Tales of Maggie

This is going to be a sort of retrospective initial blog all about Maggie Grace Loomis. Her due date was January 8 or 9, but she was born on December 22 at 8:44 p.m. in Union Hospital, Terre Haute. Maggie weighed in at a whopping 6 lbs. and 4 oz. and was 20" long. Think noodle, and you get a good idea of her body type. Val and Brian received high praise from the OB staff and everyone was commenting about how beautiful Maggie was. Of course, they were right. The weather in Terre Haute was pretty interesting this week. Freezing temperatures on Sunday, still pretty cold on Monday, ice Tuesday...lots of ice...and then gradually warming all the way to the 70s on Saturday. Maggie's birth was timed just perfectly for travel for Val and Brian. Not so much for Aunt Amy and cousins Alexis and Kaylee. They came for the blessed event, started home on Tuesday morning, decided to return to Grandma and Grandpa's house because of the slick roads and got rear ended on highway 46 on the trip back. No one was hurt thankfully, but not so good for Amy's GMC Envoy's back bumper. Fortunately, the fellow that hit them had up to date insurance so things should be repaired without lots of trouble. Maggie was able to go home on Wednesday afternoon. The Dr. said she shouldn't go anywhere until her Dr. visit on Saturday, so the Thomas Family Christmas gathering has been delayed until January 2. We don't mind a bit, because Maggie will be able to join us. After the usual newborn sleepless nights, Saturday finally came, time to visit the Dr. Val and Brian really like Dr. Schuld as he is very gentle and caring of little Maggie. Test results showed Maggie was highly jaundiced (17 for those who know numbers) and dehydrated a little, so she made a return to Union Hospital along with Val. Brian has been very good at staying right at Val's side during all the ups and downs they've experienced. What a great Daddy! Anyway, Maggie is at this writing under the bili lights and on a bili blanket in the pediatrics wing at the hospital. Val called this morning and her jaundice number has dropped to 12. As a precautionary step, they started an IV line in Maggie's head Saturday evening just in case she needed additional hydration. That whole process was pretty traumatic for Val because Maggie is covered in bandaids and her head was the only thing untouched. Val said they removed the IV line this morning and the nurse said the Dr. might let them come home today. We are keeping our hopes up, but at the same time want her to be there as long as necessary so she won't have to go back. That's pretty much all of the news we have as of 7:30 Sunday morning.