Rookie Parents Make Rookie Mistakes and new pics.

We were released from the hospital on Tuesday evening and finally got home around 9:00 p.m. We were excited to finally be home, but nervous for our first evening. I'm happy to report so far we've made it two nights and we're all still here; however not without a couple rookie mistakes. Because of jaundice we currently have to wake Cassidy up every 3 hours in the evening to eat, even if she wants to sleep, hopefully that won't last long. The first evening at one feeding we found that she had wriggled herself out of her swaddled blanket, out of her diaper and had peed all over her sheets. I fed her while Brian changed sheets (now we know why you have more than one extra set of sheets). The second night she managed to do the same thing....so this morning we both had a lesson in diapering 101 (one night it was Brian's diaper she worked her way out of and one night it was mine). Here are some new pics...we'll try to update often because we know there are many of you following this closely, especially those grandparents who just can't get enough of Cassidy (we can't blame you-she's adorable)Brian reads Cassidy the first of many stories-she was very interested in it.
Cassidy is ready to leave the hospital (this is what we affectionately call her Popeye look-she's made this face since the very first night)

My parents were headed back from a wake the evening we got home so they stopped by to welcome Cassidy home. Mom took a great coming into the house for the first time picture (a little staged, but who cares)
Long nights mean day time naps for the whole family. Cassidy and Daddy check out the new blanket from the Brechon family (thanks Dave, Janelle, Alisha and Anna-we love it)
Gretchen finally came home on Wednesday and was soooo excited to see us and Cassidy. She came right in and inspected Cassidy, approved and moved on to playing with her toys she had missed in the days she was gone. (She has now taken to sleeping in Cassidy's room and frequently will check her out when she naps on the floor-so far they get along great)

One of the times we were waiting for our "allowed" time with Cassidy in the hospital. Brian took a nap with the blanket I made for her, it didn't quite fit him, but he said he was making it smell like him for her.

We are excited that tomorrow Cassidy will get to meet her Aunt Kim, Uncle Jason and cousin Carly, more pictures to follow. She has met all the rest of her aunts and uncles and hopefully everyone will share pictures with me as I don't have those ones (never good for the scrapbooker to be the one laid up in the hospital bed-now I have to wait for others to share pics with me) Thank you everyone for the good wishes and prayers, we appreciate it all!

We're off to eat and head to bed, our first doctor's appointment is tomorrow bright and early.

If it's not mom, it's me....dad has two drama queens

As many of you know I was delivered via emergency c-section on Friday, giving both my parents a bit of a scare. They just went in for the 40 week check-up thinking they'd be scheduling an induction for next week. Mom's blood pressure was high (which it never has been) so the doctor sent her to Labor and Delivery to have some blood work done to be on the safe side and she said they may be staying to be induced if it didn't come back good (Mom and Dad expected a 2 hour wait for bloodwork and then a nice dinner). After nearly 2 hours of waiting (grandparents all waiting anxiously for word at home) and 2 blood draws a nurse came in and said well you're not going anywhere, the doctor will be in to talk to you in a minute. The doctor came in and said ok it's not a matter of if, but rather when and we've decided that baby is coming out in the next hour we have no time to wait (mom was only going to get more sick if I stayed inside-she had something call sever preeclampsia) and so prep for a c-section began. Mom and Dad were not really prepared for that info. Dad quickly began calling the grandparents, getting our bags and the camera and mom started signing paperwork, and getting prepped for surgery and I was oblivious to the decision so I kept having a party inside. True to their word within one hour I made my appearance.

Mom continues to have her bp monitored (it's been good so far) and have her blood work checked (also good). As mom gets better I decided to stir up some fun of my own. My billirubin number went down and I start getting yellow last night so I'm on strict incubator rest with lights on me. Personally I think it's like a day at the beach, but mom and dad miss me and want me to stop tanning soon. They only get to hold me for 30 minutes every 3 hours while I feed otherwise I'm tanning my time away. We've included a few pictures so you can all get your fix of me. I know there are many of you who want to hold me and you will in time, but mom and dad are getting very anxious for some quality snuggle time so they'll come first!

In other news, since I've been born, the Cubs have been undefeated and are in first place...guess I'm their good luck charm.

BABY'S HERE!!!! TRA-LA-TRA-LA-TRA-LA!!

No more Ofie, hello Cassidy Isabel. 7lbs, 19.5 inches, already bigger than Gretchen. Mom and baby are fine, Cassidy was delivered via C-Section at 8:13 PM. Here are the first pictures!!!



Cassidy in the warmer getting her first shots and vitals

Mom and Cassidy in the recovery room.

Dad feeding Cassidy for the first time, though she didn't really want to eat.

Cassidy's first weigh-in.

Mom seeing Cassidy right after the C-Section

More pictures will follow in the coming days!

Waiting....impatiently

We're still here waiting (yes we know most first time moms deliver after their due date). This is me we're talking about though and if things aren't done in advance I think they're late. I guess this is my first great motherly lesson in patience.

Luckily I still feel great, going to the gym and sleeping fairly well so that is definitely nice. However patience has NEVER been my strong suite and with everyone else getting excited to meet the baby it doesn't help. I keep trying to tell Ofie that her dad and sister are very nice, and way more fun than I am. Apparently someone told her how crazy the Kitson and Gerken families are and she's decided staying inside is safer.

At least we have a doctor's appointment on Friday where they will give us a final date sometime next week if nothing happens. We just wanted to let everyone know we're still waiting and yes there will be updates posted if something happens (I'm shocked at the number of people who don't think we'd tell people if we had a child)

P.S. thanks Schahl family for daily updating your blog this week to help me get through the LONG workweek, you've been a lifesaver.

39 weeks....any day now!

It's getting so close we're excited and anxious. We made it past my birthday, our anniversary and got to see Harry Potter, we're finally ready to see our little one now. Well Brian wants to have today to hang out with his friends, and so far there is no excitement so that shouldn't be a problem.

We went to the doctor yesterday and she was very pleased with our progress. 2 cm, head is down and ready to go and she really thinks this weekend is the weekend, we'll see. She estimates the baby is about 7 pounds 7 pounds 4 oz, it'll be fun to see how accurate she is (and at least 7 pounds didn't scare me, had she said 9 pounds I might have passed out). Both sets of grandparents are very excited and both have trips planned this weekend so of course their concerned with the doctor saying she thinks it will be this weekend. Luckily for them (and not me) most babies aren't born in just mere hours.

We're hoping to post baby news on here very soon for everyone, ever since we knew we were due in late July we've been pulling for the 19th of July so maybe we'll get our wish. Long story about my mom always confusing my birthday (the 9th) with my Nana's (the 19th) I figure if we give her a grandchild on the 19th it will be easier to remember and maybe she'll start to get mine right :)

Well until baby news or our 40 week appointment next Friday, that's all! Here is a picture at 39 weeks (ooh I just noticed my double chin, hopefully that won't be much longer)

So close it's scary....38 weeks

Well we went to another dr.'s appointment on Friday, 38 weeks..we can hardly believe it. This whole 9 months has flown by and while we're excited to meet our new little one, we're also nervous about those sleepless nights that are in the very near future. The doctor's appointment went well, 1 solid cm dilated, Ofie has dropped (thank goodness too, heartburn is sooo much better now) and heartbeat is at 138. My swelling feet have been much better, and both Brian and I finally got back to working out this week after weeks off because we were too busy with moving. I feel very fortunate to feel as good as I do at this point because I know many women are miserable by this point.

We made it through my birthday and now are really hoping to make it past Friday without Ofie's arrival. Brian took the day off so we can go to a nearby townwide garage sale, our 39 week appointment, and to go to see Harry Potter and a nice dinner for our anniversary. We keep telling her that after July 18 we're ready. We'd really like to have the day to enjoy ourselves and spend together, but we'll see if Ofie cooperates. I'm really thinking Ofie is coming before her due date and very possibly this week. To be on the safe side I made a few meals ahead of time and put them in the freezer so we'd have some easy, quick meals once we're back home and completely out of it.

We'll keep everyone posted if there are developments this week, our doctor did say they will not let us go past 41 weeks, so we would be induced the last week of July if Ofie has not arrived on her own by then.

Moved Check, Full Term Check, Unpacking almost Check

Well hello again everyone. We've had a very busy week since our last update. We moved out of our old place, unpacked a ton of our stuff, and already made some updates/changes to the new place. We are so excited to be in our new home and already have started our wish list of updates. Brian has quickly become Mr. Fix it. On our first day in the house he worked on the air conditioner which was causing some difficulty on move day (90+ degrees, followed by a beautiful mid 70's day the next day, go figure). He has replaced a faucet, the wax ring in a toilet, many lightbulbs, outlets, etc. I've been very impressed! Thanks to all those who helped us with updates (carpeting, painting, etc) and those who helped us moved, we REALLY appreciate all the help and we couldn't have done it without all of you.


Brian is Mr. Fix It, watch out Handy Manny, here he comes.

I am happy to report that Ofie did not feel that move week was a good time to come surprise the parents and she has decided to let us get settled in and make her accommodations perfect before her arrival. My feet did begin swelling up quite a bit (think cankles). With lots of water and elevated feet, I can usually keep the swelling to a minimum and yesterday they even looked like my old feet for a few hours (it was cause for celebration). Our dr.'s appointment last week was good, everything continues to be right on track (we're officially full-term now)and we both continue to be healthy. We will be going every Friday for dr. appointments now and our goal is to make it past my birthday (this week) and our anniversary (next week 16th) before Ofie arrives. Selfishly, I'd like to not be in the hospital for my birthday and we'd really like to have a nice dinner and go see the new Harry Potter next weekend for our anniversary. We'll see if Ofie has other plans.

Below you will see pictures of our completed nursery, we love it and it all came together in just a few days!

We've been busy so there have been no belly pictures for awhile, but here we are at 37 weeks and 2 days. When we're relaxing on the couch, Gretchen has taken a liking to my belly, it's a very comfortable spot for her to snuggle up. Disregard my color choices, my favorite shorts were in the wash so I was wearing my favorite old gym shorts of Brian's.

Until next week that's all, only one more room in our house to unpack and then it's time to sit back, relax and wait for Ofie's arrival!