He's Here!!

Since I'm sitting here with nothing else to do, I thought I'd put a couple of the first pictures up of Kilun. Kilun Nicholas Engelbrecht was born July 31, at 5:17 pm. He weighed in at 6 lbs 13 oz, 20 1/2 in.

Labor was uneventful. I had a doctors appointment this afternoon and I had progressed from last week, so she sent me over to the hospital. I got here shortly after 1 and he came at 5, so it was pretty quick. All it took was the doctor breaking my water.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that I was past 37 weeks and considered full-term, I still don't have him here with me. He was doing great when he was born and then they think that he "inhaled a lugee" or something. So, they took him down to "transition" which is where they watch babies to decide whether or not they need to be admitted to the NICU. Please pray that little Kilun will not have to make a NICU stay. We want so much to take him home (don't mind my previous post about liking the NICU, I lied :) ) Chris went down to check on the status about a half hour ago but they were in the middle of shift change so he couldn't go in. I'll post an update when I hear one.

36+ Weeks

Yesterday I officially hit 36 weeks along in this pregnancy. Hopefully that means that we no longer have to worry about being in the NICU and this will be a take home baby. I'm both excited and nervous about this. On the one hand, it was kind of nice being in the NICU for a few days to get to know my babies. Their stats were monitored and I had a lactation specialist available at all times. We didn't go home before we knew the baby could eat and breathe. It was all just a little more safe. On the other hand, it's so hard to have kids at home that I have leave every day while I spend all day at the hospital, not to mention stressful and sometimes lonely since Chris didn't spend much time there. If we can just make sure the baby can eat before we leave, before we even leave the labor room, actually, all would be great! So, for every day this little one continues to cook the better off those lungs are and the better off we'll be-as long as he comes in July.

All About the Blue

About a week and a half ago my mom took me to get a pedicure. With the upcoming events, I decided to go with blue. Yesterday I got my nails done, and again, we went with blue. I got my hair cut on Friday (don't worry, nothing blue there) so I think we're ready for this baby boy to join our family now. I guess since all the nails are painted blue, I should put my hospital bag together. Eh, just one more minor detail.

I'm 35 weeks tomorrow and it's in this week that both Xadun & Brekan were born. So now, we just wait.

May...Better Late than Never

Baby Update

The number of weeks left keeps getting lower and lower. As per the numbers on ultrasound yesterday, I'm 32 weeks and 6 days, which means for my body, I've only got a couple of weeks left. The appointment yesterday was with the perinatologist who is over the research study I'm a part of this time around. I've been a couple of times in the last couple of weeks to do an official measurement of the cervix. They've been looking at a couple of things. First, to see if I have any other issue that might cause the early labors like an infection or something. Second, they are trying to figure out how early I will go and if I will need steroids. At both appointments where the cervix was measured, all measurements were within normal limits and nothing to get too excited about. So, yesterday, the dr said that at this point, it doesn't look like there is a need for steroids unless something happens between now and 35 weeks, like my water breaks or I start having contractions. I asked about the steroids and what it is that they actually do. The doctor gave me a great explanation that helps me understand why we may not need them this time and why they didn't work with Brekan. Anyway, from my OB, when I saw her a week and a half ago I was only dilated to a one, so no big deal. I go back on Monday and we'll see what happens from there.

Yesterday before they measured the cervix they gave me a full ultrasound just to check on the size of the baby. Everything looked great! He's measuring about 4 lbs 10 oz, so he should be right in line with what the other boys were. I was able to get some 3D photos of this one. This is the first time I've ever had 3D pictures of my babies. It was pretty cool. So, here is a preview of the little one that will be here in a couple of weeks.