Vacation2010, Day 1

Wow...it's been a long time since we updated the Klog. Two years! And quite a bit has happened in those two years, mostly involving our little Cooper Neal. We pick back up in July 2010. Cooper is now 22 months old, and heading out on our first (alone) family vacation.

Everything started today at 11, when Cooper and Janelle dropped me off at Enterprise. We had reserved a SUV to take, knowing Janelle's car might not make it and mine was way too small for this trip. (Funny thing about traveling with a toddler -- you think you need to take everything in the world with you.) Well, in typical Enterprise fashion, they did not have our SUV when we arrived. But the good news is they gave us a free upgrade to a 2010 Chrysler Town & Country minivan. It's really sweet - our own Swagger Wagon for the week. A very packed Swagger Wagon.

We loaded up the van, made sure the dogs were okay (Janelle's cousins Tyler and Robbie are house/dog sitting for us) and left home around 1:00. The ride down was pretty smooth, except for Janelle's car sickness kicking in on Jelico Mountain. Cooper did really well, thanks in part to a Micky Mouse DVD that kept him occupied (other than the 45 minutes he actually slept).

We arrived in Asheville, NC around 5 and after getting lost for a few minutes found our way to Moose Cafe. We ate here in 2007 when we spent several days in Asheville. It's a hole-in-the-wall looking place, resembling an un-updated Kentucky state park dining hall. But the food is unbeatable if you like down-home cooking. Cooper ordered chicken fingers and fries, but found more interest in Janelle's fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans. I went for the all-you-can-eat sampler. Seriously -- check this out. You get your choice of two meats out of a selection of about eight things, and three vegetables out of a dozen or so for only $8.99. I chose chicken and dumplings, country ham, spiced apples, mashed potatoes and a side salad, ya know...for a healthy choice. I didn't touch the salad, but had seconds on the chicken and dumplings. We also enjoyed some wonderful homemade biscuits with the best apple butter on the planet. (We bought a jar to take with us, but I'm guessing it will disappear before the trip is over.)

After dinner, we made it down I-26 a short bit to our hotel, Quality Inn just south of Biltmore. We checked in, changed clothes and hit the indoor pool. And boy, was it warm. It felt more like bathwater, but Cooper enjoyed it. We swam and swam, and even practiced jumping in from the sides. (Note to grandparents: he didn't really jump in, but more of an assisted step off the side while one of us held on to him the whole time.)

Pool time let to bed time, which was a little amusing. I'm sure anyone can imagine the challenge of trying to get a 22-month old to go to sleep in a pack and play which, by the way, is almost too small for him, while mommy and daddy are in the same room. After reading some books and snuggling with mommy, he stood in his "crib" starring at us and crying. Janelle finally got up with him and cuddled in the chair until he fell asleep. He's been down for almost an hour now, but who knows what the rest of the night holds.

Tomorrow morning the plan is to wake, hit the continental breakfast in the hotel lobby and, if there's time, the pool again befor checking out around 11. From there, it's on to North Myrtle Beach and our awaiting condo. Check in is 3-5, so we should be in good shape.

If we're Friends on Facebook, check out the photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=233730&id=576826421&l=6085f19eaa.

Until tomorrow....

David

Cooper's First Halloween

Can you believe that Cooper is already 5 weeks old? It seems like time is just flying by and I really wish it would slow down! Life with a new baby has been absolutely exhausting, but wonderful at the same time! I knew that I wouldn't be getting a lot of sleep, but I really had no idea what it meant to be so worn out and still have to function (going back to work is going to be an experience!). Cooper is still not sleeping through the night consistently and he is still wanting to eat every two hours, but he's healthy! I took him to the doctor's office this past Monday to check his weight and he is up to 10 pounds 8 ounces!

Just to keep you updated, when Cooper was born he was tongue tied. This basically meant that his frenulum (the little piece of skin under your tongue that connects it to your mouth) was extended all the way out to almost the end of his tongue. Because of this, Cooper couldn't really stick out his tongue or lift it very far up. This also caused him to have some problems breast feeding so I had to use a nipple shield. Every lactation nurse we consulted was very concerned about the tongue tiedness, but the pediatricians didn't really seem to be. After finally meeting with a wonderful lactation consultant, we decided to see a specialist about it. So, at three weeks we took Cooper to an ear, nose and throat specialist, who could see how far extended his frenulum was without having to really examine Cooper's mouth. He recommended that we go ahead and get his tongue clipped. After talking to him about it, there were really no cons to having it done right then. If we waited, it would be a more invasive surgery and he could possibly develop speech problems. We agreed to have it done and the doctor did it right then with us in the room! They numbed his little mouth with a topical cream, then took some scissors and went snip snip, and it was all done. Cooper's mouth barely even bled! To be honest, I think the whole process was harder on me than it was on him :) Now that his tongue is fixed, we've been re-learning how to breast feed. I think we've just about got it figured out. Now I just need to figure out how to get him to eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hours instead of every 1 1/2 to 2 hours :)

Last night was Cooper's first Halloween and he was the cutest monkey that you've ever seen! We took him over to the Russell's house where he got to show off his cuteness to them and the Hartman's. After that, we went to Tara Addington Darland's parent's house and then went home. Cooper slept the whole time :) Enjoy the pictures below!

Dylan the dragon; Lilly as Tinkerbell; Carter the knight; and Cooper the monkey

Family photo :)

Buddy, Cooper and Gunner

Our photo shoot

Last weekend was our newborn photo shoot with Carisle Photography. Take a look and let us know what you think.

Go to http://carlislephotography.smugmug.com/ and click on the proofs tab.

Click on Kitchen newborn gallery, and enter cooper as the password.

Enjoy!

Photos, photos and more photos

We've created a photo album on Walmart's website so everyone can not only see photos but also order prints if you wish and pick them up at your local Walmart.

To see the photos, just visit the following link: http://photos.walmart.com/shareethumbnailshare/AlbumID=32109985/albumcount=1/p=45541223170722426/l=15879491/g=4506561/cobrandOid=1011/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB/pns/share/p=45541223170722426/l=15879491/g=4506561/cobrandOid=1011/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

We'll try to update this album with new photos as we take more and go along.

Cooper Comes Home

Well, we’ve made it to Tuesday!

They discharged us from the hospital and we made our way home Sunday afternoon. It was a good ride home and went well. Janelle’s mom and sister stayed with us for a few hours to make sure we were all settled in. My parents came in Sunday night to stay with us. (My dad had to go back to Ashland Monday morning, but my mom is staying with us for a few days.)

The first evening and night went okay. Things were a little rocky in the middle of the night, when an exhausted Janelle and David didn’t know what to do with a fussy Cooper who just didn’t want to do anything but scream and cry. But we made it through.

As with most new parents, getting sleep is a little rough. He has a case of jaundice, so they wanted us to feed every two hours. (That’s two hours from start of feeding to start of feeding.) Feeding that often means little sleep for Janelle, and it started catching up with her. Luckily, we made it through the night and passed Cooper off to my mom after his 7:00 a.m. feeding. Thank God she was there. We finally got an hour and a half of good, solid sleep. I think we were both out cold in 5 seconds!

Last night was better. He still got fussy at one point, but it wasn’t nearly as bad. We quickly learned to take turns staying up with him. (We knew that, but it’s just hard your first night – no one wants to go to sleep and not be there for him.) We again handed him off to my mom after his morning feeding and grabbed a couple hours of sleep.

We made our first trip out of the house with him yesterday, too. Because of the jaundice, the pediatrician wanted to see him on Monday. It was an easy trip there, and other than him peeing all over the place (diaper off) when they weighed him, all was well. The doctor told us he was all normal, things were looking good, etc. We took him to the lab to have some blood drawn to test his belliruben (jaundice). That took longer than we would like, and when they were taking blood he SCREAMED like crazy. But we got through that, too. They called later on with the results, and his jaundice was going down like they wanted and said we didn’t need to come back until his 2 week old visit. (Day one his jaundice count was at 9.5, then up to 15 and then 14. It had gone back down to 10, which most likely means it has peaked and should be clearing up. As long as it’s under 17 at his age, they just keep an eye on it.)

I think we’ve gone through every piece of clothing that fits him, and each of his receiving blankets. We’re just keeping up the wash and that’s fine. He was back to his birth weight at the doctor, which means he’s eating well. (They told us we can go to 2.5 – 3 hours between the starts of feeding, which translates to another half hour of much needed sleep.) He’s probably hitting 8 pounds today, so that puts him at the beginning of the 0-3 month outfits. That’s good, because we have a lot more of those than new born outfits.

Well, I’ve rambled on long enough. I do want to say thank you for all the emails, texts, messages, etc. that you have sent to us. I’m sorry that I haven’t returned most of them, as you can imagine it’s been a little crazy. But we are extremely grateful of your support, thoughts and prayers.

All is well, and we’re fortunate to have such a beautiful and well-behaved (all things considered) young son. We’re cherishing every minute with him, and can’t wait for the next glance, the next little smirk…even the next dirty diaper and spit up. Check back often as I’ll try to keep this updated and add a few pics when we can.

Love,
David

ps – We did notice that they had finally put his picture up on the hospital’s website: http://babycentral.centralbap.com/default.asp?group=49676

Welcome Cooper Neal Kitchen!

What a day!

We went to the doctor on Wednesday afternoon, and found out that she was dilated to 2.5 – 3 cm. He said he would be surprised if we made it a week. A week? Yeah, right!

Thursday morning (just hours after the doctor’s visit), Janelle woke up around 2 am with labor pains. She let me sleep another hour, and then woke me up around 3 am. We worked through it all and hung out at the house. She basically walked through the contractions.

Around 5 am, they seemed to be getting closer and more intense, so we decided to come on in to Central Baptist Hospital. We got here around 6:30 am, and at first they took their sweet time. They finally did the medical history, etc. and checked her. She had dilated to 7 cm! They rushed us to a delivery room so we could get started and get Janelle set up with an epidural to help with some really, really bad back labor pains.

We were in the delivery room for several hours, working through contractions. When the doctor came in, we found out that Cooper had turned face up, instead of face down. We also learned that Janelle has a small pelvis, and if we couldn’t get him to turn around he wasn’t coming out that way. She pushed and pushed and pushed…for a couple hours she went through contractions and pushing. Finally, about 1:30 pm, they decided he wasn’t coming out that way and determined it would need to be a c-section.

After the prep work and all, they took Janelle to the OR around 3 pm, and came to get me a little later. At 3:36 pm, I got to watch the birth of Cooper Neal. The doctor showed him to us, and then took him to the other side of the room to clean and check vitals. Janelle was in a little pain and a whole lot of discomfort, so they knocked her out while they finished with her surgery.

The nurses handed Cooper to me, and after a few minutes in the OR I walked him down to the nursery, where they cleaned him up some more, checked his weight (7 lbs, 15 oz), and length (20 inches). He stayed in there for some time.

Janelle made her way to recovery, and we were finally re-connected there. After an hour there, we should have been able to go to our room, but they didn’t have any that were clean. They did eventually bring Cooper to us, and Janelle’s parents and sister were able to come back and see everyone. After about 3 hours, we finally got to our room.

So we’re here now, and all is good. With the c-section, we’re here until Sunday (unless something changes), but everything is going well. Cooper has a full head of hair and is absolutely perfect. We are so fortune to have such a wonderful son, and such great friends and family to support us through this experience.

I hope you’ll enjoy a few pictures, and thank you for your calls, texts, emails and well wishes.

The Waiting Game...

We are officially full term (37 weeks) which basically means this baby could pop out at any time. Hopefully, he'll pop out soon. This whole pregnancy thing is getting to be very uncomfortable :) Actually, I shouldn't complain too much. Overall being pregnant hasn't been as bad as could have been. I've just reached that point where I'm going to be uncomfortable no matter what. The contractions that I have in the evenings don't help with the uncomfortableness either!

David and I saw Dr. Atkins again today. He said everything looked good. My cervix is 80% effaced and I am dilated about 1 1/2 to 2 cm. So, while I'm not actually in labor at the moment, I'm on my way!

Photos, car seats and more

The last week and a half has been pretty busy. From the last post, the doctor was a little concerned about Janelle’s cervix. She’s been taking it easy – as easy as a 2nd/3rd grade teacher can take it – coming home from school and putting her feet up for the evenings. We went back to the doctor this past Monday, and her cervix was the same so they thought all would be good. Told her to continue to take it as easy as possible, and in two weeks she can get back to her regular routine. We’re currently at about 33.5 weeks (out of 40, normally). Janelle now hits the doc every other week for a couple times, and then will be every week until we finally meet Coop.

We’ve also bought our car seat and stroller (thanks JJ!). In typical David and Janelle fashion, we researched which was best, talked to it seems 100 people and had decided on a Chicco travel system that has the stroller and infant car seat together. We got it home, put together and it’s ready to go. We still need to get another base for David’s car, but at least now we will be allowed to leave the hospital when Cooper finally arrives.

Last weekend was also our photo shoot. At the St. Joe maternity fair, Janelle won a maternity package at a local photographer. The package includes the sitting fee and one 8” x 10” print for each stage of Cooper’s early days – one maternity session, one new born session, one three month, one six month, one nine and one year old session. I think…maybe there’s not that many, but it’s something like that. Anyway, we went to Carlisle Photography in Georgetown last Saturday, and Michelle was a blast to work with. We just got our proofs in, so if you want to see the maternity pics check out http://carlislephotography.smugmug.com, go into the proofs section, select our name and use the password cooper. (I doubt anyone really wants to order any maternity photos of us, but if you do, or want any of their baby pics on down the road, just let us know. The pricing list is on the website.)

That’s all for now. Enjoy the pictures…we’re off to buy a playpen.

Another doctor visit, another ultrasound

We had another doctor appointment today, complete with ultrasound. Everything was fine, other than Janelle’s cervix is a little on the thin side. They hooked her up to a machine to make sure she wasn’t having contractions. (Women have contractions throughout pregnancy in the later months, I’ve learned, but you just don’t want to have them more than once in a while.) She wasn’t. It looked like all is good, but they invited her back in a week just to make sure. We go back on Monday, and until then they told her to stay off her feet as much as possible. What? Now I’m doing everything – cooking, cleaning, laundry…I hope she likes take-out and we don’t need clean clothes.

All is good. We’re gearing up, and getting ready. We need to find a pediatrician soon, but have a couple in mind.

Below are some photos and videos from today’s visit.

Until next time….

Shower Mania!

Below you can see some pictures from the two baby showers we have had. The first shower took place in Ashland on August 2nd. My sister, Jody, threw the shower for us and she did an outstanding job! The second shower took place in Lexington on August 9th. Two of my best friends, Holly Hannis and Stephanie Brown, threw this shower. They did an outstanding job as well! I had so much fun working with all of them while they planned the showers. I especially enjoyed the rivalry between the three of them over who was going to have the best shower (we all went to Morehead together and are in the same sorority)! Both showers were so much fun and I hope that these ladies realize how much David and I appreciate everything they've done for us! I love them all dearly and just don't know what I'd do without them :)

Sometimes its hard to believe that David and I are so blessed with such wonderful family and friends. We can't thank everyone enough for all of the amazing gifts we received! This baby is pretty much set. We've got swings, music gyms, a high chair, bath products galore, the cutest toys, baby monitors, a car seat, a stroller, and so much more that I can't even think of all of it! And you should see all the adorable outfits! David and I are going to have the best dressed baby in Lexington :)

It's hard to imagine that our due date is Oct. 9th...that's like two months from now!!! David and I have both been freaking out just a little bit lately, especially me. I've accepted the fact that the whole having the baby is going to be uncomfortable and painful. I've not accepted the fact that they are going to send me home with him just two days after he pops out. Am I really going to know what to do with the kid once he gets home? People keep telling me I will and I've read enough books and talked to enough people that I should know what to do, but I'm still not so sure about it (I've heard and read that this is a normal feeling)!

Other than the anxiety, I've been feeling pretty good. That's all about to change because school starts Aug. 13th. I've spent my summer break taking it easy and it is going to be a big adjustment being back on my feet all day!

That's all for now. Enjoy the shower pictures!

Here I am at the Ashland shower...I'm huge!!!

Jody, Mom and me at the Lexington shower. We really didn't plan to dress alike!

Me and my sister!

Jody thought it would be fun to see who had the bigger belly. I think her balloon belly won :)

Ashland Shower Pictures

Jody did an excellent job decorating!
Cake table...yummy!
Loved the sign!
Our kid has to have at lease one U.K. outfit!
Me and mom.

Lexington Shower Pictures

Yummy cake :)
Opening presents.
Opening more presents.
Cutting the cake.
Two of my very best friends, Holly Hannis and Stephanie Brown who planned this shower. They are awesome!!!

Baby Room Ready!

It's been awhile since either of us have posted anything, so let me catch everyone up.

First of all, the baby is doing great! I'm feeling pretty good too. My only major complaint is the constant heartburn. I have it from the time I get up until I go to bed. Tums have become my best friends. I don't go anywhere without them :) We went to the doctor this past Wednesday for our 28 week appointment. Dr. Adkins said everything was just as it should be. Can you believe we only have 12 more weeks to go??? I can't think about it too much or I get a little freaked out :)

On July 3rd, we painted the baby's room "Lyndhurst Celestrial Blue." It's really just a light blue, but it is really pretty. I painted the first coat and David painted the second. Stanley Steamers came out and cleaned the carpets on Thursday the 10th. By Sunday, David had all the furniture put together and the new light fixture hung! Here are some pictures:

Nursery time

We've waded through all the choices for bedding (code word for theme) online and in most of the stores, and landed on what we wanted. It's at Babies R Us, but only online. Well, on Saturday we found it at Nursery Time on New Circle, and liked it even more in person. Since we needed something to use in determining the paint colors for the room, we went ahead and bought the 4-pc set. It's full of animals with lots of colors. Here's a link to what it is: http://www.cottontaledesigns.com/catalog/Enlarged-bedding/Paradise.html

Nursery Time also had a lot of nice furniture. We picked out two we liked, and decided they were finalists along with the set we liked at IKEA. We talked about it all night, and decided to make a trip to Cincinnati to look at the IKEA set in person again. After going through the store, we noticed one of the tags on the crib said "Not in stock." We decided to look in the bins anyway. As luck would have it, they had a few. But then we started debating if it would fit in my car or not. As I went outside to measure, Janelle started talking with another woman who was getting of the cribs. She said she had been to IKEA 4 times to get this crib, and they had been sold out each time. She suggested we get it if we really were interested. We talked about it, and since it was the one we wanted, decided it was probably best to go ahead and get it now and not have to worry about the drive back up for it. So we loaded up the car with the crib, a changing table and an extra piece that attaches on the top, a toy chest and a 6-drawer chest of drawers.

Below are the IKEA photos of the pieces. We still need to paint and clean the carpets before we have it in the room. For now, it's hanging out in boxes in the garage.

Only four months to go....

We're having a....

BOY!

Baby Moving...

David's been bugging me to post something again so here it goes. I can't really write about our next visit since David's already covered that (we are so having a little boy!!!), so I'll fill you in on how I've been feeling and about the first time I felt the baby move!

The nausea, soreness, and complete exhaustion have passed, now I just have heartburn all the time. Apparently that means that this baby of ours is going to have a lot of hair :) I am still pretty tired by the end of the day, but it isn't nearly as bad as it was during the first trimester. We did discover last month that I am having PVC's (premature ventricular contractions). Basically, the ventricle in my heart beats too early causing my heart to fill up with more blood than what is needed. The next beat is a harder beat so that the excess blood can be pushed out. It feels like my heart is doing flip-flops in my chest. It doesn't hurt, but it is annoying. The cardiologist put me on a beta-blocker to correct the problem. Neither the cardiologist or my OBGYN seemed really worried about the PVCs. This condition is actually pretty common in pregnant women and should go away once I have the baby.

The most exciting thing that has happened lately was that I finally felt the baby move!!! As David and I were putting away groceries Sunday night, I thought I felt something. It happened so fast that I couldn't really tell what it was, but I sort of thought it was the baby I felt. Last night David went to a Red's game with Bobby. So, Mary (Bobby's wife) and I went to this new Vietnamese restaurant to try out their pho (the place we normally go to was closed). The pho was alright, but it was missing something. In the process of trying to make the pho taste right, I ended up making it a little more spicier than I normally would (this really helped with the heartburn!). After Mary and I got back in the car, I felt something again! It was almost like there was a bubble or a flutter in my stomach. Instead of happening the one time, I felt it a few more times. I quickly called Mom to find out if I was in fact feeling the baby moving around. She said it was and then I sent David a text message. It was so cool! This evening as I was sitting on the couch watching t.v., the baby started moving again to where I could feel it. I got David to come sit beside and put his had on my belly where I was feeling the most movement. It didn't take long before David felt something too. The look on his face was priceless!

I leave for Washington D.C. on Saturday. We are taking the 5th graders that I teach to visit our nation's capital. It was my job to plan the trip and for those of you that know me pretty well, you know how worked up I get about planning events! I was going to try to get out of going, but I figured I would be just as stressed worrying about how everything was going. I'll be back on the following Tuesday. So please just say a little prayer that none of the kids get lost or do anything stupid :)

Update

Well, it's been over a month since our last post. Janelle's tummy is getting a little bigger, I'm freaking out a little more, and everyone keeps telling us things are going to be great.

Our last doctor visit was near the end of April. The doc said everything was looking great. We got to hear the heartbeat again, and he assured Janelle that he was about 99% sure it wasn't twins. (But he didn't say anything about triplets....)

We've started looking at daycares, too. Even though we don't think we'll need care until January, we're finding that we're already behind. We are officially on the waiting list at three places, all of which we like. Time will tell where we end up.

Our next visit will be the "big one." We should do an ultra sound and find out if it's a boy or a girl. I'm betting on girl, and Janelle thinks it's a boy. Either way, we'll be happy.

Once we find out the sex, we'll be in high gear to get things ready. We've already started a list of possible names, but that will help narrow it down. Plus we'll be able to really start on the nursery, and get the furniture (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/series/11928/) and paint. I think it will be the real "go time" for us. We've already started, but I think it will be a big push.

I need to get Janelle to write again. I know she has a lot to say. :-)

Best,
dk

Trip to doctor and announcing to the world

I made my second trip to the doctor this past Wednesday. We didn't get any new pictures but we did get to hear the baby's heartbeat. That was very cool.

Since he said everything was going well and it is about the end of the first trimester, we decided to start letting our friends and family know why Janelle has been so...well, let's just say guarded for the last little bit.

Everyone has been super and very excited for us. My two favorite reactions were the Browns and the Feldmans. (Although an honorable mention goes to both Allison Russell for repeating, "This is not Dave's. Hartman, this is yours" to the ultrasound picture, and to the team of Carrie Collett and John Parker for saying, "Oh God...someone left their ultrasound picture here," when they ran across it during happy hour.)

Stephanie Brown had just taken a bite of chips and salsa when Janelle announced, "I'm pregnant." Stephanie started choking on the chip, and we thought we were going to have to do the Heimlich on her. I know us being pregnant is a surprise to a lot of people, but we didn't think anyone would literally get choked up.

When we broke it to the Feldmans, it was pure entertainment. Mary went running in one direction, and Bobby in the other. Mary returned saying, "I knew it! I knew it!" She handed us a card that she had already made with a cute stuff about us adding another to our family. Bobby returned form the garage with a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne they had bought for when we told them. Evidently, this had been an ongoing conversation for a month of so, and Janelle is officially a bad liar. It was all too funny.

Thanks to everyone for being so supportive during this exciting -- and nervous -- time in our lives. For those of you with little ones now, thank you for all the answers to questions that are sure to come over the next few months.

Building the baby furniture?

Well, I had the bright idea that I could take a woodworking class and get a little more knowledge and experience to help me build furniture for the baby. I have some great woodworking plans for a 3-in-1 crib to todler to full-size bed. But, after taking the class and looking closely at the plans, I think we'll be shopping for furniture this time around.

The class I took at Kelly Mehler's (http://www.kellymehler.com/) was awesome! It did give me a lot of useful information, and helped me improve on my skills. But I'm just not there yet.

Anyway, several folks had asked for photos of the table I made at the class, so here goes.

Enjoy!