is back on her feeding frenzy.

My sister Stacy made it up here with the twins Abby and Maddy today to see Elizabeth and Denise. They claim they were also here to see me, but somehow I have a feeling I was playing second fiddle. And you know what, that is okay!

Here are the only two pictures I got today. The first one is of Denise's OB/GYN, Dr. Michelle Mirau with Elizabeth. She is great!

The second one here is of Aunt Stacy and Cousin Maddy with Libby. Unfortunately, Abby didn't want anything to do with the camera at this moment!
So, that is about all from here for now. We want to thank everyone for their well wishes and good thoughts and prayers. We feel truly blessed. We hope everyone has a great weekend and the next blog update should be from the comforts of home!

Love
Troy, Denise and Libby

Elizabeth Rose, Day 2!

Libby Rose in the morning!

Mom and baby spending some quality time together!

Dad and Libby catching some zzzzzzzzz

Libby up close and sleeping!

Grampa and Grandma Danielson with Libby

Just a quick note to say thank you to everyone for their congrats messages! I just wanted to post a few more pictures here before signing off to bed!

Love
Troy, Denise and Libby

Happy Birthday to Elizabeth Rose!

Well, today is September 2nd, the day we have been waiting for. Today was the day we finally got to meet Elizabeth Rose, our daughter!

Our day started out at 5:00 AM with the alarm going off. I could have slept longer since it doesn't take me as long to get ready, but what the heck. Sleeplessness is something everyone keeps telling me I need to get used to.

We headed out to the minivan at 6:40 to head to the hospital for our 7:00 check in (Mills, room for two, eventually 3)! Well, we hop in the van and go to start it and NOTHING!!!! Dead battery. So it was throw everything into the Neon and head into Alexandria in that. I can't remember the last time Denise rode in the Neon. It was probably one of the hockey trips to Bemidji and she got what we thought was car sick. We later found out she was pregnant!

Once we finally got to Douglas County Hospital, Denise had to have some blood drawn and then it was off to our closet, I mean, room. The room is tiny, so much, that when Denise, myself and Libby are in there and a nurse walks in, we have to do a nice waltz to get everyone to move where they need to be. Denise was a troublesome patient right from the start as they had a heck of a time finding a vein to put her IV in. They tried one arm, went to the other one, then went back to the first as one of the veins reappeared. It was a quick stab, nurse Michelle (there will be a theme here) nailed it and it was done.

9:30 came and went, and we eventually found out that they were running behind in the OR rooms. Denise was eventually wheeled off to get her spinal in the preop area and I was left waiting outside the OR area. What seemed like an eternity passed and I was finally escorted back to OR 2 to be with Denise and watch the procedure. I found out that they had a very hard time getting the spinal in and that they were close to putting Denise under for the procedure.

The C-Section was AWESOME, from what I could see. Dr. Michelle Mirau (yes, another Michelle) explained everything she was doing very nicely so Denise and I knew what was going on. I was able to stand at the head of the bed holding Denise's hand and watch the procedure. I got some nice pictures that I will get posted after all of this.

After Libby was out, I was escorted to the other side of the room to be with our daughter while they stitched Denise back together. I was able to witness all the tests and even Libby's first poo! Once she was cleaned up and the tests were run, it was time to see mom. We had our first family picture taken and then it was off to the nursery for Libby and myself while Denise went to Recovery.

At the nursery, I was able to spend the whole time with Elizabeth until Denise arrived back at the room. Everything went well with Libby's APGAR scores being a 9 both times they ran it. She weighed in at 9 pounds, 6 ounces and was 21 inches long. Once mom was back to the room, Libby and myself were off to our home for the next couple of days.

Grampa Curtis and Grandma Rosemary, along with Grandma Vicky were on hand to meet Libby this morning. Tonight, Grampa Curtis and Grandma Rosemary, along with Grampa Wayne and Grandma Vicky will visit again and bond with their newest grand daughter.

Denise is doing very well! The spinal took hold a little better than they had hoped, so it took a little longer to wear off. She now is getting feeling back and moving her legs around. She just finished her supper of chicken broth, jello, black tea and grape juice. Tomorrow, they will get her up and walking and start her on a more solid diet.

Dad is doing very well also. I am a little sleepy, catching five minutes of nap here and there when I can. It has been awesome holding little Elizabeth most of the afternoon and just taking everything in.

Elizabeth has been the biggest surprise out of all of this. She has hardly cried and is very alert, moving her eyes around already and trying to move her head around while in the bassinet or being held. She follows our voices around very well also. She took to breast feeding like a trooper and once her stomach is full, she is off to sleep again. Right now, she is back at the nursery, getting her first bath and sitting under the warmer for a spell since her temp dropped a little. We have chosen a pediatrician, and her name is Michelle also.

Here are some pictures from the day. Some are a little graphic, but I was just in awe of everything and snapping away when I could!

Mom and Dad, pre-procedure!

Here comes Elizabeth Rose!

She has arrived!

Elizabeth Rose Mills, 10:21 AM on September 2, 2008!

Libby testing out her lungs!

Dad cutting the cord (okay, what is left of it after the C-Section).

Dad and Libby in the OR.

That mask must really scare her! Most would say it is an improvement for me.

Mom and Libby meeting for the first time face to face.The Mills' first family picture!

Elizabeth Rose weighing in at 9 pounds, 6.1 ounces.

Libby, showing off more hair than dad!Libby and Denise bonding back in the room!

That is about all from here tonight! Have a great evening!

Love

Troy, Denise and Elizabeth

Happy "Libby Eve"

I know today is Labor Day and we have joked about Denise going into labor today, but it doesn't look like it is going to happen. So happy Labor Day everyone, and more important, Happy "Libby Eve!"

Denise and I will be up and at 'em 12 hours from now as we will be getting ready to head to the hospital. Be there by 7:00 AM for the 9:30 C-Section delivery of Elizabeth. We will finally get to meet our daughter, as will all of you eventually. Denise has been a little nervous about this as she has never spent a night in the hospital, let alone have surgery. But we have been doing our best to get answers and get reassurance. I think it has worked out very well and we are ready. The nice thing about working in a hospital like I do is that I have some of the answers or can get them very quickly.

Douglas County Hospital does have an online picture page for births. It can be seen at their website:

http://www.dchospital.com/index.cfm

I also hope to get plenty of pictures and get them up on the website, provided DCH has internet access for patients and their families. So check back often and see if there are updates.

Have a great Labor Day everyone!!! Tomorrow, the Mills and Danielson families will grow by one more!!!

Troy and Denise