Happy 10th Anniversary Jason and Kristi and Stella goes home!

Thursday May 21st

Today is my Uncle Ken's 89th birthday. He was my dad's middle brother and he has outlived both brothers. We called him to wish him a Happy Birthday, Of course we couldn't go over to Coquitlam to celebrate ...

Here a picture that my cousin posted on Facebook. She brought him his birthday cake in the afternoon as she was working at 5pm.

Norma and Ken

Kristi and Jason arrived at 5 pm to spend the night. They will leave the dogs with us and head out to Victoria tomorrow to celebrate their 10 year wedding anniversary. I was busy all day smoking baby back ribs in the Traeger for our dinner. They turned out beautifully.

Served with homemade baked beans and cornbread.

Where is Jason you might ask???? Being Thursday night he participates on a "raid", a game on his computer with a bunch of other people so his dinner was delivered to him downstairs. lol Yes I spoil him. :) As you can see he is well-stocked for the rest of the night! He had 2 plate fulls of ribs and beans.

Friday morning early, Kristi and Jason left for Victoria for their anniversary weekend. Hard to believe they have been married for ten years!

Of course it was treat time for the puppies!

We have Kristi's dogs for two days and they will return on Sunday to spend the night again with us before heading back home on Monday. Hopefully the weather smartens up.

Good morning baby Stella. (8 am)

She gained 48 grams yesterday. A lot of it from the breast or bottle so she is definitely heading in the right direction to be released soon.

We gave Kristi and Jason the use of our car for driving around Victoria and kept their truck so Ray was able to go and get some wood for his projects.

I think Kristi's dogs are most comfortable here. Athena took over one of Freya's beds. lol

Everyone had a good sleep as in we did not get woken up by the 3 dogs all night long. lol

Garrett and Kat headed back to the hospital for Stella's 8am feeding. She had been fed only by bottle since yesterday afternoon so more steps forward. This time she has gained another 28gms since yesterday. She had 22 ml by breast and 20 by bottle this morning. One step closer to going home.

Mom first ...

Dad up next to finish with a bottle of Kat's milk ...

Busy morning for Stella as her bath was up next with Daddy. Pretty sleepy after being fed. lol

Finally cuddles with daddy ... yes I can go back to sleep!

Her 2 pm feeding she couldn't stay away for her whole feed so the last was fed through her NG tube ... the countdown for 48 hours starts again. Kat did manage to get a companion room so is nearby for her for the rest of her feedings.
I am so tired ....

Looks like someone had milk on their phone when they took the picture. lol

By 11 am the skies had cleared here at the lake so we spent the afternoon on the back lawn out of the wind with the dogs. Happy puppies. It was only about 14C but out of the wind quite warm.

And Freya keeping track of her pack mates totally tired her out. Unfortunately she can barely walk ... hopefully she has a better day tomorrow ... no STICK! She won't be going on the pack walk tonight. She has one more day of antibiotics and I gave her the new pain med pill tonight she has been started on ... so she should feel better soon.

Sunday morning woke up early ... 5:00 am and tried to go back to sleep. 5:30 am saw both Ray and I up. The dogs seem to do a walk about at 4:45 am every morning so ... we wake up. A very cloudy day with the odd sprinkle.

Quiet day, Kristi and Jason were back here by 11am and we all just chilled for the day either on the porch under the gazebo or watching TV. Dinner was spaghetti, the sauce which I had made the day before, so an easy dinner. Jason picked out a movie on Netflix and we settled in for a 2 hour show after dinner.

Stella gained 28 grams and was back either breastfed or bottle fed all day and night so back on track to be released tomorrow or the next day. Yeah. She actually spent some time with her eyes open yesterday looking around too.

Biggest yawn.

Hi Mommy.

Monday morning lightly raining out. Had a good night ... no dogs waking us up. lol I'm still fighting with my left foot's plantar fasciitis outbreak. Hopefully the swelling will go down soon. Kristi and Jason left early for home, at 8:30 am as Jason has a lot of projects to get done before his load of dirt arrives on Thursday. A great visit.

Kat texted this morning. Stella had a great night and fed from the bottle only so it looks like they may get sprung today. Her feeding tube has been removed so it's looking good. She just needs to feed from a bottle for the 11am feed and breastfeed at 2pm taking in enough and will be weighed. If all goes well they will be on their way home to Squamish by 3pm.

Ready to go,

And they are off! lol

They made it safe and sound.

She sure is tiny!

Hopefully better weather is coming this week so we can get out on the lake in the boat.

May long weekend - Kristi and Jason come to visit and more Stella Pics

The weather forecast for this weekend is terrible, which is good to keep people at home hopefully. Not much sleep last night for me waiting for the birth of our first grandchild, Stella. Then of course my excitement kicked in and it was hard to get back to sleep. lol

Our daughter Kristi and her husband Jason arrived with our grandpuppies in tow at 4 pm on Friday night. We have all been self-isolating and Kristi has not been in contact with any Covid patients at the hospital. She wears her PPE for baby deliveries so we all felt safe as our "bubble's" have only opened for us and them. First hugs from them since last September before we headed south for the winter. Boy I have missed them. They stay downstairs in their own area for sleeping.

We had a great evening catching up. I smoked some chicken quarters on the Traeger for dinner.

Saturday morning we sat out on the deck for an hour under the gazebo with the heaters on, listening to the rain. The rest of the day was spent visiting, relaxing, reading and Jason played his computer game. Dinner was their favourite, Prime Rib with Yorkshire Puddings. Unfortunately, they had to go back home after dinner as Kristi is on call Sunday morning at 8am. It was so lovely to see them, but they will be back next weekend. Yeah.

Sunday after morning chores, it was quite nice out so we were able to sit outside and have a campfire and roast sausage for lunch. Our neighbours Roy and June had the same idea at their house with their grandchildren. Everyone sure takes advantage when the weather clears. Unfortunately at 4 the rains came again. Great weather for gardens though.

Monday morning was quite foggy on the lake but the sun managed to make it dissipate. I decided to make a quick run to Walmart in Duncan as there were quite a few things on my list not available here in town. Ray worked on some projects in his shop . Once I was back we had lunch. I did some house chores and then we were able to sit down on the dock for a couple of hours before the black clouds moved in. Freya managed a couple of swims, her favourite thing.  Once we moved up to the house we had a7 little thunder ... Freya not impressed and by 5 pm it was sprinkling. Another lovely day here in Lake Cowichan.

Baby Stella continues to improve and now is out of her incubator.

Grumpy face ... why is it so bright and noisy when I want to sleep!

Awwww full tummy.

Had her first bath today. Nurse instructing Garrett on how to do it. A little more difficult with her heart monitor and nasal feeding tube.

All tucked in after her bath and in a regular bed.

 Of course Garrett was a little bored so found some wheels to play with! :)

Kat should be released within the next 2 days and Stella will be there for probably 10 more days.

Tuesday morning a cloudy start but by 9am the sun was out although quite breezy. Did a few morning chores and then went out for my walk to the end of our subdivision. Round trip about 40 minutes.

Garrett reports this morning that Baby Stella took 24mls from Kat nursing this morning. Yeah. She also is now gaining weight. She was 2040 gms at birth and then down to 2000 gms and today up to 2048. Good milk. lol Garrett gets his skin time after Kat has nursed.

Ray played in his shop for awhile this morning figuring out his nexts projects. Moving his equipment around so he has a better flow. Fortunately he put everything on locking wheels. lol

Out on the dock for a couple hours in the afternoon before the clouds and wind came in. Probably the last day nice enough for awhile.

One more picture of Baby Stella today. She has started to gain weight and is back over her birth weight. Yeah.

Meanwhile at Jason and Kristi's house, a new fence is being erected and a new vegetable garden planter built in front of the fence to keep the dogs in. They are in the process of redoing their backyard. Looks fabulous Jason and Kristi!

Kristi plans to plant her own vegetables to be more self sustaining. Good for her. Gardening is her "happy place" to de-stress from her busy job as a doctor.

Wednesday, cloudy and windy. The sun is supposed to come out today though with some clouds. It stayed quite breezy and cloudy all day. Kind of a November day. I spent the day busy prepping dinner tonight and dinner tomorrow night when Kristi and Jason come. Things to smoke on the Traeger often need prep a day ahead. lol The rest of the day was spent sewing masks .... finally finished with the ones I had promised. Now the torch or should I say sewing machine will be handed over to Jason to complete the next 30 masks Kristi requires for her office. lol  This lady is done!

Ray and I managed to sit outside in the front of house for an hour as the sun finally came out and it was out of the wind. Another day done and smoked turkey breast for dinner. It was delicious.

Today's pic of Baby Stella is .... Hands up Baby Hands up! She is taking more milk directly from Kat and is growing quickly.

She definitely is a squirmy little thing.

Thursday morning up early and dressed to take Freya to her vet appointment for 8am. Her butt is good, thankfully so the antibiotics have worked. Most of her appointment was in the parking lot lol and her blood work was done from the hatchback of our car. :) Different times to be sure. We are starting her on a new medication though. Our son-in-law Jason, suggested we ask about giving her Gabapentin as they have started Athena on it and have seen great improvement in her movement. Our vet thought it was a great idea so we start one pill every night for a week and then ramp up to twice a day keep her on her other medication but reduce the Metacam. Apparently this new drug will make her pretty sleepy until she adjusts to it, so we are to only give a night for the first week. Jason concurs that it makes Athena quite sleepy in between her romping around with Zeus like a young pup.

Kristi and Jason are coming tonight to stay and then leaving us with her dogs for 2 days as they go to Victoria to stay for two nights to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Their room will have a kitchenette so they will eat in the room and order take-out to keep isolated from Covid and so can stay in "our bubble". They are certainly very thoughtful in regards to our health which we greatly appreciate.

Garrett retrieved his dog Kira from their friends. He sure misses her and she misses him so she is now home. She is used to being left at home for 12 hours when Garrett works and has no problem sleeping all day.

Kira

Kat sent some pictures this morning. Stella even woke up to be fed last night at 2am and the NICU nurses called to to come. She is definitely getting more lively.

Three little monkeys!

Posing for the picture ... note the pursed lips. lol

Kat is discharged today and will go home with Garrett tonight and back to the hospital tomorrow morning for 2 nights and then the hospital has offered them the companion room so Kat can stay at the hospital for maybe a week to be with Stella.

Lots has happened this week. lol

Welcome Baby Stella May 15th

Welcome Baby Stella!

In the wee hours, 12:05 am Friday morning, May 15th our miracle was born. Baby Stella Lee Kyle, all 4.5 lbs of her. She was named after my mother, such an honour.

Happy family, Garrett, Stella and Kat

Mom and baby doing fine. Everyone thrilled. Stella is really long for her size at 16.9 inches long. She must take after her Dad, Garrett.

Here I am world.

Look how long she is compared to the nurses hands.

All of Kat's ultrasound pictures showed Stella with her hands on her face ... yup she definitely was sucking her thumb. Now in the NICU she is working that pacifier like crazy, even holding on to it!

Hanging onto her pacifier.

This next picture was taken at 6 am this morning, at 6 hours old. She's quite content, hands up to her face again. lol

Apparently she wiggles around so much that her leads come off frequently. lol

We can't wait to meet this little bundle of joy. With the Covid Crisis it won't be until maybe mid-June. Meanwhile I will have to just get lots and lots of pictures sent to me. lol

Skin time with Daddy

First nursing.

Flowers we sent to Kat

Garrett's first diaper change. lol

This beautiful blanket was crocheted and then pictures done in cross-stitching by Kat's aunt. Beautiful!

We are so thankful mom and baby are doing well. Hard to believe she is only a couple of days old. Ray and I are ecstatic to finally be grandparents!