Kellen’s First Week

Kellen is One Week Old!!!

Kellen had a lot of firsts this week, here are the highlights!

First Purdue Gear

Our good friend Miss Jess bought me these adorable Purdue Pete iron-ons forever ago and I finally got to use them for little Kellen!

Coming Home

Since we didn’t know if we were having a boy or a girl, I bought both a boy and a girl “coming home outfit”.  I found this shirt about halfway through the pregnancy and thought if it was a boy that it was just too funny/cute!  “No Girls Allowed (except mommy)”.  I’m in love with little hats on babies and bought this cute little green bear hat and I made this little blanket for him.  Here he is in his gear, us in front of the hospital about to load into the car to head home, and then Kellen all snuggled in at home!

Out and About

The car seat and snap ‘n go stroller have been sitting in the living room and the boys have been DYING to take the baby out on a walk, so we finally ventured out to get some fresh air.  The boys were so cute helping push the stroller!

 

First bath

He can’t have an official bath until his belly button heals up, but he was getting a little greasy, so we gave him his first sponge bath!

 

First bouncy seat

Our old bouncy seat kicked the bucket, so we got an upgrade (thanks grandma and papa!) and we snuggled him in.  Does this not look like the most comfortable chair?  And the boys were enjoying some face time with the new fun chair!

First bedtime stories

Oh how precious, bedtime stories with the big boys!

First Photo Shoot

We had a photo shoot for Kellen’s newborn photos and we also got some family shots since Todd’s entire family was in town!  I’ll post more later, but here is a sneaky peak!

First Pediatrician Visit

Kellen had his first visit to the pediatrician this week.  There weren’t any shots or anything at this appointment, just weight and length measurements and a general check up.  When we left the hospital on Saturday his weight was down to 7lbs 14 ounces but at our appointment on Monday he was already gaining it back and we were at 8lbs!  Yay! 

When the nurse went to measure him, she laid him down on the table on top of that paper stuff, drew a line above his head and then went to pull his leg out straight to draw a line at the bottom of this foot and when she pulled his leg, he made a massive poop and also peed at the same time but there was a gap in his diaper at the top and the pee leaked out all over the table!  The nurse said “I thought that was supposed to happen when I pulled his finger, not his leg!”  hahahahahahaha  Well done Kellen!

First Growth Chart

Age	Weight	%	Height	%	Head	%
Birth	8lbs 8oz		21”
5 Days	8lbs		21”

He is still in the sleepy newborn coma phase so he sleeps a lot, we still have to wake him for feedings.  He LOVES to be swaddled, as soon as we wrap him up he usually lets out a sigh.  When he starts to get upset, if I hold onto his hands he calms right down and will wrap his hands around my fingers like we’re holding hands.  :::swoon:::  He found his thumb in the hospital on the day he was born but since then we’ve had those little mittens over his hands so he doesn’t scratch himself but he still keeps searching for that thumb through the cloth!  He has the longest skinniest feet, they are too big for the feet holes in his jammies!  He is just the sweetest baby!  Time seemed like it was standing still for the few weeks before he was born, and now it is FLYING by, I can’t believe he is already one week old.  We are so in love with our new little man!

Kellen’s Visitors

We were blessed to have family staying with the boys at home and even more blessed to have such great friends come visit us in the hospital!

Kellen’s first visitors were grandma and papa, which was tough to coordinate since they were the ones taking care of the boys.  Not to mention, Finn was DYING to come see the baby, so we had to lie to him and tell him that grandma and papa were going to run some errands during nap/quiet time.  Although, Uncle Buzz who came over to sit with the boys while grandma and papa “went to run errands” almost blew it!  “You’re running errands?  I thought you were going to the hospital to meet the baby?”  ha!

Miss Andrea was our next visitor!

And Miss Andrea came back the next day and brought her husband and Taco Mac with her!!!

 

And then Miss Robin, Miss Caroline and Miss Stef joined us

  

Group photo, Kellen is one lucky little man!

Uncle Buzz came to check out his newest “nephew”

And then Miss Andrea and Kellen’s future playdate who was due to make his/her appearance last Monday….still waiting, poor Miss Andrea, hang in there, we can’t wait to meet him or her!

 

And then Miss Sara and Miss Kathleen came (and brought pizza!)!

 

Brothers

Kellen was born on Wednesday morning and Finn and Riley got the chance to meet him on Friday morning.  Finn was beyond excited and couldn’t wait to meet Kellen.  It took Riley just a minute to warm up to figure out what was going on.  They were both just so sweet with the baby that mommy started crying.

They brought baby Kellen a present, some monkey pajamas!

And they brought momma some flowers!

Momma getting some love from her BIG boys!  (They seem like GIANTS compared to Kellen!)

Checking out the teeny tiny bathroom!

And, thankfully momma had a snack for them, a never ending supply of graham crackers, they were in heaven!

Riley loving on the baby

Finn holding the baby

Family photo!

Then they sang Happy Birthday to Baby Kellen!  :::swoon:::

 

Finally we got to go home, the boys had been anxious and had been asking for days when we would get to go home.  I was SO nervous about this transition, for a lot of reasons, but the boys were SO excited!  Here is a video of the Big Brothers welcoming Kellen home!

They were so excited to have baby Kellen come home.  After this video they took him inside, showed him their bedroom and their blankies and grandma bear and then took him to his bedroom and even got out some of his toys for him to play with. 

 

They are so sweet and cute and gentle with him.  Riley gets genuinely worried when he cries.  Finn was so excited the next morning to see Kellen.  Kellen “reached” out his arm and touched Finn and Finn started giggling uncontrollably, was so excited and exclaimed “the baby touched me!!!”.

There is so much love in my house right now, we are truly blessed!

Kellen’s Birth Story: 3-23-11

We knew when Riley was born, that our third baby would be a c-section. We were hoping things had changed, but learned at the beginning of this pregnancy that they had not, and that this would be a repeat (or a three-peat) c-section. Our date was set for 3/23/11 at 8:30am and we were told to be at the hospital at 6:30am.

I actually was able to get some sleep the night before, which was rare because I've had the worst insomnia this entire pregnancy. I woke up about 15 minutes before the alarm went off and started to get myself ready, brush my teeth, put on some makeup, pack the last few things we needed in our bag, sit and watch my husband eat a breakfast I wasn't allowed to have. :) And off we went....it was pitch black outside still and we had plenty of time, but we were both SO anxious to get there.

We checked in at the front desk and were immediately sent back to the OR prep room where they started to prep me for surgery. The nurse had a hard time with the first IV she tried to put in, and can I just say it hurt like hell? She tried again with much better success, but then every time she'd tape it up and walk away it would stop dripping. She spent a ridiculous amount of time (and tape) trying to get the IV to work right. And, as it would turn out, we were running late. Evidently we were scheduled for 8:15 and should have been there at 6:15, so we were 15 minutes late, and now she has just spent a good 20 minutes trying to put in an IV. From there everything went at warp speed! Which was AWESOME because, did I mention? We were anxious!

Then the nurse asks “so we're NOT tying your tubes today, correct?”. Say What???!!!??? Um YES, YES WE ARE!! Evidently she didn't have that in her notes, so from this point on, Todd and I are telling everyone that walks in the door, just to make sure this point is clear. I think Todd was ready to write it on my belly in sharpie! When Dr Dawson comes in, the first thing we tell him is “hey, yes, we do want to tie the tubes today!” and he says “well, I wanted to talk to you about that....are you sure? Its PERMANENT, NO going back!” YES, YES PLEASE SIGN US UP! With everyone on board, game back on.

I got my epidural in and within seconds everything was numb! Yay! I wasn't sick and I didn't have the shakes! It was total bliss! This was a completely different experience for me. I was wide awake and not drowsy, I didn't feel like I was going to pass out or throw up and I wasn't shaking uncontrollably. Instead I was there, excited, anxious and chatting away with the nurses and doctors!!! AMAZING!

So in we go to the operating room, they get me set up, Dr Angus comes in, who I hadn't seen yet followed by Dr Dawson and then came in Todd. So they got started right away, everyone is chatting and Todd is snapping pictures emphatically and narrating to me what is going on. And I'm laying there just dying to know if it is a boy or a girl and to see him/her! And then all of a sudden I can hear a noise, like a baby crying, but wait no, that's not a baby crying, what is that noise? The baby isn't out yet....what is going on, can we hear another OR? And then we hear Dr Dawson say “oh, uhhhh, sorry, that would be my phone!” hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha it was a baby giggling, quite an appropriate ring tone for an OB!

Finally Todd says “I see the head.....I see shoulders....” and we are seriously giddy with excitement, Todd took a bunch of pictures of me laying there with the biggest grin of my life, please note those pictures do not exist with the previous c-sections because I was too sick/light-headed/shaking, so these are priceless, to us. :) Next up, with VERY little pushing on my abdomen, I hear Todd say “We've got a Kellen!!!” Yay!!!! Everyone starts singing happy birthday, baby starts crying, mommy starts crying, YAY!!! They peeped his head over the curtain so I could see him and then they took him over to the side to get cleaned off and checked out. I was able to watch them while they tied my tubes and stitched me back up. They brought him over to me all wrapped up so I could kiss his little face and we got our family picture before they took him to the recovery room, daddy following behind. I was dying to get over there with them to find out how big he was.

I joined them in the recovery room a while later and they were giving him his first bath, washing his hair. He's got lots of long dark hair and he's got the longest fingers and feet! Some of his fingernails are longer than mine! Once they got him all clean and got me all situated, they handed him to me for some skin-on-skin time and to try nursing him. He was evidently already rooting and very hungry! Once they laid him on my chest, he immediately lifted his head up to look at me! Such a strong boy! And then he latched right on!

We are so in love with our new little man!

Kellen Lincoln Lakes: 8:47am, 8 pounds 8 ounces and 21 inches long

One last belly picture!

Hospital Gown Glamour Shots

Ready to go!  See that big smile?!

 

“It’s a Kellen!!!!”

 

 

He is so strong, he grabbed onto the side of the bassinet and pulled himself over!!!!

Finally I can hold him!

And then he pushed up and held up his head!!!!  WHAT???

 

And in no time at all, we’re snuggling!

And later Dr Dawson came up to check on us and take a quick picture!