The Ginn Family Blog: July 2006

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.........

Here is the stork that was awaiting us in our front yard as we arrived home from the hospital.

Grandpa George and Maizy enjoying their nap time together.

Here is a pic of Miss Maizy's room.

Here is our little peanut getting ready for bed.

The Beautiful Girls of the Ginn Household

The Beautiful Girls of the Ginn Household, originally uploaded by rodginn.

Our Little Pumpkin!

Our Little Pumpkin!, originally uploaded by rodginn.

Another Photo of Maizy's Room

Another Photo of Maizy's Room, originally uploaded by rodginn.

This is the beautiful place that Maizy has to call her room. Her momma and daddy think she likes it a lot!

IMG_2371.JPG

IMG_2371.JPG, originally uploaded by rodginn.

New Pictures

New Pictures, originally uploaded by rodginn.

Here are some new pictures of Maizy Ruth! Isn't she adorable.

New Pictures

New Pictures, originally uploaded by rodginn.

Here are some new pictures of Maizy Ruth! Isn't she adorable.

BIRTH DAY

This is Meghan Kuyper here typing the first post for Rod and Kelly's delivery of baby girl Maizy. They asked me to do so as they're at the hospital with no access to a computer but wanted to share the news of Maizy Ruth's birth with everyone as soon as possible!

I came home late last night -- Friday, 7/21 -- and was shocked to find a voice mail message from Rod saying they were at Lutheran Hospital and they were going to have a baby. She was five weeks from her due date, so it came as a surprise to everyone. Apparently, Kelly was at the doctor getting checked on Friday morning and although everything checked out OK, they sent her to the hospital to take a closer look at the baby as they weren't able to monitor her to get the information they needed at the doctor. At the hospital everything checked out fine for both Maizy and Kelly and home Kelly went to enjoy her final five weeks of peace and quiet, preparing for her coming miracle. Oh, but wait...Kelly was sitting in bed around 4 p.m. and her water broke. Her mom and dad were in Ocean City, N.J., on vacation. Rod's parents had just been here for a baby shower and left to go back home to Oklahoma two weeks ago. Kelly's sister Nili and the Galasso family were vacationing in Israel. Oh my. She called her surrogate Mom, Helen Strait, and apparently said, "Can I ask you a favor? Can you take me to the hospital to meet Rod? My water broke." Duh. Well, Helen took her to the hospital to meet Rod and sure enough, she was in labor.

Now, I come in to the hospital room as soon as I get the message she's in labor, and it's about 11 p.m. Rod and Kelly are the picture of perfection. They're breathing -- really breathing -- through contractions, exactly the way those videos show it in the labor/delivery classes. Move forward an hour or two and Rod's stopped the breathing exercises. He's tired. :) He was still the picture of a supportive husband, however. Kelly's sister, Melinda, was also there and was not only an encouragement to Kelly, she was a body of knowledge being a recent nursing school graduate. Melinda also kept George and Cheryl posted throughout the process: "She's dialed to 7," etc. Anyway, contractions get strong, as they do in labor. Kelly's epidural wore off hours ago and she's feeling it. When it came time to push, she was so strong. I was so impressed with how she focused. Rod, was just plain giddy. He was so excited to be meeting his baby girl he would say things like: "You got steam, Kelly. You got more steam than you even know you have." He was shuffling his feet like Rocky he was so pumped. But after about an hour of pushing, with Maizy still stuck behind Kelly's pelvic bone and her heartrate dropping significantly every time she pushed, the doctor decided a vacuum was in order. For those of you who don't know much about labor and delivery, we're not talking a Hoover. The suction went on Maizy's head and in the next contraction, with one huge push, she was out. Kelly will describe this vacuum-scenario as pretty excruciating. OK, well, more like the worst pain ever. But, she was a trooper.

Maizy was born on 7/22 at 1:59 a.m. She looked great. She had great coloring, was breathing without oxygen, etc. As Rod and Kelly already knew, they named her Maizy Ruth. Maizy, meaning "treasure," and Ruth, meaning "friend of God." She weighed in at 5 lbs., 13 oz. As for length, I think they said something like "she's 19 inches long right now, but two inches of that is cone head. So really, she's about 17 inches or so..."

Cutest feature (in my opinion): Her big, supermodel lips just like her mommy's.
Funniest feature: Her long, super-long, super-super-long toes just like her daddy's.
She also has an ADORABLE dimple in her chin. I'm told this dimple is just like her grandpa George's and Dave's (George's brother).
Her nose is also the smallest button nose I've ever seen. She's beautiful.

I hope these details are as accurate as possible. I do know, however, that she's precious and healthy. It seems that Kelly, Rod and baby Maizy will be going home on Monday. Praise the Lord. Often, when babies are early, they need to stay in the nursery a bit to learn to eat and keep their body temperature up. So far, she's been eating great. And although she was in a warmer overnight, she held her own temperature-wise all day Saturday. This is great news!

Rod and Kelly will be posting more about life with sweet Maizy Ruth in the days to come. For now, keep them in your prayers. They'll need wisdom, sleep, joy, peace, and more sleep in the coming days.

Psalm 36:9 "For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light." My study Bible describes this scripture saying, "By itself light is invisible; and yet everything is invisible until light strikes it. So it is with God: we can't see Him, but in His light, under his loving influence, we see and understand His love in all that surrounds us." Kelly and Rod certainly saw God's love and light manifest in God's blessing for them: Maizy.

See pictures below!