Here's our house on the morning Tansy was born. A month earlier than expected,
Morro woke up at 4:00 a.m. with labor pains. Given the blizzard we were having that morning,
it was a good thing that we were only 5 minutes from the hospital!
Athanasia Celeste Schreiber ('Tansy') was born at 6:30 a.m. that morning, mid-December 2005.
Another picture from the day Tansy was born. 
A few hours after birth, Tansy showed signs of breathing problems and had to go under an oxygen hood. 
The breathing problems persisted, and she was transferred by ambulance from the Winona to the
Gundersen-Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse, which has a neo-natal intensive care unit (NICU).
However, Tansy's breathing difficulties cleared up during the ambulance ride, and she seemed to be
fine when we arrived. 
Unfortunately, the staff at the Gundersen-Lutheran NICU insisted on continuing to hold her for several days. What was most troubling
about the experience was that no two explanations ever agreed as to the rationale for not releasing her to the standard neo-natal
ward. 
Precisely what constituted Tansy being well enough to leave changed each time we inquired. When I finally asked for
an explanation of the medical evidence on which Tansy's treatment decisions were based, we suddenly were told that Tansy no longer
needed the NICU. (Do I look frustrated or just tired & worried?)
It's interesting to me that this photograph, which turns up on Google Images searches, has been my web site's single
greatest source of traffic from search engine users. I have often wondered why so many people would be looking for NICU pictures
on the web.
Tansy finally escaped the NICU, but the next hurdle was learning to eat. The lactation consultant at Gundersen-Lutheran
told us, evidently with no intended humor or irony, that the reason Tansy wasn't nursing was that she was so 'lazy'! However,
things got better. 
Tiny fingers. 
Very, very tiny fingers! 
Hooray! Home at last! 
Feeding with the tube & finger method. 
Having a baby is very tiring. 
But it's also very nice. 
Is that just a hint of a tongue curl already? 