Sleeping baby

How can you resist taking pictures of a sleeping baby?

Of course, its hard to resist taking pictures any time. :)

Has it been over a week already?

I can't believe it has been over a week since I updated on the little man. Time flies when you are having fun apparently.

No doctor's appointments or any other specific information to update on but we did do some traveling last week. Caleb and I travelled out to Mosinee late last week so Caleb could meet his Great Grandparents. He was such a good boy for their meeting and we even got a 4 generations photo!

Last weekend was pretty low key, with one day spent up at the lake and the other at home. Caleb did go on his first pontoon ride ever but he did not seem to enjoy it. Once we got out on the water the wind really picked up and he was just over tired so the ride was cut short. Hopefully over 4th of July he can give it another shot. 

Of course, with Sunday being Father's Day, Ben and Caleb had some great bonding time. Caleb bought Daddy a hammock and then they both took a nap together. Both Caleb and I can't be more blessed to have such a great husband and Daddy. 

So far this week we had a chiropractor appointment (both Mommy and Caleb) and then Caleb's godmother Ashley visited yesterday. He loved her visit and spent most of it cuddling with her. 

Today we have the public health nurse coming out to the farm to visit with us/measure/listen to Caleb. This is something the county provides for all new babies. I am thinking the little man is at least 11 1/2 lbs. I guess we will see.

We have a pretty low key weekend ahead of us. We are waiting on a phone call from our good friends to let us know they had their little girl and when they do, we hope to travel and visit the new family. We wish them a safe, quick and healthy delivery and baby.

To finish up here are some of the latest pictures of Caleb.

Our perfect little genius

So lots have been going in the life of Caleb lately. I will try to update you all as best as I can.

Last Thursday we had Caleb's newborn photos (at 6 days old!) with Jess. He was such a sport, I am so excited to get the photos back and show everyone. I am sure they will turn out wonderful. Jess has always done a great job with our photos in the past so we couldn't go wrong.

Sunday we decided to venture out to church with the little man. He was wonderful through the whole thing, no fussing at all. After mass we were welcomed and congratulated by so many people. It was so nice knowing that everyone recognized such an important milestone in our lives. After church we headed to Eau Claire to do a bunch of errands. Even with going in and out of the car about a zillion times, Caleb slept through the whole thing! He even went about 4+ hours between feedings without even a peep. After we got home we got about 2 hours of attentiveness and his big beautiful eyes. It was so fun to interact with him when he was so awake.

Today was his first appointment with his new pediatrician. Ben and I were taking bets on how much he weighed. He left the hospital at 8 lbs 8 oz and at my lactation appointment last Wednesday he was up to 8  lbs 14 oz. I was figuring he would be about 9 lbs, maybe a bit more. Ben was guessing about 9 lbs 3 oz. He weighed in at 9 lb 13 oz!! He gained almost a pound in 5 days! I knew he was a good eater but WOW! His weight is in the 90th percentile and his height is in the 97th percentile! Everything else checked out great; the doctor confirmed he was the perfect little boy. :)

Once again, after the appointment, we had a few errands to run and he slept through it all. We are so thankful he rides in the car so well. On Wednesday I plan on heading out to Mom and Dad's with Caleb so I am hoping the 2.5 hour drive will go as well as the rest of our outings.

Our little genius was able to find his thumb one afternoon when he was fussing. He calmed himself down with it almost immediately. Only thing is when he went to pull it out, he was tugging on his cheek and screaming like crazy. Good thing Mommy was there to save the day!

And of course, can't have too many pictures of the little man just hanging out. 

"Mom, quit with the pictures!" :)

Hope all is well with everyone. Our plan for the evening is, once again, cuddling with the little man.

All smiles

Caleb wishes you a great weekend!

Settling in well

Over two days in and things are going well. Caleb is a pretty laid back little guy, making the transition home very smooth. Yesterday was Caleb's first outing out of the house. Mommy had a followup lactation appointment at the clinic and Caleb got to show the nurse his mad nursing skills. She was very impressed. He has also already surpassed his birth weight; up to 8lb, 14oz. After the appointment we ran some errands and even went out to lunch. He slept wonderfully through everything. Once we were back home he was making it clear that he only wanted to cuddle in Mommy's arms which continued through the night; sorry Daddy. Here are some updated pictures of Caleb.

Caleb's big cousin Haley made this burp rag for  him

He loves cuddling with Daddy

Home Sweet Home

We are home! Hard to believe, it's all gone by so fast already. The trip home was pretty uneventful but the craziest thing happened at the hospital before we left. It took most of the morning to get checked out by all the doctors, order meds and get/sign all the discharge paperwork. By noon we were packing everything up and getting ready to head out. Crazy thing is... they let us! They let us leave with this perfect little angel. I told Ben I felt like we were stealing him, like we totally didn't deserve something so great. Shouldn't have we applied for something like this? To make sure we were good enough to raise this little man? It still feels so surreal, I could cry.

So far, Caleb has settled in just fine. Eating, pooping and sleeping like a champ. Hopefully his first night at home goes as well as the hospital nights went. Good night, and wish us luck!

Exciting day

Today was a very full, exhausting day. Caleb is currently out like a light. The little guy did have his circumcision this morning which went very well. Our doctor said he didn't even cry for the actual procedure (after the block was in). He was quite tired afterward, partially due to the excitement, partially due to him being on Tylenol. I also wanted to add a picture of Caleb and his/our doctor. Dr. Burnett was amazing through the whole pregnancy and labor. We were extremely blessed to have him deliver Caleb and are so happy we will have him as a doctor for any more pregnancies in the future.

After the procedure we hung out in the room until the first of our visitors arrived. It was great to see Hannah and Zach and excited that they got to meet the little guy. Can't wait till they have one of their own. :)

After H&Z left, we had a feeding with a lactation consultant present to make sure that myself and Caleb were doing everything correctly. Caleb is a champ when it comes to nursing; he caught on very quickly and does a great job. Teresa was also able to give us little tips to help make the whole process easier. The staff here has been incredible with answering all of our questions and providing help whenever we need it.

Right as we were done feeding we got our next set of visitors; Ashley and Eric plus the whole Lemke clan and Jen. I just love some of the photos we were able to get with the Lemke kiddos and Caleb. Caleb must have been dreaming or passing gas because he was all smiles. :)

Love this expression!!

Caleb became quite overwhelmed with all the visitors and became a little restless towards the end. After everyone left it took a bit of nursing and cuddling to settle him down but he has been sleeping for a couple hours now. The only thing left on tonight's schedule is to get him fitted in his car seat so hopefully we can just do lots more cuddling before bed time.

Tomorrow will also be a busy day; with getting ready for our discharge. We probably won't have time to post in the morning (unless Caleb has us up really early) but will try to keep the updates coming once we get home. Have a great night everyone!

Night #2

Caleb's 2nd night went even better than the first! Our evening nurse last night did convince us to use the nursery as help throughout the night to get some good sleep. I felt much more comfortable this time since Caleb has been eating so well and she was very clear that they brought him in immediately if he started to show signs of hunger. So at about 10:30pm he was taken away so we could all sleep. They first brought him back at 11:45pm to nurse. He ate well for about 20 minutes and then fell asleep on Mommy. He makes it clear when he is done too, he tends to unlatch and lay back into me. They took him back to the nursery around 12:15-12:30am. I woke up at 3am wondering if he was going to be coming back soon. They didn't bring him back in until about 4am. Again he ate well for about 20 minutes, made it clear he was done and then feel asleep on me. The nurse at this time did say she changed two poopy diapers while they had him and on the second he did his first "pee all over". Of course I laughed, because we had the pleasure of avoiding it this time! He left the room around 5am, right after Ben got ready to leave too. (He is headed back to the farm this morning to work on a few chores). Again, Caleb must have been sleeping great because he didn't come back in our room until about 7am this morning. Again ate wonderfully, and is now sleeping in his crib beside my bed. So all night I was able to rack up at least 6 hours of great sleep. Ben also was able to sleep solid from 10:30pm until 5am this morning (minus the uncomfortable "bed"). Today should be a busy day. We have a lot of visitors planned, along with a massage for mommy and a circumsision for Caleb. Hope you all had as good of a night of rest as we did!

Day Two for Caleb

We just finished up with our celebratory dinner. It was excellent! Ben got his first experience eating one handed since Caleb felt like cuddling. This is a nice dinner that the hospital does for new parents. We have been very happy with everything and everyone here. We couldn't have asked for a better experience. They are all willing to bend over backwards to help us with anything. I really don't mind staying until Monday because I am sure that I will miss the help once we are gone.

We also got to see our good friends Hans and Barb and Jess and Joe this afternoon. Unfortunately we didn't get any photos with Jess and Joe but here are the ones of Caleb and H&B.

Caleb received a stuffed sheep from Hans and Barb and is now cuddling with Daddy and his new toy.

I know we did miss some visitors this afternoon during our napping time. Bill and Joyce, we did receive your card. Thank you! We hope to introduce you to Caleb very soon!!

We are about to get settled in for the night. Hopefully he does as well tonight as he has been up to this point. We couldn't have been blessed with a more perfect little boy!

Is it real?

Hey Mom- I found a dimple. :) I'll try to catch a picture for you.

Doctor's Check up

My doctor came in and chatted with us this morning about a bunch of different things. First, he checked me out. The incision looks really good with little to no swelling or drainage. So, I was given permission to finally shower, which by the way, did feel wonderful. We also discussed the plan for the rest of our stay. He would like us to be here until Monday sometime (probably morning) and he plans on doing Caleb's circumsision tomorrow (Sunday) morning. Caleb also went and got his hearing screen along with some other newborn tests. Everything checked out perfect and he got his first vaccination; taking it like a tropper. Hans and Barb and Jess and Joe were able to stop in for a visit and we just finished up with lunch and a newborn photo session. After a packed morning the three of us are going to cuddle up for an afternoon nap. Writing this for Ben specifically, "Go Brewers!"

Caleb's First Night

We made it through our first night with our little guy. Our visitors all left before 7:30ish and we decided to start getting ready for bed since we didn't know how the whole night would go. Caleb let Mommy and Daddy sleep from 8-9pm before he was ready to eat again. After his feeding some nurses came in and helped me get up from bed and move around a bit more; easier said than done after a C-section. At about 10pm we were ready to be settled in for the night. Caleb was being a bit fussy so I fed him again, then laid him down. After about 10 minutes, the cries started up so we checked his diaper, and yes he was full. He laid down again for another 10 minutes or so before he started fussing again. Ben walked with him a bit, burped him and laid him back down. Still he didn't last more than 5 minutes before fussing. So despite not wanting to send him to the nursery Ben and I decided we needed a little sleep so we gave in. He was taken away at 10:30pm.

So I, of course, teared up as they took him out. I just had this fear of sending him to the nursery. What if they waited too long to bring him back to eat? Or even worse, if they supplemented him with a bottle instead of waking me up? I was able to get about 30 minutes of very restless sleep and by 11:18 I paged the nurse to bring him back in. I just couldn't get comfortable with the idea of him being away from us. Ben was sleeping quite well so I talked with the nurse about removing my Foley catheter so I could get in and out of bed without having tubes everywhere, and not having to wake Ben for every diaper change/feeding. It turned out Caleb had been quite fussy in the nursery too so I was glad to have him back with us. I feed him and just held him afterwards; apparently that was all he was looking for cause he slept like a champ after that. Besides a couple other feedings and some messy diapers (this boy can POOP!) he slept well until 4:30am when I finally decided to wake up Ben. At that point Ben felt much more well rested with the good 6 hours of sleep. We did another feeding and poopy diaper, then he slept for us until about 6-6:30am when he filled his pants again. So we have been up since, getting ready for our doctor to come in and check out my incision, give me permission to FINALLY get a shower, and then have Caleb's circumcision done. Here are some 24 hour old pictures of the little guy.

He has lots of expressions while sleeping :)

Again, we welcome visitors today to meet Caleb. We are planning to have our celebratory dinner at 6pm tonight so if anyone interested in coming could avoid the 5:30-7:30pm window we would appreciate it.

So while we wait, we sleep. :)

Chillin Time.

Busy, Busy, Busy, Calebs first day was full of visitors, photos, hand-offs and dirtydips pers. We were blessed with company from: Grandpa Mrdutt, Grandpa & Grandma Konkol, Anna & Marek, Chris, Jen & Mason, and Michell & Spencer. We were also visited by Ron Moraska and Ann Kline. Caleb has been getting the hang of feeding, pooping, peeing, and overall has been pretty content outside his comfy home of nine months. The visitors are gone now, mamma is sleeping and Caleb and I are enjoying our first Brewer game together. This boy is certainly a Brewer fan because he cooo's when the Brewers scored a run and is crying when the opponents are scoring runs. (no I'm not pinching him in frustration. Have a good night everyone.

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