Adventures in Baby Rearing

Boy oh boy, do we have some adventures lined up for you.  For example, we embarked on the journey of a lifetime today when we set out for our local SUPER TARGET.  Daniel's only really 4 days old or so...so it FELT like an adventure.  We had to figure out how his carrier fit in the grocery cart doggoneit.  No easy task..

Hanging with da moms.

Things have been shaping up nicely at the Konrad household.  Daniel has been a super stud and really been behaving himself.  I told him I'd take away his Nintendo DS if he didn't.  We came home on Sunday, September 4th at around 1pm.  Shout out to Noelle, Tina, and Jason for helping us pack up our room. 

No pictures please.

We've still been entertaining visitors, although on a much smaller scale, and he always seems to sleep quite well when someone else is holding him...so I'm not complaining at all.  He struggles to sleep by himself in his crib, so at night, we've been taking shifts allowing him to utilize us as a mattress of sorts.  I'm developed by NASA!  He's been doing better though and Kate's brother Joe, allowed us to borrow their super-duper awesome swing.  It's helped Daniel sleep by himself a little better.  We might save the crib for when he's 13 or 14.  He'll be a little dude.

Yesterday we ventured out for the first time (after coming home of course) to visit with the Elsasser Family Labor Day Extravaganza.  It was quite nice and Daniel got some training to be a future Grill-Master thanks to Rick Elsasser. 

Labor Day Extravaganza

Jack Jack and some Shoes Shoes

The Best.

Today we decided to grace Target with our presence.  It was quite exciting. Since then it's been chill, chill, chill.  Although I love my job, I'm not looking forward to having to leave this little guy home.  He's so flippin' cute and I have to teach him how to hone it for his own benefit. 
 

We've been extremely blessed by so many of you providing meals for us the past few days.  What a seemingly little act that makes a BIG deal to us.  You all are amazing and we hope to do the same for you one day.  Here's your moment of Dan.

Dan and Dan.

It's Good to Be a Konrad

So, big news.  We're finally parents..or at least of a post-utero baby.  Although this is mentioned in the previous post, but what a stinking healthy baby.  Daniel came into this world weighing a whopping 8lbs 4oz and stretched a good 20 3/4 inches.  Born 9:32pm.  What a stud.  He looks so darn good.  He has a few zits, but we'll just limit his pizza intake and that should help. 

We had so many wonderful visitors yesterday and I especially want to thank Rick Elsasser, Eric Konrad, and Laurie Konrad...for feeding me.  The hospital food would have been great, but I never thought to eat until the cafeteria closed.  I am in your debt for eternity though. 

I'm sure you would all love the details of the whole ordeal, but I'll be discrete.  We arrived at the hospital at 7:20am, Katie began the Pitocin at 9am, began pushing at 8pm, and had a baby at 9:32pm.  The hardest part of the process was waiting.  I've been told this is often the case for inducing first-time mothers.  Katie had been a trooper with her contractions for quite a bit, but we decided to go with the epidural and I'm very thankful they did so.  The rest of the day was less about the pain and more about the wait.  We watched some good movies though and luckily the hospital has free wireless for when Kate took her naps.  Our nurses were amazing (Dorothy and Connie) and Dr. Harper-Harrison was "da bomb". 

After Daniel was cleaned, we chilled a bit before moving to our recovery room.  Katie was quite hungry as she was only allowed to eat crackers, italian ice bars, and jello...which she was not supposed to eat either...but we're rule-breakers.  I was just hungry because I'm always hungry.  Because we didn't eat until 12:30pm and the doors were closed, we didn't want me to leave, and there were not many options in our pantry that late at night...I got creative.  I whipped up a 4 course meal though.  First:  Bagel with jelly, Next:  Bagel with butter, Third:  Chili Cheese Fritos, and Lastly...the dessert:  Twix bars.  I had a frozen muffin. We did not sleep too well the following night because Daniel's appetite and my "pull-out bed" which was about 16 square feet. 

Yesterday, Saturday, was wonderful because of all the friends an family that came.  Daniel was passed wonderfully and nurses/doctors continued to sing him praises of how well he's doing.  He breathes, eats, pees and poops so well.  I'm getting pretty good at wrapping him up like a burrito too.  I'm thinking I'll try the fajita wrap on him sometime...

So..what to say?  Thank you everyone who supported us through prayer and other means.  We know that so many of you have offered your aid in the time to come and we certainly look forward to taking advantage of those offers and hope we can do the same for you.  We're very blessed to have you in our lives and cannot wait to share this journey with you.  Daniel's amazing.  We love him more than anything.  There's no doubt in my mind that many of you know what we mean when we say that and we're excited to act that out in our lives.  Here's some pics to wet your whistle.

Grandma Patty

Nana K

Grandpa K

Broccoli Monster

First Family Picture

Greasy hair, double chin, and a baby.

Beautiful

Welcome, Daniel!

Daniel Christopher Konrad was born at 9:32 p.m. on Friday, September 2nd. He measured a beautiful 8 lb. 4 oz. and 20 3/4 inches long.  He's a stud.  More info/pictures to come, but first...we're sleeping.

For the record...I did cry.

No Baby Yet

What else is there to say.  We love our doctor and making sure we were prepared was quite important...BUT...we certainly would enjoy having a baby right now.  Looks like our due date has become the reality.  I thought it would be clever to have him the following Monday, it being Labor Day and all...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  Anyways...

Today begins our 40th week.  I frequently reminisce of the day Katie burst into the bedroom with the news of being pregnant.  I always remember how cold she was because it was January 2nd and she had just returned from being outside.  I don't quite recall my feelings, but I remember her hands and how they just seemed to give off a cold aura.  Since then, it's amazing how much my brain has settled into my role.  I imagine it will settle more as I begin to do fatherly things such as tear diapers in half and adjust the thermostat to fit the baby's comfort.  At the time, I'm quite sure I didn't feel scared.  I wasn't apprehensive, regretful or anything.  I was just overwhelmed with a feeling I struggle to describe.  It was a combination of excitement, pride, but also self-doubt.  We were moving ahead to a step in our lives that didn't seem like it would ever come (we had planned on waiting two years) and ultimately, I didn't know if I would be a good enough father.  I constantly analyzed my life and actions, studying every decision I made because now I was being watched.  Now I was setting an example to my child born or not.  I consider my life to be wonderful.  I have an amazing wife and family (on both sides), I'm doing what I dreamed of doing when I was younger, and I feel like I'm actually making a difference in this world, albeit seemingly small.  All this, and I still looked at myself with doubt.  Could I take on the responsibility of essentially building this young man's character? 

This was something I really struggled with at first and it's times like those (along with many others) when I understood why God put Katie in my life.  She is so equipped to be a mother.  Katie embodies the word.  She values values and sees us at a greater depth than most others.  She understood and understands how this child will benefit and hurt from us our decisions.  She listens and she listened when I was doubtful and worried.  Although I've heard this so often, people have done it with seemingly so much less.  We're so blessed to have what we have, but more importantly, we're blessed to have each other.  When it comes to having a dorky dad who embarrasses his children in front of their peers, this kid has no chance, but the good news is, I'll be there dorking it up.  I'm sure I'll have to learn as I go, but with Katie teaching me how to velcro diapers, my parents teaching me how to cook, and my students teaching me the value of patience, I think I'll be okay.  September 2nd...here we come. 

I sure feel bad for the lack of pictures this week and apologize for the lack of humor...I just needed a break.  Here's a picture to hold you over. 

 

The next update you will see...will be the one...I can feel it.  

Any Day Now

Katie told me to give a shout out to Melissa Lawson for all the cool stuff she sent us for Danny.  SHOUT OUT!

So, our due date is September 2nd.  The doctor told us two weeks ago that it would be within two weeks.  Katie visited the doctor today...and we're on "any day now" watch.  My prediction two weeks ago was two weeks..which would be today.  I guess I still have 4 hours (3 hours and 57 minutes to be exact).  I'm going to win those darn pretzels.

Kate's spleen has a pretty good record.

 Katie is amazing.  She has this baby leaching off her and she is still holding down her job and doing other stuff like a champ.  I'm sure no job is easy at this point, but teaching K-2 music??  Fuhgetaboutit.  Very often I'll hear her go, "Ahh!" in a painful manner and I'm quick to ask if they're contractions, but Danny has turned her insides into his own personal MMA training zone...."this week..on pay-per-view...see Danny take on...THE SPLEEN!!"

 
 Good news!  According to thebump.com, our baby's head is the size of his abdomen.  I think it would

Yesteryear's World of Warcraft.

be kind of cool if my head was as big as my abdomen.  Granted I would look like Stewie from Family
Guy, I think it would help improve my ego.  Katie and I are both struggling to think about much else as we wait for this little guy to join our world.  Aside from our jobs, we've been spending most evenings lazing around watching Glee or playing MS-Dos games from 1989 (The Magic Candle anyone??).

Perfect head-to-abdomen ratio.

We're as ready as anyone can be, however..or so it seems.  Katie has been amazing at staying on top of preparatory tasks and now all we need is some baby up in hur.  Hopefully the next post I have is "hey...it's addababy itsaboy".  So...any day now...and so on....and ellipsis...

This is one of my favorite pictures that has nothing to do with what I wrote about today.

Playing with Daniel

This is for all the mothers.

Playing with Daniel is kind of tough when he's locked away in your wife's abdomen.  I've tried the poking game...you see, I poke at Katie's belly and hope that Danny pokes back.  This seems to hurt Kate however.  I've tried the singing game.  I'll sing loudly into Kate's belly button (I believe that's where you get the best sound), but the beautiful singing either temporarily paralyzes him or dulls him, because he refuses to sing back.  I was going to try and throw him up in the air, but I assumed Katie would be a fun-killer and not let me...oh well.





Things are still going smoothly.  The pains of third trimester are starting to weigh down on Katie.  Her back is in exceptional pain and sleeping is very uncomfortable.  Lately, Katie has been Gleeping instead.  That's when you watch Glee in place of sleep.  Kate had her visit with the doctor yesterday and she still thinks we'll go early, but maybe not as early.  Either way, we're (as of yesterday) at 37 weeks and Danny is considered full-term.  I guess this is really happening!  Well, just like every week, it's time for a visit to your local HyVee vegetable aisle (don't worry, it comes with a VERY helpful smile).  Apparently Danny is like a stalk of Swiss chard.  I swear I've learned as much about fruits and vegetables as I have about the birthing process.  Thankfully, another site says he is like a watermelon.  That's a fruit I can really sink my mental teeth into (don't really like them for my real teeth).

This is apparently the recipe for chocolate-covered carrots.

As I said, Katie has been sore from carrying our fat baby.  She believes most of the soreness comes from the fact that she is now back teaching her music classes.  As a K-2 music teacher, she's called to be quite active, leaving her feeling like she's just run a marathon.  We were discussing the other day that she has not had any weird cravings (such as pickles dipped in ketchup or chocolate-covered carrots).  I, on the other hand, have been having sympathy cravings for food in general. 

The last couple weeks have been quite tough for a few reasons.  I've been having my two-a-days for band camp (second week of two) and Kate has been back to work.  This schedule allows little to NO interaction throughout the day.  Although I love my job and it was a great camp, thankfully, I'm out of those two weeks and will be spending more time at home with my shnooki-mooki.  Life is good, we're very blessed to have each other.

ANNNNNNNNNDDDD....so on...

A stalk of Swiss chard is the main ingredient of this fabulous meal.

Making Predictions

First off, I have to address the mob of people close to rioting over this belated post.  You see...I've committed to updating this weekly on Fridays and it is currently Saturday morning.  I was just contacted by Blogger and they're downgrading my Blog rating.  They are quite cruel.  Anyways..

Baby Crenshaw with its quarter toy.

Katie just had her first of weekly appointments up until the drop.  The doctor is predicting we're on the earlier end of our due date...so this baby stuff is becoming much more real to me (I'm sure my wife, the baby craft carrier, would have a different perspective).  Danny has still been growing like crazy.  Do me a favor, everyone go to your fridge, grab your crenshaw melon,  put it in a chair or on a table, maybe put a bonnet on it, this will give you an idea of Danny's size.  We think the key to his growth is more ice cream...doctor's orders. 

This'll work

Katie has been feeling the pains of carrying this added load.  Her back and hips have been giving her some issues.  I've told her to consider me attaching a 2x4 or something to it to help with the support.  She hasn't gotten back to me yet, but I might make a trip to Menards today or something.  Danny's been jabbing a foot or knee into her left side quite frequently.  It becomes quite pointy.  You can even feel it and it's quite wonderful (not so much for Kate...kind of hurts I guess). 

Kate also returned work this week and this has meant much more active days.  Our diagnosis is that this might be contributing to her pain.  Kate's been doing a fantastic job though.  I'm sure it's not easy doing what she's doing, but I know that if anyone could do it, it'd be her. 

Unfortunately, we have not seen quite enough of each other this past week because of our work schedules.  This will continue into next week and then we will possibly have a baby (I'm predicting soon..)  My band camp has kept me quite busy, so school starting will actually be a welcome break.  I also went golfing today...ya know...to relax!

We've got our birth plan all done, car seat's getting installed today, baby room looks fantastic, our hospital bags are packed, and I'm just making my predictions.  We of course don't want him TOO soon..but we're both ready for this baby dude...and so on..

This is legitimate.

Katie Konrad and Sarah Hammers