God is my Strength

GOD is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalms 46:1

Home Birth

We are very thankful for our home birth experience. Tuesday night, our son Kolpin, was born into the loving arms of Daddy with the assistance of Lynda - a wonderful Christian Midwife.

When we first heard about home birth, we had the same thought as most people: "no way!" However, after doing our research at the encouragement of good friends, we prayerfully decided home birth was the right course for us (safer for mom and baby with less interventions). We believe childbirth is a beautiful and natural process designed by God - not a medical emergency - and we desired a loving, gentle and safe birth experience in the comfort of our own home.
Our Midwife, Lynda, is carrying on an ancient tradition of ministering women in childbirth. She has been blessed with the skills to support families in bringing forth children. We were privileged to work with her.

Our birth experience was beautiful. Amy noticed (non-painful) uterine contractions beginning early Tuesday morning. She was able to enjoy a wonderful day with the kids: cleaning house, painting with Hendrick, reading stories, a long neighborhood walk and dinner with the family. At 7:30 PM the contractions became more intense and the kids were all put to bed (praise the Lord they went right to sleep!). We were able to enjoy watching a bit of Roman Holiday, curled-up together on the couch. By 8:30 PM Amy was experiencing strong contractions, two minutes apart, and we moved upstairs to the bedroom. Lynda and her assistant arrived at 9:00 PM, running in with flip flops flapping. They were filled with love and encouragement, and their actions were perfectly coordinated as they rushed to set up for the birth. Just a few minutes after their arrival, Amy was found to be fully dilated and ready to push! First push, the water broke. Second push, our baby crowned. Third push, our baby was delivered into the waiting arms of Mike - 9:08 PM. Absolutely amazing!!!!

Unfortunately, the combination of Kolpin's slightly early arrival (36-1/2 weeks) and his incredibly quick delivery (there wasn't time for contractions to squeeze the fluid out of his lungs before birth) resulted in "sticky", weak lungs. We are so thankful for Lynda's skill at midwifery. She immediately recognized a potential issue, and after two hours of us snuggling and loving-on our new born, she wisely coached us to a hospital transfer. Lynda arranged everything for a successful transport: alerting the NICU to our coming, accompanying us, comforting us, and acting as our advocate in the hospital. We know that his condition would have been present in either a hospital or home birth, but bringing him forth at home allowed us a precious time of skin-to-skin contact that would not have been possible at the hospital.

We know home birth is not always the best option for every family. We are obviously thankful to hospitals and the emergency care they provide - Kolpin is being well cared for in the hospital. But for us, home birth was the right decision. We were truly blessed by Lynda. This wasn't a case of "We did it", but "Look what through faith, the Lord has done!" We are so thankful for our beautiful, intimate home birth experience and for God's hand in Kolpin's birth!

I saw your work and I shouted for joy. Psalm 92:4

Light

Our little trooper is doing great - we are seeing real progress. Kolpin's most recent chest x-ray looked great, so we think his lung has healed. He will have another x-ray Sunday morning, we pray everything looks good and his chest tube will be removed. He is on room air with his nasal cannula (oxygen tube), we pray he will be able to breathe without assistance soon. Kolpin has moved up to full (tube) feedings, we pray he will quickly be able to move to bottles. Special K has a lot of work ahead of him - we pray God will give him strength!

Our boy was tanning today: he is slightly jaundiced with elevated bilirubin levels. He was on the biliblanket (phototherapy blanket) - the light works to eliminate the bilirubin in his blood

Food

K is doing well with the chest tube and has gone to a less-invasive oxygen treatment. Kolpin also took his first (tube) feeding well - his tummy seemed to like Mom's milk while he practiced sucking a pacifier - so we're going for number two in 15 more minutes. We are so proud of our little fighter.

Air

Little K developed a hole in his right lung this morning (pneumothorax, I think). It was allowing air into his chest cavity and causing his lung to collapse. Thankfully it is fixed now and he has a small tube in to relieve the pressure. The doc says the hole should heal itself in 2-3 days (side note: God's design is amazing). Thanks for all the help at home, freeing us up to be with our baby...our touch and speech are very important for K right now.

New nickname...Special K? Will have to think about that one....

Day 1

We were thrilled to be able to spend the day with Kolpin in the NICU - We got to hold our son, see him briefly without his large face mask (for oxygen), and were delighted to take in his open eyes! He still struggles with breathing on his own - his grunting has lessened but his breathing is too rapid - so we probably have a few more days on the air contraption.
*Thanks for all your prayers and help to allow us to spend more time with him. Our voice and touch are very important for K right now*

Kolpin

We are blessed to announce the arrival of our son, Kolpin Blackburn, born at home August 25, 2009 at 9:08 PM - weighing 6 lbs 7 oz and 20 inches long. Continuing our pattern, labor and delivery were quick (with our midwives arriving just 10 minutes prior to his birth), but this unfortunately left him with "sticky lungs" - grunting with each breath. We loved holding and snuggling our baby boy for two hours before our midwife wisely recommended a hospital transfer for little Kolpin where he will be spending a few days in the NICU.
We are truly blessed with an amazing home birth experience and are in awe of God's provision for this situation. We ask for your prayers for Kolpin's quick return home.

In Bloom - 36 Weeks

Hallelujah, we've made it to 36 weeks...shall we go for a few more!?!

Story Time and Trains

Gramma (Amy's Mom) blessed us with another week-long visit! She gave the kids a very special week and was very busy with lots of stories and visits to the Library and the The Depot Museum...along with the endless cooking, cleaning and laundry. We are so appreciative for the two weeks of help she generously gave our family, which allowed Amy to really rest during these past few weeks of the pregnancy. And, praise God, we have made it to 36 weeks!!!! Thanks Mom!

Nap Time

Some one didn't nap today...but I did find this sweetheart trying his best to wash his hands (regular markers do not wash off very easily - is it bad to say, "at least it was his hands and not the wall..."?)

19 Months

This precious girl will soon be displaced as "the baby"...but she'll always be our baby girl!

All Snapped Up

We have been using (and loving) our cloth diapers for 10+ months...unfortunately the velcro didn't hold up as well as the diapers. So, Amy converted our original diapers from aplix design to SNAP! We now have 7 "new" snap diapers to add to our collection of snap diapers. This is an easy update, and now we don't have to worry about the velcro sticking in the wash!

Look Who's Standing!

Maegli is very proud of her new skill -STANDING!!!!! Our little-big girl (at 18 months and 19-1/2 pounds) is very impressive with her ability to stand-up in the middle of a room without assistance (and with full hands!) - her physical therapist is very pleased with the progress she has made. She is very steady on her feet although quite content to stand still...we think she's waiting to walk for the new baby's arrival.
Maegli, there's no need to wait - please go ahead a walk! We're so proud of our girl!

Fun with Science

We had a great morning with Hendrick's science class today...we are learning all about trees. His experiment was to dig up dead leaves from the woods and record his findings in his journal, then to do a sediment separation experiment. We'll see tomorrow the makeup of our yard! We are so proud of our big boy.

Burke's Favorite Things

Rody is a big favorite in our household...so much, that we have three! - red, blue, and green. This toy is fantastic for releasing child-energy indoors. This is basically a stability ball for kids - building muscles while playing. These are without a doubt the most-used toys in our home. Burke, especially, is enamored with his Rody. He is quite the cowboy bouncing around the house on his horsey.

Davis' Favorite Things

Davis' favorite activities (besides following around his big brother) are things involving precision skills. He is an expert at setting up and racing his hot wheels, tangrams (we love the Tangoes), "little legoes", and all puzzles. This 3-year-old is impressive with his patience and puzzle ability. Puzzles have always been a talent of his from a very young age...now with a slightly longer attention span, he is content to sit for an hour and work away. He gets a lot of satisfaction completing a puzzle -"I did it!"

5-year-old Lego Prowess

Grandma Time

We are so thankful for a full week of Grandma Time!!!!
Amy's mom came to visit/help out for a week and allow Amy to rest (and hopefully buy us another week of pregnancy!). We sure kept Mom busy (she's probably ready for a vacation!) - she took care of our house, cooked delicious food, got us ready for the new baby, and gave the kids a very special week: library story-time; trips to the playground; backyard sandbox, pool and swing set play... and lots of BOOKS! The kids all LOVE reading with Grandma (I think it goes both ways!).
Thanks Mom for the wonderful week!

In Bloom - 34 Weeks

The Four (Five!)

No Itching Here...

Today is our 7th Anniversary!!!

Seven years has flown by...It's hard to believe it was a seven years ago when we were dancing in a barn at our wedding reception. We had a blast square-dancing with our guests to the music of our band, the Comet Bluegrass All-Stars. We still dance to bluegrass music, only now it's around the house with our four kids - times have changed, but we seem to have more fun each day.

Now We're Ready

Hendrick and Amy worked together on a Tooth Fairy Bag...now, we'll be ready for this next loose tooth. Hendrick did a great job reading the directions, picking out colors, and pinning it all together. He is so proud of his new bag. His next tooth will go in the "tooth" pocket...and the Tooth Fairy can leave a treat in the pouch. Very Fun!