Headed Home!

Well it was a long day today as we waited for the docs to give us the final stamp of approval for mom and Annelise to come home, but we are now all clear!

Nicole is feeling much better now with no headache and has even been up and around a bit today.  Thank you all for your concerns and comments. We are grateful for your love!


Austin Henderson
Manager, Information Technology
FirstFleet, Inc.

Tale of today...

The story of today is one with happy endings but a troubling road to get here. Sometime yesterday afternoon Nicole began to struggle with a headache that came on her on Thursday afternoon. As the day progressed for her today the aches continued to worsen – to the point that she wasn’t really able to sit on any incline without surging pain in her face, neck and head. It became clear that the two different narcotics they gave her were not going to make a dent the pain and we decided to ask for the Anesthesiologist to pay her a visit. We remembered there was a slight possibility of a headache side effect from the spinal tap she was given on Thursday afternoon, and we wanted to check out that possibility. The doctor came by and checked Nicole out and basically communicated that he couldn’t be sure if what she was experiencing was something called a “spinal headache” or not. Essentially if it was this type of situation then the hole where the needle was inserted for the tap was basically leaking out fluid that insulated her brain from her skull. The pain was the pull of the tissue that “suspends” her brains in her skull. He did say that if this was the case there was no imminent danger from leaving it untreated and that at some point her body would patch that hole and replace the fluid.

The treatment for this condition is something called a “epidural blood patch” – basically they take blood from your arm and inject it into the epidural space in your back. This creates a sort of “bruise patch” that plugs the hole and thus fixes the leak. The risk factors are not high but it is an epidural procedure so there are some risks involved. We decided to wait on this procedure because there was uncertainty in the diagnosis and there were risks involved. We waited several hours and in these hours the situation got much worse for Nicole. At about 6:15 pm we asked for the doctor to return and ended up asking for the patch after serious deliberation and prayer. Nicole and I were of course visibly anxious about the procedure, but I am I am thrilled to say that remarkably the fix solved the problem within minutes of completion!

When I say “minutes” I literally mean minutes! She was lying down for the procedure and the next time she sat up after the procedure she had no more pain – remarkable considering she had severe pain for about 36 hours every time she sat up. Nicole is now able to sit upright and walk (though slowly) around without neck and head pain! We are truly thankful to be celebrating this blessing tonight.

All this to say that the day has been very tiring for us, and we have not had much time to be joyful with Annelise because of the circumstances. Annelise however has been a delight – in a very real way we feel blessed that she chose to sleep pretty much all of the day and not really fuss much about the time between her feedings. This evening we were able to interact with her for a good period of time and that was a real joy! She is of course cuter every time I see her and we are hearts are overjoyed with the privilege of knowing she is our child.

For those of you that knew of today’s events thank you for your prayers, calls, and texts they were a real blessing. Thank you all for the tangible ways you have loved us in this process.
Austin & Nicole

What a joy...

We are now the proud parents of a new baby girl - Annelise Merri Henderson! Born 6/11/09 at 2:23 PM - 7lbs 10oz - 19.5in - she is a wonderful blessing in our lives already! God was gracious to us throughout this entire day and He has richly blessed us with a wonderful daughter. Both mom and baby are doing well and seem to be recovering superbly from the day. Annelise has eaten a few times already and is taking quickly to the process - following no doubt in the footsteps of her big brother who truly loves to eat!

Nicole handled the events of the day like with beauty and grace and is presently resting here beside me. Our initial assesment of Annelise is that she is probably going to have some spunk - when she was first born she was quite literally jumping around and kicking her feet wildly. The doctors jokingly commented that we had a dancer on our hands! This no doubt spoke to Nicole's soul with her love of dance.

Caleb spent most of the day with his Mimi and Grandaddy but did come visit his new sister. When I first got off the elevator to visit with family while holding Annelise in my arms I got down to Caleb's level and introduced him to his new sister (crying sister).... He looked her over for a few seconds and point blank asked me - "Daddy - what is wrong with her - what is she mad at?" - we all got a kick out of his response. In another moment of humor I asked Caleb who's birthday it was today to which he exclaimed - "Aunt Pam's!" - The answer we were looking for of course was baby sister but his response did get a chuckle - because in truth it is her birthday. Caleb seems to be doing great with the new family adition and we know he is going to be a wonderful big brother!

Here are a few photos of the day and there are more here. Thank you all for your prayers, calls, visits and texts. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends to do life with! We love you all and look forward to introducing you to our newest family member.

Austin & Nicole

Meet Annelise Merri Henderson

Here she is! Mom and baby are doing wonderful.

She was born 6/11 - 7lbs 10oz - 19.5in.

She is beautiful and has quite the set of lungs on her! More pics to follow. Thank you for your prayers.



Austin Henderson
Manager, Information Technology
FirstFleet, Inc.

Ready to go!

We will meet Annelise soon! Appreciate your prayers!


Austin Henderson
Manager, Information Technology
FirstFleet, Inc.

Phase I

Well here we are at Grandaddy's and Mimi's dropping Caleb off for his sleep over! Caleb is pumped with his new mask, water gun and car - gifts from grandparents - and he is looking sharp with his "I'm a big brother!" shirt! A few hours now and we will meet Annelise! We will keep you posted.


Austin Henderson
Manager, Information Technology
FirstFleet, Inc.

The Time is Near...

The days are counting down now into the single digits, and we couldn't be more excited about the upcoming events! Annelise will make her scheduled grand entrance this Thursday afternoon at 2:00 PM. Both Mom and baby are hanging in there for the final days, and Nicole is as beautiful as ever. She is of course having trouble sleeping and is ready to meet our new daughter, but all in all she and Annelise are doing well. The house has been a-buzz with activities such as putting the final touches on the nursery and making general preparations for the growth in our family. Caleb is thrilled to meet his new baby sister and given his attachment to her already we think he is going to make quite the big brother. We of course would love your prayers on Thursday for Nicole, Annelise and our doctors. Once we have pics and news we will be sure to post more information. If you would like to see more pictures from this past month please click here.