Home Sweet Home

We got to bring our Henry Bear home on Monday night, and man was it good to get home! It's just hard to get some quality sleep when you have a little dude who needs to eat every 2-3 hours, a nurse who has to check in every 2 hours, and a visit from the OBGYN & anesthesiologist, and no one wants to coordinate visits. Since we've been home, Henry has been doing great! He is pretty good about 3 hour eating stretches, sleeps like an angel, and is a very happy and content baby when he's awake. He really just has one rule, which involves never changing his diaper...

We went in at 7:00 Sunday morning, after a night and morning of contractions. I thought I might have been having some, but I wasn't really sure until they got me hooked up to the monitors and I was able to ask. We thought I might be able to skip the pitocin, but it turns out I needed it afterall. Labor was quite similar to that with John Dickson - weirdly so. We got to the hospital at the same time, had my water broken around the same time, got the epidural at the exact same time... so I thought perhaps Henry would be born at 3:59, just like John Dickson. My doctor came in to check on me at 4:01, and I joked with him that we were already 2 minutes late. He wanted me to push a couple of times, and then all of a sudden yelled at me to stop, warned me not to laugh, and he ran to throw on all of his baby delivering gear, have the bed transformed into delivery mode, fetch a 2nd nurse, and at 4:07, 6 minutes later, Henry was born. I knew 2nd babies were supposed to be easier, but I never thought laughing him out would be a problem... what do I know?

Side note: Henry's best friend, Brody, arrived the very next day, courtesy of my friend Karin. We tried our best to coordinate our babies' birthdays, but planning only goes so far! Henry cant wait to meet his new buddy!

So how is John Dickson handling all of this? Well, he's currently on a sleeping hiatus, and has subsequently been a bit on the grumpus side, but otherwise, he is embracing big brotherhood. He loves his little brother and loves to watch out for him. If the music goes off on the swing, he immediately notifies us. He likes to make sure Henry has his blanket, and today when Henry got an adorable lion in the mail (courtesy of the Mameles), John Dickson immediately identified it as Henry's and took it to him. He has gotten to hold Henry a few times, and he very gently pats Henry on the head. He also loves to give him kisses. He really is a great big brother! He went back to school today, to try to get back on a normal routine, and his teachers said he talked a lot about Henry. What can I say? We make some sweet kids. Sweet and big. 8 lbs 5 oz at 11 days early... sheesh.

And how is the Ad-man handling all of this? I'd say he is very much made for fatherhood. He's amazing with John Dickson, but its been a while since we've had a newborn around here, and parenthood is very different with a 2 year old than with a tiny baby. It's fun to start over again, and nothing makes me melt more than seeing him with our little ones.

Pictures to come - in the meantime, thank you to everyone for all of the love, support, gifts, visits and cards! We definitely feel very blessed.

Henry Hollen Kelley

Henry Hollen Kelley
8 lbs 5 oz
20.75 inches
July 11, 2010 4:07 pm

Henry Redux Remix-Papoose addition

Henry's Here Redux

Henry's Here!!!

Not a lot of text just yet, but a few pictures to celebrate the arrival of our newest little guy. I hope all is well with everyone, mother and baby are perfect (and probably going home today (Monday))!!

And 1...

2...

With only 2 days to go, John Dickson has been doing his part to try to help us readjust to sleepless nights. He decided to hang out for about 2 1/2 hours last night. As much as those late nights stink, sometimes it is worth the trade off - sleeping til 9:30 the next morning!

And in case there are any readers in the medical profession, we'd like some weigh in on what we call late night selective paralysis. You see, once John Dickson goes to bed, he loses the ability to reach any of the stuffed animals, books, or tools that are in his bed. In fact, he will bypass said items to come straight to the door to cry for us to hand him donkey, screwdriver, green puppy, elmo, blanket, pillow... the list goes on. And then of course there are the 2am emergencies, when he realizes that he fell asleep without his bucket. How are we supposed to successfully raise a 2nd child, when we cant even make sure our 1st has his bucket to go to bed?!?!? That's parenting 101, right?

3...

I've been home the last 2 days trying to take it easy and get my fluid up. We went back to the doctor for another ultrasound today and my fluid went from 6.5 on Tuesday to 7.7 today. I guess all that Gatorade, Americas Got Talent, and letting my husband cater to me has been working after all! However, its still not as high as the doctor wanted, so we are still on for Sunday! He actually was surprised I was still pregnant, so we'll see if I make it to Sunday. At this point, I'm really hoping so, because he doesn't work again before then, and I don't do well with change. Also, Adam and I have a Saturday night date on the calendar, and it'd be nice to make that as well. In other happy news, I finished up work at about 3:00 today, and I'm done for the next 12 weeks. WHOO HOO!!!!!!!

So until Sunday, we'll be continuing the countdown and enjoying throwing beach balls to the sky, beach balls to the ceiling and bouncy balls to the fan. And "Disson," as he now calls himself, is looking forward to seeing "Baby Henny." And he actually says that he is.

4...

No babies yet! Unless of course you count this sweet one...

Let the Countdown Begin!

Due to various reasons, the primary one being low fluid levels, Henry has been scheduled to arrive involuntarily on Sunday! And we've been told there is about a 50/50 chance he will come on his own before then. So... let the countdown begin - 5 days!

Oh, and supposedly he is already 7 lbs 12 oz. Stay tuned.