More Berk

Here are some more pictures of the Berk. He is one month old today, I can't believe it. At his doctor's appointment on Tuesday he weighed 8 lbs. 4 ounces. He is gaining weight at the rate of 2 ounces a day - what a little piggy!

Carlie Uh-OH!

Because life is not hard enough with a newborn, Carlie decided to have a little accident. Because the only withnesses to the accident were a 3 (Claire) and 6 (Sean) year old, we really are not sure what happened. But, we think she fell off the swing. We took her to the emergency room and she had a positive fat pad test in her right elbow according to the x-ray. That means there was a pool of blood in her elbow that could be hiding a fracture. They put a sling and splint on her and the good news is the sling makes an excellent carrying case for Carlie's Barbie and other toys. This all happened last Monday, May 19th. We went back to the orthopedic surgeon today and they took the splint off and her arm was crazy swollen. They had put the splint on WAY too tight in the emergency room. It was so sad. Anyways, they took new x-rays and he said it looks like she had a small fracture. He put a new splint on her and we go back next week to see how she is doing. He thinks it should heal well without a cast (YEAH - a 3 year old and a cast all summer - I would die). Oh, a interesting side note Carlie is now 3 feet 10 1/2 inches and 47 pounds!!! That is insane for a 3 and 1/2 year old. But, what else would your expect from her "ginormous" mother

Dancing Queen

Carlie O has been taking dance lessons with her cousin Claire since last year. Their dance for the annual recital was "The Bunny Hop". This picture and video are from the dress rehearsal. We decided (after MAJOR influence from Corey - he is much better than evil me) that she would not dance in the actual recital because it was on Sunday. It was a difficult decision for me (Carlie never realized she was missing out), but I know it was the right one. FYI: The obnoxious lady laughing the whole time during Carlie O's video was not laughing at the little girls, but laughing with them! And yes Carlie is a whole foot taller then all the other little girls. Granted she was the oldest of the group, but NOT that much older. I really am getting to experience what it was like being so tall growing up through my daughter Carlie.

Carlie O and Berk MC

Carlie O loves her new little brother. She always wants to hold him and give him kisses all over. She also loves to "help" push him in his swing. She is also the Berkeley crying alarm. Anytime Berk starts crying she starts calling out, "Berkeley is crying, baby Berkeley is crying."

Coming Home At Last!

We finally got to take Berkeley home after 11 days in the NICU! Here is a picture of his empty incubator, what a wonderful feeling to know he was permanently leaving that behind. He left the hospital weighing in at a whopping 6 lbs. 11 oz (which happens to be his birth weight).

Berkeley - Day 9 in the NICU!

Well here we are 9 days later still in the NICU. Berkeley has what is called a pneumothorax. This is where the lungs leak air into the chest cavity and a air pocket is created. This air pocket is pushing his lungs and heart to the side. The air pocket is finally getting smaller and we thought we might get released today, BUT they decided to order a CT scan today to check the lung that is underneath to make sure their was no other reason the air was not decreasing as fast as it should. The sad part of the CT scan was poor Berk needed an IV. They stuck him 10 TIMES and could not get it. His veins would not cooperate. It was soooooo sad. But, the CT scan showed that everything was great except for that stinkin' air pocket. So... maybe we will get released tomorrow, or Friday, or who knows??? The good news - he is eating and sleeping well, and super HANDSOME! I am staying at the Ronald McDonald house and spending every waking moment with the Berk MC (that is his rapper nickname). Corey is in The Dalles with Carlie - he had to go back to work. I would add more pictures, but the internet connection is not the best and it took FOREVER just to get these two cute ones from yesterday.

Berkeley Michael-Cline Aldridge Arrives!!!!

Berkeley arrived at 9:53 AM on 4/29/08. He was 21 1/2 inches long and only 6 lbs. 11 oz (so little - at least compared to Carlie O). He was having a hard time breathing & he was accumulating air in his chest cavity so they came and picked him up and took him to Portand to a Children's hospital with a ICU. Corey is with Berkeley in Portland and Gina is in The Dalles recovering from her c-section. Berkeley is doing fine - no need to panic, but they are keeping a close eye on him and they are hopeful his lungs will seal up on their own. Gina is getting discharged early (gonna need lots of pain pills :)) from the hospital today so she can go spend time with her little boy. She only got to hold him for 5 minutes before they took little Berk away so she is super anxious to see him. Here are a few pictures of him in the hospital in Portland. If you want to see more look at the previous post - it will have more details of the birth. Please post comments so we know you were here and because we LOVE to read them!

The First Few Days of Berkeley

THIS POST IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!! I AM LEAVING FOR PORTLAND IN A FEW MINUTES - SO YOU ALL WILL JUST HAVE TO WAIT!

Well, our little boy is finally here, but he is not doing it the easy way. We arrived at the hospital at 6 AM and went in for surgery around 9 AM. Here is a picture of us in the operating room waiting for Berkeley. They were really cool and let Corey take pictures of anything and everything (they did not let us do that with Carlie O). Don't worry, I won't post anything too graphic. Anyways, he was born at 9:53 AM and here is a picture of him coming out!!!!