Splish Splash, Cael Took a Bath!

It finally happened....Cael's cord stump fell off! What does that mean? It means he can be submerged in water and not have to just get a sponge bath! Woo Whoo!!! Mom & Dad came over last night to get new pictures of the boy to take to the Goodwyn family reunion next weekend in OK. I really would like to go to the reunion but I can't travel farther than 2 hours away for another week and a half. I suppose I probably wouldn't go even if I could travel farther just because that's quite a trip when I'm still a little sore at times. Anyway! They came over and we had dinner and took pictures and Cael finally pooped!! (Again...) Woo Whoo!!!! He made so much stink that we HAD to give him a bath. I was glad to give him one anyway so my Mom could show us what to do. I've never bathed a tiny baby before and I was a little nervous to do it. It was nice to have Mom & Dad here too because Courtney could take pictures while I helped and then I could take pictures while he helped. Things are still going well. Cael usually gets up once a night. We change & feed him between 10 & 11 and then he will sleep anywhere from 3 to 5 hours. Hopefully tonight he will SLEEP because he has been fussy all day. I would say he's probably only slept for a few 2 hour naps today which is really strange. I think he's going through a growth spurt because he's been fussing and really hungry. This week is going to be pretty quiet. No doctor appointments this week so that's good. We are going to run to my Mom's office sometime this week and then probably go to wrestling practice on Wednesday night (Courtney will wrestle and Cael and I will walk around the track). Saturday we are going to Sabetha for a little while for Allyn's Graduation party and then next Tuesday Joy comes home!!!!!! We are excited to get to spend lots of time with her. Have a great week!

Dr. Clamurro came up to meet Cael yesterday.















Cael's first bath!
















Ahhh!! That's so much better!













First real family picture.













I asked my Grandma Butler to make this picture for us. I gave her the picture and just asked her to make it pretty. This is what she ended up painting. I am so excited about it!! It turned out perfect and it is something Cael will have forever that was painted by his Great Grandma.

For Hattie....

Hi Hattie!

I wore this outfit just for you! You are a precious little girl. I know you like naps and you have your own stroller. Don't worry - I won't be upset when you start crawling before me. Afterall you are older than me. You looked beautiful in your Redskins outfit and in your professional pictures. I will probably have my newborn pictures taken next week so I'll be sure to send you some. I can't wait to finally meet you on the outside.

I love you already!!

Cael

Cael is growing!

Little Cael had another Dr. appointment this afternoon and we found out that we are not doing a bad job as his parents!! He is 12 days old and has gained 1 whole pound since birth!! Yahoo!! 12 days ago he weighed in at 5 lbs. 14 oz. and today he weighed 6 lbs. 14 oz. Yay - we know how to feed him properly! He's also grown half an inch - an inch if you go by what they said last week at his appointment. When he was born they said he was 19.5" long, last Monday they said 19" (he didn't shrink!) and today he was 20" long. So he has either grown half an inch in 12 days OR he shrunk half an inch and then grew a full inch - you pick which you want to believe. His little head has also grown half an inch! Ouch! His head was 13.5" and today it was 14". Our little man can grow!!! He's really doing great and doesn't have to go back for 2 weeks! It's nice to know we're doing a good job as parents!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Allow me to take one post to be a little mushy. It's my husband's first Father's Day!! Courtney & I have been together for so long (15 years in October) and when we got married 7 years ago we knew we would have kids one day. We chose though to wait until we had plenty of time just the 2 of us and were able to do some things we wanted. We spent our 2 years in Puerto Rico doing what we wanted and just spending time together. Nine months ago we decided to not try to get pregnant but just not try to prevent it anymore. After just 2 months of that we got pregnant with our beautiful boy. My husband was wonderful during the pregnancy and took great care of me. I never imagined he could do any better than he did for those long months but he has! Courtney is an amazing father and I am so thrilled to be on this journey with him. He changes diapers - even though he said he wouldn't until he was healed. He gets up with me in the middle of the night to help me out. I usually change the diaper while Courtney gets bottles ready. Then he feeds while I pump to make more bottles. (No, baby boy still won't latch on....we're still trying though!) He has been doing dishes, cleaning house, going to the store, anything I ask him to do he does. Most of the time I don't even have to ask him! I love watching him with our son! I think that is my favorite part of the day. You see only pure joy on his face when he is holding Cael. And in the same way, Cael is so content while his Daddy is holding him. I am so proud of my husband and the father he has become. So, thank you Courtney for the gift of our son. Thank you for being so wonderful! Happy 1st Father's Day!






One of my favorite pictures!











This is Cael's version of "Blue Steel" from the movie Zoolander.






4 Generations of Butlers: Great Grandma Butler, Grammy Dana, Kelly & Cael









All dressed up for Father's Day!

Cael's first appointment

Cael had his first Dr. appointment today. He is 5 days old but it seems like he's been here a lot longer! We went to see Dr. Yu and the appointment went great. We really like Dr. Yu. He talks to us like we're normal people and not like we're stupid first time parents. Anyway! Cael weighed 6 lbs. 2 oz. today!!! Holy cow! The doctor seemed happy with that because lots of newborns don't make it back to thir birth weight until 2 weeks or so after birth. He was so small when he was born though that he's still only in the 10th percentile for his "height". The whole height thing was confusing because in the hospital they said he was 19.5 inches and today they said 19. I know he isn't shrinking! Things are going great at home with him. He's up 2 times during the night and the 3rd time it's time to get up anyway. Last night he went to sleep at 11:00, was up at 1:00 and 4:00 and then again at 7:30. It's taking some adjusting but we're doing good with it. Courtney gets up with me so that's nice. The only issues we've had are he still is having issues latching on so I have to pump and feed it to him with a bottle. I'm ahead of him on feeding for now but that won't last much longer. The other issue is he hadn't pooped since Saturday night. We told Dr. Yu this and he told us to put 2 tsp. of dark caro syrup in his bottle 3 times a day. We did it when we got home and voila! If you have a baby having trouble "going" - stick with 1 tsp. of syrup. We'll put it this way - when I changed him, it took 3 diapers!!! I'm sure he feels much better now.

We had a crazy first weekend home. We got here Friday afternoon and had my family (including Joy who surprised us by flying home!) and Courtney's family here. Saturday it was us and our 2 families again. Aunt Sandi came up and the Bridges family came over also. On Sunday Aunt Sharon and Wilbur brought Grandma Parsons and Grandma Hoard up for the afternoon and Calvin & Donna left. I know!! Grandma Hoard not only came to Leavenworth but she did on a SUNDAY!!! We were shocked! This must be one special boy! Today we had his Dr. appointment and one of Courtney's colleagues came over for a little while. Overall things are going well and we are just enjoying our time with our little man!

















Cael and Cool Aunt Joy


























Cael's first sponge bath





















4 Generations of Marshes: Great Grandma Parsons, Granddad Calvin, Courtney & Cael














4 Generations of Hoards: Great Grandma Hoard, Great Aunt Sharon, Courtney & Cael














Cael and Great Uncle Wilbur

Cael Ryan Marsh

He made it!! I would like to introduce Cael Ryan Marsh to the world! Here's his story...it's a doozie!! On Tuesday afternoon (June 10) Marilyn came to town and we hung out and had lunch. During lunch I started not feeling too well so we came home and I relaxed for just a little bit. We went to the Dr. at 2:00 and I was 2+ dilated but the Dr. didn't seem too concerned about me not feeling well. We went to the car delearship and the police checked our carseats to make sure they were properly installed. We came home and decided, just in case, to call around to daycares and pediatricians. Courtney took care of that and I took a nap. We ate a little bit (I didn't eat much because the doc told me I didn't feel good because of something I ate so I should eat light) and then went to bed.

At about 10:00 I had a few little crampy contractions and didn't think anything of it. At 11:01 I had a pretty big contraction so I started to write the times down because if it was real they would want to know at the hospital. They were real sparatic and I wasn't sure if they were real because they were so strange feeling. I kept going in and waking up Courtney but telling him not to get up - I just wanted to let him know what was going on. At 12:15 or so I went in and I believe my exact words were, "Seriously dude! I am in labor!" He got up and started throwing bags in the car and I told him not to worry about it because we still had a while. He grabbed the stopwatch when I started a contraction and then looked again when I started another one....2 minutes apart!!! He said we should leave and I said no and he said we WERE leaving. We got in the car and left at 12:49. I called mom & dad and they headed that way. We got checked in at the ER and they wheeled us upstairs. I was signing paperwork as I was contracting, got my gown put on and was getting hooked up to monitors by 1:25. At that time I asked the nurse when I would know if I needed to push. She said I wasn't there yet and told me what it would feel like. My response?! "I FEEL THAT WAY NOW!!!" She got another nurse who said I was already at a 9!!! WHAT?!?! I know I said I wanted it to go fast but holy cow! They got me into a labor/delivery room and checked me again. This time - 10 cm!!! My mom and dad got there and Courtney went to get mom and give dad the keys to to get our bags. By the time dad got back with the bags and they brought them in the Dr. was in and it was time to push. What happened then?!? Kelly got SCARED!! No way could I do this! They had barely gotten the IV in and there wasn't time for pain meds of any kind....even in my IV. I didn't want an epidural but I did want IV drugs. Sorry bout your luck!

I started pushing at probably 2:30. I remember looking at the clock at about 2:35 or so and thinking I wanted to be done by 2:45. At about 2:45 the Dr. said, "Oh, he's bald!" We weren't surprised because Courtney & I were both bald for a long time when we were born. Then the nurses kept saying, "She's coming. She's getting closer!" So my mom said, "It's supposed to be a boy!" Then the doctor said, "Wait! This isn't his head - this is his butt!!" He was breech!!! Then the doctor said, "Oh! There are his boy parts!" And then little man went to the bathroom (1 & 2!) all over me....yeah remember he's still inside of me at this point. So the doctor got frustrated because he is breech and she didn't know it. She said she would have c-sectioned it by then but it was too late. At this point I shoved a washrag in my mouth, grabbed my husband's head (literally. Head lock!) and pushed non stop until he came out. At this point it was 2:55 and he was out! That's right people - no drugs and breech. My husband said he came into the world telling everyone to kiss his ass!!

He weighed 5 lbs. 13.8 oz and was 19.5 inches long. My labor lasted from 11:01 until 2:55. We were in labor & delivery until 7:30 and then we went into a regular room. He is doing great and is a really good baby! He sleeps most of the time, eats really well, burps like a man and poops like a man. My husband is doing an AMAZING job. He is completely hands on. He feeds him bottles and changes diapers. He is taking the best care of me which has made recovering so much better. We could not be happier!!

Our weekend and an update...

We had a great weekend with our cousins, Travis & Nicole, and their baby girl Alta Joy. They arrived on Saturday evening and we took that night pretty easy. We made dinner and just hung out talking until midnight - the latest Courtney and I have been awake in, oh I don't know, forever!! Sunday we got up and they were going to go to the Legends area and Courtney and I decided we'd stay home. Well then they were talking about eating lunch and asked what all was out there. I was joking around and said they should go to Hooters. I've never seen my husband change his mind about plans so fast! All of a sudden it was, "I'll go take a shower real fast and we'll all go!" So we loaded up and went to Hooters, NE Furniture Mart & Target and did lots of walking. We were hoping that would put me in to labor...nope! Sunday evening we came home and did pretty much nothing. The boys went out to dinner with the baby and Nicole and I had a girls night of eating dinner and going to Wally World. It was really nice to spend some time with another Mom and get to talk about girl stuff. Yesterday they got up and headed home and Courtney and I did nothing for the rest of the day. Today our friend Marilyn from Sabetha came by for a couple of hours. It was really nice to see her - we haven't seen her since this winter. She was on her way to pick up her son at her Aunt's house in KC. We went to lunch and I tell ya I thought I was going in to labor and....nope, again! After she left I had a Dr. appointment. I've moved up on the dilation scale to 2+ from 1+. I know that's a good sign (like I could have gone backwards?!) but it's still not far enough along! I'm just to the point of being uncomfortable and anxious and would like to have this little one already. I know, I know, I should just relax and let things happen which is what I'm trying to do. He'll come when he's ready. This weekend we are helping my mom and dad move to a new apartment so if he's not here by Friday (yeah, sure, like he'll come before Friday!) I might try drinking some tea I've heard about that is supposed to help stuff along. We'll see what happens! Tomorrow is the day that I guessed on our poll at the top and then there are only 2 more guesses so we'll see!! Courtney is still convinced it will happen on Friday since we're supposed to help them move that day. I hope it either happens before Sunday or waits until after next Wednesday. My dad is leaving for CO on Sunday and won't be home until Wednesday. It would kill him to not be here when the baby is born so I hope this little guy is polite & respectful of his Papa's feelings!!

More Maternity Pics....

Get used to how I look people - I think I may stay like this forever!!

Maternity Picture Tease

We got our CD of maternity pictures today and I'm so excited! I've decided just to tease you a little though for now and just put up one of our favorites...

I Showed Him!

Sorry to disappoint you but this update does not contain birthday baby pictures! Two weeks ago my doc told me not to come back until today because I wouldn't be dilated at 37 weeks because it's my first time. I am at 37 weeks 4 days today and I had my appointment. I went in with positive thoughts that "Project Dilation" had begun and.....I am at 1+ cm!!! Yahoo!!!! That means it could happen any time now. Could happen tonight, could happen in a week, could happen in 2 weeks. And I lost 1 lb!!!! What a great Dr. appointment! He told me to walk and that would help bring on more dilation so I came home and told my hubby we would go on a walk this evening. But now it's raining so there will be no walking tonight - unless it's on the treadmill. We'll see what happens!! Get your votes in for when the big day will happen!!