And the winner is...

After much deliberation, we finally settled on a name. Actually, it was the medical insurance paperwork that spurred on the decision, but it is made. We kicked around a few names, and although it was never a front runner, my Tom Hansen's offer of a year of free diapers if we name her Thomasina was financially attractive. But sorry Tom, we are officially turning your offer down.

So the newest member of finally has a name: Kate Frances Bonderud Sutter.

The rest of the story...

So, here is the rest of the story from the "birth night." As you know we have been working on our house. We were desperately trying to get heat into the house before the baby came. In order to do this, we determined to replace all the heating ducts below and above our house (notice all the stuff torn out in the picture). The attic was done, and the downstairs was in process. So Stef tell me on Tuesday afternoon, "It will be today." Now I know I don't always display the greatest degree of common sense, but I have figured out which stuff not to question my wife on. I knew she was sure, but being practical, I asked. "Stef, do I need to get ready now, or should I get under the house and keep working on the ducts?"

"You can keep working, I'll let you know." So I am working until 9:30 when she says, "Jason, it's time to get going."

I haul myself out, dust off, and call some friends to watch the kids. Take a quick shower before the friends arrive, and get in the car to leave. The hospital is 30 minutes away, so I start my silent prayers. "Please God, don't let her have the baby in the car. Please don't have the baby in the car." They are silent prayers because I figure if I say them out loud, they might happen... Murphy's law and all. So I finish my prayer and am driving as fast as I can up the 2 lane highway planning in my head the steps I will take if she has the baby in the car.

Halfway there she says, "I think I might have waited too long." Crap, more gas. Faster. Then the contractions start. Now I am driving 65 in a 35 until she has a contraction. Then I am driving 15 in a 35 for 45-60 seconds and back to 65.

We get to the hospital at 10:40. I walk her in and announce, "Hi, my wife is having a baby. This is her 4th, and she says it is coming soon." They hustle her into a room, wire her, I/V her, etc. She asks about an epidural. She hadn't ever had one and thought it was worth a try. They draw blood and say they will get it going. 5 minutes later we realize that they won't get the epidural to her in time. So we ask for something else that they can give right away. They give her something that Stefanie liked.

Then she has a couple contractions, goes into transition, pushes the baby out. It is 11:25. We have a beautiful baby girl. Unfortunately, we still don't have a name.

New Baby

On November 20, Stefanie delivered our new daughter. She was 7 lbs 10 ounces and 21 inches long. We got the hospital at 10:40 pm, and she delivered at 11:25. Check out the photos of our new baby, ________________________. http://picasaweb.google.com/jsutter11/BabySutter

More of the details to come.

Marley and Asher's birthday.

We have 3 birthdays in the month of November with a 4th soon to come. In the spirit of getting it all out of the way at once, we had Marley and Asher's parties on the same day. Marley's party was in the morning at a nearby park. Asher's party began in the afternoon at the mini-golf place. Undoubtedly, the highlight of the day for Asher (and us) was him winning the grand prize on one of the machines in the arcade. The machine has a little light that swirls around and around. You must hit the button when it is right in the middle. Every time someone tries and misses, it adds another ticket to the jackpot. He tried it a few times. With his last remaining token for the day, he hit the jackpot. It was the equivalent of all the nickels falling out of a slot as the tickets poured out and he danced around the little arcade shouting, "I did it! I won! I won! I won!" I never would have tried it. I reckon that those things are never won; that is why there is always a jackpot. I suppose it goes to show that you only win the jackpot if you try for it.

No Tricks, Lots of Treats

Another Halloween. The new neighborhood was great. The kids went bananas.
Asher went as Ash Ketchem from Pokemon. Ella was a pop star (obviously), and Marley was a ballerina with a big fat coat. Look at Asher's bag in the bottom picture. He actually had to transfer his candy to a backpack. Amazingly, there was less candy in the morning. Very suspicious.

Turn the baby!

See the smile? The baby has been breach for a while, but not any more. Yesterday we went to the hospital to try version. Version is the medical description for "pushing really hard on the baby." We had this with Asher and it caused her water to break. We were a little worried, because need another two weeks to get things ready, and we weren't ready to deliver the baby yesterday. This doctor was smooth though. She knew her stuff and turned the baby without much effort. So it looks good for a term delivery. 18 days and counting...