Saturday, December 27, 2008

Late Night Photo Shoot

Katelyn was very awake and alert this evening so I took the opportunity to grab a few photos. So if you haven't seen her eyes yet, now's your chance!







Friday, December 26, 2008

Quick Update

Katelyn is doing great today. Happy 1 week birthday little girl!

We had a doctor's appointment to check her bilirubin levels again this morning, they are back up to 14.8 from 12.1 but they said that is normal and "low risk" for her age.

In other news, her umbilical cord stump fell off last night. We were a bit surprised that it happened this early but it looks much cuter.

We went to the mall today and got a mix of "oh isn't she cute" looks and "what the heck are you doing with such a little baby at the mall" looks. Then we went up to Milagro's Boutique in NE Portland and got a super awesome sling that Emily's grandparents bought us. Thanks Grandma & Grandpa. I'll put some pictures of it up tomorrow. As for now, I am losing horribly at poker to all these Mehaffeys. Good thing we're only playing for candy.

-Joe

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Katelyn's First Christmas

Well, our little girl's first Christmas came a year earlier than we had anticipated. But she is so cute we can't really blame her. Having such a precious little gift around (especially on Christmas) has given us a new understanding of what a big deal it was for God to send Jesus to be cared for by humans. He was just as helpless as our little Katelyn is, he could have been dropped, or abandoned, or... the list goes on. It's amazing to me to look back on the Christmas story and see how orchestrated and perfect God's eternal plan is. To think that he was able to take such a HUGE risk, because he knew his Glory would prevail. So awesome...

Here are a few photos of Katelyn in a little outfit that Grammy and Nana bought her.




We are also getting lots of practice waking her up to eat... here's a little clip of what that looks like:

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Update on Katelyn

Katelyn is doing wonderful. She gained 3.5 oz overnight (such a little piglet)!

Her Bilirubin levels started out at 19.5 yesterday. After a few levels under the lights they were down to 17.8, this morning at 5:30 AM they were down to 14.8. The pediatrician just came to see her and was very pleased with how things are going. He said normally he would send us home and have us bring her back tomorrow, but rather than making us come in on Christmas he suggested we stay for a few more hours to see if we can get her levels down another point or two. That way we won't have to come back until Friday.

Overall this has been a fairly decent experience, albeit a bit inconvenient. We are happy to see our little girl doing so well, and she's actually kind of enjoying the warming bed and the lights. The nurses joke about it being like a little mini Bahamas vacation for newborns.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

1st Dr's appt & more

So...another eventful day, but one not so pleasant. It started out great, look at our gorgeous little girl dwarfed by her car seat.

Today was her first dr's appointment so we planned a whole day around it. We were going to run to target before-hand and pick up a couple baby-spoiling items, go to the dr's appointment at 11:40 then meet my parents at the mall about an hour later for a fun day of shopping and maybe even a movie.

Well...the dr's appointment went well at first, Katelyn has gained an ounce over her birth weight and the dr was thrilled by her feeding and diaper history. However, he was not so thrilled about the yellow tint to her skin. We suspected her to be a little jaundice but were not concerned because (you know us) the research we had done said that most babies have it and it should go away. Well the dr wanted to be sure before he sent us home for a long holiday weekend so he ordered a blood draw. After 3 hours and a crazy story of running all over the hospital grounds, she got her heal pricked and we where told to hang out close to the hospital and the dr would call us with results within an hour.

It turns out that her level was 19.5 and the dr doesn't like to see anything above 20. So here we are...


Katelyn was re-admitted to the place where she was born to spend the night under the pretty blue light. There really isn't anything to worry about, this is pretty normal for newborns. But as her mommy...its hard. Hormones have been running high. The good news is Joe and I both get to stay here with her and Joe is at this moment picking up our Pizza Hut Pizza (which is my favorite).

Be praying for our little girl getting her tan, the dr will check her levels again in the morning, and, I'm hoping, send us home for Christmas eve.
Thank you again for your prayers and support :)

Monday, December 22, 2008

Katelyn Moments...

First things first, here's a little video of our lovely girl. I've told several people I'd post one so I figured I'd better get on it or I'll start getting hate mail.



I got a few very cute pictures of Emily and Katelyn last night as we were getting ready for bed.

Getting her little outfit on:


Getting Kisses from Mommy:


Mommy did you eat garlic!?


Today has been a crazy day, since SandyNet is kind of a one man show as far as support goes I've spent my day on and off the phone, and getting a generator setup for one of my towers that is having some power issues. After a few hours out in the cold I finally got home to answer some voicemails and got the best little helper in the world to help warm me up:


Isn't she adorable:


Uhh... I think its time to go see mommy. Is this what they mean by nipple confusion?

Sunday, December 21, 2008

The events of the third day :)




Today was day three of my gorgeous daughters life. And although, to some people, today's events may not seem momentous, to a first time mommy, today was huge.

It started with an amazing night. I never thought i could be so energized after 2 hours of sleep, but our daughters gift to us last night was THREE two hour segments of sleep, in which she slept IN HER BASSINET! I'd wake up to her whimpering and felt like i had slept my whole life and could do anything. Now after about 40 mins of nursing (which i have to say I LOVE!) and a diaper change (or two) i was ready for more sleep. But it amazes me the changes your body makes to account for your babies...God is so good!

The second big event was my first time leaving my baby. When Joe said, "Lets go to Fred Meyer" I thought, "Sure no problem, it will be good for me to get out of the house,and I've had naps away from her for more than the time I'm going to be at the store." Well, I underestimated something because by the time we where done with about 30 mins of shopping i was sobbing in the car, clutching Joe's phone (which has a picture of my Katelyn). I can't explain the feelings that overwhelmed me, I felt like part of me was outside of my body and all i wanted to do, and all i could think about, was holding her in my arms and never letting go. In the end, Joe was right and it was good for me to get away, if only to realize how much i love her and what an amazing blessing God has given to us.

The third event, that happened about 4, was the arrival of my milk. For a first time mom, that is really exciting! I know I've been feeding her before this, but to be able to be the source of nutrients for something so precious and dependent...it continually blows my mind that God would entrust this gift to me. So i know these events may not seem huge to others, but to me, today was one of the most eventual days of my life and one i will never forget. I know it doesn't compare with the events of Thursday and Friday... but those where SO long ago that who can compare :).Thank you all for your prayer and support, reading comments has been so much fun. And for all those who live close, i look forward to showing her off as soon as the weather improves...but good luck if you can get her out of my arms (or her daddy's). Good night all (and yes i'm saying goodnight at 5:45 pm...cause I can, and I'm taking advantage of it while Nana & Pappy are in town).

Saturday, December 20, 2008

More Pictures

As promised here are some more photos. These are the "morning" after she was born... Emily and I were both running on around 2 hours of sleep.

I could get used to waking up like this:


Another shot of Pappy holding his little angel as he's taken to calling her:


Grandpa holding her for the first time:


Grandpa and Grammy:


Riley holding Katelyn for the first time. Jonathan and Jessica were there too obviously, but I didn't get any pictures of them. (Sorry guys).


These last two are from this morning at home on the couch.


She's not letting go of her Mommy!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Home with the family...

Since everything was going so great with Emily and Katelyn and there was a big storm moving in, the hospital let us come home a little early. We are laying in bed after a very long but very wonderful day.

Emily & Katelyn are doing very well with breast feeding. She fed at least 9 official times today, and snacked a few times as well. Katelyn is a natural at latching on which is a huge huge blessing. We were a little stressed after some of the stories we've heard about breastfeeding and will be praying that it keeps going like it has the first day.

We are head over heels in love with our little girl, and are looking forward to getting settled in. We are expecting to be open to visitors tomorrow, so if you'd like to drop by and see our new little gift please just give me a call.

I'll put some new pictures up tomorrow, she's getting cuter and cuter by the minute.

Pictures!

I know this is what everyone wants to see. Here are some more photos.

Katelyn meeting family for the first time:

Grammy Knapp

Nana Mehaffey

Nana & Pappy Mehaffey

Uncle David (Emily's Brother)

Katelyn's first bath:




All Clean:

Katelyn Elizabeth Knapp

She is here!!! Katelyn was born on Friday December 19th at 12:46 AM. She weighed 6 lbs 14 oz and was 20 1/4" long. Emily did sooo great, we were truly blessed with a wonderful pregnancy and labor/delivery. She is so perfect, the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.

She breast fed about 45 minutes after being born for 20 minutes. Then again about an hour later for another 15 minutes. Its been a very long and exciting day, and I'm very tired so I'm only going to post a few photos for now. I'll get more up tomorrow when I have some time.



Thursday, December 18, 2008

Progress Report

Its about 10:30 and everything is going great. Emily got an epidural at about 9:15 and is loving it. She is so much more comfortable and alert now, its like night and day. Her last exam was at 9:50 and she was at 7cm. She did very good through the first part of labor, I am so proud of her but it is such a relief to see her so comfortable.

So for now we are waiting for things to continue to progress and will hopefully be holding our new baby in a few more hours.

-Joe

She's on her way!

Emily's water broke this afternoon at around 1:00. We called the hospital to see what we are supposed to do and they said come in. So we are here... waiting for things to move along.


Its a tad early and Emily's cervix isn't quite ready so we are going to start some medication soon to help things progress. We'll keep things updated...

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

37 Weeks

Yesterday marks 37 weeks! We are almost there! She is almost here! Emily is starting to feel the discomforts of running out of space. She looks happy in this photo, but really she's just smiling for the camera (just kidding, she's very happy... just also very ready to have a baby).


Today we had our 37 week appointment, which was good because we had some questions about something we suspected may have been the "plug" coming out. Those of you who have been through this whole child bearing experience before will be right there with us on this one when we say... weird. Our doctor confirmed our suspicion and informed us that Emily is about 50% effaced, dilated 1cm and things are "softening up" nicely. So at this point things are going great. She could be here in the next few days, or it could still be several weeks. It all still depends on when the real labor starts.

Our doctor also took some measurements and squeezed Emily's belly (seriously, i guess this is some form of valid measurement in medical world) and estimated that Katelyn is probably about 7.5 lbs right now, and will probably be somewhere around 8 to 8.5 when she's born... so place your bets now.

We are so excited for her to come, and to be able to hold her. To see her little face, and cute little toes and fingers. Hurry up baby!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Let it snow!

We finally got snow this year! It seems like the whole state is getting it in fact... even Brookings got a few inches. I'm still waiting for more to come. There's nothing better than that fresh layer of white to make everything look clean.

I caught a sunset giving Mt. Hood a nice glow, it was very cold standing there waiting for the light to be just right.


Sunday, December 7, 2008

Oh Christmas Tree

We went out yesterday morning and got our Christmas tree. I know Emily has been dying to go get one because its not really Christmas in the Knapp house until there is a tree, and decorations, and egg nog, and tea, and music... oh the music...

So anyway, after an all nighter with our church youth group I somehow came up with the energy(I slept in the car) to press on and go hunt for a tree. We found a great lot with some really good trees, and best of all the U-Cut was more like... We-Cut and stick on top of your car for you. Which was great because I was exhausted.

Here's a quick photo of us in front of our tree. I'll post some better ones this week of Emily.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Little Zig Zag Falls, 34.5 Weeks

We are enjoying our 4 day weekend at home this year. We were talking today and came to the realization that we have never just stayed home for a long weekend like this, we almost always go somewhere. We hardly know what to do with all the time we have! While it is sort of weird not being with family for Thanksgiving we had a great time yesterday with Jonathan & Jessica's family.

Today we went for a little drive up the mountain to pick up Emily's cell phone from our friends house (I swear that thing jumps out of her purse... first old Chicago, and now the Cogar's). We decided to take a second crack at finding this waterfall they told us about, and this time we were successful!

Here are a few photos from the journey, it was a fun little hike to get back to a pretty impressive little waterfall. I am really trying to get better at getting eyes to "pop" in my photos, I was pretty pleased with some of the results today.







And a few of the falls...