kallie's first week

Oh my word- we just love this baby! The first week with her in our lives was so special, I had to jot down some notes so we wouldn't forget. Time is flying by so quickly already!

Day One: Monday, December 29, 2014

Continuing on from her delivery story... After she was born, the next few minutes were pretty standard. Ryan cut the cord, they laid her on me while they toweled her off, then took her over to the little heating station in the corner to be checked, weighed and measured. Then within a few minutes they brought her back to me, and as soon as they laid her on my chest, she was silent. Like she recognized me! Totally silent and calm with the most alert eyes just looking around all over. That’s when it all started to get very real… This is my daughter! She knows who I am! It was amazing how quickly I fell in love. Then there was breastfeeding, bath time, then they moved us to postpartum where we would stay the next two days to recover. Ryan was absolutely amazing throughout the entire process, but I especially loved watching him fall in love with his little girl. He was super emotional all day long—a side I rarely see out of him. I literally can’t remember a single thing about the rest of the day she was born other than the two of us just staring, teary-eyed, at our new baby. There was a lot of, “She is so sweet! She is so beautiful! Oh, I just love her!” going on, that’s for sure. Not only was Ryan absolutely melting my heart with how sweet he was with Kallie- but he was so incredibly helpful the whole time we were at the hospital! He was so good at taking the initiative, asking all sorts of questions, diving in to help—which was so wonderful while I was recovering and overwhelmed and sleep deprived. Such a good teammate! Not only that, he is such a good dad already! Oh my goodness, he is such a natural.

Day Two: Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Same thing, still at the hospital. Can hardly remember what even happened during the day besides just hanging out as our little family of three. Kallie is just the sweetest. Not only is she just darling to look at, she has the most calm and content temperament. She's a dream. Eats well, sleeps well, never cries, and loves snuggling. What more could you want out of a baby?! She is an absolute angel, and we just cannot get enough. 

That night we had our first visitors—a bunch of them, too!  Kallie met Stacey & Brock, McKenna & Dallin, Bryce & Allie, and Butch & Sarie. They were all so sweet—bearing gifts and treats and making us feel so loved. It was so fun to relive “our story” and just gush over our sweet baby. We loved showing her off!

Day Three: Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Wednesday we were discharged from the hospital! We were super happy with our “stay” the whole time we were there…until those last few hours. I think knowing that we were on our way out, then having to wait and wait and wait for all the final procedures to take place—it was amazing how quickly cabin fever set in. We were ready to get out of there! Kallie was diagnosed with a little bit of jaundice and they had us pick up a bilirubin blanket (aka- a blanket with lights) to wrap her in for the next few days to help the jaundice go down. As soon as we got home, we got settled, got Kallie snuggled into her blanket (total glow worm status), then Ryan ran out on a grocery run. (It’s amazing what you find in your fridge when someone else does the shopping…Doritos, Eggo waffles, frozen burritos…he cracks me up!) Just kidding, I have to give him much more credit than that, because he got home and made me a steak dinner. What on earth? I always knew he’d take good care of me, but steak? On our first night home from the hospital? He truly outdid himself on that one. It was amazing!

That night it was New Years Eve of course, and I’ve gotta say, it sure was a memorable one. We have a little tradition that we keep a running list going of all the funny things that happened throughout the year, then on New Years Eve we go back and read through them all. So, our New Years Eve was spent laying in bed, snuggling our precious new baby, and giggling over 2014 memories. Pretty sure we’ll remember that night for the rest of our lives.

Day Four: Thursday, January 1, 2015

Our first, real, full day at home together! Happy New Years to us! We had to take Kallie in for her jaundice test and she did great. Slept through the whole thing- heel prick and all. What a little trooper! Ryan ran errands and was super helpful around the house and with the baby. He’s the best. Then we had more visitors! Heidi came by to snuggle baby girl and then Bryce and Allie came over to visit, which meant...play games all night. 

True gamers multi-task… ;)

Day Five: Friday, January 2, 2015

The morning started out with another jaundice test with not-so-good news. Her levels had been going up and up, and this time they went up as high as they can go before they need to start hospital treatment. They moved her up from a light blanket to a light bed that we kept her on at all times in hopes to bring her levels down. Luckily, she was perfectly content on her little bed and her jaundice made her super sleepy, so she stayed asleep most of the day anyway. That afternoon, we had a visit from Roxanne and Kendall. It’s always so fun to have visitors- we love it! And this day in particular, it was good to have anything keep our minds off the jaundice. Not that jaundice is severe enough for her to “need to be hospitalized”—that just sounds so scary—it's just that she would need a higher level of light therapy that can only be done at the hospital. It was still a scary day, though, and I cried a lot. That night, Daddy gave her the sweetest blessing that immediately put me at peace. (I think I needed that blessing more than she did…) I felt the most calm assurance that everything would be just fine, and slept peacefully through the night.

Day Six: Saturday, January 3, 2015

A pretty slow, but anxious day. We took her in first thing in the morning for another jaundice test. This was our last chance for her levels to go down before they admitted her. We spent the entire afternoon waiting by the phone for her results. When they finally called, her levels had gone down to 15.8! A huge decrease! Oh, baby Kallie, we were so worried! Ryan and I just cried—such a relief, our prayers had been answered. I always have been, but especially now that I’m a mom, I am so incredibly grateful for the priesthood in our home and the ability we have to call down blessings from heaven when we’re in need. Prayer works. The priesthood is real. And I feel so blessed to have a worthy husband who blesses our home with it.

Day Seven: Sunday, January 4, 2015

Sunday morning, my mom came into town! It will be so great to have her here this week to help me around the house and, of course, love on sweet Kallie. After I picked her up from the airport, we had to rush right away to get to the hospital for more testing. We were of course much more relaxed this time now that we knew her levels were going down, and once again, we were thrilled with the results that her levels had gone down even more. Way to go, sweet baby! That afternoon, Sara came to visit, and then later that evening, Bryce and Allie came over again for our typical Sunday night game night. Baby girl was a great addition to the group, we love having her tag along!

Not only am I just smitten by this cute baby, I am falling so much more in love with Ryan. Wow. It’s amazing how much this sweet little baby and the whole experience of becoming parents has bonded us. I know we’ve had it pretty easy so far, but I just already feel like our foundation as a couple has gotten stronger and stronger everyday since she's been with us. How did I get so lucky? I can’t get over how much I love my little family!