Emma Cari Jo Keeney

Fun trips

2007-10-14T19:14:00.000-06:00

We took a short hike around St. Vrain Park last weekend, it was beautiful weather outside, and her sunglasses were handy! She is doing better every day with her head control and loves to sit upright to look out at things. She's not able to sit alone, but likes the bumbo and to be propped with a pillow. You'll also see several cute pictures in some cute clothes that she has.

We spent our first overnight out of this house. We went to the Ranch with Jon, Cassie, and Trevor Busch and had a nice time. It was quite chilly and rained for most of the weekend, but we had fun chasing Trevor around and watching Emma and Trevor interact. He was very sweet and gave her some fall aspen leaves, we think it may be a sign of a long lasting friendship, if not an engagement gift of some kind. She did great sleeping in a foreign place and didn't even seem fazed at all.

She is very close to rolling over now in the other direction. She seems to be 80% of the way there from her back to her belly. She scoots all the way around in a circle, pushing herself with her legs in the process. Quite funny to watch.

Oh and I almost forgot, there are a couple pictures of her reward to Tracy for playing with her after eating a big bottle. Bottoms up!

P.S. We found out that baby Vielehr has joined the world today. Their son Riley was born this morning! So excited to have another baby around!!! Congrats to them!

Enjoy the latest pictures!

More Firsts

2007-10-03T19:11:00.000-06:00

Well a lot has happened in the last week since we posted. Emma did end up getting some sort of stomach bug. She is fine now and it could have been a lot worse, but let me just say watching a 3 month old vomit is not so much fun. She is back to normal. However, Tracy and I again were ill over the weekend. We're thinking it was food related instead of a virus. Not sure that makes it any better.

Emma also had her first elk bugling trip!!! It was successful and we saw some good elk, heard some good calls, got to watch a couple bulls push each other around, watch one move his heard across the road and into the other valley, and hear some babies and females making noise too. Despite the cool breeze, she enjoyed being outdoors as usual and we had a great time. Grandma and Grandpa were there too and we got to have a picnic in the woods. She loves to be bundled!

She has been laughing a lot lately which is fun. Often I'm not sure what she even is laughing at, I mean we aren't purposefully making her laugh. But she just will chuckle. Quite funny. Also, once she's laughed at something, she rarely will laugh at the same thing again. We have had to be pretty creative at times to hear that sound.

And saving the best for last.....today she rolled over for the first time! She rolled from laying on her belly to laying on her back! She did it three times in a row so it wasn't a fluke! Did it the same way each time, rolling on her left side, so pushing with her right arm. What a super star! :) Check out the pictures, they are mostly elk bugling I think.

Fall leaves and pineapple butt

2007-09-25T21:17:00.000-06:00

Emma enjoyed her fall leaf mobile and looked very cute in her pineapple outfit! She continues to thrive and seems very happy. At day care they say that she has adjusted very well and even though she is the youngest, she figured out how to distinguish herself...she has become the loudest! They said she doesn't just sit and fuss, she will almost instantly start screaming for something (this is her 0-60 that we've talked about before). They said it's very easy to figure out what she needs as its one of the basic things: poopy diaper, tired, hungry, or needs to burp. She's getting a lot better with her head control and enjoys the new view. It seems too early for teeth but she certainly is drooling a lot! She missed the mild flu that Tracy and I both had this past weekend. Thank goodness! She didn't need the Pedialyte that I had purchased "just in case" so that's always a good thing.

Check out her latest pictures that were posted 9-23-07! She's a cutie!

Aquarium 101

2007-09-16T19:27:00.000-06:00

Emma finally made a trip to the Denver Aquarium today. It was pretty cool and she did a great job there. She was very aware of what was around her and looked at a lot of fish. Not a lot of expressions, but lots of staring!!!

This weeks picture recap: last weekend, she was all dressed up for Baby Boy Viehler's shower. You will see pics of her in her dress shoes and party outfit. There are also pictures of her trying the Bumbo chair for the first time and then a couple days later. She liked it much better the second time around! You'll see a couple pictures of her finding her fists and being absolutely mesmerized by them. Very cute to watch. And of course, some smiles!!! She's getting a lot stronger with her neck and is gaining decent head control overall. Each week is better and better for that! She's quite a kid!

First Day at Day Care

2007-09-10T17:15:00.000-06:00

I dropped Emma off at about 7:30 this morning and through the tears I was able to say good bye. She enjoyed swaying in a little chair as I wiped my eyes and let her stay behind. Very hard but all in all not too bad. She had a somewhat fussy day, clearly it was because she loves being with me instead, I'm going to ignore the possibility that it's because it was a more busy place than our house. They said she did well for her first day, I guess I should take solace in that. When we got home, she was all smiles and didn't seem fazed at all which was nice. She proceeded to reward my taking her to day care by throwing up just as I went to kiss her and some of it got into my mouth. Yuck!

Other than that she is all smiles these days which is really fun and she is about to laugh...at least that's what her big toothless open mouth seems to say to me.

9-2-07 pictures

2007-09-09T15:40:00.000-06:00

In this group you will see her next to Griffin Mahoney, he's about 3 weeks younger than she is and is bigger than Emma!! He's a big boy! A picture with my Aunt Barb who was here for a visit. And also several pictures of Emma up at the Ranch. Her first trip up there. We also brough Grandma Keeney along as she visited for the week. Weather was great! She enjoyed laying in the grass and we assembled her tent for her which she liked to play in as well. Sunglasses were a big hit!!!

8-27-07 pics

2007-09-09T15:38:00.000-06:00

Just an update on the pics in this group: her first trip to RMNP with Kelly! Some pics with Maxwell Gampp. He's 5 weeks older than she is. And a couple pics of her bandaids from her immunizations!

Immunizations

2007-08-23T12:32:00.000-06:00

Well Emma received her first round of immunizations today. She screamed worse than she's ever screamed before and it was quite upsetting for us to helplessly watch her go through. Thankfully it's been 4 hours and she isn't showing any signs of problem, i.e. fever, seizure, rash, etc. So far we are doing well and she is sleeping and eating fine.

She weighed in at 11 pounds 10.5 ounces and 23.5 inches long. She'll be tall and slender at this rate!

She continues to coo and gurgle at times, is working on figuring out what her fingers can do and is sleeping for long periods at night. She continues to enjoy the bath and splashes around and does well with water on her face too. She turns 2 months tomorrow!!!

She attended her first wedding last week. One of my long time friends got married and was a beautiful bride! We wish Carrie and Tory a life time of happiness! Emma got a picture with the bride and they should be posted already!!!

Seven Weeks Old

2007-08-12T20:23:00.000-06:00

Emma turned seven weeks today. She has managed to not get mom and dad's cold very bad but has a very stuffy nose. She seem to be settling into a really good sleeping pattern. The past week she slept between 5-7 hours each night which has been wonderful for the parents. It's so much nicer to only have to get up once a night for feedings. Abbey worked two afternoons this week so it was the first time that dad stayed home with daughter. We did real good and she was a darling except for a few fussy moments. She seems to be getting bigger by the day and it's hard to imagine that it's been seven weeks since she was born. It's been a hard but wonderful seven weeks.

A Week of Firsts

2007-08-05T18:56:00.000-06:00

This past week Emma accomplished two major milestones. She unfortunately experienced her first head cold. For her it was very minor with some sneezing and a slightly stuff nose that was easily expelled with a hearty sneeze and a good saline flush. Tracy and I had it much worse than she did, which of course, we would have no other way.

The second, was much more rewarding and significantly more important. She had her first social smile! It was absolutely beautiful and of course made me cry. Her entire face lit up and her eyes even smiled. It was magical and so memorable. Of course it was not captured on film, but eventually we'll get her smiling for the camera. She's turned 6 weeks old today!

My First Month

2007-07-24T19:16:00.000-06:00

Well, my first month in this world was pretty successful. Mom and Dad have been taking good care of me, feeding me lots, letting me sleep wherever I am, and when I cry they like to pick me up and talk or sing to me!

I've met many people so far, some family, some friends. My grandma Keeney came from NY to visit me. I've seen my Aunt Laura and Ben who visited from Texas. I've met two Great Grandmothers already and have been to Fort Collins twice now to see my other grandparents! I've been to a couple restaurants, the mall, and the baby store. Mom keeps taking me to the doctor to see how much I weigh, we do this every Monday, she's soooo predictable! Yesterday I weighed 9 pounds 12.5 ounces, you should have seen how proud she was of that. I guess I'll keep eating all the time to make her happy. It's the least I can do since I do try to give them a good cry here and there to keep them on their toes.

I'm trying to sleep for longer periods during the night and am seeing more daylight hours. Mom and I do fun things while Dad is at work. We play on the playmat and I get to look at animals that dangle and listen to music. I like to lay on my tummy cause I can hear mom and dad's heartbeats and it also helps me pass a little gas. It feels good once it is out, but can take awhile to get there. Good thing mom and dad are patient with me! I am always happy to see Dad when he gets home though. I miss him lots when he's gone. At night, mom and dad give me a bath. I really enjoy sitting in the sink in the warm water! They now put a towel down for me to sit on which is a lot less slippery than the plain sink and I can almost sit there on my own just relaxing in my own hot tub.

Well, I better go so I can eat and sleep some more. I'm looking forward to the next months and years. This is a pretty good family so far!

Dad posted new pictures of me with today's date. Don't forget to check them out!

First Day Alone

2007-07-17T13:45:00.000-06:00

Today Emma and I spent home alone. Tracy started back ay work yesterday and grandma Keeney has returned to NY. It's only 2pm but things have gone very well so far! Two things she did today that were new: 1) I think she saw her toes for the first time and 2) she saw Lucy for the first time. First she was in her swing looking around when she looked down at her toes. Her expression changed to a look of shock and, perhaps it was only coincidence, but she then raised her right foot and kept looking at it for a good 10 seconds or so before her gaze went elsewhere. Second we were feeding when Lucy, our black and white cat, came up to sit next to us. Emma's head turned toward Lucy and watched her knead the pillow. It was pretty cute. Again she looked at Lucy as if she was in complete awe! I guess we would be too if we were seeing everything for the first time!

She likes to swing her arms around and make wild gestures with them as well as kick her legs. Perhaps she'll be a soccer playing orchestra conductor. She also is very good at using her head to look around and seems to have a real strong neck. She loves to look at the ceiling fan and also at the sailboat quilt that I made for her. Her eyes must be adjusting to farther distances. She continues to make all kinds of noise while she sleeps at night. Lots of sighs, grunts, and gasps at times. That makes it harder for us to sleep, but I keep telling myself its only for a short time.

We took her to get weighed again yesterday, a fun weekly tradition that we've started. She is now 9 pounds 3 ounces, 22.5 inches long, and her head circumfrence has increased to 14.6 inches around. She dropped to 7 pounds 3 ounces 4 days after she was born, it's nice to know she's gained two pounds in about 2.5 weeks! We have already started a pile of clothing that she is too big for. That's scary!

So far being 3 weeks old isn't half bad! But we do miss having Daddy home with us. As I close, Emma is currently laying in her vibrating chair snoring. Must be nice! I wonder how long it's been since I have slept deep enough to snore....

Here are some pictures that I took with my cell phone since her birth.

Grandma Keeney's Visit

2007-07-15T21:07:00.000-06:00

Grandma Keeney is so blessed to have been able to come to Colorado to visit my little Emma Cari Jo. You met me at the airport and your Mommy really surprised me that she came in to the airport to meet me. I was just overwhelmed with joy to meet you . Tracy and Abbey are such wonderful parents and they are doing such a great job with you. You are so beautiful, and I do believe you have your Grandma Cari's newborn hairdo! I think I can remember pictures of her with hair just like yours.
We were able to take a few wonderful walks in your stroller and take you out to dinner and give you some baths. I think you are really going to like the water. You are such an angel from heaven. We will have to count the days until I come and see you again, I will miss you with all of my heart.

More Pictures

2007-07-10T20:34:00.000-06:00

Emma is doing great. As of yesterday she weighed 8lbs 7.5oz. 6.5oz more than last week. Some nights have been rough and she is a bit more fussy but otherwise it's been great. More pictures can be seen here

Miss Emma update from Mommy

2007-07-04T19:57:00.000-06:00

Emma's new favorite position is to sleep with her tongue sticking out. I filed her finger nails today for the first time, wasn't too traumatic for either of us. Tomorrow (Thurs) we will take her back to the hospital to get her last round of newborn blood work done and a few more errands. Will be good to spend more time out of the house but it sure takes a lot of planning to leave!

She's already 10 days old!!! Time is already flying. She's been in our room sleeping the last several nights and is doing well. This is a lot easier than having us alternate who sleeps on the couch with her downstairs. She's sleeping for about 3 hours in a row at night which is nice. It's also getting really easy to predict when she's hungry based on her movements before she even cries, making it much more peaceful in the house! :) She's more awake at times during the day which is fun, we're trying to play with her more and show her things. She does well at this and even had some tummy time on the floor today for a short period.

I'm feeling better every day with more energy and less achiness which is also nice. We'll probably take her to the doctor every week or 10 days to see how her weight has changed. It's fun to see her gain weight, she now has a second chin...maybe that's why her tongue sticks out so much, it's gotten too fat for her mouth? :)

Monday (two days ago) she was 8 pounds 1 ounce already....growing like a weed! She certainly eats a lot during the day and less at night, hopefully she is naturally getting herself into a routine where she won't need a lot of food at night and will start sleeping for longer periods, though this is probably a ways off.

It's amazing how much you can love such a small package and also how much you can worry about them at the same time! She's so great to have around and it's awesome to think of all the journeys that lie ahead for our family.

See some more pictures of Miss Emma here.

So Long To The Stump

2007-07-01T22:28:00.001-06:00

Well the last few days have gone by very fast. Emma is doing great and as of this afternoon is one week old. She caped off her first week by losing her belly button stump on Saturday evening. Her parents are very happy (man that thing was gross) so far her button looks good.

After not being able to poop in the hospital for the first 46 hours Emma has a good grasp on it now. Like all the books say she has mastered the yellow mustard seedy poop. Dad has been keeping his top ten diaper changes in his mind but there has only been 5 really bad ones.

For most of the week Abbey and I have been splitting our awake time. Emma seems to want to sleep well propped up and it's been hard to get her to sleep in the pack and play in our room. Abbey has been spending a lot of the early mornings on the couch with Emma. We finally got Emma to sleep in our room last night. We are working hard to get into a schedule and pattern.

Sunday we spent the day in Ft. Collins with Grandma and Great grandma George.

Here are the latest pictures.

Going Home With Emma

2007-06-28T14:29:00.000-06:00

We left the hospital at about 3:30 on the 26th. Emma did great in the car on the way home. Once we got home Abbey went in to get treats for the cats so that we could introduce them to little Emma. They all seem to do just fine and over the past few days have paid Emma very little attention.

Jon and Cassie came over the first night and brought us Quizno's which was great.

Emma first night went fairly smooth. She was fussy from midnight till 2am but after that seemed to calm down and sleep well. The next morning we had our appointment with Dr. Heinrichs who will be Emma's pediatrician in Firestone. He was very pleased with her appearance and vitals. Emma left the Hospital weighing 7lbs 5oz and at the appointment she weighed 7lbs 3oz. Dr. Heinrichs told us to up the amount of food she was getting every two hours. We are now trying to get her 40-50mls at each feeding which is the calorie intake he thinks we need to be at for Emma to gain weight. Because Emma had a high white blood count when they did her first screen and she was a little yellow the Dr wanted to do another CBC and Billi count. So we had to make a trip into Longmont for the blood tests which came back great.

Grandma George stopped by with a few casseroles for us and to spend a little more time with her granddaughter. Abbey finally got a bit more sleep from 7-midnight as Emma and I had a great bonding session. Emma is feeding much better now and is awake a bit more. She still was fussy last night from midnight to 2 but had a good night otherwise.

Her are more pictures from the hospital and the ride home. See them here

Emma's Birthday

2007-06-27T14:09:00.000-06:00

Emma Cari Jo Keeney was born on 6-24-07 (her mom's birthday as well). She weighed 7lbs 12oz and was 21.25 inches long.

After Abbey's Dr. appointment on Friday the 22nd she started having minor and irregular contractions. These lasted through out the night and all day Saturday. Around 9:30pm the contractions seemed to be getting a bit stronger but were still very irregular so we went to bed. Around midnight Abbey was woken out of a deep sleep by powerful contractions which were coming much faster and more regular. We packed up and headed to the hospital leaving our house around 1:45am. Arriving at the hospital we were set up in triage and put onto a monitor at 3am. After a hour on the monitor Abbey was checked and was at 3cm and cleared to walk to see if she would progress. We walked around the unit for an hour and at 4am Abbey was checked again but was still at 3cm. We went back onto the monitor for and hour and than walked again from 6 to 7am. At 7am still at 3cm Abbey went back onto monitor and we were pretty sure that we were going to be sent home. At 8am our nurse told us that Dr. Wepman needed to see us before any final decision was going to be made but that she wouldn't be in for and hour so we walked again. At 9am when Wepman arrived and checked Abbey we got the wonderful news that she had progressed to almost 5cm and were admitted finally.

Our hospital room was about 1000% better than being in triage. Abbey got her epidural at 10:30 and Dr. Wepman broke her water at 11:10am and told us that Abbey was at 6cm. At 12:15 Wepman checked Abbey again and wasn't happy that she was still at 6cm. She ordered a little pitosin and as the nurse was getting ready to administer the drug Emma's heart rate droped to the low 80's. The crash team was called in and they realized that Abbey had progressed to 10cm in less than 20 minutes and the baby was coming very fast. The nurses gave Abbey a drug to stop a very intense contraction. Side effect of this drug is that Abbey becomes uncontrollably shaky but it did the job and Emma's heart rate recovered quickly. Dr. Wepman had Abbey rest through about 3 contractions so that Emma could recover. At 1pm Abbey started to push for real and after the first contraction we could see the top of Emma's head. After the next contraction Emma's head was out and Dr. Wepman noticed that the umbilical cord was loosely wrapped around Emma's neck and was the probable cause of the heart rate drop. One more push and a lot of pulling and Emma was born at 1:15pm. Dad cut the cord and little Emma was on her own.

Emma was very responsive and after a brief moment let out her first cry. She did have a lot of bruising and a squashed nose but everything else looked real good.

Abbey tried to feed with in the hour and Emma had a good latch but because of the smashed nose had a hard time breathing. This stuffiness lasted through out the day and into the night. The NICU nurse informed us that Emma was going to have to spend the night under observation. This was sort of a blessing because it allowed Abbey and I to get a good nights sleep after a long night before.

In the morning Abbey and i went to visit Emma in the NICU and found out that she had spent the night under a humidifier. Her breathing sounded so much better and her color was much better. This allowed Abbey and Emma to have a very good feeding. Emma came back to the room and was able to spend the rest of the day with us. Feedings were and up and down ordeal but other wise Emma was very content and slept most of the time. She did have to return to the NICU the second night for more observation and more time under the humidifier.

Tuesday morning came around and Abbey and I realized that we were going to have to go home in a few hours. Emma had her hearing test that morning which she passed with flying colors. Her blood work was done again. Because of the traumatic birth they were worried that she might be proned to jaundice. Her bilirubin count came back low though and Emma was medically released. We stayed a few hours extra so that we could see the lactation specialist who had a lot of great info. At 3:15 Keri (a wonderful nurse that was part of the crash team that helped at the delivery) walked us down to the car and the new Keeney family was on their way home.

See Pictures from the hospital here