Introducing the Bottle

We introduced the bottle to Ketan for 1 of his feedings on Sunday (about 2 and a half weeks old). He was leery at first, but since he is such a good eater (like his parents), it only took about 5 seconds for him to figure it out. This will let Ketan learn that there are other sources for food and will eventually give Mom a break.

Good luck to the Redfields!

Our neighbors, Seth & Kaethe, recently moved out East. Before they left, my Mom whipped up a great Indian meal for all of us to wish them bon voyage.

At the dinner, Ketan got to know their 3 month old son, Owen, a little better. Can you believe how small 3 week old Ketan looks like compared to 3 month old Owen? This first 3 months is going to be exciting to watch Ketan grow!

Check out the proud papas below:

We had our 2 week pediatrician appointment today and everything turned out great. Ketan weighed in at 8lbs 11oz. That is a 23oz gain in only 17 days! Not bad....
btw, keep checking the flickr link on the right for recent photos.

Stretchin'

Friends and Food

We are fortunate to have so many friends dropping by to see Ketan. Its a great break for Mommy and Nani. Some even bring food! This helps a lot as Ketan is demanding lots of attention. Thanks to everyone...
Angela & Will met us at Central Market:

Miss Ashley came by with baby Bella:

The Kiehler girls also came by to play with Ketan:

Miss Lauri:

Ketan is learning to socialize from his Nani. He can't quite keep up with her, though....

Photos, Photos, Photos

Here is a link to our flickr page with all of Ketan's first photos. Enjoy!

Tour Time

Ketan and I watched some Tour de France yesterday. He was really excited about it and even wore his "My Bike is Fast" onesie. Unfortunately, like most things, it made him a little sleepy:

First Doctor's Appointment

We took Ketan to his first visit with the pediatrician today. The best news is that he is back up to his birth weight and beyond after only 5 days. He measured in at 7lbs. 7oz. which is 3oz. more than at the start. The only bad thing is that we had to go get some of his blood drawn so that they could measure the extent of his jaundice. He doesn't look too bad, but they were just being cautious. Its hard to watch your baby scream as they squeeze blood out of his tiny foot. Oh well, at least he looked cute:

Ketan's Birthstory

Ketan arrived 1 week earlier than my due date (Born on July 9th, Due on July 16th). I am grateful that he arrived early. As you can imagine, I was getting uncomfortable being pregnant in the middle of July in Texas!

I actually started feeling labor pains at work. It was supposed to be my last day in the office, but it got cut short because I wasn't feeling well. I wasn't sure what I was feeling - I thought it was just normal pregnancy pains. Anyway, I went home after lunchtime & napped for several hours. I thought the pain had passed when Greg came home from work. So, Greg took off to get some exercise. Just after he left, my contractions really started kicking in. Eventually my water broke at around 6 pm. I called Greg to come home, and he started making his way back from his bike ride. I snapped a picture of Greg when he got home. He doesn't exactly look ready to take me to the hospital to have a baby, does he?

We headed to the hospital & that's where all the activity started! After a long night of progressing through the labor, Ketan was finally born on Wednesday, July 9th at 8:05 am (7lbs 4 oz, 20 1/4 inches long). Here is the first video and some of the first photos we took:

As a preventative measure, Ketan did have to go to the NICU at first to get a round of antibiotics because of a slight fever I got during the delivery. The poor little guy had an IV in him for his first 48 hrs. I think his Mom was more bothered by the IV than he was.

Between tests for baby & mom, visitors & paperwork, it was a real whirlwind at the hospital. Thankfully, we had a wonderful level of care & Ketan built his strength really quickly. We were blessed at the hospital with many visitors & good wishes from all our family & friends. We are so appreciative of everyone's support!

Don't make fun of us, but when we took him home, we were nervous about his head moving around in the car seat, so we rolled up a receiving blanket around his head as extra support. He turned out to look like a Sheikh, and gave us a good laugh, so we posed this picture

We finally started for home on Friday afternoon (July 13th) and that's when our fun really got started!

Introducing Ketan Joseph!

Ketan came into the world at 8:05am today, July 9th. He is a healthy 7 lbs. and 4 oz. and is 20 1/4 inches tall!