Jaundice.

It's been a hard day for this momma. It started out with a bit of a rough sleepless night for me, then a trip to the hospital to get his blood drawn that took waaay to long b/c of silly paperwork not working, then the phone call saying we needed to get Eli into the Children's Hospital like now. That's just a lot to process!

And it's hard... oh so hard... when there are unknowns. I want Eli to live and thrive. So even though I know jaundice is really normal it's still very scary to me. It's hard, so hard, to see my boy in pain. Being pricked over and over, having IV's in him, not getting to hold him... ugh! Add to this my fear of losing him too... oh it's just not easy!

I'm so grateful for our little man, that he IS alive and mostly healthy and that we live in a place where we can get great care very easily. And he is getting better! His numbers went down a bit which is AWESOME.

I won't go into the details 'cause I don't have time but we most likely will get to go home Monday. We are hoping even tomorrow if things keep progressing, but we'll see. I'm hoping my milk comes in ASAP, too.

So I've been an emotional wreck all day! Yikes! What a way to spend our 6th Anniversary! Thank You Lord for such a rock awesome hubby and daddy! Love love love the little man's daddy!

-Heather

Going Back.

Eli's jaundice is not getting better, so we need to head back to the hospital. We went in this morning to get his blood checked and the results went from a 13 to a 20. He will need some phototherapy treatment for the next 24-36 hours, so we'll be in the hospital another night or two. Please be praying that the jaundice will go away. Thanks.

We Are Home.

We came home today. With a beautiful, alive baby. Take a minute to fully appreciate that statement with me.

Greg and I both lost it when we finally got to pack up a full car seat and drive a baby home. And again walking into that room with a baby. I just can't describe it.

I know many of you breathed a collective sigh of relief when you heard Eli was here alive and healthy. It was kind of like holding your breath with us for almost 9 months. Thank you. It's been quite a journey and we are so very happy to start this next chapter.

Eli has a little jaundice action so we have to head back to the lab tomorrow morning for a test to see if that's getting better or worse. But that's very manageable regardless. Right now he's having a little regular sun-in-the-window treatment with Grammy in his new room and hopefully that will help.

We've been home for a few hours and I just started looking at some of the comments on here and facebook. I'm blown away by all the love and support we've been shown. I haven't been able to respond to folks individually but know we are grateful! Eli can't wait to meet you all!

We took a few more great photos today and after my nap, I'll share a few. For now, you can check out the hospital photographer's photos online at http://www.bellababyphotography.com/ with the password 0427elijoseph. Get ready for some cuteness!

-Heather

First Family Photo.

Last Night of Just Greg and Heather Photo.

I got to take a shower on Tuesday night. It felt great. I look excited. Greg looks nervous. Pretty much sums up that night!

To Tie You Over...

We apologize for not inundating you with photos of our little, adorable man. I had great intentions, honestly, but man, we are exhausted! It wouldn't be so bad with just Eli's sweet interruptions... but there are a lot of hospital folk doing their jobs that come a knocking quite frequently. And some lovely random beeping of the security system they have been fixing all day. So yep, I'm gratefully tired!

We'll work on getting more photos taken and then posted. Since our time is limited on blogger, I don't know how many will get to you while still in the hospital. I'll try. Seriously though ... I do want to brag a bit 'cause he is really cute. And you all who have loved and prayed for him would most definitely agree.

Just know, he's doing great. He's passed all his tests and checks. There are no problems. That's a pretty huge deal!

We are having a little issues with breastfeeding ... it's going to take awhile for us to get that rolling. But other than that, we are doing so well and are humbled and encouraged and shocked that we get to be a family.

Not sure when we are heading home ... most likely tomorrow?! We'll keep you updated on that and on our visitor status. Due to aforementioned breastfeeding issues, it's really hard to know when is a good time for folks to come see us! We may be ahem ... a little busy.

What else would you like to know? My platelets did a weird big drop so it turned out to be a great thing (in my opinion) that we were here on Tuesday being monitored. Labor went well ... it's going to take a long while for my recovery but who cares! Eli's here!

Off to nurse!

We present to you Eli Joseph Kasowski

Eli is here! 7 pounds 1 ounce. He was born at 1:15 p.m. He’s doing great and is one healthy baby boy. Heather is doing great too.

Hurry Up and Wait

Pitocin and epideral were up and going at about 7 a.m. Heather and Eli are doing fine right now. Now we just wait! - Greg