Minor Complications

Well, it's been four days since little Samuel was born, but both he and Ann are still in the hospital. Ann is perfectly fine, but there are a few minor health issues that have caused Samuel to keep them admitted.

First, we mentioned the umbilical cord around the neck. From this experience, he seems to be completely fine, except for a reddish face that we're told will heal (and is getting better every day).

Next, he has a small issue with one of his kidneys. Before he was born the doctors could see that small amounts of his urine were flowing backwards from one of his kidney into his bladder. The doctor hoped that this would correct itself prior to birth, but it did not. Apparently, this is a common condition with some newborns, and we're told that it is more common with boys. It is called reflux. The doctors have told us that this reflux is not bad in Samuel, and that it should correct itself as he grows. However, it is a potential cause of infections, so they're placing him on once-per-day antibiotics until his body grows to correct the problem. They wanted to keep him in the hospital for another few days to monitor him, to ensure that he doesn't get an infection.

Also, the doctors had been watching Samuel for jaundice. After looking at his bilirubin levels today, they determined that he needed to go 'under the lights'. He'll have a minimum of a 24 hour light treatment.

All in all, each of these issues is minor, but Ann is feeling a little stressed because of staying in the hospital for so long. There are only a few hospital personnel on her floor that speak English, so it's been a long and trying week. Still, we're so excited and happy to have our little baby boy. He is alert, happy, and is a very good eater. We can't wait to get him home.

This has been an unforgettable experience (with both positive and negative aspects). We'll post more details shortly, including some observations about the differences between our experiences with hospital births in the USA versus in Italy. In the meantime, please wish us luck that Samuel and Ann will come home soon!

Thanks also for all of the e-mail messages that we've received over the past few days.

Samuel Kelsie Bedell

Last night, December 24, our son, Samuel Kelsie Bedell was born. What a Christmas Present! He arrived at 9:13 pm local time, and weighed 3200 grams (a little over 7 pounds). Ann delivered by completely natural childbirth (no medicines or painkillers at all). Through the entire delivery, there was a small scare. Samuel had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. He arrived quickly, however, and deslpite a little concern right after birth he is just fine. Mother and child are now resting comfortably in the Hospital, where they'll stay for the next few days. We'll post more details soon. In the meantime, we wish everyone a Merry Christmas!
Buon Natale!

Christmas Preparations - No Baby Yet

Happy Holidays!!

Another week has slipped by, and it seemed to go very quickly.

First off, we don't have any news to report about the pregnancy. Ann is feeling very tired, but the baby doesn't seem to be ready to make an appearance right now. We're anxious and ready, and expect the arrival any day. We will let our friends and family know as soon we have news.

Next, the week was pretty uneventful, except for Thomas' school concert. Early this week, his school held a Christmas concert for children in his class. All of the language sections performed, so we heard holiday songs in a variety of languages, including Dutch, French, Italian, and English. It was a lot of fun, and Thomas was very excited to show his parents around his school. The class had a little party after the concert, so we got to meet a lot of other parents.

Other than that, we had our first real snowfall since we've been in Italy. It only amounted to a light dusting, but it was sort of exciting to see snow again. We've heard that the Northeast in the USA has been hit with many storms already. Here, we've only had a few cold days, but nothing that's like a Pennsylvania December.

Lastly, we're in full holiday swing. Although John's been working hard (trying to get as much done in the office before the New Year), we've found time to do a little shopping and make some cookies. We've had to use our Italian Dictionary a lot in the baking aisle. For some reason, it seems more difficult to find (and learn the Italian names for) baking ingredients than other foodstuffs.

That's it for now.

Hospital and Strike

Here's a quick update on this past week:
Ann and John visited the hospital were Ann will give birth today. While there, Ann had yet another exam and ultrasound. We think that this brings us up to 7 or 8 separate ultrasounds. This still seems like a huge number of such exams to us, and we have to say that the treatment that Ann's been given by the medical professionals in Italy has been first-rate. The bureaucracy is seriously trying, but the helpfulness of the health-care providers is simply great!
We considered posing the newest scan of the ultrasound, but since we again couldn't decipher the image, we decided against it.
This week John had his last business trip of the year. Ann and Thomas are both glad that he's stying close to home for a while.
Lastly, Italy endured a three-day strike by freight carriers this week. The caused serious problems for commerce and industry. It also caused a lot of inconvenience for many people. Gas stations in our area ran dry, and the supermarkets were emptied of produce by the time the strike ended. It's interesting and quite new to see this as Americans. It's the first such strike that effected us at all (the transit strike earlier in the year didn't have any impact on our routine). It gives a new perspective, and is something that we never saw back in the 'States.

Deck The Halls

'Tis the Season

Baby Picture

First, we apologize for the lack of blog posts recently. John's been away for almost a week on business, and Ann's awfully tired. In fact, right now she's at the stage where she just wants the baby to be born. Luckily, her doctor told her this week that we can expect the baby to be born around (or maybe even before) Christmas. What a present!

Other than that, things are normal. We've had some problems navigating some of the health system and social system over here, but thankfully we have a lot of help.

By the way, the ultrasound above is from Ann's doctor visit earlier this week. We have no skill whatsoever at reading these pictures, but we think that it's the upside down baby. If anyone knows what we're looking at, please let us know.

More to follow soon.