Friday, April 11, 2014

Video 1


Pictures from my first days at home...








Pictures from the hospital...


Flowers from Taylor

My feet!

Car Seat Test

View from 'Hotel' room

Me and Cynda!

Heading Home

Our Family!

Daddy wouldn't stop staring at me

infant by day...super hero by night

Home Sweet Home

Hi Family!

After spending the first 49 hours of my life in the hospital, we made it home!  The truth is, I was so cute that the nurses kept making up excuses as to why they needed to keep me in the hospital.  They were awesome and so were the doctors.  Here's a little recap of what happened:

Last Friday, the 4th, Mommy and Daddy went to the Rays game.  They wanted to get in one last game before I came to visit. Of course, I was a good luck charm for the Rays and they won easily.  Mom and Dad headed home and were set to get some sleep as they were planning to spend the weekend finishing up my room, purchasing a few last minute items and making sure they were all set for my arrival.  I had different plans though.  I mean, I needed to be out and home before the Masters started.

So Mom and Dad headed off to the hospital and got there a little after 1 AM.  They ran some tests and the the tests said I wasn't coming...thankfully the nurses knew the test was wrong.  Around 3 AM, Aunt Gina came to keep Mom and Dad company.  It was a long wait as I wasn't quite ready to grace the world with my presence...I wanted to sleep in.  I also made Mom and Dad miss the Amos Lee concert that night.  Sorry, Mom and Dad.

Around 11:30 AM, Mom started pushing and was entirely exhausted by 1:15 PM.  But as you know, my Mom is a trooper and rather than getting frustrated and tired she said, "Let's do this" and pushed a couple more times and there I was!  Mom and Dad were crying as apparently they didn't get the message that it was my job to do that.  Gina was snapping pictures like crazy and the doctors and nurses were running around getting ready to weigh and measure me.  Dad cut the cord and then they took me over to the scale.  I weighed in at a muscular 5 pounds 6 ounces and measured 18.5 inches in length.

I'd like to say a special thank you to the nurses, especially Kristin who made sure my parents were comfortable and then came to check on me the next night, and Dr. Marcelli who did a great job coaching mom through it all and making sure I was happy and healthy.

After a couple of hours, we were off to the Mom and Baby center.  Let me tell you, being young is hard work!  They kept pricking my heels every two hours because my blood sugar was low.  What did they expect?  I was skinny and I was trying to learn how to eat.  After about 36 hours of heel pricks, they finally decided to stop.  Then, they didn't like the glow in my skin and decided I needed to do some special tanning to get rid of the Jaundice.  It was tough to be away from Mom and Dad, but I'm healthy now!

While we there, I made friends with some great ladies.  Cynda was my favorite, but Cindy was awesome too.  Sharon was very helpful to my mom.  Dad just kept running back and forth getting mom more ice water, ginger ale and snacks.  Dr. Weiss was also very nice to me and Dr. Connor made sure my 'turtleneck' was well taken care of.

I had lots of visitors, too.  Grandparents and Great-grandparents from both sides of the family, along with my aunts and uncles, great aunts and great uncles, and Dad's fraternity brother Ben.  My future wife, Taylor, sent me flowers.  She's awesome.  Grandma Kathryn surprised mom by flying down to visit and has been helping us get acclimated at home.  I like sleeping in her arms after feeding time.

I had my first pediatrician visit yesterday.  The Doctor told Mommy and Daddy they should keep me...duh.  I think I'll keep them, too.  The Doctor said that besides being cuter than the law allows, I'm perfect.

Mom and Dad keep complaining about the lack of sleep they are getting.  I don't understand it though, because I am sleeping about 18-20 hours per day.  Dad has been assembling things, cooking and watching the Masters.  Mom and Grandma have been doing a lot of organizing.  They are also doing their best to keep up with my diaper count.  I like to play this game where right after they change me, I go to the bathroom again...they haven't seemed to have figured it out yet.  They'll learn.

On the last day in the hospital, I had my first modeling session.  No time like the present to start working on my portfolio.  I told Dad he needs to start providing more updates and posting more pictures because my fan club needs more access!  Look for more frequent updates, pictures and videos going forward.

Love you all and talk to you soon.

Owen Nicholas

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Showering at work...who knew?



Today was a fantastic day!  Some of our favorite ladies at Clarifire worked together to throw us an awesome baby shower that was very well attended.  We finally put that giant Aquos Smart Board to work with some March Madness to accompany the delicious cake, appetizers and beverages.  Michelob Light tastes even better when its in the Training Room at work.  

We were reminded today that we have some of the greatest friends and co-workers anyone could ask for.  The gifts were so thoughtful and each one had a personal attachment, which made them even more special.  We can't wait to have Owen try on all the outfits and for Mom and Dad to be able to read him the books.



Thank you so much to all of our favorite people for making today such a special day!  We feel extremely fortunate and grateful for you all.  Owen appreciates all of his new stuff, too!


Sunday, March 16, 2014

He's Almost Here!!!

Hello to our family and friends. We started this blog so that we can share updates with you about Owen's progress. He's scheduled to arrive one month from today!  We've been doing lots of fun and exciting things to prepare for his arrival...like assembling furniture, cleaning and doing lots of laundry.  This weekend, mom finished all of the clothes and sheets and dad learned how to install a car seat.

We can't wait to meet our little man.  We'll be providing frequent updates and try to include pictures and videos when we can.  Mom gets final veto power on all labor related material.  For anyone wondering, we will be delivering at Morton Plant in Clearwater and we'll let everyone know when the big day comes and when we make it home safely.  I'll try to get a play by play of the big day on here, as well.

We are extremely appreciative and grateful for all of the warm wishes, gifts, kind words and other showings of support during the entire process.  We have the most amazing friends and family in the world.  Owen is going to be one lucky little boy!  We love you all.

Talk to you soon.

Melissa and Kyle