Thursday, March 18, 2010

3 Weeks Old

Well, I am a bit behind...it's hard to keep up on pretty much everything with this little guy. Tomorrow (4/19/10) Micah will actually be 4 weeks old but here is an update from his 3rd week of life.



We haven't really had too many new milestones during the 3rd week. Micah continues to be a happy baby (most of the time) we just wish he would sleep longer at night. Some nights are better than others. He will usually go about 3 hours at night in between feedings (sometimes a little less sometimes a little more). He sure does love to be held though. He can be sleeping soundly in our arms and then when he is laid down he wakes up and starts crying. We have been letting him cry at night. We are trying to put him down to bed when he is awake (when we can) and letting him cry himself to sleep. He usually does ok with this, though there are times when he gets so worked up we will have to go in to settle him down. He is still doing his involuntary smile which is adorable, though it will be fun once he smiles at us on purpose. He is very alert as well when he is awake. He also now will track things with his eyes. He was watching the mobile on his swing the other day and today he was watching the balloons we have from when he was born. He sure loves his daddy! I mean, I'm sure he loves me too but he usually just wants to eat when I hold him! He loves when Corey plays with him...they do the YMCA, tarzan, disco and more! :) Haha, so cute. I do have some good videos I will have to post at some point. He also is usually pretty content laying/sitting in his boppy seat. He are a few pics from the week.


See my big blue eyes!


So sweet and cuddly...though this isn't always the case!


Micah even got some onsies with his name on them. So adorable!! Thanks Matt and Kris.


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Micah had several visitors this week. He was able to meet and spend some time with his Aunt Jess and his Grandma Fell came back out for another visit and helped with some of the early morning times. Grandma and Grandpa Kugle have also been spending lots of time with him/us.


Micah got his first real bath this week. You can tell from the picture how much he enjoyed that! :)


Micah also got some homemade baby legs as a gift from a friend of mine...look how adorable he looks in them. Nevermind the fact that daddy thinks they look like tights I think they are plenty masculine enough! haha On a side note Corey also calls his gowns dresses if that tells you anything.


I also just got my Moby Wrap in the mail today (thanks Dennis and Nancy). I tried it out with Micah (well, that is after trying it out with a stuffed elephant! ). It is a little intimidating at first as it is basically a long (I would guess 15 foot) piece of cloth that you can wrap several different ways. He seemed to like it and I loved it! It's SO great having 2 hands to be able to get some stuff done thoughI am sure "baby wearing" doesn't help the fact that he loves to be held.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Two Weeks Old


Micah's second week of life again consisted of sleeping, eating, and lots of diaper changing. I can tell this will be a consistent theme for a while. He is starting to get his days and nights back in order. If we'd let him he'd literally sleep all day and stay awake all night. So, we've been waking him approximately every three hours during the day (though there are times when 3 hours and 1 minute have passed and he wakes up on his own to eat) and trying to keep him awake after each feeding which is NOT an easy task with a newborn. It has been helping though, he is waking up every 3 hours at night but after he eats I lay him back in his bassinet and he will either fall right back to sleep or cry for a few minutes and then go back to sleep. I think the biggest struggle is trying to keep him awake long enough to eat a full meal!

Micah got circumsized on Tuesday so he had a rough day, he is healing well though. At his appointment he weighed 7# 10.5 oz (at 11 days old) so he is gaining good weight and doesn't need to go back to the MD until his one month check up. He is still a tiny thing but I think he is starting to fill out a little. He is also really strong...he hates getting his diaper changed and when we do change it he will kick and squirm. You can see from his 2 week picture the smirk on his face. He has the cutest little smile, though it is usually when he is sleeping and I say it is just an involuntary smile. It is fun to see how he has been changing even in just one weeks time. As fun as it will be to see him grow and reach so many milestones he is just so sweet right now!

Corey's parents are in town for the month of March. They rented a condo in Scottsdale and have not only enjoyed meeting and spending time with Micah but have also been a huge help to us (cleaning, cooking, etc). We have also been very blessed as friends and people from church have been bringing us meals! What a blessing that is!

I just realized I didn't take many pictures this past week, I'll have to do better but here are a few for you to see our little man!


Grandma and Grandpa Kugle


3 Generations: Dennis, Corey, and Micah


One of his favorite past-times...swinging!


Another favorite past-time...spending time with dad!


Haha...this picture cracks me up! Naps are for wimps? I think not, this little guy loves his naps! And this is a new favorite sleeping position...I'm looking at him right now in his video monitor sleeping and he is in this same position. What a tough life he lives! :)

Sunday, February 28, 2010

One Week Old

Micah's first week has been full of sleeping, eating, pooping, and lots of hugging, snuggling, and kissing!! He is such a sweet baby. He is finally starting to do a little better at night. The first few nights he just wanted to be held and would cry and cry all night if he was put down. The last few nights however we have let him cry and it isn't long before he has cried himself to sleep. I feel awful just laying there as he is crying/screaming but I know that he is completely fine (i.e. just fed and clean diaper) and needs to learn to fall asleep on his own. Because the second he is picked up he just looks at you with his big blue eyes as if to say thanks, that's just what I wanted.

He has become more alert and a little less sleepy during the day. After he is fed he will often stay awake and just look around to see what is going on. He has really dark blue eyes, so dark you can barely see the pupils. Corey has blue eyes and I have brown so we'll see what color he ends up with.



It's a funny thing what lack of sleep can do to you. There was one occasion on which we supplemented Micah with some formula. After we fed him I was concerned because I thought we had overfed him. A couple of days ago I was on the phone with Shelby and I was telling her about feeding him the formula and how we fed him 20 ounces. She acted shocked that we actually fed him that much but I told her he gulped in right down. I then went and talked to Corey about this and he said something along the lines of "Kasey, 20 ounces is the size of a bottle of pop". Oh yeah, so I guess what we actually fed him was 20 ml's. I was sure to text Shelby and clear up the confusion! :) One more incident a few mornings ago...Corey was grabbing a class from the cupboard and as he got it down a bunch of water spilled out of it onto the stove. He then proceded to ask who put the cup away half full of water. I informed him it was either my mom (b/c she was here to visit Micah and help us out) or it was me (due to lack of sleep).
Guess it was the later! :)

And lastly, I am very thankful for technology. With all our family in MI it of course was sad that they could not be here to welcome Micah into the world. We however traded lots of emails, texts, picture mail, and even Skyped. Micah was able to meet lots of his family via Skype. We were skyping with Shelby and Riley and Shelby asked Riley who the baby was. She proceded to inform us that Micah was "Baby Jesus". Haha, too cute! Shelby even said later that night Riley prayed for "Baby Micah Jesus"! :)

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Introducing Micah Corey Kugle

I am overjoyed to announce that our sweet baby boy, Micah, was born Friday February 19 2010 at 4:24 a.m. He weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 21" long and is absolutely beautiful! :) We thank God for a healthy little baby! His name, Micah, is Hebrew and means "there is no one like God". We continue to pray as we have the past 9 months that this little guy will grow up to know the truth of his name!

So...here is how the story goes. Thursday morning I woke up with some contractions. They seemed mild so I debated about going to work, but Corey thought I should probably stay home (good thing). The contractions were consistent for about 2 hours but weren't really severe. So, I called the MD office (b/c I didn't want to go to the hospital and be sent home if it wasn't the real thing) and they said it sounded like the real thing but to keep track of them for another couple of hours. Over the course of the two hours the contractions were about 1 minute long and 5 minutes apart and were definitely intensifying. At that point I knew it was the real thing. Now Micah's due date was March 3rd and I guess I just really didn't think he would come early. So, with that being said we weren't quit as prepared as we should have been. Corey had a huge oral exam for seminary on February 23rd so I wanted to wait till that was over so he could focus on studying (by the way...he passed and not only passed but did GREAT!). Anyways, as I was having contractions Corey was outside installing the carseat and in between contractions we were packing our hospital bags! Haha! I would not necessarily recommend that approach!

We arrived at Banner Desert Hospital at around 4:30 pm where I went to triage and was already 5 cm dilated. I got admitted and first things first....got my epidural! Ahhh....I honestly can't imagine not having an epidural, but I know everyone has their own opinion on that. By 9pm I was fully dilated however I didn't start pushing until 1:30 am. Three reasons why, first Micah was still high up so they wanted to wait a little while to see if he would drop, secondly I was positive for Group B Strep so I needed to get atleast 2 doses of IV Penicillin in before he was born, and lastly, it was a busy night ( I think there were 13 babies born) so my MD was busy. Since I had my epidural I wasn't in pain and was actaully able to sleep a little while I waited. Next came an exhausting what seemed like never-ending THREE hours of pushing. That little guy just didn't want to come out! After he was born we realized that he was "sunny-side up" (posterior to be technical which means he was face up instead of face down) so that is why it was so difficult to deliver him. Well, that and I was thoroughly exhausted. However after about 2.5 hours they started talking C-section so I think that gave me a little more motivation to keep on pushing. Corey was front and center for the birth. During labor it was actually just me, the RN, and him until the final moments when the MD arrived to actually deliver the baby. So, Corey was right there holding my leg up and was able to see Micah be born. What a joy! Afterwards he said something to the effect of "I never thought I would know you that well"..isn't that the truth! For him seeing our little boy be born was a mix of excitement, amazement, and shock! What an awesome thing to be able to share with him. I am so thankful for Corey and for the support and encouragement he was to me. Not only that but from the moment Micah was born he has been such an amazing dad! Micah is one blessed little boy to have such an incredible father who loves him so much!

We are SO thankful to so many of you for your thoughts, emails, texts, and most of all prayers! Thanks for sharing in this special time in our life!!!!!

Here are a few pics....





The proud parents





Our little "Micah Bear"

Look at that sweet little face!





First car ride

Haha, yes, we gave in to the pacifier!

Our little "burrito man"...swaddled and out like a light!



Ahhh...I love sleeping on Daddy's chest!



Thanks for coming to visit Grandma!

A common theme around our house, sleepy mom and baby

First bath





Trip to the park. Gotta love AZ winters!

Micah had his fist MD appointment on Tuesday 2/23/10 and weighed 6 lb 15 oz (25%) was 21" long (90%) and had a head circumference of 12 1/3" (25%). When he left the hospital he weighed 6lb 11 oz so he put on 4 oz which was great. He also had an appointment on 2/26/10 to get his weight checked and he weighed 7 lb and 3 oz. He is still a little guy, but is gaining weight and doing GREAT!!!

So, right now we are just adjusting to life with a newborn. It is an exhausting time, but such a special time. I want to cherish each moment (even the 3 am feedings) because I know in no time at all he will be grown up.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Have I mentioned....

how wonderful my husband is???? Well, in case you forgot...

I got home tonight (Corey has class till 10pm) and found a dozen roses waiting for me downstairs with a note that said "Happy Valentine's Day KK, I love you-Corey".



So then I walk upstairs to our bedroom and find another dozen roses on the nightstand with a note that says "You're such a wonderful wife, I wanted to say Happy Valentine's Day one more time! I love you Kasey! Corey."


I am very blessed!!!!

37 Week MD appointment

I had my 37 week MD appointment today....only 3 weeks to go, can you believe it? We are so excited to meet this little guy!! My appointment went well. I had an exam done and I am dilated 1 cm and about 40% effaced. Not to get too excited though...it could still be several weeks. She said that the baby is pretty low (though it doesn't really seem like it) because when she was doing the exam she said could feel his head. We asked if he had hair but I don't think she could tell! haha :) I also found out that my Group B Strep test came back positive so that means I will have to have IV antibiotics when I go into labor to hopefully prevent the baby from getting the bacteria. Otherwise all else is well!!!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Happy 29th Birthday Corey!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

I love you!


I am thankful for you!


And I can't even begin to imagine my life with you!