She li'l as a dog!

Kristin brought food for our team Bible study this past Thursday. I sent several players out to get it from her. They took forever to come back, and I couldn't figure out what was going on. Then it hit me--they were meeting Halle! I was actually a little sad, because I wasn't there to see their reaction. But, as is typical, they weren't short of words and told me all their thoughts. "She cute Coach", one said. A few other comments and then, "She li'l as a dog though, forreal". We all laughed pretty hard, as we got the point but the slang wasn't really a good fit for the situation. Needless to say, this was the first of what we hope will be an enduring relationship between Halle and our students.

Still more pictures...

We'll write more as we have time...of course, let's be honest, what anyone who actually looks at this blog wants is pictures of Halle! Here you are, plenty to see!

Buck meets Halle: What's this crying creature?

Hilarious. That's the word I'd use to describe Buck's first experience with Halle. For those of you who don't know, Buck is our dog, a Shepherd/Husky mix. We are cautious but not anxious about him getting to know her. As a "pack dog", the most likely scenario is that he will grow to love and protect her very quickly, just as he does us.

But, obviously first he had to meet her! Yesterday I brought him home from the kennel and kept him on a leash downstairs with me, letting him smell various things she had been in contact with. We then walked upstairs, where Kristin was changing a diaper. I took over so she could visit with Buck, who did not notice Halle. But as soon as she started crying, his two ears went up like antennas, and he quickly moved to the side of the changing table to check out the scene. "What in the world is going on?!", you could see him saying!

Sniffing was the theme of his day yesterday. He sniffed her feet. He sniffed her back. He sniffed her head...and wagged his tail the whole time! We're not sure he knows what to think just yet, especially when she cries. He's not a big fan of that--at all! It seems like he's still trying to figure out not just what she is, but how long she'll be here. He was definitely a stressed out last night, but, overall, he still seems to have taken really positively to her. We think he'll be a great protector and friend to her as she grows up with him!

More Pictures...

What's in a Name?

(This is copied from our ministry blog, so some of you may have read already):

After many weeks of trying to decide the perfect name for our wee little girl, we finally chose one! We had been praying for just the right one, and it came to us at church as we were singing a song with "Hallelujah" in the chorus. Kristin thought, "Gosh, I love that word! What name could we get out of it?" Then it came to her...Halle! (Pronounced like Allie but with an H). This fit perfectly with a thought Shane had previously: The due date is a year from the date we moved, which is an amazing affirmation of God’s faithfulness. As we look back on our year in East St. Louis, we're excited to take her name from "hallelujah" because it means "praise and thanksgiving", and we have much for which to praise and thank our Lord.

Her middle name is Isabella, after Isabella Lilias Trotter (known as Lilias), who ministered to disadvantaged women during the 1800s. She was born to an upper-class family in England in 1853. When she was a young woman, God called her to love and serve poor women on the streets of London. She taught them job skills, helped them find work, and also shared with them the love and grace of Jesus Christ. Lilias chose this life instead of pursuing a career in art, even though a famous artist desired to mentor her and encouraged her to forsake these marginalized women in favor of the opportunity for fame and riches in art. She later moved to Algeria to share the news of her merciful Savior with Arab women.

We pray that Halle Isabella will experience the joy of knowing Jesus Christ and live a life that gives much praise and thanksgiving to our great God. Also, we pray she will be one who boldly loves and serves others, regardless of their race, wealth, or social status. Thank you for praying with and for us for this little child!

Halle's First Friends!

While we're certain Halle is quite the attraction in the nursery and is getting attention from nurses and signing autographs for other babies, we still consider Pete and Melissa Weseloh to be her first friends. They visited last night--great to see some familiar faces love on our little girl!

Halle Isabella Fast

Halle is here! Below are pictures a nurse was gracious enough to take for us just after her birth. She weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces--not bad for two weeks early! And, she was just under 20 inches. She is healthy, sleeping, eating, and, well, you know the rest! She's good!

A Crazy Entry into the World—Probably Fitting for a Child of Mine!

Wow—what a 48 hours we’ve had! Kristin began to have chest and upper back pain Saturday night around 6, which persisted through the night and grew progressively worse throughout the day Sunday. As of Sunday night at 10 she was literally floored—exhausted from pain, crying, just miserable—which, coming from Kristin, showed she was bad off. We talked to some close friends who are doctors, as well as a third call to the OB who was “on call”. All 3 said to come into the ER and run some tests to see what was going on, with speculation that her gall bladder was the likely culprit.


As we drove to ER at 11 last night, Kristin tried to talk me out of it. “I’m fine, this is crazy—I’m getting better…This is going to be nothing and we’re going to look dumb for going in…” If I hadn’t talked to our friends I would have turned back—I was tired too!

We were in the ER treatment area for about 3 hours, watching TV and hoping to go home soon. Tests came back “yes, gall bladder” then “well, something else is weird” and “okay, we don’t know, we’re taking you upstairs to stay overnight”. As they did some of these I watched the fetal monitor indicate multiple contractions, but this was normal for a due date two weeks away, and Kristin couldn’t even feel them. So, my little ray of hope that we might come home with Halle was gone—we were sure that we were staying here just for a stupid gall bladder!

We were placed in the labor and delivery wing, which we thought was just because she was so far along. When we met the OB, however, he informed us of a little different twist. To paraphrase: “It took us a while to figure out what was going on, and it’s a very, very uncommon thing call HELLP Syndrome, and there is only one treatment—We have to get the baby out NOW.”

We didn’t know what to say…Both of us were shocked, and it didn’t take long before the last 34 hours and this news took its toll on Kristin and she began to breakdown emotionally (obviously totally understandable, who wants to be cut open?!). However, by God’s grace we had a great OB and great anesthesiologist, who gave us time alone and gave us encouraging words. They took amazing care of us, and brought us through the process. Kristin was great—after that surge of emotion we talked about the truth of everything, and embraced the reality that God was sovereign over our situation. She was anxious going into surgery only because of the severity of the situation (general anesthesia, etc), but was content with not being able to have a natural birth.

Maybe I’ll write more about the emotions of everything later after I process some—we were so shocked and exhausted it was hard to truly enjoy and appreciate Halle. I did have an awesome 5 minutes or so with her in the O.R. as they were sewing Kristin back up. But, we had more trouble in the recovery room as they couldn’t stabilize Kristin’s vital signs, and I had to ask them to take our baby girl away so I could be with her mother. Thankfully, around 9 a.m. we were in a room and could begin to relax.

What is HELLP Syndrome?

Posted from Wikipedia.Org and Medicine.Net (Arguably not the best sources in the world, but sufficient to give you a picture of what was going on):

HELLP syndrome: A syndrome featuring a combination of "H" for hemolysis (breakage of red blood cells), "EL" for elevated liver enzymes, and "LP" for low platelet count (an essential blood clotting element).

Its incidence is reported as 0.2-0.6% of all pregnancies. HELLP usually begins during the third trimester, and usually in Caucasian women over the age of 25.

Common symptoms in women with the HELLP syndrome include a general feeling of feeling unwell (malaise), nausea and/or vomiting, and pain in the upper abdomen. Patients who present symptoms of HELLP can be misdiagnosed in the early stages, increasing the risk of liver failure and morbidity.

The platelet count has been found to be moderately predictive of severity: under 50,000/mm3 is class I (severe), between 50,000 and 100,000 is class II (moderately severe) and >100,000 is class III (mild). Kristin’s count was 69,000 and sinking. This was THE indicator they had to get Halle out.

The first order of treatment of HELLP syndrome is management of the blood clotting issues. If the HELLP syndrome develops at or after 34 weeks of gestation or if the fetus' lungs are mature or mother's health is in jeopardy, urgent delivery is the treatment.

After delivery, the mother's status is monitored closely. The HELLP syndrome can be complicated by liver rupture, anemia, bleeding, and death.

Starting our blog...

If this blog goes like most of my life, it will only be updated consistently if Kristin does it! In fact, it was my job to create it before we had the baby, not as we sit in the hospital some 12 hours after the fact! :) But, such is life, and hopefully it will be a fun way to introduce you guys to Halle and keep you updated about our many adventures with her, Buck, and our "extended family" of students in East St. Louis.