Daddy Changes Will's Outfit

My poor son may never know who his father is if Joe continues to throw so many different accents at him! :-)

Proud Mama

Do you have any idea how hard it is to take a picture of yourself and a newborn? Well, take it from me it's not easy! It was very enjoyable, though, to have to continually snuggle up to a sweet-smelling and soft-skinned little boy.

Daddy Joe's 36th Birthday!

The second weekend after Will was born Dennis, Carol, Jenny, David, and Charlie drove down to visit and celebrate Daddy Joe's 36th birthday! We had pizza and sodas and afterwards some homemade lemon cake and ice cream.

Charlie wasn't sure what to think of his new cousin, Will.

Chillin' with Will

After the scare of taking Will back to the hospital, it was nice to just have some time to relax and enjoy being a family. Here are some pictures of our first family moments together.

Man-Eating Baby!

We just thought that this was so funny. Whenever Will gets hungry (which as a newborn is A LOT!), he begins to snort and root for my breast. Unfortunately, when Joe is holding him, he isn't very successful at finding it!

Will Meets Grandma & Grandpa Keller

Carol was in the hospital with an intestinal condition when Will was born, so Dennis and Carol came out to see Will the weekend of his birth. I can't tell that Grandma and Grandpa Keller love their new grandson, can you? :-)

After getting to know each other, Dennis and Joe assembled a baby swing that Dennis and Carol had brought as a gift for Will. He wasn't sure if he liked it at first!

Jaundice and Dehydration = One Sick Baby!

Ever hear of something called a "bilirubin?" Well, it's a byproduct of hemoglobin breakdown (part of red blood cells that carry oxygen and carbon dioxide around in the body). Your liver, if it's functioning properly, typically filters bilirubins out for you and it gets passed out of the body. Actually, it's what makes your poop that nice, brown color. (Hmm, TMI? Maybe so, but aren't you impressed at what I learned in anatomy and physiology last year?) When your liver doesn't filter out the bilirubins, jaundice, or yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes, occurs.

Will was discharged with borderline jaundice. We were told that it would clear up in a few days, and we set up a pediatrician appointment for the day following our discharge from the hospital to make sure that we had a follow-up. Unfortunately, my milk was delayed in coming in for whatever reason. Because I couldn't feed Will with my milk, I couldn't keep him properly hydrated. Without hydration, the body can't eliminate bilirubins via the kidneys (an alternate way that babies filter bilirubins while their livers catch up in development), nor can the intestines help the body eliminate bilirubins because there is not enough moisture to move the bowels.

The result of all this was a screaming, dehydrated baby that kept us up all night his first night home. We were SO WORRIED because we could see Will's skin, tongue, and lips dry out. Even his crying sounded hoarse and dry. We had one weak, sick baby on our hands.

At the pediatrician's appointment the next day, our doctor immediately recommended that we take Will to the Children's Hospital in downtown Charlotte for IV fluids and possibly some UV light therapy to help with his jaundice. After racing home to repack our bags, we drove Will back to the hospital and checked him in.

Fortunately, we were able to stay in the hospital with Will. It was a long, sleepless night because Will was placed in an incubator with UV lights as bright as Las Vegas in our room. Joe had to wake him up every 2 hours to feed him formula while I pumped to encourage my milk to come in.

As you can see from the pictures, Will loved the incubator. He looked for all the world like there was nothing more serious going on than that he was working on his tan. Daddy Joe crafted a pair of eyeshades that wouldn't come off Will's head as the UV lights would hurt his eyes.

Finally, a poopy diaper!

Home from the Hospital

We were discharged from the hospital on Thursday, November 5 in the afternoon. After our security tags were taken off on the maternity floor, we were wheeled down to the main entrance for pickup. I was so worried because I had to wait with other patients in wheelchairs, and I didn't know who might be sick.

Eventually, Joe and Opa pulled up, and we had to get Will into his carseat. Unfortunately, the outfit that I chose to bring Will home (the same outfit that I wore home from the hospital over 31 years ago!) was a gown without legs which made getting all the buckles in the carseat connected problematic. The gentleman helping us with the wheelchair kept commenting what a beautiful little girl we had. It was nice, but with our carseat issues and our rush to get out of the building of sick people it really started to irritate both of us.

Once we figured out the carseat, we were wheeled out to the car and got everyone buckled in. I chose to ride in the backseat with Will.

Oma and Opa followed us in their minivan.

Joe drove home very slowly -- precious cargo!!!

Welcome home, Will!

Daddy Joe helps Will out of his carseat.

Will and Mommy

Isn't he cute? I guess I can see why people think he's a girl!

Catching some zzzzzzz's

Welcome to the World, Baby Boy!!!

We are happy and proud to introduce Willem Heath Mulvaney Keller to our family and friends! These are pictures from November 4, 2009, the day after Will's delivery at Carolinas Medical Center--Main.

Baby's On His Way!

I'll be adding some colorful commentary over the next several days as I get time. In the meantime, here are some pictures from before and after the labor and delivery. Enjoy!