October and More!

A lot has happened since my last blog, so I will try to keep it short because I have a ton of pictures!!

We took a trip back to Wisconsin to see family and friends.  It was great being back and we enjoyed the break from the Florida heat!  We weren't sure how Jacob was going to do on the plane, but he did great!  He slept through both flights! 

Flight to Wisconsin

Flight back to Orlando

While in Wisconsin, Jacob got to meet his aunts, uncles, cousins, 2 of his great-grandmas, some great uncle and aunts, grandma's church group and grandma's card club and both grandma's co-workers and a ton of friends!  Here are some of his meetings in no particular order...

Grandma Schultz's church group

Aunt Dana

Katie and Jacob

Tom and Jacob

Steph and Josh

Aunt Emily

Great Uncle and Aunt, Mike and Becky and cousins Elliott and Evan

Elliott and Evan

Great Grandma Spice

Great Grandma Kiefer

Great Aunt Lynn

Crystal and Jacob

Uncle Tom

Cousin Cal

Cousin Caroline

Sippy and Jacob

Cousin Jackson

Go Badgers!!

Go Pack Go!

Jacob enjoying the Bumbo

Finley enjoying the Bumbo box

And there were many more!!  While in Wisconsin, Joe and I had a chance to go to a Badger game with Kim and Matt.  It was a blow-out, but a lot of fun!!  It was nice to get out and do something!

We had a great time in Wisconsin but it is always nice to get home and back into somewhat of a routine!

Halloween

We didn't go trick or treating for Halloween, but we did take a walk around the neighborhood.  Here is our little Pumpkin!

 

With cousins Cal and Caroline

We have a thumb sucker...

Yes, that is right!  Joe and I discouraged it at first and would take it out of his mouth. But when he started crying in the middle of the night because he couldn't get his thumb in his mouth, we were hoping that he would figure it out quick.  He is getting much better at it.  It's really cute to watch!  He would start at his forehead and drag his thumb down his face until he hit his mouth.  We still can hear him at night trying to get it in but he usually gets it before getting too frustrated...thank goodness!

2 Months!!

Wow, two months already!  Jacob can hold his head up pretty well now and is much more alert while awake.  When we look at him and smile, he will smile back.  His happiest time is still in the morning when he first gets up.  He is a smiling machine.  He loves being outside, listening to music and when we hold him in the air (flying).  He is sleeping really well.  He has started pulling longer shifts in between feedings.  He is only getting up 1-2 times each night.  We had his 2 month appointment a couple of weeks ago.  He is in the 50-75% for head circumference, 50% for weight and 10-25% for height.  Lord, help him!  I really hope that he starts growing and doesn't end up with his mom's height challenge!  It was very sad watching him get his shots!  We have never seen him cry like that.  He had a slight fever later that day, but other than that, it didn't seem to bother him.

Jocob's Life in a Nutshell...

Sometimes he smiles...

 

Sometimes he laughs...

Sometimes he drinks too much...

And then passes out!

Have a great week everyone!  And as always, thanks for checking in with us!

Much Love,

Joe, Jenny, Jacob, Belle, Finley and Zoe

Time Flies!

I can't believe it has been 6 weeks since Jacob was born!  We have been very busy figuring out the parenting thing, getting on a schedule and meeting grandparents.

Jacob has been a very good sleeper.  He had his days and nights mixed up at first but has figured them out.  He typically only gets up twice a night to eat and goes right back down.  He is a very mellow baby.  He only fusses if he's hungry, needs a diaper change or has gas.  Otherwise he is perfectly content.  He has been staying awake longer during the day and becoming more alert.  He likes sitting outside and anything that moves.  So he does great in the car and his stroller.  We try to take a walk each day.  The weather has been beautiful lately, so we have been spending more time outside.  Jacob has had a chance to meet all of his grandparents.  It was great seeing them and very helpful to have them around.  It allowed me to catch up on some much needed sleep!  Joe had to go back home to work so Jacob and I had a few days by ourselves before my mom arrived.  I am certain that I wouldn't want to be a single mom!  It was amazing if I fit in a shower before noon!  We are very happy to have him back home!  We are coming back to Wisconsin Oct. 13-30.  We are looking forward to introducing Jacob to the rest of our families and friends.   Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks...

Go Badgers!

Jammin

Hanging by the pool with Grandpa

Finally caught a smile on camera!

Belle enjoying tummy time.

More to come after our trip to Wisconsin.  Thanks for checking in!

~ The Kiefers

He's Here!!!

Jacob Thomas Kiefer was born on September 5th at 9:55am.  He was 20 inches long and 6 lbs 15 oz.  We were so excited to finally meet him!  He captured our hearts from the moment we heard his first cry.   He is healthy and absolutely perfect!

Labor & Delivery

The story of how he made his appearance.  During my pregnancy I had an idea of what I thought labor and delivery would be like and how it would go.  Well, I was way off!  It was not what I was expecting at all.  I started having contractions on Saturday, mostly in my back.  I thought that I probably should be in more pain than I was in, but decided to head to the hospital anyway.  They checked me once I got there and said my contractions were about 7 minutes apart but I was only dilated to 1 and sent me home.  They told me to come back once my contractions were under 5 minutes apart.  I continued to have regular contractions throughout Saturday night and all day Sunday.  They really weren't getting much closer together but a lot stronger.  I have no pain tolerance so I tried to wait but couldn't anymore.  We headed back to the hospital at 10pm Sunday night even though my contractions were still 6 1/2 min apart.  We were expecting them to send us home again but to our surprise I was dilated to 4-5 so they admitted us.  I immediately received an epidural and waited for my labor to progress.  At 4am I was dilated to 7 and was feeling a lot of pressure and pain.  They told me there was a chance that the epidural wouldn't completely work with back labor and they were right!!  As time went on the pain was becoming unbearable.  They ended up giving me the best pain medicine they had and it took care of the problem for about an hour.  Unfortunately, they are only allowed to administer that medicine once, so I was on my own.  I then spiked a fever due to an infection, so they immediately started me on antibiotics to combat that issue.  They tried giving Jacob a catheter to give him medicine as well, but couldn't get it inserted, so after delivery he was on antibiotics as a precautionary for 48 hours to make sure the infection didn't affect him.  After a few more hours, I was finally at a point where I could start pushing.  Yay!!  I ended up pushing for about an hour and then the nurse found a lesion that could be passed to the baby during delivery.  After she consulted with the doctor, he suggested that we move forward with a c-section.  They didn't have time to test to see what the lesion was to know whether or not it would be harmful to the baby if passed.  I was about in tears at this point as a c-section was the last thing that I wanted.  But, when it came to Jacob, we obviously wanted to take the safest route possible.  So, we were off to surgery.  About 15 min later we met our precious little boy.  I got to see him for about 2 minutes and then he was taken to the transition nursery for all of his checks.  Joe got to go with him and then met me in recovery.  I was only supposed to be in recovery for about an hour, but my blood pressure had spiked, so I ended up spending about 3-4 hours there before being released to my room.  I was very anxious to get to my room and spend more time with Jacob.  Luckily, he was released right before me, so by the time we got there he was waiting for us.   It was great that we could finally be together and bond.  A day or two later the doctor had come in and told us that the lesion was nothing and that as it turns out we didn't need to do a c-section after all.  But, that isn't something we could have known at the time.  We were released from the hospital on Thursday.  Once we got home, I started to go downhill and kept feeling worse.  I took my blood pressure and it had spiked again.  I called back to the hospital and talked to my doctor.  She suggested that I come back in.  We got back to the hospital at about 11:30pm Thursday night.  It turns out that I had developed preeclampsia.  They wanted to get me on a magnesium drip as soon as possible because one of the side effects of preeclampsia is seizures and the magnesium would prevent that.  So, the fun began again for another 2 nights in the hospital.  I had to be on the magnesium drip for 24 hours.  It is some nasty stuff!  I felt that I was completely strung out.  They told me that it would make me really hot and I would feel as if I had the flu.  I was really dizzy and every so often had a strong burning sensation somewhere in my body.  It was very uncomfortable.  The good part about it was that it made me lose a ton of my water weight.  That in its self made me feel better.  I was released from the hospital on Saturday just in time to catch the Badger game.  Since returning home, I am feeling better with each passing day.  I'm still sore from the surgery, but that is to be expected.  What a week... I'm just happy to be home!

Joe has been absolutely amazing through this whole experience.  I know that it must have been really hard on him to sit back and watch the labor as I was in so much pain.  He stayed calm and was very supportive throughout!  After being admitted back into the hospital, Joe had taken Jacob home with him so I could try and rest up.  I would have been a nervous wreck taking a newborn home by myself overnight for the first time, but he did great!  I really appreciated getting the extra sleep as well.  Jacob and I are very lucky to have such a loving husband and wonderful father.  I could not have made it though this without him!

Every day is a new learning experience for us.  We feel very blessed to have welcomed such a precious little boy into our lives.  Every day is filled with firsts and we are trying to soak up every moment we can.

Going Home!

First Bath

Family walk

Working with Dad

We are excited for the road that lies ahead of us as a new family.  Thanks for checking in.

Joe, Jenny & Jacob