Ah, she's arrived. Put your gaze upon the newest addition to the family: Elyse Chesna. She didn't like the February 5th date that had been picked out for her so she broke her mum's water and decided to come out January 31. Welcome, my dear little one.

Amy got out of the hospital in record time. She had to have another Caeseran section. Even though her water broke, no labor pains started. By 12:30, the doctors decided they didn't want to wait any longer since there was no more amniotic fluid in the womb. Amy had a C-section the first time so inducing labor this time was out of the question. When labor is induced, it is a harsher labor and could have ripped open the old stitches. By 1:37 p.m., Elyse was born. Mum's recovery from major surgery progressed a lot more rapidly than the first time and, like I said, she was released two days later. I was grateful because I had been on fulltime babysitting duty with Addy. Not that Addy is difficult to handle. Not at all. It was just that it was a fulltime, all-consuming job. I had to keep doing things with her all day. Boy, I'm not used to that. I'm used to vegging out in front of my computer for half the time I'm awake. I'll still watch Addy in the afternoon most days while her parents try to catch a nap.

So, they came home in the afternoon and as soon as Addy woke up from her nap, in Bill's bed, she bounded upstairs to see 'her' baby. Oh, and her mom and dad. I made a big pot of spaghetti and meatballs for everyone for supper. Amy had to stay upstairs but Todd and Addy ate at the dinner table with Bill and me.

My 3rd son and his wife and 8-year-old daughter surprised us by showing up on the doorstep today. They are now living in Tennessee. They moved in temporarily with my oldest son Grant after selling their house in Florida. They bought land on the mountain next to Grant's property. They are so close to us now compared to where they were so when they learned Amy's baby was born they wanted to come up and see her. Last time we saw them was 1 1/2 years ago when we had a bit of reunion on the mountain top in Tennessee.

After a while of visiting upstairs, Jeania--my daughter-in-law--brought Elyse downstairs. Amy came down a few minutes later. She's allowed to go up and down the steps once a day and, besides, she said she was tired of being in the same room. The baby has gotten a bit jaundiced. Garnered from the Internet, "About six out of 10 newborns have jaundice to varying degrees, while the condition is more common among premature babies. Jaundice is caused by an excess of a chemical called bilirubin, which is normally eliminated by the liver. However, a newborn's liver takes a few days to process this chemical. If the baby is full term and healthy, mild jaundice is nothing to worry about and will resolve by itself within a week or so. However, a premature or sick baby, or a baby with very high levels of bilirubin, will need close monitoring and medical treatments. Other causes of jaundice in babies include blood group antibodies--Rhesus factor. And that's Amy's problem. She's an O -. Baby is O +.

Seems the more the baby will drink, the more the condition will pass. So, Amy needed to wake the baby up so she'd drink again. I took Elyse so I could get her to wake up. And I succeeded. It was so cute seeing her struggle to stay asleep but my tickling her and sticking her feet out from under the covers and nightgown so they'd get colder did the trick. She opened her cloudy eyes and looked around for a bit searching for something to look at. She tried to focus on me a few times and I eagerly encouraged her hoping for a grand moment to bond with her. Then she realized she was awake and she was instantly hungry. Still it was a most endearing moment.

Here she is soaking up some sun trying to combat the jaundice. This is a day later from when I wrote the last paragraph. She doesn't look as yellow today.