New Year's Eve...

She was good today in her first church service.

Her Nanny and PaPa had her cousins Gracie and Jimmy for the weekend and they were wound up. She wasn't too sure about all the noise and commotion so we ended up going home before the ball drops tonight. Oh well, if you've seen one Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve you've seen 'em all...

a few more pics...

Here's a few more pics of Kealee (the top one is in an outfit her Aunt Lori got for her, the middle one is on her way to breakfast with the girls basketball team, and the bottom one is resting on her daddy's stomach)

present...

Here's Kealee in a present from Aunt Sandy and Uncle Andy...

Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve...

Yesterday, or as Brady would say "Christmas Eve Eve" the French clan came up here to Chilli.

Grandpa French and Susan and Brady made it up here about 10:30. We ate lunch and soon after lunch Conner and Dale arrived (Conner had gymnastics). We opened presents and they took turns holding Kealee for a few hours then they left for Smithville. It was especially hard for Grandma French since she had been up here since Tuesday night.

Today is Christmas Eve and her Nanny and PaPa came to see her after church. We ate some more good food that was leftover from all the great food from the church ladies (Thanks again Brooke, Jenny, Crystal, Susie, and Donna!) that has kept our fridge full. Shana wanted to get out of the house for a few minutes but I took her to Maurice's to shop and we planned to hit Wal-Mart and HyVee but she could only do HyVee because she missed Kealee so much.

1-week checkup goes fine...

Dr. Rinker at Liberty's Barry Pointe office by 152 and I-35 checked her out today and gave her a clean bill of health. Her weight was up to 8# 2 oz. and should be back to her birth weight by Wednesday.

Her measurements were "in the curve" as far as length, head circumference, etc.

She really enjoys sleeping in the car. I don't think trips to Smithville to see relatives will be a problem. I already knew that her Mommy could sleep pretty well in the car while I drive and listen to ESPN Radio...now I know they have more in common.

Here's a newer picture.

Here's the pictures they took in the hospital. We bought a bunch (I know, we're suckers) of pictures to hand out in a couple of weeks but you can preview them here.

First Foto

BabyZone

still cute...

Believe it or not, she's still getting cuter. She had a visit today from the home health nurse from Liberty Hospital (they do that to all babies as a part of your visit). Everything was fine.

She was 8 # 6 oz when she was born, 8 # 3 oz when she left and she's down to 7# 7 oz but they reassured Shana that it was well within "normal". Her color was good - no jaundice and so she could quote the immortal words of Caddyshack's Carl Spackler, "So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.".

Hard to leave this morning for school. Karen stayed with Shana and I went to work and answered about a million questions about her and the experience. I feel like I just joined a club - now parents look at me like, "he finally knows what we're talking about". I know Shana joined a club...and I don't want any part of that club. I heard what Bill Cosby said about the upper lip going over my head.

 

Home again...

We took Kealee home Friday afternoon and were back in Chillicothe at 5 p.m.

The first night was fine. Jim and Karen came over about 6 and Karen had cooked roast and potatoes. That really tasted good!

By the time we were ready for bed it was after midnight and I slept from 12:30-5. Shana says she slept from 2-4.

I got up, walked the dogs and then I took Kealee so Shana could sleep about 6:30. We watched ESPN's Sportscenter from 7-8 and a then Nacho Libre from 8-10 which both Kealee and I gave a "thumbs down" to...

Shana took over at 10 and Jimmy, Lori, Gracie, little Jimmy, Jim and Karen brought pizza over about 1:30 and stayed until 4 or 5.

The hospital stay

We delivered and stayed the first few hours in a birthing room that was pretty nice. The care was phenomenal. They moved us down the hall into a room to stay our "48 hours" that was even better.

A small loveseat pulled out into a cushioned cot for me to sleep and Shana really liked the fancy bed she had.

The nursery was across the hall so when we wanted sleep, the nurses would watch Kealee in the nursery until it was time to feed her.

Wenesday visitors were: all 4 grandparents, Charles Epps (former teaching colleague at Chillicothe who was now at Liberty), Aunt Bonnie, John and Cyndi DeBey (I teach with John at Chillicothe); Dale, Susan, Brady and Conner; Jay Thomason (college roommate and fraternity brother) and his wife Janna and their kids Aubrey and Nick.

Thursday brought more: Kim Davis (Shana's cousin), Susan brought lunch to Shana (JayT took me to lunch) and spent some time, Charles Epps dropped by again (he didn't get to see Kealee on Wed); my parents brought Grandma and Grandpa Kimsey, Aunt Bonnie and Candi came by, and Rev. Charles Blake called to say he would stop by but the flu had been at his house and he didn't want to risk it. Our last visitors of the night were the Shaffers (Darren, Peggy, and 1 year old Jake). I've known Darren as long as my family - weird that we used to trade baseball cards and now we're trading pictures of our kids.

Friday was check-out day and my mom was there most of the morning. Shana's Aunt Joyce Muck stopped by, also.

Pregnancy to Birth

I remember that we found out in late March or early April. We first heard from the Liberty group that the due date was December 8th, then we were sent to Shawnee Mission for a level two sonogram (possible problems with choroid cysts on the baby's brain, the baby's kidneys, cervical shortening, etc. sent us back in a week or two for another...) and finally all of that cleared up in late fall.

Shana had a very good pregnancy and didn't complain very much at all.

She continued to work at Hedrick right up until the last day. Our last visit before the due date was on a Monday and Shana was dilated to a "1" so they sent us home. With the due date on Friday 12/8 or Sunday 12/10 (depending on which doctor we talked to) the next appointment was Tuesday 12/12 if she didn't go into labor beforehand....she didn't.

On Tuesday, Dr. Russell checked Shana and said she was dilated to a "3" and her blood pressure was a little high so he hoped to be able to admit us that night to induce the next day but Shana was too healthy to admit so we stayed at Liberty Hospital's Treehouse planning to report at 6:30 a.m. to the Birthing Center.

Dr. Tegelar broke Shana's water at 7:30 a.m. and the Pitocin got her contractions started for her but her body took over and by 11:30 a.m. she was pushing.

Her OB nurse Tonya did a great job of talking her through the contractions and helping me coach. Dr. Tegelar went off the clock at 1 and Dr. Mary Clare Reardon came on call and took over. She talked Shana out of the C-section she was basically asking for in the last hour when the epidural wore off. She told her, "you don't want that - those C-section moms won't be up and walking tomorrow and you will!"

Time of birth was 1:53 p.m. It was amazing.

Kealee Ann French was 8 lbs 6 ounces and 22 inches long.