Some nice pictures of the big sisters

Here are some pictures of the girls that were taken before the baby arrived. Dad’s little girls are getting big.

Rhys Joseph Maentz

Baby Maentz #3 has a name – Rhys Joseph Maentz.

Rhys (pronounced like Reese or Reece) is of Welsh origin which means – “inspired by God” or “breathed by God”, and he truly is a gift to our family. Joseph was Marion’s grandfather’s name and Gabe’s grandfather’s middle name.

Thank you all who have called, visited, emailed, offered suggestions for names and/or left comments on the website. Although we have not been able to respond to all of you we do want you to know that you are special to us and your thoughts and little notes are so much fun to read as we share this good news together. Thank you.

Here are some more pictures of the little guy and a couple of videos as well. I hope you enjoy them.

Rhys’ first bath

Rhys, Victoria, and Ellie

Being a Sister

Big Sisters

Baby Maentz #3: The Eagle has Landed

I am very happy to announce that we are the proud parents of a healthy baby boy. Baby Maentz was born today at 6:59 PM Central Time. He weighs 8 lb 11 oz, and is 19 1/2 inches long. Marion is doing very well, and had a relatively quick delivery since my last update below. The baby is still nameless, but we are working on that.

What an awesome day, we truly are blessed. It was also great to share the news with so many family and friends as I made the round of calls tonight. I couldn’t talk with everyone but I want to let you all know how much Marion and I appreciate all of your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement during this whole thing. We would also like to share with you some of baby’s first pictures.

Baby Maentz #3: Movin’ Along

We are now about 10 1/2 hours into labor and are movin’ along. Marion is doing great. About 90 minutes ago she received an epidural, which really has helped ease some of the pain of the contractions. Her water also broke and she is now about 5 cm dilated and 90% effaced. This baby might come today after all….yeah.

I got to talk to some family and friends and give everyone an update. I thought I would share some funny things that Marion has said over the course of the day (with her permission of course) which is just a testament to how well she is approaching this whole thing.

“Hey Gabe, check out my IV stand now.”
– Marion, after yet another bag of something was added to her IV stand.

“At least I wasn’t imagining things.”
-Marion, after the nurse confirmed that yes her IV was leaking on her hand.

“That thing should make a happy sound when there is a good reading instead of the sound that a video game makes when you lose your last life.”
-Marion, after receiving her epidural and having the blood pressure machine “beep” after each reading.

“I think I peed myself.”
-Marion, after her water broke.

Baby Maentz #3: 6 hours later, and still progressing

Marion is such a trooper. The contractions are getting more intense and more frequent as she is now on potossion potocin. We have done a little more walking around the hospital but she is feeling most comfortable in bed – although comfortable really is not the right word. Despite the pain and discomfort, she keeps a smile on her face, and continuously reminds me that she would just like to have this baby out. Right now she is getting a little rest in between contractions and overall seems to be doing very well. I really don’t feel as if I am much help at this point, but I just try to provide humor when appropriate (ok, even sometimes when it is not appropriate) and be there for her if she needs me. I just hope for Marion’s sake that this doesn’t turn into a marathon labor – but she has such a great attitude and the view out of our window shows a beautiful day – which I am sure helps a little.

Baby Maentz #3: Checked In and Ready to Go

We checked into the hospital this morning at about 7:30 AM, after dropping off Elizabeth at Carol’s (our friend and day care provider). Victoria spent the night with the Korbs for her first real “sleep over” and will be spending the day with Eva, Kate, Coleman and the bunch. After getting checked in we were escorted to our room and wow what a change they have made since we were here last. We have always been extremely pleased with the nurses, doctors, and staff at this hospital – and now they have completely renovated their entire birth center and the rooms are great. Complete with fridge, microwave, flat screen tv – I think I have stayed in hotels that were not this nice. Needless to say – “Life is good”.

Marion is doing well and starting to feel some more intense contractions since being induced. We walked around the halls for a little bit and all is going as expected at this time. The doctor is scheduled to come back in just a little over an hour to see how things are progressing.

They even have internet access in the rooms – are you serious? I will try to post some stuff to the blog as I am sure you are all awaiting pictures. But for now my #1 priority is to man my position as labor coach and support my star athlete, as we get ready to bring another miracle into this world. Peace.

Video problems with Internet Explorer 6.0

The web is such an awesome place to share information – pictures, videos, stories. Unfortunately sometimes things just don’t work as I am sure most of you can relate. Being an IT professional I could give you the gritty details for why this is, but I will spare you. The long and short of it is that people who are using Internet Explorer version 6.0 to view the maentz.net blog might not be seeing all of the videos that we are posting.

I am looking at correcting this issue (besides telling people to use a better browser like Firefox or IE7) and will keep you all posted.

Fourth of July – Parades, Sun, and Fireworks

We had a beautiful day this Fourth of July. The weather was great and we started the morning with a neighborhood parade. Victoria and Ellie enjoyed their walk around the neighborhood blocks and then participating in some fun summertime games. Victoria got dad wet with a couple of water balloons and both girls enjoyed the face painting and tattoos. Here are some pictures we took of the morning.

While Ellie took her nap, Victoria and dad headed off to the city pool later that afternoon and went down the big water slide 5 times (Victoria keeps count because she loves that thing.) Later we ate watermelon, corn on the cob, and hot dogs on the outside patio.

Victoria also got to stay up late to go watch the fireworks. She was very excited about that, but wasn’t quite ready for how loud they would be. I think the day wore her out, and by the finale she was ready to go home. We captured a few videos of the fireworks and posted them below. The second one shows how tired Victoria was at 10:00 at night.

We hope you enjoyed your 4th of July. Peace.

Congratulations Jason & Jessica!

Gabe and I are an Uncle and Aunt again. This time to my sister’s first baby. Luke Steven Gschwend was born yesterday (7/1/08) at 5:59 pm. He was 7lbs. 13oz and 20 inches long. Jessica ended up having a C-section but everyone is doing fine. All of Luke’s pre-natal kidney problems appear to have self-corrected themselves so Jessica and Luke will be going home on Friday morning. My dad is headed down to KY to help out with his first grandson. So now we just wait for his second grandson to be born. I definitely can’t wait to hold my baby in my arms. See how our children try our patience before they are even born, ha ha!! I just wanted to let everyone know the good news. Here are a few pics of the little guy with his proud daddy and mama.