Batting Cleanup

As I have sifted through our pictures and compiled images from grandmother's cameras I have come across some images that were too good to be left off of the blog. In the midst of live blogging from my iPhone (which is captured in one of the images) and the hustle of the hospital I didn't post these originally and so now I've called in this blog post to bat cleanup for me. Enjoy...

All 3 Kears are home...and loving it.

You may have noticed that I am not posting as frequently as I was when we were just sitting around a hospital room waiting. It is as if there is something/someone occupying our attention. We came home from the hospital on Friday. Dozzie and Grandpa Kear got the house cleaned up and ready for us to come home to in addition to all the work that Grandpa and my cousin Tuck did in the master bath. We are so thankful for them. Lolly (Marion) and Tara flanked Crosby in the back seat of the Honda as we drove home. Tara commented that there were more potholes and large trucks on the interstate than ever before.

We are doing great now that we are home. Crosby is feeding well and Tara is working hard to figure this little guy out. Our days have consisted of feeding, sleeping (a little bit that is), diapers, and ogling...exactly as they should for new parents right? We took Crosby for his first checkup with our friend Dr. Aaron Ward (of pursuing pineapple fame). Crosby checked out just fine. His Billy Ruben count was slightly elevated, but nothing that a little bit of indirect sunlight can't help resolve. Crosby's birth weight was 6 lbs. 4 oz. His discharge weight when we left the hospital on Friday was 5 lbs. 13 oz. We were please to see him weigh in at 6 lbs. 2 oz at Dr. Ward's office, almost back to his birth weight after 5 days.

Pictures convey a lot more than words...so I'll use pictures to fill you in on the last few days.

Here is a link to an photo album from Crosby's first bath at home: http://picasaweb.google.com/chris.kear/CrosbySFirstBath#



Crosby's coming home outfit.

Our first day with Crosby

We spent our first day with Crosby today and it was wonderful. Thank y'all for the words of support, encouragement, love and congratulations over the last few days. We are doing well. We are just adjusting to Crosby and him to us. Lord willing, we will get to take Crosby home on Friday.

One of our biggest prayers has been that Crosby would not have to spend much, if any, time in the NICU once he was born. We are so blessed that Crosby did not have to spend 1 second in the NICU, thank the Lord!

I probably haven't said it enough in the last few days, but my wife is amazing! Crosby is so fortunate to have her for a mama. Our family and friends are pretty amazing too. Thank y'all for everything!

Here are a few pics of the newest Kear.

Crosby is doing great

Crosby is in the room with us hanging out under his warmer. His little cries are beautiful. Tara is doing well.





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Crosby is here!

Crosby George Kear is here!!!

6lbs 4oz. 19.5" born at 1:19 pm on December 9, 2009. Tara did amazing! They are both doing great. We are truly blessed and thankful for this gift from God.






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Progress

Tara is completely dialated and 100% effaced. She is doing great!!!


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We are in labor and delivery

I made it to labor and delivery. Tara's water hasn't broken yet and she is doing well.





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Moving to labor and delivery

Tara is 6-7 cm dialated and they are moving her to labor and delivery. We are having a baby!!!! More info to come. I'm hauling tail to little rock.


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We made it to 36 weeks!

Praise the Lord, today marks 36 weeks, and 3 weeks of being in the hospital on bedrest. Thank you all for the prayers and support. I (Tara) feel like this is a huge milestone, and I feel so blessed that Crosby has been able to stay put and mature this long. We've definitely noticed that he is getting bigger, just by looking at my side profile these days. :) Dr. Wiedower came by this morning and told me that we are still planning to stay on the medication for 1 more week, until we reach 37 weeks, which is considered full-term. I honestly expect Crosby to arrive that day, but he may have something else in mind and keep his parents guessing a little longer. If he does not come by the time I am 38 weeks, I will be induced. Today, the doctor also told me that I am now allowed to sit up in a chair for a little while each day and increase my walking some to help me gain some strength before Crosby arrives. It is amazing how quickly you lose strength and endurance from lying in a hospital bed. I am wondering how I will be able to manage our stairs at home. Here is a picture of my wonderful visit from Amy and Gretta, who drove up from OBU yesterday afternoon. Amy learned to knit over her Thanksgiving break and knitted this amazing blanket for Crosby. I'll also put a picture of one of my favorite nurses here, Nancy, as she hooks me up to the monitors...part of our daily routine here on the antenatal unit. I am really going to miss the sweet nurses that have been taking such great care of us these past few weeks.

35 weeks and 6 days

A quick update... Crosby is still cooking. Tara and Crosby be are both doing. We had a pretty quiet, non-eventful weekend, which is good. We are looking forward to talking with Dr. Wiedower this morning and confirming the game plan for the next week or two.

Thanks for the prayers and support. God continues to take care of us and has given us a wonderful community. Y'all are amazing.

UPDATE:
Dr. Wiedower was very pleased with how Tara was doing and the fact that we were almost at 36 weeks. She plans to leave Tara on the Brethine until she hits 37 weeks, then take her off of that and let whatever happens happen.

35 weeks and 5 days

We are 35 weeks and 5 days as of this morning. Tara and Crosby are doing well. It is a beautiful Sunday morning and despite my doubts the sun still rose this morning in spite of last night's SEC championship games. Imagine that.

If you've checked the blog in the last few days and not seen any updates, I'm sorry. Remind yourself that no news is good news.

We have a had a couple light rounds of contractions (that is just going to happen), but nothing like Wednesday evening. Crosby is still active, head down, raring to go. Tara is doing well. Her attitude is much better than mine would be if I was going on day 19 of hospital bed rest. Please pray for her mental fortitude and joy as we continue stay the course...and she stays in bed. As of now the game plan is still to stay on the Brethine medicine until 37 weeks (December 15). So in the meantime we continue to wait.

My mom, Roz or Dozzie as her grandsons know her, picked up a Christmas tree for the room this week. It was fun to decorate and bring some of the holiday season into our gray walled hospital room. I wonder if I can convince Tara to forgo our standard 8 foot tree and go with a 2.5 foot tree every year. Yeah right!

The blue and brown ornaments were a favor from a shower that Tara's college buddies threw for her. Sara Recktenwald added the custom Crosby rhyming reminder note to each one. They are especially appropriate for our hospital tree.

Yesterday enjoyed a visit from Tara's long time Pastor, Bro. Buddy and his wife Ms. Terry. Bro. Buddy was one of the ministers that married us and is the epitome of true pastoral care. It was so good to see them and visit.

My wife rocks

I called Tara as I was leaving work Wednesday evening to check in and learned she was having some contractions just like Monday evening.

The main contractions lasted from 5 to 10 or 11 pm when they eventually spaced out enough to not be concern. The good news is that when the nurse checked there was no progression, still 5 cm. My wife is a real trooper.

Tara was a little sore this morning but in good spirits and enjoying her apple when I left.

We made it to 35 weeks!

I'm sorry that it has been a few days since we've posted a blog update. Chris returned to work yesterday, so he does not have as much time on his hands to make a daily blog post. I guess I (Tara) will take over the blog for now since I have plenty of time on my hands these days. :) I have been overwhelmed by the love and support and prayers that we have received during these past 2 weeks. We are so thankful for the loving community that God has blessed us with.

As I said, Chris is back at work now and is enjoying the daily commute to and from LR. His mother, Roslyn, has been able to stay with me here in the hospital these past couple of days, which has been wonderful. I saw Dr. Wiedower this morning, and I am still at 5cm, 80% effaced. I was so glad to hear that we have not progressed since last Friday, despite having some pretty regular and intense contractions on Monday evening. When Chris arrived here after work that evening, he proceeded to lean down and (talking to my belly) tell Crosby that he was not allowed to act up and interrupt the Saints playing in Monday Night Football. :) Crosby minded his daddy and the contractions settled down eventually...and then the nurse let me eat! We had a great time cheering the Saints on and tried to not get too rowdy here in the hospital during such an exciting game (that is, if you were a Saints fan). Back to the visit with Dr. Wiedower this morning...she said that she plans to leave me on the medication until 37 weeks because she really wants me to be able to take Crosby home when he arrives. Thirty-seven weeks is considered full-term. She also scheduled an induction date for 38 weeks if he has not come by then...I think that is Dec. 22nd. But, I cannot imagine that I won't go back in to full blown labor as soon as they take me off the medicine. We'll just see...it is a day by day thing right now, and so we wait with eager anticipation knowing that God is in control and trusting his continued care and provision.

I had a wonderful surprise visit last night from my good friend, Molly Westerman, who is also expecting, and Stephanie Davis was so sweet to visit this morning. The days here in the antenatal unit really do fly by quicker than you would expect, which is a huge blessing. Crosby continues to look wonderful during his twice a day monitoring sessions, another huge blessing. He seems to be oblivious to all of this, and is moving and kicking around like crazy. I cannot wait (but I will b/c I know it's best for him) to meet this eager little guy. Here are a couple of pictures from the past few days:

Good things come in 3's

It has been a few days since I made a post and I should start by letting you know that Crosby is still in the womb. Tara and the little guy are both doing well. Tara is still taking the Brethine pills every 4 hours to keep the contractions at bay. Friday afternoon, despite the medicine, Tara begin having very regular contractions and we found out that she is now 5cm and 90% effaced, which doesn't surprise us given that she has had contractions several times in the last week. They gave her some pain medicine and the contractions eventually faded as the Brethine did its thing.

This coming Tuesday will put Crosby at 35 weeks. We just play it by ear each day with Tara on bed rest, watching to see if her contractions break through the meds and if this deal shifts to the next level. The OB would like to keep Tara on bed rest another week or two, we'll just have to see what Crosby has to say about that.

We have been here in the hospital 12 days now. We are just playing a waiting game and trusting that God is in control and that He knows what is best for us. We do not know how long we can keep Crosby in the womb, every time that Tara has some contractions we wonder, "Will these be the ones that break through?" So in the meantime we will just trust and wait. Duvall is preaching on waiting this morning at Fellowship Church Arkadelphia, something that this advent season and our lives have in common right now. Tara and I look forward to reading a copy of his sermon shortly. It is our prayer that Crosby will have to spend little or no time in the NICU. We want to give Crosby as much time to cook as possible, but we also trust that God is good and he truly does know what is best for his children. We are very blessed and we know that.

Tara did have some visitors Friday and Saturday that could bring a smile to any patient's face, her cousins Michelle and Darrell with their four year old triplets, Julie, Amy, and Sarah. They were traveling back to Texas from visiting family in Mississippi and made a stop to see us. Tara adores these three girls. Tara truly cherished their visit and their artwork now adorns the walls of her hospital room. Michelle, who spent three months on hospital bed rest during her pregnancy with the triplets, passed on her wisdom of how to survive on bed rest to Tara.

Much to be thankful for

We have much to be thankful for today. We are so thankful that the Lord placed Tara in L&D last Tuesday afternoon where we could get her and Crosby the care that they needed, even when we had no idea that they needed it. We are thankful for our wonderful family and amazing friends. We are thankful that Crosby's heartbeat looks good and he is still cooking. We are thankful that our Father in Heaven is both good and great!

We have had a good Thanksgiving day. Tara did not have many noticeable contractions today. Her parents, her brother Chris, his wife Sage, and our nephew Danner (9 months old) came up to the spend the day with us at BMC LR. We got our friend, Mr. C. Barrell, to prepare our meal for us. We brought it back to the hospital room and enjoyed our feast together.

It was chilly and windy, but sunny and beautiful outside so we enjoyed a few minutes out in the BMC plaza. The fresh air felt good and I know that Tara enjoyed it. It was a good afternoon with family. This was certainly a Thanksgiving memory that we will cherish.









It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a football game capturing our attention.

The more things change the more they stay the same

Since we made 34 weeks yesterday Dr. Wiedower wanted to try taking Tara off of her routine meds every 4 hours that have been holding the contractions at bay. We got an ultrasound this morning to check on Crosby's position and size. They didn't want to let me go back and see the ultrasound, but I talked my way into the room with Tara. The ultrasound tech confirmed once again that Crosby is a boy and he is head down... way down. He looked good. The measurements from the ultrasound indicated that he is between 4 and 5 lbs, confirming we want him to keep cooking.

FYI...As I type this post, I'm laying on the bed next to Tara and Crosby keeps kicking my elbow.

Tara's mom, Marion, spent the day hanging out with us today. Tara got a dose of her routine anti-contraction med at 7:30 this morning, then the doc gave the order to take her off of it for the rest of the day. Things were fine at first but by 3:00 pm Tara begun having contractions again. We watched them for a few minutes, but they persisted and the OB gave the order to give Tara an injection of med to stop them. That stopped them for about 45 minutes and then they came right back. Tara would tell you that they not only came back, but back with a vengeance. Dr. Wiedower decided to punt and go back to the routine doses every 4 hours to keep the contractions away. Tara was pretty uncomfortable when those contractions got rocking, but she was a real trooper! She is already being a great mom to Crosby.

It looks like she plans on keeping Tara on the routine meds for another week or two since her body clearly wants to go into labor without them. It appears that Tara will be camped out in this hospital bed for a while. We have to admit that when we thought Crosby might be born this week we were getting kind of excited, but now realize that him staying put is what is best for him. Certainly a lot of mixed emotions. We are doing well now and are glad to know the plan for the next week or so. We trust that the Lord is in control and He will take care of Tara and Crosby. Tara is thankful to still be in the hospital, because she knows it is the best place for both her and Crosby.

Thanks for all the love and support! We are thankful for such wonderful family and friends.

Last night we got to visit with the Wrights some more along with Jeremy Jackson. Russ, Jeremy and I have done adventure races together as Team Tricord. It was good to have the team together again. Notice that all three of us are wearing outdoor adventure related shirts.


Sheila and Terrell Baker popped in for a quick visit tonight. It was good to see them as well.