Madeline is here!

Madeline Mariner Howell
Born 2:21 pm 8/10/07
5lbs 7oz
18 1/4"






Madeline and Sabrina are healthy and home now. It all happened a bit sooner than expected. Sabrina saw the midwife on Tuesday who was concerned about the high blood pressure she had developed and that the baby seemed to be small. As a result of this she had an ultrasound on Wednesday. The ultrasound confirmed that the baby was small and the midwives decided that it was best to induce. We went to the hospital Thursday morning to begin inducing. After a couple doses of that medication, contractions started. They were not very strong, but were coming far to frequently to bring on "real" labor, so our midwife medically slowed the contractions and kept us in the hospital overnight. Early Friday morning she started Pitocin. While this did bring on regular contractions, our baby was not tolerating the contractions very well; after a contraction, her heart rate would drop a little. It always came back up right away, but it was a sign that she would not be able to tolerate labor.

At this point, we decided do a C-section. We were a bit scared, but felt that it was best for the baby. The C-section was surprisingly painless and only took about 40 minutes. About 20 minutes in at 2:21 pm our little girl Madeline was born. She cried a little bit right after she came out, but was otherwise quite calm. Luckily, she's continued to be very good and eats well. We love her so much and are very excited.

Sydney

In our final hurrah before coming home, Eric and I spent some time in Sydney. Well, Eric had to come do some work up here and I came along. What else was I going to do?! Even though Eric worked, we were able to get out and see some of the sights. While Sydney is great and is definitely tourist friendly, I prefer Melbourne. It's just cooler.

Anyway, this will probably be our last post from abroad - our flight home is April 28 (only 11 days from now)! As much as we've enjoyed our time here, we're both ready to get back to Seattle and set up our home for Wiggles! I'm sure we'll be in touch with all of you not too long after we get back to the States. We're very excited!!!

Fiji Trip

Here are pictures from our trip to Fiji. We called it our babymoon (last vacation for a while). We only really had two full days there, but managed to get in some snorkeling, kayaking, swimming and relaxing.

UV

In my most sincere New Year's resolution ever, I decided to make a concerted effort to keep in better touch with friends and family. I've taken up the challenge posed to myself with a flurry of emails and sometimes even phone calls to loved ones. In that same vein, however, I figure I should begin to blog more regularly as well (because we all know that Eric sure isn't going to do it!). So, we'll see how long this lasts...

As we reach the height of summer here in Melbourne, saying it gets wicked hot is an understatement. Not only is the temperature going to reach about 100 degrees tomorrow, the 10 year drought that Victoria is in the midst of makes going outside quite unpleasant. I mean, there's a reason I chose not to live in Arizona with the majority of my family! This weather is definitely reaffirming that choice for me. But, in addition to the high temperatures and extreme dryness, the UV index is at at least 10 every day, sometimes reaching as high as 12. In case you don't know, a UV indication of 10 means that you really shouldn't stay outside for more than about 20 minutes before you will begin to experience sun damage. Even on cool and/or cloudy days, the UV index is at least 10, if not higher. That's right, Eric and I can't even do the 25-30 minute bike ride to work from our apartment without worrying about extreme sun exposure. Eric refuses to put on sunscreen, claiming he'd just sweat it all off anyway, but I still think it would do some good. Yesterday, for example, I went for a walk around a nearby lake. The entire walk took me about two hours. I put on sunscreen before I left yet still managed to get sunburned in those small slivers of skin showing where my shirt had shifted!

It's amazing how much the ozone actually protects you from the sun. I know that I've always taken it for granted. But, being a pasty white person down here gives me a whole new appreciation for the ozone and how much it protects me.

It's about time!

Sorry for the long hiatus from posting!

Eric and I took a three week Christmas vacation back to the States and were able to see both of our families and some of our friends, even though we didn't make it back to Seattle. Our first stop back was in Arizona to see my family, my sister's new house, and Lari and Amos. One of the highlights of family time for me was playing "Monsters" with my niece, Victoria. She's 3 and currently in to Scooby Doo, so that's where fighting monsters came from. The game basically involves running around, screaming, chasing, jumping on beds, and pillow fights. Every time I saw her, she wanted to play. It was very, very cute!

Another highlight of our time in AZ was going on a road trip with Lari and Amos to New Mexico to visit Amos's brother and family. They're really great people and, of course, it was nice to be able to spend all that time with Lari and Amos just hanging out.

After about 10 days in AZ, we left for Virginia to see Eric's family. I was a bit nervous because I'd never met them before, but they were all really great. One of the highlights while we were there was Eric's grandmother. We went and visited Eric's grandparents twice while we were there and they're quite lovely as well. The second time we went to visit them was the night before we left back to AUS. As we were leaving, Eric's grandmother gave me a hug, which I thought was very sweet. Then she took both of my hands and looked and me and said, "You know, you're very lucky." What could I do but laugh and agree?! Of course she's right - I know I'm very lucky to have found such a great guy as Eric. It was just a funny, cute moment and I'll remember it forever.

Also while we were in VA we drove down to Athens to see Tom and Liz, which was very nice. Although it rained almost every day that we were there, it was so great just to be able to hang out and talk to some great friends we haven't seen in a while. Liz and Tom also have the most personable cats that I've ever met and really provided for tons of entertainment. Actually, they're very social and have personalities that you'd expect to find in dogs, not cats. We were in Athens for New Years and went to a really great vegetarian (vegan?) organic restaurant in Athens. Being in the South and finding a good New Years event when New Years Eve is on a Sunday was no small feat, but Tom and Liz managed to plan a great night! Two of Tom's colleagues came out with us and they were also both very, very friendly and nice. It made me happy to know that Tom and Liz have managed to find some neat people to hang out with down there.

All in all it was a great vacation. The most disappointing thing, though, was that I left my camera in Melbourne so we don't have any pictures of our entire trip! That really makes me sad. At least we've got all the wonderful memories with our family and friends.

Now we're back in Melbourne, enjoying the summer sun. Oh, we've moved so here's our new address:

1506/80 Clarendon St
Southbank VIC 3006

Although we got the Internet working, we don't have an adaptor plug for our IP phone yet. As soon as we do, I'll let you all know!

So, we hope you all had a good new years and we look forward to hearing from you all and heading back home sometime in '07!