Carina Arrives

There's so much to say, but I can't do it all right now. Here's the short version:

Carina Faye Mendeck was born on May 27, 2007. She weighed 7 lb 11 oz, and was 19" long. She is a beautiful, active, precious little girl.

I've been discharged from the hospital. I'm feeling quite well, if a bit tired and emotional.

Carina has been spitting up blood, and the doctors determined that the blood is hers, not mine. They admitted her to the NICU last night at 3:00 AM. The source of the blood has not been found yet. In order to figure out what's wrong, they are only feeding her intravenously for now. It will take at least 3-5 days in NICU to finish the diagnostics. Until then, we can visit her there as much as we want. She is doing well despite the problem. She is active, not anemic, has good blood sugar, and all her x-rays have looked completely normal. The doctors are hopeful that the issue is one that will work itself out with rest.

Obviously, we are very diappointed that we couldn't bring our little girl home tonight. I was crying so much leaving the hospital that I'm sure people thought we lost the baby. We have every reason to believe that everything will be OK soon, though.

Thanks to all our friends and family that have already welcomed Carina into the world. We are so lucky to have you all.