Almost here

Dear Family and Friends,
10:15, Keanna is settled into her bed, Nikki is 12 hours into having this baby, Steve is hold on but worried and stressed as he sees Nikki struggle and suffer.
I walked alone this morning, then quickly showered and went to collect Keanna. Steve and Nikki drove to the hospital and I brought Keanna back here for breakfast and to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. When that was over we loaded up and drove to the hospital where we found Nikki not making much progress and Steve trying to catch a few winks on a little window bed. We were there for awhile, had lunch in the cafe, Nikki had hers brought to her, Steve went for Sticky Chicken nearby. The process was started at 10 am with almost no immediate results. Keanna and I drove to CostCo but she fell asleep in her new booster seat in the van and since I was sleepy too I just parked at CostCo and went to sleep. We both slept for about an hour and then woke, went into the store and picked up a few things, watermelon, bananas, a sticker book for Keanna and some stamps. Then we drove back to the hospital and found Nikki had made some progress but was really suffering. Later Steve, Nikki and I went to find dinner, found it and then returned to be told we would have to wait, an epidural was being administered. At the same time her water broke and things began to move faster. Keanna and I hung around until about 8:45. Nikki's friend Stephanie had driven over and was prepared to spend the night with her. Between she and Steve they can given Nikki the support she needs.
Nikki is in a newly constructed birthing center with jetted tub, dvd player, excellent monitors and plenty of space to move about. She is next to the nursing station and monitors tell the nursing staff everything that is taking place with both mother and baby.
Keanna and I stopped at her home to let the doggie out and to check on things but one of Steve's friends was there already taking care of things. He was on the phone with Steve and at that point Nikki was up to a 9 which was a huge progress in the time we had driven home. As this point, 10:25, I have still not gotten a call so I'm guessing it has not happened yet.
We are blessed with a very nice place for this event to take place, well supported by medical staff and good monitoring. Both Nikki and Steve were suffering today as the pains hit, the unknown and waiting stretched out longer than they had hoped.
So here we sit, at home, comfortable and Nikki is in the midst of the battle. Talk about feeling helpless.
As usual when I know something I will blog it so you can know it too.
On a different story line, Carol reports that Roger had a better day with a hemoglobin of a solid 8 today which is up a tiny bit. They were both gratified by the progress and Roger will be released tomorrow if the blood numbers hold steady. He continues to need our prayers and support, they both do.
Good night my friends and family members, we send our love and appreciation.

Tim
Hold the phone, stop the presses. Kallie was born a few minutes ago, 7lb 12 oz, 20 inches, full head of brown hair, perfectly formed and very very loud. I heard from one very happy daddy who simply said, she is perfect, everything is perfect! Keanna had not yet fallen asleep so she was able to talk to her daddy about the baby and she was very very happy to, can we drive there right now to see the baby, pappa? I think we need to let baby and mommy sleep so we'll go in the morning. So the circle of life continues, how Nan would have treasured this evening and this new little one and that is the only note of sadness that she could not have lived long enough to hold Kallie too. Only God knows the bigger picture.
I'll send a photo out as soon as I get one in.