1 Month Old (or, Brendan's outfit count - 3, Dad's outfit count -3)

Well, Brendan officially clocks in at 1 month old today. He had a great 1-month checkup last Friday. As expected, his height and weight are below the 3rd percentile on the regular charts (already one not comfortable with being average, our kid...). He is growing well, though, so we (and his doctor) are quite pleased. After a slow-to-average gain in the first couple of weeks, he had a successful weight check in the third week (see last post), then gained 7 oz from that Monday to his appointment on Friday morning - go baby! So, at last check he was 6 lbs, 1 oz and 18 inches long. It still strikes me as funny to think that he's still smaller than most newborns when he seems so much bigger to us in just these few short weeks! Newborn-sized clothes fit him now, for one thing, and he's also far more alert - practicing head lifting and following rattles during our play time, and listening to Mom and Dad read him just about everything under the sun.

We've also already discovered the joys of increased laundry that come with a newborn, but yesterday really illustrates the point, and perhaps hints that Brendan's going to have the Kator spill genes. Brendan started the day wearing his adorable baseball themed outfit, then required a new outfit after a diaper change at church (1). At Grandma and Grandpa's, he decided to get his changing pad wet, then roll into the spot wearing his backup outfit. So much for outfit 2. He spent most of the afternoon mostly clothesless while Grandma very generously did a load of laundry, then back into a clean outfit (3). As for Nick, Brendan helped him mess up his starting outfit for the day (1). Fortunately, Nick was able to wear one of my dad's shirts, but then spilled fruit smoothie on it (and Brendan), so there went outfit 2 for him. Shirt 3 made it cleanly through the evening. Yikes.

Small Update

A small update for a not-quite-so-small-anymore guy: we took Brendan back to the pediatrician yesterday for a weight check, and he's now weighing in at 5 lb, 10 oz, which means he put on 5 oz since his last appointment last Thursday - yay! We've got the go-ahead to keep nursing as we've been, and pump once a day so Nick can get in on the feeding action. We go back on Friday for his 1-month checkup - I can't believe he's almost a month old.

In other news, Brendan chose to really show off during tummy time last night, flipping over from his tummy to back. We didn't really believe he had done that at first, so he nicely obliged by doing it again! I'm going to try to get some video today.

Due Date?

Today really reminds me of a conversation I had with a colleague in November. He and his wife had seen the due date for their baby come and go (without baby's arrival), and he described the day as anti-climactic, especially after nine months of anticipation.

Well, today certainly is different than the day we imagined about 9 months ago - today was Brendan's due date! Rather than giving birth, or bemoaning the fact that I'd be delivering late, we took Brendan to the pediatrician for his two-week checkup (at the end of his second week, really, he's three weeks old tomorrow). It was a mixed bag - he's generally doing well (now 5 lbs, 5 oz and 17 3/4 inches long), but isn't gaining weight as fast as his doctors might like (he gained 7 ounces since his last visit, which averages to about a half-ounce a day, but his pediatrician would like his gain to be closer to an ounce a day). So, we're being more aggressive about waking up for feeding, doing some pumping and introducing a bottle now that he's just about three weeks old, and going back on Monday for another weight check.

And while his arrival was certainly different in terms of timing and circumstances than we had hoped or anticipated it would be, we are so blessed to have a healthy (albeit small)baby. We've also been blessed to have so much generous help in both my recovery and adjusting to parenthood, from Brendan's Grandma camping out on the couch overnight, calling me on the phone to come down for feedings (ah, technology!), to people bringing yummy dinners, loaning us baby clothes, or spending time with Brendan and me when Nick was at work.

So, we've been busy in the past couple of weeks. Nick and I both wrapped up the school year, helping each other grade and record final exams while trading off holding the baby. We've had fun introducing Brendan to our friends at church, and laughed when putting him next to older babies like cousin Keeley (it just emphasizes how tiny Brendan is...). We also celebrated what Nick's calling the 1st anniversary of his 29th birthday. I'm recovering well, although I'm not used to the restrictions - no heavy exercise, no lifting things heavier than the baby (which is an extra challenge when your baby is not very heavy at all - my World History teacher's manual is heavier than Brendan is right now by a couple of pounds...). I did get clearance to lift Brendan in his carrier, which is helpful, and we're welcome to continue our daily walking in the neighborhood. I'm planning on completing the half-marathon in Detroit this October, so we have to start somewhere!

Yesterday was Brendan's first official bath - Nick had fun playing with his rubber cow as we waited for the water to cool, and Brendan protested the water at first, but seemed to enjoy things.

Today we visited Brendan's Great-Grandma Gaspard in Canada. Brendan handled the border crossing like an old pro, and took a nice afternoon nap with Mom while Dad worked out in the garden. Hopefully Brendan will take a cue from the tomatoes and start really growing - time to actually make it onto the height and weight growth charts!

Welcome, Brendan! (Or, "Craziest Week Ever")

Brendan Walter Kline Kator
Born May 29, 2009 3:23 pm
5 lbs, 17 inches long

Well, after the last post, things really got interesting! After last Thursday's tests were reassuring, I went to my Friday checkup with an induction scheduled for Sunday evening. Nick went off to school, and Megan and Keeley accompanied me to my appointment. After talking with the doctor, it turned out that the ultrasound measurements we'd had on Tuesday weren't as reassuring as the other tests - baby's head was measuring quite a bit bigger than abdomen, which was an indication that the placenta might not be nourishing as well as it should. After confirming that baby was still breech, my doctor decided against inducing labor and sent us to the hospital for a c-section.

So... Nick headed home from school, and we arrived at the hospital at about 1. I was nervous about having surgery, but the nurses in triage were great, and Dr. Moore (who we'd seen on Wednesday), came in to do the delivery. Nick got to wear a spiffy jumpsuit and hat. By about 3, I was wheeled in, got anesthesia (weird feeling), and Brendan was born at 3:23 pm! His weight was about 3/4 lb more than the ultrasound had estimated, which was awesome, but the pediatricians still took him to the nursery for observation after Nick got to hold him for a little bit. Brendan's first name is a name we chose for its Irish origin and really just because we liked it, and his middle name Walter is after Nick's late Grandpa Gaspard. You can probably figure out where his other middle name of Kline and last name of Kator come from.

We stayed in the hospital until Monday afternoon. The Beaumont nurses were fantastic, and were great in helping me get started with nursing. We're having to do a combination of nursing and pumping with a small amount of supplemental formula, just to make sure he's getting enough to get much bigger.

It's absolutely amazing how quickly we've fallen in love with this little guy - we've loved him for a long time already, but now that he's here, there are things that make him truly endearing as well. When he opens his eyes, he wrinkles up his forehead in the cutest way, and his starting-to-get-hungry cry gets interrupted by snorting - I'm going to try and record this in the next few days.

We've had visitors, most of whom come bearing food (awesome!). Megan and Keeley came over this afternoon - Keeley looks like an Amazonian giant next to her little cousin! Our friend Kati also stopped by this evening - when she left, we had one of our funniest moments at home so far:
Kati - Make sure you cover him during diaper changes...
Me - Oh, he really hasn't done anything like that yet...

I shut the door, and turn to see Aunt Andrea changing Brendan, and Brendan turning himself into a human fountain, shooting over his head and onto the couch. Nice timing, Brendan.

This evening, Brendan and his dad are watching game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Brendan seemed to enjoy the first two games of the series in the hospital. It's been a crazy week, involving letting go of a lot of the things we had imagined would surround the baby's birth, but we are happy and blessed to have him here.