And that's a wrap!

So the long Labor Day weekend has come and gone...the unofficial end of summer. The weekend brought some new and exciting things though.

First, Friday morning my niece Alejandra Sophia was born. My sister asked that I be in the delivery room to catch her first moments on video, she didn't think her husband would be able to do it. I was happy to oblige, especially since my deliver with Bryce ended with a c-section I didn't expect that I would ever get to experience a normal birth. I never got to push and I didn't get to hold Bryce immediately either, I barely even caught a glimpse of him as they whisked him off so fast to suck the meconium out of his lungs. I feel those are some magical moments that I missed out on.

As expected she had a short labor with 4 sets of pushes and out came Alejandra Sophia...sunny side up! 

As she was pushing I was breathing along with her, taking deep breaths, then holding my breath when she was actually pushing! Needless to say I caught those special first moments on video and some pictures too...then where I was holding my breath caught up with me and I had to sit down before I passed out!! I'm really bad about that during those big moments, including at our wedding!

Melissa and Ozzie got to have a little bit of time with the new little princess before they took her to the nursery to test her platelets and eventually she was taken to the NICU due to low platelet levels as we had expected. It would be nearly two days before they were allowed to hold her again. 

As a teenager Melissa was diagnosed with ITP, which is a blood disorder where she has low platelets. They suspected that something made her platelets appear to be foreign objects therefore her spleen was removing them. As a young adult Melissa decided she had had enough and wanted to have her spleen removed, so they did. There were some issues at first but her body has adapted and now maintains a normal level of platelets.

When Melissa's son was born, no one even thought about him being born with low platelet levels until my Mom noticed he had some petechiae. Google that! Since the platelets he had came from her, his spleen was removing them. He spent a week in the NICU before his levels were high enough for him to be released. 

Knowing what to expect with the second baby made a world of difference. Not only was Alejandra released from the NICU after only three days, but Melissa was not the emotional mess she was with Kell. I don't know if by knowing ahead of time and beginning treatment quicker contributed to her quick release or if girls are just a little bit tougher. ; )

Nic brought Bryce up to the hospital after the baby was born. He really enjoyed looking at her in the nursery. Every time we would walk past the nursery he wanted to look at the babies. Since she went into the NICU a short time later, he actually didn't get to see her again until Monday. 

The proud cousin and big brother!  

 We went by to visit them on Monday evening after they had gotten home and were settling in. I was surprised when Bryce wanted to hold the baby. In fact he tried to pull her out of my arms! We did get a picture of Bryce holding her...and trying to pinch her nose but since it wasn't on my camera I don't currently have a copy of it to share. 

We did manage to sneak off to the lake Saturday morning...of course after a visit to the hospital. The weather was warm on Saturday with hardly any breeze. About ten boats tied up in the middle of the lake and we had a great time. Bryce did manage to drop a pair of his sunglasses (my favorite) over the side of the boat, which quickly sunk to the bottom! Oh well at least I have a couple of pictures of them! 

Sunday morning we woke up and it was no longer summer...it felt like a crisp fall morning! Wow! What a difference a few hours can make. It was too windy and cool to go out on the water so we went out to lunch, then hung out on the beach...at least the sand felt warm. 

 So for the past week we have been enjoying cool nights with the temperatures in the 50s and daytime highs in the 70s and 80s. I do prefer it to be a little warmer, but I'm glad to have a break from the extreme heat where we can enjoy our time outside more.