First "playdate"

From left to right: Melody with 2 week old Carolina, Sarah with almost 3 month old Asher, and Kim with 3 week old Luke



I think the adults enjoyed the playdate more than the kiddos, but we will label this event their first "playdate" nonetheless!

Home Sweet Home, Pt. 2

We are home again.

The doctor released us Wednesday morning, after Carolina's bilirubin levels fell off the chart. She was all the way down to about 7.5, two points below where she was last Saturday. No bili blanket, no restricts, nothing. Just go home.

So we are finally getting settled in and figuring out what "normal" life will be like now with two beautiful daughters. Carolina is feeding well, except for a span of a couple of hours early this morning where she couldn't make up her mind if she wanted to eat or sleep. She got her first bath at home today and really seemed to enjoy the first day of the NCAA Tournament.

Victoria seems to be doing well, too. She was kind of quiet for a few days. I think it wore on her having Mommy, Daddy and baby sister in the hospital for about 5 1/2 out of the past 7 days. Luckily we have incredible family members who have taken good care of her and are trying to make her feel special.


Thanks for all the kind words, prayers and support over the past week. They have helped more than you know.

--Jeff

That Billy Rubin is nothing but trouble!

Here we are at the hospital again, on the pediatric floor. I'm on the hospital bed, blogging away. Melody's in a chair next to me enjoying American Idol. And Carolina? She's in a bili bed, trying to get rid of her jaundice.

She had to stay an extra day at the hospital because of her jaundice, but was released to go home Saturday afternoon. We took her in to see Dr. B. Monday for a check-up and her bilirubin levels had spiked pretty high. The decision was made, then, to admit her for a day or two for some extensive phototherapy to get the bilirubin down and some normal color back to her skin (she had begun to look pumpkiny).



So far so good. Her bilirubin had dropped from 18, to 15. From 15 to 11 and from 11 to 10.3. Dr. B wants to get it into the single digits before letting her go home Wednesday morning. The "acceptable" range for her at 5 days old was around 14, so she's well within that now as a 6-day old. I'm just trying to remind myself that she will be okay.

This has been hard. Carolina's heels are spotted red from all the times they've had to draw blood. Both Melody and I are a bit stir crazy from being in a hospital room for so long and it's just hard to see our Sweet Pea go through this.

We also battle feeling selfish. Here around us are all these children with real, serious illnesses. Things that may affect the rest of their lives. Our baby just has jaundice and, really, that's not so uncommon. It's possible that this could cause her some long-term problems, but it's not very likely. Who are we to think we have it so hard?

Keep us in your thoughts. We're trying to put a positive spin on all this. Carolina's health will be good and soon we'll all be at home together. Plus, she's just so adorable in her bili bed. She has these cool shades velcroed to her head right now. I think they look like stunner shades. I want t draw some horizontal lines on them so she'll look like Kanye in the "Stronger" video. Come on, tell me this:



doesn't remind you of this:



Hopefully we'll have more good news to share tomorrow.

--Jeff

Movie Star Carolina

Kid can own a scene already. She and Victoria clearly inherited the drama gene. Here's Carolina Lily visiting us in the suite Thursday morning.




We have more pictures of the newest Kessinger...we'll post those later as time allows. Carolina's on her way to try nursing for the first time.

Surprise! She's here! Meet Carolina Lily Kessinger...

She was born at 6:37 p.m. today, Wednesday, March 12. She checked in at 5 lbs, 8 ozs and - knock wood - has managed to stay out of the NICU. They are making sure she is able to maintain both her body temp and blood sugar. Her blood sugar is looking good, though she's still a bit on the cold side.

Melody did fantastic! Once things started moving, they really moved! She only had to push a couple of times. She's resting comfortably right now. She is an amazing mother.

Victoria got to meet Carolina today and is just over the moon. Big ear-to-ear grin plastered on that girl's face. She keeps saying "She's so cute!" She hasn't gotten to hold her yet, but hopefully that will change tomorrow.

Carolina's lung capacity drew rave reviews from passers-by in the hall and she has curly, wispy dark hair. I think are eyes are dark brown. Melody and Victoria say blue. I'm still not sure how our perceptions could be that far apart.

We're pumping milk for a while so they can monitor how much Carolina's eating. Once she's all stabilized we'll be able to feed. I'm gonna go catch a nap now. We pump again in about three hours.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers, love and kind words today. Delivering a baby at 35 weeks has its pitfalls, but so far we've managed to twice deliver two very healthy babies 5 weeks early.

Here''s a Slide Show of the newest citizen of the world, Ms. Carolina Lily Kessinger. Leave your love as a comment here and I'll pass it along.

Jeff

P.S. - Just so there's no confusion, it's pronounced "Care-uh-LEE-nuh", not "Care-uh-LINE-uh," like the mighty Tar Heels.

Funny but true!

I wish I had a dollar for every time I put my husband in this compromising position!
(click on the picture to enlarge it if it's hard to read)

Weight update

I don't intend to keep the weight of this "weigh-in" on my shoulders for too long. Now that I am at this weight, I've decided to take it easy when it comes to when and what I eat. Don't worry, I have entered into a nauseous phase, so I really am not stuffing my face. On the contrary, I really need to focus on eating something even if I don't feel hungry. I have a "little" bundle of joy to nurture!

Weight gain: 30 lbs @ 34 weeks of pregnancy (+4 in last 2 weeks)