What Is That?!?

When we came home from the hospital yesterday, Aric was napping.  When he awoke, he was excited to see Ryan and I, but my mom was holding Kellyn and he didn't notice her right away.  When Aric finally realized what HIS nana was holding the look on his face was priceless.  The look was the epitome of the question "What is that?".  Aric proceeded to hand my mom every item that he was holding in an effort to stake a claim on his nana.

The rest of the night Aric went over to wherever Kellyn was and would proceed to rub her head or try to push her swing.  We had to closely monitor all of their encounters, especially the swing pushing.  Only time will tell in what other ways he responds to her.

October 15th

It's October 15th, Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.  I am sitting here holding Kellyn, knowing that she is only in my arms by the grace of God.  There was a time when I wondered if we would ever have any children, but God has been so good and blessed us with two beautiful children.  However, I will never forget the two that we lost, the two that we will get to hold someday in heaven.

My thoughts and prayers are with anyone who ever lost a child. May God grant you peace.

Gone Home

We went home today.  There was a small concern that there would be a delay since they discovered Kellyn had jaundice last night.  They tested her bilirubin this morning and discovered her level is 11.5.  The pediatrician said when levels are above 15 they start to consider treating for it.  Thankfully she's fine and we were able to go home.

Enjoying Simple Things

I try to not beat myself up as a mother.  I know that I'm busy and I try to make the most of the time that I have with Aric.  It's hard, though, because sometimes I feel we live a somewhat sheltered life out in the country.  We could go to many places and activities, but my pregnancy and it's ensuing complications really kept us homebound and away from variety.  Because of this, I sometimes feel that Aric misses out on quite a bit in life that others may take for granted or just have been exposed to long ago.

What am I not beating myself up over?

...balloons.  Yes, balloons.  Today when Aric came to my hospital room with Nana for a visit we gave him his first balloon.  The balloon was actually for Kellyn, but since she is not even aware of anything six inches from her face and I'm sure putting a balloon within six inches of her face would just freak her out, we decided Kellyn wouldn't mind sharing with her brother.  The result...

...he loved them.  He was a little perplexed by it since it didn't quite act like a ball, but I think that just added to the fun.  It warmed my heart watching him run around my hospital room chasing a balloon and throwing it at us.

Update

This week has definitely been interesting and full of change to say the least.  Sunday night into Monday morning, I didn't really sleep.  I think I was too aware of surgery, meeting our daughter, and everything else that was going to happen in the morning. 

On Monday I was tired and cranky, but trying not to be.  We were at the hospital by 5:30am and I was hooked up to the fetal monitor and prepped for surgery.  My friend, Laura, watched Aric in the morning to free up my mom to be our photographer with us during Kellyn's delivery. 

The c-section went well.  Ryan sat down and held my hand, rather than watch the operation like last time.  I think he wanted to watch, however, the anesthesiologist told him to sit and stay out of her way.  Kellyn was born 11 minutes into the surgery.

Monday actually went really well.  We enjoyed holding and cherishing our daughter.  Monday night I sent Ryan home to get some sleep and I sent Kellyn off to the nursery so I could sleep.  Or so I thought...

Monday night into Tuesday was the worst. The nursery nurses instead of caring for Kellyn brought her to me several times during the night, negating my purpose for sending her to the nursery.  I was up the majority of the night with a gassy, fussy baby.  To make it worse, because of a misunderstanding with my night nurse I wasn't brought any pain medication.  I was miserable having spent the whole night climbing in and out of bed caring for my daughter by myself.

Last night Ryan stayed with me and helped out.  The night went much better and I feel much better because of it.  I'll be here at least until tomorrow, but I don't feel like I've faced setbacks this morning unlike yesterday morning.

Kellyn is two ounces heavier and one inch shorter than Aric was.  Our little chipmunk:

She has less hair than Aric was born with, but she still has hair.  It's a lighter brown and already appears to be curly.  It will be interesting to see how it grows. Hopefully for Aric's her sake it will be curly, eliminating any hostility towards her curly haired brother.

Aric is doing well.  He's having a blast with his Nana.  I'm sure he's been spoiled and loved.  I miss my little boy, but I know he's well taken care of.

All in all we're doing well.  We're thankful for our healthy, full term daughter and all she is bringing to our family.

Family Photos

Seeing how full our hands are literally going to be, makes my head spin:

Kellyn Lorelei

I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. 1 Samuel 1:27

We are pleased to welcome Kellyn Lorelei Peters into our family!

Kellyn was born on Monday, October 12, 2009 at 7:41am.

She weighs 8 bs 7 oz and is 20 inches long

Mother and baby are doing well.

Thanks for all of your love, prayers and support. We truly appreciate them.