"Under One Sky" in Kalani World

Kalani is 10 days old today. It is amazing how 10 days can be so life-changing. Was there a time when I wasn't Kalani's mother? It's truly hard to imagine a life without him.

I must admit I was very apprehensive about leaving the safety of the hospital with the responsibility of caring for Kalani solely in Kevin and my hands. Hormonal changes, sleep deprivation, and a very fussy baby made for an extremely tough first night. At times, my concerns for Kalani's well-being and my love for him were overwhelming. Kevin and I likened it to having a locked away part of our hearts opened for the first time. Wonderfully painful. As cliche as that may sound, it is a very real and powerful emotion that has intensified our feelings for and about everything.

Family and friends have been wonderful! - coming to help during the day so I could rest, bringing food, and/or calling with advice or encouragement. We are constantly reminded that we are not alone in this important and enormous task of caring for and raising our precious boy. There are too many pictures with our visitors to display them all, but here are a few with family...

Hanging out with cousin Maly and Aunt Vadsana on his first night home

Getting comfortable with Grandpa Brown

Soaking up lots of love from Aunt Kathy and cousins Naomi and Josh

Bonding with Great-grandma Maly, who helped out several days this week

To give you some background on his name, Kalani is Hawaiian and means "under one sky" - we loved it from the start. On a personal level, it spoke to the miracle of Kevin and I finding each other... having been born on different sides of the earth, and being as different as we are - that there are important commonalities that connect us. And we love it on a universal level. As Kevin says, "We are all connected." Sisavath, for those of you who don't know, is Laotian and my father's name. Both Sisavath and Brown, which is English and Scottish, refer to color. "Si" means "color" and "savath" means "very good." "Brown" originally referred to having brown hair or complexion. All seem fitting for our little man.

My recovery from the c-section has gone extremely well. I am still sore and at times, push my limits and feel it later. Still, I have been able to leave the house for a short outing almost every day - an excellent prevention for stir-craziness. Kevin is taking part in just about every task of parenting, short of breastfeeding, and I love watching them together. We have both enjoyed this time getting to know our son and his little mannerisms. I find myself spending hours just holding and staring at Kalani. He is so beautiful, so sweet. How did we get so lucky?

Kalani Update as of Friday, June 20
7 lbs 3 oz (25 - 50 percentile)
21 inches long (75 percentile)
head circumference of 13 something (I lost the sheet)

Here are photos to show how Kalani has spent his first week home...

Ten Fingers...
Holding Grandma Penn's fingers to show off his very long nails

Much time was spent napping...

Napping in his favorite position... (check out those sideburns!)

Worn out from a busy schedule of napping...

Doing his E.T. impersonation during his first dreaded sponge bath

Snuggling with Daddy

Ten Toes...
Displaying one of his many talents - grasping objects with his toes!

His first get-together with his pals, Addison and twins Holly and Hayden

Our Little Miracle

On Thursday, June 12th, we were blessed with the arrival of our little guy... following which we have been blessed with little sleep, body aches, and many new adjustments. Of course, it is all worth it to have Kalani Sisavath Brown in our lives! Please forgive us for the late arrival of this post - there is so much we want to share with you, and yet, little time and energy lately to do so.

In short, my water broke as we pulled into the parking lot of the hospital at 5:25 on Thursday morning. We figured this was a good sign that he was telling us he was ready. They started pitosin at 6:30 and we had a great day of waiting and working through contractions. By 3 pm, I had dilated from 1 cm to 5, and effaced 80 %. By 6:30, 3 1/2 hours after the epidural, I had not progressed at all, despite trying several different positions. Kevin and I had a ton of family with us in the room, hanging out and supporting us and we could not have felt more loved. At 7:15 pm, the decision was made to have a c-section, because the contractions had been very strong for several hours and they did not want Kalani to be under too much pressure. Although it was a scary turn of events, we had prepared ourselves to be prepared for anything.


All went well and Kalani was born at 7:45 pm by c-section. He was 7 lbs 8 oz, 20 and 3/4 inches long, and he is just absolutely perfect!

Kalani Sisavath Brown
less than 24 hours old

Kevin is completely in love with our son and it just melts my heart to see them together...

Happy First Father's Day!

A new countdown

Now that we have reached our due date, still without little Woody making his grand entrance, we now have a new date with which to countdown - next Thursday! I was relieved to hear that our doctor had not changed his mind about our induction. I am also happy to announce that there has been some progression - I dilated a whole ONE centimeter. And I am now effaced at 50%. Which basically means that I could be ready in a day or two.... or if left on my own, in a few weeks. I have been very happy with our doctor, who is as interested as I am in not going too far beyond our due date - so if any of you are up and about on Thursday morning before 5:30 - give us a call - we will be skipping our way over to Centerpoint Hospital then!

I have slept terribly the last two nights... four hours last night... and maybe three the night before. Too much on my mind, compounded by Woody wanting to use my uterus as a playgym, it has been very difficult settling down. Still, I slept hard enough to dream a couple nights ago. Here is my strange dream:

I dreamt that Woody had yet to be born, but I was holding him in my arms. He wanted to turn over and nurse and I was so distressed because... well, he wasn't yet born and there was no milk. Strange how I didn't question why he was on the outside of my body if he was still waiting to be born. I have been trying to decipher some wise message from my dream, but haven't been able to think of anything. Sleep deprivation is not helping. Any ideas?

Our friends Matt and Janna took the sweetest belly picture during her pregnancy. I thought it would be nice for us to do one of our own. Here is one similar of us, on Woody's due date.

Our Boxing Baby

Last night I finally resigned myself that I am no longer providing a comfortable home for little Woody. While laying on the couch watching a movie with Kevin, our little guy twisted and turned, as if to break through my skin. At times, it was quite amusing and very amazing to see the erratic movement of my stomach (which of course stopped as soon as I attempted to videotape). At other times, it was quite startling and painful, as if someone had punched me in the stomach. I kept asking him, "Why do you keep hurting your Mommy?" He, of course, had no response other than to elbow, knee, or punch me.

Tomorrow, I go to my 40 week appt. Kevin would like Woody to be born tomorrow. A fan of 7's and 9's, I am hoping for Saturday or Monday. Any other thoughts about when he will make his entrance? If so, let us know on the poll!