Additional pictures...

I think all of these pictures are courtesy of Grammie Kay. Here's us getting out of the car when we finally got home. Hooray!

Maryn's cousins are excited to meet her, though not so much while she's sleeping. She's not very exciting to them while sleeping. They were quite unsure about Uncle Darin and Aunt Marisa now being a mom and dad. They finally accepted that we are both. While they are learning the concept of 'cousins' they instead decided to be her 'Ninja Turtles.'


While we were working on feeding in the hospital, Maryn was showing me how to open wide.








Mom is changing Maryn after finally getting home. Notice her matching shirt and hat. Dad picked those up for her in Bend. Mom chose the outfit (pants not photographed) as her 'going home from the hospital outfit.' Points for me on a job well done!




Cousin- I mean, Ninja Turtle Colin is meeting Maryn for the first time.









Ninja Turtle Trystan is meeting Maryn for the first time. Maryn enjoyed sleeping for the first several hours of her homecoming party.







Aunt Gina holding Maryn. Again, Trystan and Colin had to learn to accept their mom is also an aunt.








Poppa Lauran is quite proud of his granddaughter!



Stay tuned as I'll work to get more photo's posted. Thanks to everyone for all their support and Grammie Cheryl for helping out while I was out for work!

Finally home!!!!

We're finally home!!! Maryn and Marisa are finally home!! Now they can both get some deserved peaceful, quiet rest! Here are some pics of her, if you're like us, you can't get enough. Thanks again to everyone who sent us thoughtful emails, v-mails, flowers, and gifts!





This is Maryn's first bath at the Salem NICU.

Popeye! She just had her gavage removed. That's a feeding tube if you ever want to use that word in Scrabble. I love this picture!











Almost ready to go home...











Maryn finally gets to wear her own clothes, very fashionable if you can't tell, and get some sleep at home.












Maryn's first nap at home!

More pics...

Marisa in labor and doing great!














This is Maryn on oxygen and as close as we could get to her. We were able to touch her, but not hold her.














Sitting beside her was stressful as her little body worked so hard.














Only a couple of hours after having an emergency c-section, Marisa is by Maryn's side.

After her transport to Salem's Neonatal-ICU, Maryn is doing much better and Marisa can finally hold her baby!

Things are going much better as Maryn's respitory settles and she's breathing on her own!















Maryn is happy to be with her mom!















Maryn also enjoys time with her Grandpa, John.

Here are few pictures from Grammie Kay. There are more to come, including when she was all hooked up to O2 her first two days. She is doing well, off IV, and recovering. She is breathing well, staying warm, and if we can get her to start eating, we can take her home soon! Check back for more pictures throughout the week. Thank you to everyone who has sent us such thoughtful messages! Mom is recovering well, but slowly, after having major surgery! She's a real trooper, spending all day with her baby, despite being exhausted and sore. She deserves all the credit in the world for creating our beautiful baby girl! And yes, that's me changing her first poopy diaper. We're so proud she made poop!

Finally...breathing...easier...

Maryn Hope has arrived!! It was not easy as she gave us a real scare. It all started at 4:30am on Friday when Marisa started having contractions. We began timing them, I could feel them, and we got ready to go. We called the hospital, they said come on in. Well, it's baby month in Corvallis and they were swamped. We got there around 8am and were sent out of our tiny room around 9:30, despite having contractions only two or three minutes apart. We live 45 minutes from the hospital! Good thing Grammie Kay and Papa Lauran have an RV! We sat in the RV for an hour as the contractions grew in strength and Marisa was NOT enjoying herself. They readmitted us around 10:30. It was much better room situtation though. Marisa was having a textbook labor - contractions every two minutes, more and more painful, dialating, etc. She was at 6 or 7cm (en route to 10cm for my single buddies) around 1pm, at 3pm she was at 9cm and we were ready to go.

Then the world changed, drastically. Maryn's heartrate was clipping right along at 140 bpm. Then around 3:15, it dropped to around 60 bpm. Next thing we know, Marisa has an army of nurses and doctors around her and they rush her off for an emergency c-section. I was not allowed in the room. Needless, to say this not a fun time for the family and me.

Maryn was quickly delivered from Mom at 3:35pm. They rushed her down to the nursery and I was finally able to see her. She was crying, which was comforting. Tears filled my eyes at the sight of her, and knowing she was not out of the woods yet. And, Marisa was completely under. I watched and waited in the nursery as the pediatrician, respiratory therapist, and nurses evaluated and worked on her. Maryn's lungs were struggling with fluid in them and had to be put on oxygen. She was also breathing very rapidly, more so than the doctors like to see in newborns. Her heartrate was a bit fast, but that wasn't a big worry. Her oxygen and respitory were the concerns. The good sign was that she would cry and would fidget when being messed with. Poor Maryn had been poked and tested countless times in her first hours of life.

After about 48 hours of very slight improvement, which was really her just staying the same, the pediatrician decided they had done all they could and she needed to go to a Neonatal-ICU. A transport came down from Emanuel Hospital in Portland, they took Maryn (and Marisa) in an ambulance to Salem's NICU. Maryn must have enjoyed her first car ride, with the lights on coming up I-5 as cars moved out of her way! Maryn began to improve in Salem's ICU within the first 30 minutes. She was not immediately put back on the oxygen, after being on it in the ambulance. Maryn's respiratory slowed to a much more ideal rate, her oxygen was good without any help! This was all very relieving to her parents and grandparents! After 48 hours of life, Maryn was finally able to be held by her mother! It was a great moment! She'll spend more time at the NICU and we can't bring her home yet. But, we can rest a little now, which is good, because I don't think I've slept since Friday morning taking care of my girls. I'm just happy everyone is doing well!

Sorry! I don't have pictures yet, but I'll try to get them up tomorrow (Monday) sometime. Maryn was 7 pounds, 8 oz., 19.5 inches long. She has a ton of brown hair and dark blue eyes - which is common. She is flawlessly beautiful and the most amazing thing that has ever happened in our lives. We love her very much! And, she better never do this to us again! Mom is recovering well, but is understandably sore. I apologize for not getting word out to each of you sooner, but things were pretty intense for a couple days. Hope all is well with you and we'll get pictures up soon!
-Darin

A special thanks to our parents for all their help and support!

Hello!

We want to keep our family and friends informed about the new addition to our family. Currently, we're waiting for her to show up! She's being fashionably late.

Her room is ready for her! Hopefully it shows up that her room is a very light blue. Darin painted the room and Grammie Kay painted the furniture two different pinks. When we bought the paint, the clerk asked if we are expecting twins, blue AND pink threw him off a bit.

Hopefully baby pictures of Maryn will be on here in a matter of days. We're just waiting. We'll be sure to let everyone know as soon as she arrives!