In the beginning...

Ella Marie Stutz, named after her great grandmother Sara Ella Katherine Myers and great, great grandmother, has finally arrived.

Even before Ella's arrival she was the center of concern. Other then the fact that she was female and I had no idea how to go about obtaining a shotgun as a future suitor deterrent, Ella's last ultrasound results provided an indication that she was fairly small, in the 10 percentile range. The doctor floated the word 'Dwarfism' which sent everyone into an immediate sense of concern and, to be honest, dismay. The measurements taken during the ultrasound indicated that she was quite small, underweight, and that her limbs appeared to be a bit short.

To be fair, The Dr. did state that he was obligated to mention the possibility of Dwarfism, but also that ultrasound measurements are not known for their accuracy. Too late, the damage of planting the seed of great concern had already taken hold and would be hanging out there for the next few weeks until Ella's arrival. There really wasn't anything to do, other then wonder what Ella was going to come out like and do a little research. Apparently Dwarfism is a genetic condition passed down through the family tree, or by a fresh genetic mutation. Well, neither side of the family touted any such cases so we were down to the possibility of a a fresh mutation - which only really increased the sense of concern and dread. What would her life be like? What kind of special care would she need?

All the worry and concern was for naught as Ella arrived just before 5am on April 29th looking like a perfectly proportionate little girl. Unlike her big brother Aidan's fairly exciting arrival, Ella's was fairly uneventful. I was even able to cut the cord this time around which wasn't anything more then using a pair of scissors, but pretty memorable. I really should charge the hospital for that surgical service I provided, maybe they'll deduct my fee from the over all, new boat purchase hindering bill.

All was well in parent and baby world.... until (queue B class mystery movie plot point music)... little miss Ella decided to entertain everyone by spitting up some neon green residue. Yuck!... As it was the general medical opinion that something that color should not be coming out of a new born baby, we were back into concern mode.

The hospital neonatalogist, Dr NotSoFeelGood, didn't paint a very pretty picture and, I felt, was a bit of an alarmist. While she briefly stated that it may be nothing, she then went on in length about how it could be an underdeveloped digestive system preventing material from traversing the entire digestive tract, or a 'webbing' may be causing a blockage - either of which would require surgery to correct. She had some x-rays taken of Ella and, while she didn't see any real issues in the x-rays, still felt that there was something wrong and that Ella should be transferred from Overlake Hospital where she was delivered, to Children's Hospital where the surgeons resided. So little baby Ella, only a day or so old, was going on her first ambulance trip.

Arriving at Children's Hospital, Ella was placed in the IICU (Infant Intensive Care Unit) where she was hooked up to a number of monitors and associated wires. The surgeons, having looked at the x-rays sent along from Overlake, didn't see anything wrong, but ordered a test where they inject a dye and then watch where it goes.... and the dye went all the way through little Ella's system, indicating that there was, in fact, no blockage. Other then some additional observation and actually allowing Ella to eat and seeing what happened, all appeared to be normal again. Ella was released from Children's about 9pm Sunday, May 1st when her tired and emotionally frazzled parents were finally able to take her home.

So, in the end, all is well, Ella is just fine and her father is still wondering where to find a license for that shotgun I'm sure is going to need in the not too distant future.