Introducing Whitney Mae Westenskow

Mindi was scheduled to be induced, but started her contractions at 6:30 that morning. The labor and delivery went very smooth. Cute Mindi did so awesome, apologizing to those who showed up early for having to wait that the baby hadn’t come sooner. It crushed hurt my heart when Mindi’s brave tears dropped while getting the epidural (she has a very low pain tolerance), but then she was so much more fun to be around after the legs went a bit numb. Whitney was born April 16th at 8:33 pm weighing 7 lbs and 2 oz, only after about 20 minutes of pushing.

Thursday morning little Whitney was spitting up a light green color. The nurse thought that there might be some problems with her intestines, so she was scheduled to have some x-rays, and a barium enema examination (you drink the white chalky stuff, and then they x-ray ya). Whitney was in NICU with an i.v. in her little arm for 24 hrs with no food in preparation for these test, it broke our hearts to see her that way. The barium revealed a slight twist in her intestine, but was not drastic enough to continue to refrain her from food. Mindi was very excited for the opportunity to again feed her from her now very large breasts.

The x-ray, which they took a few times to confirm, divulged a unique side to our little girl. Whitney is part of the .01% of the population that has Situs Inversus. Situs Inversus is a congenital condition in which the major visceral organs are reversed or mirrored from their normal positions, which means that her major organs are on the opposite side of her body. Cute Parker, Mindi’s little brother, expressed his concern about which hand and where it would be placed when stating the pledge of allegiance and hoped that no one would get mad at her for misplacing her hand on the opposite side of her chest to cover her heart. Situs Inversus has no effects. She will be able to function her whole life as if her organs were in the correct place. Mindi and I consider it a reminder from God, letting us know that He is watching over our family. After all since there are no serious problems with her intestines, we could have gone a long time with out knowing about her uniqueness, and that type of information will be good to know as she grows. It was also comforting for us to know that Donny Osmond was just realized to have situs inversus, after a misdiagnosed appendicitis. Thanks Donny, we’re hollerin at ya brotha!

We were able to bring home this precious little bundle of joy Saturday morning. When she found out that she was able to come home, Whitney expressed how excited she was to finally be formally introduced to Mo and Muffins. Mo, our handsome man, was intensely curious about her. Both dogs have taken great interest in Whitney even waking up at night with us while feeding from Mindi’s now enormous breasts. The first night was hell, but each night gets better and better as cute Whitney, Mindi, Muffins, Mo, and I get better acclimated to our new routines.
Whitney is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I get emotional just writing about her. Mindi and I love little Whitney so much, as I’m sure each parent experiences and we have both thoroughly enjoyed this incredible experience in becoming a mother and father. Mindi has been so stellar; my love for her has increased ten fold. It was an emotional weekend for us and we are glad to have had such a growing event.

And so the next chapter of our life begins. Thanks family and friends for your prayers, phone calls, and encouraging thoughts. We love you! Here are some pictures of our new little baby girl, the new center of our world, taking place of the Utah Jazz and our dogs. Ooooohhh that’s sad, we still love our dogs too!