Family and Friends, we would like to introduce you to our daughter, Brooklyn Judith Kelepouris!
She was born Friday, January 30th, 2015 at 6:59pm, weighing in at 7lbs 11oz and stretching 19.5" long.
It was quite a quick labor, officially only about 3 hours. I woke up around 5:15am to find that my water had broken. We made our way to the hospital, and since I had not experienced contractions yet I was induced. Contractions began around 4pm, and after some time (and luckily after I received an epidural) things moved very quickly from 3-4cm to 9cm. After 30 minutes of pushing she "slid right out".
Daniel and I decided a while back that we would like to our parents with our children's middle names, Landon Gregory was named after his Papou (Daniel's dad) and Brooklyn Judith was named after her Grammie (my mom).
We had a little scare in the hospital. The night she was born she had a fever, so they did some blood work on her, which came back abnormal. The pediatrician was extremely concerned that Brooklyn had a very serious infection, so as soon as the blood work came back they rushed her to the NICU. She stayed there from Saturday afternoon until Monday afternoon. Her blood work, luckily, trended down toward normal and the blood cultures they took never grew bacteria (HOORAY!). We were thrilled with the great news that we would get to take her home, and after just one day of traveling between home and the NICU for each feeding (as I was discharged from the hospital the day before she was).
We spent Super Bowl Sunday with our 17"-ish TV in the hospital room and NICU. (Good thing neither of us cared about this particular game!) ;-)
Grammie, Papa, Uncle Matt Matt (as Landon calls them, otherwise known as the Zims) and Landon were all able to meet Brooklyn before she was sent to the NICU. Landon was excited...for the toy truck that Brooklyn gave to him. He did want to see what was in the box, enjoyed tickling her little toes and seemed to feel proud to give her a rose.
Once home, big brother Landon gave his baby sister Brooklyn a tour of her new home. Since being home, Landon asks to "hold it" every so often, when he wants to hold her, and he brings her pacifier to her whenever he sees it laying around. (When he "holds" her on the couch, he likes to tickle her toes, hold her hand, give her knuckles and pat her head. He is very gentle with her for the 30-60 seconds he wants to hold "it/him".) Otherwise, Landon has gone on with his regular, everyday life of playing the guitar, cooking, hosting picnics for us and his stuffed friends, playing t-ball and with race car tracks and running around being goofy without seeming to notice the 4th resident in our home.
We've had a few friends and family members visit since Brooklyn's homecoming. Papou and Babcia (Daniel's parents) came to meet Brooklyn and visit Landon (and us to?). :) Grammie and Papa (my parents) also can't stand to be away from the grandchildren for too long. Aunties Erin, Melis, Marisa and Tia Megan & Tio Mike also came to celebrate Brooklyn's arrival.
We've braved the outside world a few times so far. Of course, Target was Brooklyn's first outing (other than to the doctor). We also took the kids (the plural version of kid sounds/looks so odd when I'm referring to my own!) to Old Town Temecula for the afternoon on Valentine's Day and again when Grammie and Papa were in town. Landon loves playing with (in) the water fountain, and Brooklyn's happy anywhere as long as the sun's not too bright and her tummy is full. Daniel asked me when Valentine's Day changed from a romantic holiday to a family day with heart-shaped PB&J sandwiches...about 2 years ago! We had a wonderful Valentine's Day, being able to spend it with 4 valentines instead of 2.
From the first day, she has been an excellent sleeper at night and a very good eater. We know this could change at any moment, so we don't take a single extra hour of sleep for granted!
This time has been somewhat of a different experience than we had with Landon (at Brooklyn's current stage) because we feel like we've got more of a handle on the newborn thing. We also have more perspective this time around to brush off the tough times in the moment and cherish the easier ones. We're enjoying all of the little moments we have as new parents again and a new family of 4 and we're looking forward to watching our 2 little ones grow and change each day!
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She was born Friday, January 30th, 2015 at 6:59pm, weighing in at 7lbs 11oz and stretching 19.5" long.
It was quite a quick labor, officially only about 3 hours. I woke up around 5:15am to find that my water had broken. We made our way to the hospital, and since I had not experienced contractions yet I was induced. Contractions began around 4pm, and after some time (and luckily after I received an epidural) things moved very quickly from 3-4cm to 9cm. After 30 minutes of pushing she "slid right out".
Daniel and I decided a while back that we would like to our parents with our children's middle names, Landon Gregory was named after his Papou (Daniel's dad) and Brooklyn Judith was named after her Grammie (my mom).
We had a little scare in the hospital. The night she was born she had a fever, so they did some blood work on her, which came back abnormal. The pediatrician was extremely concerned that Brooklyn had a very serious infection, so as soon as the blood work came back they rushed her to the NICU. She stayed there from Saturday afternoon until Monday afternoon. Her blood work, luckily, trended down toward normal and the blood cultures they took never grew bacteria (HOORAY!). We were thrilled with the great news that we would get to take her home, and after just one day of traveling between home and the NICU for each feeding (as I was discharged from the hospital the day before she was).
We spent Super Bowl Sunday with our 17"-ish TV in the hospital room and NICU. (Good thing neither of us cared about this particular game!) ;-)
Grammie, Papa, Uncle Matt Matt (as Landon calls them, otherwise known as the Zims) and Landon were all able to meet Brooklyn before she was sent to the NICU. Landon was excited...for the toy truck that Brooklyn gave to him. He did want to see what was in the box, enjoyed tickling her little toes and seemed to feel proud to give her a rose.
Once home, big brother Landon gave his baby sister Brooklyn a tour of her new home. Since being home, Landon asks to "hold it" every so often, when he wants to hold her, and he brings her pacifier to her whenever he sees it laying around. (When he "holds" her on the couch, he likes to tickle her toes, hold her hand, give her knuckles and pat her head. He is very gentle with her for the 30-60 seconds he wants to hold "it/him".) Otherwise, Landon has gone on with his regular, everyday life of playing the guitar, cooking, hosting picnics for us and his stuffed friends, playing t-ball and with race car tracks and running around being goofy without seeming to notice the 4th resident in our home.
We've had a few friends and family members visit since Brooklyn's homecoming. Papou and Babcia (Daniel's parents) came to meet Brooklyn and visit Landon (and us to?). :) Grammie and Papa (my parents) also can't stand to be away from the grandchildren for too long. Aunties Erin, Melis, Marisa and Tia Megan & Tio Mike also came to celebrate Brooklyn's arrival.
We've braved the outside world a few times so far. Of course, Target was Brooklyn's first outing (other than to the doctor). We also took the kids (the plural version of kid sounds/looks so odd when I'm referring to my own!) to Old Town Temecula for the afternoon on Valentine's Day and again when Grammie and Papa were in town. Landon loves playing with (in) the water fountain, and Brooklyn's happy anywhere as long as the sun's not too bright and her tummy is full. Daniel asked me when Valentine's Day changed from a romantic holiday to a family day with heart-shaped PB&J sandwiches...about 2 years ago! We had a wonderful Valentine's Day, being able to spend it with 4 valentines instead of 2.
From the first day, she has been an excellent sleeper at night and a very good eater. We know this could change at any moment, so we don't take a single extra hour of sleep for granted!
This time has been somewhat of a different experience than we had with Landon (at Brooklyn's current stage) because we feel like we've got more of a handle on the newborn thing. We also have more perspective this time around to brush off the tough times in the moment and cherish the easier ones. We're enjoying all of the little moments we have as new parents again and a new family of 4 and we're looking forward to watching our 2 little ones grow and change each day!
