Last Wednesday we left home at about 7:30pm to head for Las Vegas to visit Angie’s family for a few days. The original plan was to come and visit for Thanksgiving, but we decided that would be too close to Angie’s due date. So, we arrived here at about 12:30am and got everyone to bed. The next thing I knew, Angie was waking me up saying her water had broken. A few hours later, Xander Gabriel Lofthouse was born via c-section, a full four weeks early.

Xander

So, our little vacation has turned into something completely unexpected. Xander will probably have to stay in the hospital for a week, possibly two. He is doing well, but because he is so small (4lbs 9oz at birth), it’s going to be a struggle for him to gain weight and get stronger without close supervision. He now has a feeding tube because he doesn’t have the energy to eat what he needs, and he’s frequently under a warming lamp to maintain his body temp, but those are normal issues with a preemie. His lungs are strong and everything else functions properly, so it’s just a matter of making sure he has enough calories to keep warm and grow.

Angie is doing well, too, and will probably be discharged tomorrow. The whole thing has been rough on her, but she’s hanging in there.

The most pressing question now is: What do we do with the boys that are supposed to be in school next week? I’m going to take them to the BYU-UNLV game and deal with that problem later…