Almost 3 Weeks Already!

So much has happened since our last post, I don't even know where to begin. I went back to work last Monday and needless to say, it was quite difficult leaving Shelly & Kate for the first time. I ended up taking a half day so the transition would be a little easier for both Shelly and I. When I arrived home at 12:30'ish, I was so excited to see "my girls." Shelly was pretty beat from a tougher morning with Kate, so we gave her a nap and had some bonding time. About an hour or so after I got home, I decided it was a good time to put Kate on her Baby Einstein playmat. She was on her back for a little bit and wasn't too fussy, so I decided to start her 30 minutes of tummy-time for the day. Much to my surprise, a few minutes into it she actually rolled on to her back! I couldn't believe it given she was only 1 week and 6 days old! I just had to wake up Mom and let her know about her daughter's accomplishment. Unbelievably after that, she did it two more times and then once more later that night, which Shelly was finally able to see. She hadn't done it since then until just yesterday, which was quite exciting to see once again.

The following day, Mom and Kate went to her second pediatrician's appointment. This was actually the first appointment I've missed since Shelly became pregnant, but due to the fact that we were only able to schedule the appointment a couple days in advance, the 11:30 appointment time made it impossible for me to make it. The good news is Kate continues to do well. She now weighs 7 lbs. even and is 19-3/4" long. When we left the hospital the Friday after she was born she weighed in at only 6 lbs. 4 ounces. The following day, she went up to 6 lbs. 7 ounces. Two days later she had gained another 3 ounces and 8 days since then she gained another 6 ounces, which our Doctor was thrilled about.

Shelly continues to feel better every single day, which is not only music to her ears but mine as well. After hearing about how long the recovery process usually takes, her and I couldn't be more pleased with how well her body is handling postpartum. That being said, I'm sure holding and staring at her little bundle of joy helps things tremendously.

Since then, we've continued to have visitors and have just truly enjoyed spending time with our little peanut. Kate sure does love to be held and since I like to layout on the couch the two of us found a wonderful compromise.

One thing that continues to amaze us is how quickly her facial features seem to change. It's amazing how we'll put her down for a nap, and upon her waking up she looks so different already. Kate isn't even 3 weeks old yet and it already feels like time is going by way too fast! If only we could find a way to slow things down. :)

Lastly, we'd like to throw a shout-out to Auntie Jen who celebrated her Birthday this past Saturday and to her eldest son (our God-son) Zachary who turned 3 years old the following day! Happy Birthday, you two! Until next time, we'll leave you with a few more pictures:

Mom displaying her first of many Mother's Day gifts
(with a few tears in her eyes)

Kate, sporting her Mickey Mouse ears

(Given to her from Godfather Scott Burch and Godmother Jen)
Kate on her first walk with Mom & Dad

Kate: The Apple of My Eye

Well, there's certainly plenty to fill people in on since Kate was born a little more than a week ago. First and foremost, Kate was born with a little jaundice. While we thought we were going to be able to come home Thursday afternoon, Kate's Bilirubin number was up a little over 15. Our doctor stated we could either go home with her with a heat lamp or we could stay one more night and they would put Kate under their lamps which are far more effective. After spending the night at "the beach" (as they called it), Kate's Bilirubin number went all the way down to 11.2. Given that news, we were finally able to head home as a family of three!

We did however have to be back at the hospital the following afternoon to not only check Kate's Bilirubin number, but her weight as well. As was mentioned before, Kate was born with a weight of 6 lbs. 15 ounces and when she left the hospital she weighed in at 6 lbs. 4 ounces. Babies tend to lose up to 10% of their body-weight in the first 24 hours, but they then look for them to gain back between 1/2-1 ounce per day after that. Kate wasn't gaining too much before we left, so that was definitely something we were interested in seeing when we went back on Saturday. Well, the news was somewhat mixed. Unfortunately, Kate's Bili-number crept back up to 13.1, but the good news is that she gained 3 full ounces in the 24 hours since we left the hospital. The beauty of that is if she's gaining weight that means she'll go to the bathroom more and more often, which is what will help her bili-number.

Monday rolled around and Kate had her first Pediatricians appointment. Her doctor is actually the same one that delivered the baby and is also Shelly's OBGYN, so needless to say we're quite comfortable with her. She's a wonderful doctor and we feel truly blessed to have her watching out for Kate and Shelly's well-being. Anyway, after the appointment concluded we received a call with nothing but fabulous news. First, Kate gained another 3 ounces in only 2 days! As of Monday she weighed in at 6 lbs. 10 ounces. Even better, her Bili-number dropped to the point where Shelly no longer had to feed her every 2 hours during the day and 3 hours during the night, which was music to my (and especially Shelly's) ears. Our doctor instructed us to feed her on an as-needed basis. So whenever Kate gets hungry or its been awhile, Shelly will feed her.

Other than that, we've just been enjoying the company of our beautiful Daughter. We've had so many wonderful visitors since she's been born and even more so since we've been home, all of whom have been so generous. We can't thank you enough for everything!

That being said, it's amazing how you can instantly fall in love with someone. Every time I look at Kate I realize just how lucky of a man I am. I have the most amazing wife who gave us the most beautiful daughter. Not to mention how wonderful both our families have been since Kate's been born. It's times like these where you realize just how lucky you truly are! Take care everyone, and we'll post again soon!

Kate Comes Home

Well, as you might assume we've been quite busy these past few days. We ended up arriving home early Friday afternoon and since then we've been enjoying being at home again...as a family of three! We've had quite a few visitors since then and its been absolutely wonderful to see all of you. Everyone's been so excited to see Kate and we can't thank all of you enough for all the wonderful gifts and food you've given us. It's so appreciated!

Since being home plenty has happened. Kate got to be here to celebrate Papa Joe's birthday, then Uncle Greg's the next day, not to mention a very special Mother's Day. There's so much to fill everyone in on and tomorrow I'll post in great detail what's all happened the past few days! Until then, enjoy these pictures of our little bundle of joy.

Kate sporting her "I was worth the wait" onesie
Kate's big arrival home!
Kate's first bath

Pretty in Pink

Kathryn Marie Weiland

We'd like to take this time to introduce you to the newest member of our family, Kathryn Marie Weiland. Kate was born at 3:08 AM on Tuesday, May 4th at Bellin Hospital. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 15 ounces and is 19-1/2 inches long.

Maternity Photo Session

Given the baby showers have been taking up much of the blog as of late, its feels like forever since I've posted something. That being said, Shelly and I were doing some shopping at the mall this past weekend and while we were there we decided to go check out The Picture People store since we were given a gift card at Shelly's most recent shower. Our plan was to take a quick look at some of the baby photos so we kind of had an idea of what type of pictures we could expect once our little one arrives. While we were there, an employee inquired about whether or not Shelly and I had gotten any professional maternity photos taken. We both decided we really liked the idea of having some nice photos taken and thought they would be perfect for the opposite wall of the crib in the nursery.

We had our "shoot" on Wednesday night and here are some of our favorites:

Other than that, things have been so exciting. As Shelly stated in the most recent post, it's amazing and unbelievably wonderful knowing our baby could arrive at any moment. Everything that can be done in the nursery is completed and the house is 100% cleaned and ready to go. Now that we've finished those things, I'm finding myself...simply.....waiting. The anticipation grows each and every day, so I'll end this post by saying, "Baby......we're ready when you are."

37 Weeks

It's hard to believe our baby could arrive at any moment. Our due date is now less than three weeks away and I must admit I've been critically analyzing every movement I've been experiencing. It's weird to think that these kicks, punches and somersaults will all come to an end soon, but in turn we will get to meet and hold this precious little bundle of joy that has been responsible for these wonderful movements the past nine months.

John and I have been working on getting the house fully prepared for the arrival of our little one. We have our hospital bag packed - a task that I found was more emotional than I thought it was going to be. Knowing we'll be leaving for the hospital as a family of two and returning as a family of three just really hit me in the best way possible.

I am happy to report that the baby still sounds healthy and has been moving down the past couple of weeks. We have another appointment this afternoon as we are now doing weekly visits so please check back for updates! In the meantime, feel free to check out the picture of me at 36 weeks!

The Weiland Baby Shower

This past Saturday I was blessed and honored to attend a second baby shower hosted by John's mom, Deb. It was simply incredible and the food, decor and baby shower games contained such intricate detail and truly captured the theme of shower - bird nests. Everywhere you turned you saw nests, pink and blue birds and pink and blue eggs. It was darling!

The decor featured table centerpieces composed of sticks where handcrafted nests laid that contained blue or pink eggs - some of which were hand-painted. These carefully assembled pieces were displayed on beautiful hand-made blue and pink runners and one large piece also hung from chandelier to chandelier above her island.

The island itself featured a variety of home-baked goodies which brings us to the next topic - the delicious food.

Each guest received a plated lunch that featured home-made chicken salad, home-made pita chips and fruit. As I just mentioned, the island contained a variety of awesome desserts that guests could choose from. The desserts featured cut-out bird cookies that were perfectly frosted and sprinkled with either blue or pink sugar. These were a fan-favorite among my two year old niece (as you can tell by what's in her left hand)!

You could also find pink and blue birds on top of delicious chocolate cupcakes that contained cream filling. Atop the chocolate icing on the cupcakes, coconut shavings served as bird nests and inside the nests were those delicate little pink and blue birds. Other desserts included home-made mini wafers, pink and blue peeps and m&ms and an assortment of individually wrapped cheesecake squares. Simply delicious!

The pink and blue spread into the living room as well where it was displayed on the baby shower memory board game. Pink and blue felt bibs and onesies were individually cut out to cover baby items that we needed to match. Unfortunately, my memory isn't the sharpest these days so I was unable to help lead my team to victory. The "blue bird" team ended up with the "W" - perhaps a sign that this one is a boy.

Overall, it was an amazing day and I was so glad to be able to share it with friends and family. Deb, thank you so much for opening your house and for your labor of love to make this shower possible. In case those that are reading this didn't notice, I used the terms handcrafted, hand-made and home-made quite a bit in this entry. This just solidifies how much time and energy went into making this shower what it was - incredible. Thanks again for everything, Deb - I greatly appreciate it. I also need to thank our two wonderful servers that day, Papa Joe and the Daddy-To-Be. Your help in accommodating the guests made for a smooth event and it is also greatly appreciated. Plus, you looked stunning in your attire as well. :)

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