Kristyna Jane Rittgers: At the Hospital!

Our day started out early on Wednesday, March 14. We were a little late arriving at the hospital shortly after the scheduled time of 7:00am so that mommy could take a nice long shower. Dawn was just around the corner on this humid, clear morning as we made the short drive to the hospital. It would end up being a beautiful, sunny 82 degree spring day.

The night before we made sure everything was in order. Gigi had been with us since Monday to help with Judah and get last minute items checked off our to do list. Our friends, the Reeves, had brought us steaks for dinner so that mommy could enjoy a nice meal before midnight. We put Judah to bed for the evening with some extra quality time. Then later in the evening, daddy painted mommy's toes and nails. At last, Mommy had got some sleep only to wake up ready for the big day at 4:00am.

Surgery went much better than expected. Dr. Kopperud and the anesthesiologist met with us ahead of time to check on progress and work out surgery details. The nurses took care of all the lab and prep work for surgery. Other than a slight elevation in blood pressure, everything looked good and surgery actually started ahead of schedule. Mommy walked back to the operating room for the final prep. Dr. Kopperud joked around about mommy's diet (being gestational diabetes) while starting surgery asking what food would be first on the menu. Shortly thereafter, daddy came the room all dressed in time to hear Krissy scream on her way out at 9:21am. Daddy got to cut the cord and then was able to hold her by mommy's head for several minutes. Surgery finally ended at 9:45 am and mommy was wheeled back into recovery for a couple of hours.


Meanwhile, Krissy was whisked away to the nursery for tests and footprints. She weighed in at 6 pounds and 15 ounces and was 19 inches long. With her dark blue eyes, brown hair, and round face, she immediately looked like big brother Judah. However, her personality and individuality stole our hearts right away in the hours that followed.

From the start she has been a great eater, latching on immediately after birth while mom was in recovery. She did lose almost 10% of her weight in the hospital though causing a little concern. For a few feedings mom just pumped and supplemented with a bottle to boost her weight. By the time we went home, she had gained 3 ounces back. And by the time of her first doctor's appointment a few days later, she exceeded her birth weight to 7 pounds.

After getting settled with eating a few times, she had her first bath in the room with mommy and daddy which she did not like at all. Later in the day, she met big brother Judah and then met her grandparents. It was a very busy first day for all of us.



Room 2008 saw a lot of activity through our stay on Saturday. By Day 2 mom was up out of bed, making her way to the bathroom first and then out into the hall for occasional walks. After Day 2, mom and dad limited though visitors to get some extra rest from the frequent commotion. Dad in fact was able to go home for a good night's sleep. Mom was soon able to walk down the hall to drop Krissy off in the nursery on her way to the boutique. Dad filled out the legal paperwork but threatening to have mom check it over with his jokes on the name. Every spare moment we tried to get as much rest as possible before heading home.


Krissy on the other hand delighted all the nursery nurses with her cute hair bow and outfits. Krissy especially looked cute in her little ruffled sweet pea outfit for her hospital pictures. First we had to remove the band aids from checking her sugars though. Mommy and daddy had to relearn how to take care of a newborn baby again and gleaned much from the nurses. The doctors had only good news about Krissy imploring how healthy she looked. And on the last day we did pictures and more footprints to share with mommy.

Kristyna Jane Rittgers: Meeting More Family!

Krissy met the rest of her family later that Wednesday evening at the hospital. First, big brother Judah came into the room asking, "Where is Krissy?" Tim immediately showed him Krissy in the bassinet. We finally took her out to meet big brother Judah so that he could look her over.

A while later, both sets of grandparents and Uncle Philip and Uncle David came to welcome Krissy with a visit. They all filed into the hospital room for a quick hour to see the baby.

Papa Larry and Gigi brought her a John Deere outfit. We also posed for our first family shots. Then each proud grandparent took their turn holding Krissy. She slept through every moment almost knowing how crazy her extended family could be.

The next day, both grandparents came back for another visit. While mommy slept, Papa Larry and Gigi with daddy and Judah watched Krissy from the bassinet out in the hall. Then later in the day, Papa Ed and Nana Joyce came to hold Krissy again. Even Uncle Philip had some cuddle time.

Kristyna Jane Rittgers: Meeting the Family!

Daddy was the first to meet Krissy as she came into the world. After cutting the cord, he held her up in the operating room for mommy to see her. Daddy followed Krissy down to the nursery while the nurses looked her over. He was able to get some good video of her first moments at life. Later mom got to hold her for the first time while still in recovery where Krissy latched to nurse and meet mommy.



Later that evening Judah came to visit baby sister. Decked out in his big brother outfit, he walked in the room with Tim immediately asking where Krissy was. "Where is Krissy?, " he kept saying as he looked around. Tim finally took her out of the bassinet so that Judah could give her his picture he painted for her.


Judah then climbed on the bed to see mom's IV which caused lots of concern. He was distracted by opening his present from Krissy, a Piglet stuffed animal, and a Big Brother book. Apparently he carried Piglet around for several days afterwards. Judah also had a gift for Krissy (aka dad), shirts with their nicknames embroidered on the fronts.

Welcome Kristyna "Krissy" Jane Rittgers!

Today we welcomed little Kristyna "Krissy" Jane Rittgers into our lives! The scheduled C-section with Dr. Tracey Kopperud presented no complications and our little girl was born at 9:21am. At 39 weeks, she weighed 6 pounds and 14 ounces. Scoring both 9's on her APGAR, she entered the world fully developed and healthy with a great big scream! We are so proud and love our little girl!

A new arrival!

Kristyna Jane Rittgers was born on Wednesday, March 14 at 9:21 am. She weighed 6 pounds and 15 ounces, and was 19 inches long. Welcome to the family Krissy!

February 2012

Our routine has some what turned back into normal programming if you will from last month. We have resumed play groups on Mondays and music class on Tuesdays. We have also added some other activities like open gym or story time on Wednesdays with an occasional play date at the mall with a friend later in the week. Fridays continue to be appointment days for mommy. By Sunday, we are back to doing our small group every other week as we have started a new series at church.



Judah desires and even attempts to do everything on his own. You will find him quite frequently saying "let me do that." So to increase his need for independence, we have moved his clothes to his level so that he can start picking out his own clothes. In addition, he has shown interest in the chore chart "game" we developed as we learn about completing tasks. He helps around the house doing minor things like sliding the laundry baskets to the laundry room or putting soap into the dishwasher. He has had to also pick more things up now that mommy cannot bend over so much.

His speech often includes complete thoughts and sentences. He is very articulate in his thought processes as well as applies such an advanced vocabulary to our amazement. His curiosity for letters has caused him to name letters and pick them out knowing what the letter stands for like on a billboard sign when we drive by or on his clothes. He knows the letters of his name and also what mommy and daddy start with and gets excited when he sees them. By the end of the month, he has recognized and named many of his letters and is able to name a word that they start with.


Outside frigid temperatures or mom's lack of energy have required us to create fun activities indoors. Judah still likes to play with his play dough set. We also made indoor snow with soap foam from the food processor. He enjoys playing with his cars especially racing them. He has asked for a race track (probably the first thing he has asked for that he has wanted). He also has time to pretend scenarios that requires creativity and ingenuity on his part. imagination soared - pretend for an hour on on particular thing like planting and harvesting a garden or painting with many colors. He has really played with his floor puzzles being able to put them together solely on verbal instruction of prepositions like "next," "beside," and "over."


Winter has finally visited us this month. We started out the month with a five inch snowstorm. Judah was elated to get outside finally with daddy to build a snowman and ride around on the sled. He certainly likes to climb snow mountains created by the snow plows as well as make tracks into the snow. Any chance he can get he is out walking in the snow.

Judah went to his new Sunday school class (for the 3 year old's) for the first time this month. He clearly enjoyed the Bible story and puppets as he talked about them on the way home. He also was more stimulated by the toys such as the train table and Lego table. His teacher said that he sat better than the older kids. His Bible story's mirror up with the stories in the service giving us an opportunity to talk about it more in depth at home. This change was much needed after he came home from the nursery talking about angry birds. Aside from church, Judah likes to say his own prayers now. We have always asked him what he wants to pray for but now he likes to say them himself often naming his toys or friends.



Another weekend, we went to the library to see Clifford as a family. Judah enjoys reading about the big red dog. So we took him to the nearby library for a special appearance of Clifford. Judah loved to hear the stories and then waited in line to give "Clifford a hug, a kiss, and to have his picture with him."



The last weekend in February, Tim's office surprised us with a baby shower on a Friday afternoon. Decked out in pink, we enjoyed a very nice shower with work friends and board members as well as play group moms and neighbors. Even all four of the grandparents made the trip to Des Moines for the shower. We played some nice games and then ate some thoughtful treats (that even fit in my diet). Finally, everyone gave us so many nice gifts with plenty of diapers and cute clothes. Judah even had some of his friends there to share his cars with and hit the balloon around.


After the shower, we went out to dinner with all the grandparents at the Machine Shed. Then Judah went home with Papa and Gigi for the weekend to go to his cousin Jacob's birthday party. He had fun up at the farm playing with his cousins while mom and dad enjoyed a quiet house for the weekend. Both of us were able to get some things done, rest, and enjoy a date night together with dinner and a movie.

Our month has ended once again with fevers and colds. Judah though has learned to blow his nose but of course that is if we can catch him to wipe it. We have had a few early mornings and more movie time as a result of being sick. Thankfully, we could get him on some antibiotics for his sinusitis.



Tim has been busy trying to get things in place at the office to be gone for when baby comes. A staff hiccup added some additional stress to his overworked schedule causing him to spend more time at one of the sights. At home he continues to cook and clean for the family so as to relieve mom. He also spent some time to get the taxes done and finish up the last of some home improvement projects such as replacing the bathroom vanity with Philip and putting together the toy room in the loft area.

Emma has been using all her energy to get ready for baby as well as chase Judah around the house and to/from his activities. She has reveled in those activities that seem to entertain Judah so she can rest. When she can she has been working on baby announcements but even more so doing a ton of laundry on infant clothes and blankets. Judah has fun playing with all the socks and baby toys himself.


The biweekly and now weekly doctor appointments continue to go well as baby keeps growing. The diabetes has been able to be maintained by diet. Mom's feet however have started to be perpetually swollen causing her to put them up often. Nausea has also set in meaning smaller meals more often including at 4:00 in the morning. We did go to register as a family one night for a few items. We all found things to add to the scanner. Judah had fun picking out things for baby and even more fun playing with Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet. Judah also insists we keep praying for our family including mommy, daddy, baby Boolina, baby, and Maestro before bed every night. And he also continues to say we should name her "Four" as he talks about her being born.