Thursday, January 22, 2004
Belated posting...
I wrote up the update below at the two week mark, but didn't get around to getting the pictures up on the web site until today. Anyway, enjoy the read and all of baby k's pictures.
Saturday, January 17, 2004
Kaitlyn's two week update, plus more pictures...
Well, little Kaitlyn is now a full two weeks old. Our whole world has turned upside down and we now live for Kaitlyn 24x7. She eats, sleeps, pees, poops, and sometimes she even stays awake to look around. Lucky for us, Kaitlyn hasn't been very fussy and doesn't cry unless there is a legitimate gripe. She also sleeps pretty well in between feedings. In fact, she's almost TOO sleepy sometimes and has a hard time staying awake when she does feed. Overall, Kristen and I count our blessings for having such a cooperative baby. So far so good.
It hasn't been easy these two weeks, but it definitely could be worse. I've only taken these last two weeks off and will be back to work on Monday. I hope all three of us survive the next few weeks as the family gets into the new routine. I really don't know how we're going to do it. It worries me a bit. Ask us how we're doing on Friday...
We saw her pediatrician for the first time today at Kaiser (2nd visit to Kaiser after being discharged) and the doctor gave Kaitlyn a perfect bill of health. She's now weighing 7 lbs. 9.8 oz., an increase from 7 lbs. 1 oz. last week.
Anyway, I've posted a few more pictures here of Kaitlyn at home in real outfits and even a few with her eyes open. The pictures are pretty good. SOMEONE in this house has already taken a few hundred digital pictures of the little one. =) Okay, okay, we're both guilty of being shutter happy. Enjoy our fruits of labor. Find them on the Baby Chen Download page as usual.
It hasn't been easy these two weeks, but it definitely could be worse. I've only taken these last two weeks off and will be back to work on Monday. I hope all three of us survive the next few weeks as the family gets into the new routine. I really don't know how we're going to do it. It worries me a bit. Ask us how we're doing on Friday...
We saw her pediatrician for the first time today at Kaiser (2nd visit to Kaiser after being discharged) and the doctor gave Kaitlyn a perfect bill of health. She's now weighing 7 lbs. 9.8 oz., an increase from 7 lbs. 1 oz. last week.
Anyway, I've posted a few more pictures here of Kaitlyn at home in real outfits and even a few with her eyes open. The pictures are pretty good. SOMEONE in this house has already taken a few hundred digital pictures of the little one. =) Okay, okay, we're both guilty of being shutter happy. Enjoy our fruits of labor. Find them on the Baby Chen Download page as usual.
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
Please welcome KAITLYN MICHELE CHEN to our world!!!!
Hi Everyone!
It's been quite an adventure. Kaitlyn Michele Chen was born at 1:57am on January 2, 2004. She was 20" long and 7lbs. 6 oz. heavy. She is so cute. We just stare at her when she's awake, when she's asleep, and almost every other moment we can.
The coming out party for Kaitlyn wasn't an easy one. Kristen and I went to the doctor in the Kaiser Elk Grove Center on New Year's Eve for her weekly routine visit. Recording an elevated blood pressure, they sent us to the Labor and Delivery ward in South Sacramento for a non stress test. After more blood work and an ultrasound, the doctor told us that they needed to induce labor soon due to low amniotic fluid levels in the uterus. We decided to schedule the induction the next day to start labor as it was almost 6pm by that point and would allow us to prep our home, pack for the hospital stay, and give Kristen time to get a full night rest. We went in on New Years Day for more tests around 2pm and to get a second opinion. It turns out Kristen had started to go into early labor on her own and it was officially changed from and induction to an augmentation.
I won't go into all the details of the actual labor, but somewhere after 6-9 hours of labor Kristen got an infection, most likely from all the monitoring/tests during labor, and proceeded to spike a fever to about 102?F. Motrin, Tylenol, and antibiotic IV drips were given to Kristen to address the fever without success. There was lots of commotion around midnight with both doctors and nurses proclaiming, "We've got to get the baby out." Like Kristen needs anything more on her plate to worry about. Just before Kristen finally started to push, I swear there were more than a dozen different people in the delivery room doing everything from changing IV drips, putting cold compresses on Kristen's body, setting up the baby warming table, setting up LOTS of instruments & equipment, and discussing next steps. All I could do was get out of people's way while trying to keep Kristen calm. Kristen was a real trooper. Even with a high fever, getting the shakes, recieving multiple IV drips and an oxygen mask, she pushed that baby out in record time. She says she was so focus on all the talk among the doctors, that even she felt she HAD to get the baby out ASAP.
In total, Kristen labored in the hospital for 12 hours and pushed for about 20 minutes. All three of us stayed at the S. Sacramento Kaiser Hospital for four straight days and finally came home yesterday afternoon. But the stay is another blog entry in itself...
Anyway, you've probably skipped all the chit chat above and are looking for the pictures. Okay. Fine. Here they are. Find them on the Baby Chen Download page already! =) She's way cute!
More details to come...
It's been quite an adventure. Kaitlyn Michele Chen was born at 1:57am on January 2, 2004. She was 20" long and 7lbs. 6 oz. heavy. She is so cute. We just stare at her when she's awake, when she's asleep, and almost every other moment we can.
The coming out party for Kaitlyn wasn't an easy one. Kristen and I went to the doctor in the Kaiser Elk Grove Center on New Year's Eve for her weekly routine visit. Recording an elevated blood pressure, they sent us to the Labor and Delivery ward in South Sacramento for a non stress test. After more blood work and an ultrasound, the doctor told us that they needed to induce labor soon due to low amniotic fluid levels in the uterus. We decided to schedule the induction the next day to start labor as it was almost 6pm by that point and would allow us to prep our home, pack for the hospital stay, and give Kristen time to get a full night rest. We went in on New Years Day for more tests around 2pm and to get a second opinion. It turns out Kristen had started to go into early labor on her own and it was officially changed from and induction to an augmentation.
I won't go into all the details of the actual labor, but somewhere after 6-9 hours of labor Kristen got an infection, most likely from all the monitoring/tests during labor, and proceeded to spike a fever to about 102?F. Motrin, Tylenol, and antibiotic IV drips were given to Kristen to address the fever without success. There was lots of commotion around midnight with both doctors and nurses proclaiming, "We've got to get the baby out." Like Kristen needs anything more on her plate to worry about. Just before Kristen finally started to push, I swear there were more than a dozen different people in the delivery room doing everything from changing IV drips, putting cold compresses on Kristen's body, setting up the baby warming table, setting up LOTS of instruments & equipment, and discussing next steps. All I could do was get out of people's way while trying to keep Kristen calm. Kristen was a real trooper. Even with a high fever, getting the shakes, recieving multiple IV drips and an oxygen mask, she pushed that baby out in record time. She says she was so focus on all the talk among the doctors, that even she felt she HAD to get the baby out ASAP.
In total, Kristen labored in the hospital for 12 hours and pushed for about 20 minutes. All three of us stayed at the S. Sacramento Kaiser Hospital for four straight days and finally came home yesterday afternoon. But the stay is another blog entry in itself...
Anyway, you've probably skipped all the chit chat above and are looking for the pictures. Okay. Fine. Here they are. Find them on the Baby Chen Download page already! =) She's way cute!
More details to come...
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