Christmas time was busy for the Coons household. It included the usual rounds to visit Krislyn's family and a short trip to Milwaukee for Brad. This year was particular fun as Krislyn and Brad were able to announce a new addition to their family (a two-legged version, this time), due July 2009. Everyone was quite surprised and excited.
Krislyn's first tri-mester ended well, with only a few weeks of nausea, other than feeling dizzy and tired all of the time. A quick doctor visit confirmed that all was going well, and Krislyn and Brad got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time--a very exciting and comforting moment.
Krislyn and Brad took advantage of the end-of-year sales to order baby furniture, and Brad began work around the house to prepare a room for the baby. Brad has been busy at work on new projects, and Krislyn has been working to close out the 2008 business year. Of course, there has been a lot of work going on at home as well, to get everything ready.
Happy Birthday to: Robin, Neal, Katie, Washington
Congrats to: Karl & Missy (expecting #4), Brian & Julie (expecting #3)
February was another strange winter weather month in Missouri, with temperatures bouncing around from the very cold teens up into the sixties. Brad and Krislyn spent most of their time inside, staying warm and working around the house beginning to prepare for the new arrival in July. They had the wonderful experience of Krislyn's first ultrasound. The growing baby was happy and healthy and they were amazed to see how clear the images were. Krislyn has also begun to feel the movement of the baby, with the occassional kick or punch.
Work was very busy for both in February, with Krislyn feverishly working to keep her projects moving, and Brad doing the same with his various ongoing projects. When not working at work, Brad spent his time working in the basement, trying to finish some space so that things from the future baby's room upstairs could be moved downstairs.
For Krislyn's birthday, Brad surprised her with a new, handmade wooden metronome (to go with her future piano, which she hopes to have someday!). They enjoyed a nice dinner down in historic Lafayette Square and then retired for the evening, since it was a worknight. For Valentine's Day, they relaxed and had a romantic dinner at a fine Italian Bistro in Frontenac.
The rest of Febuary finished off quietly, except for a lot of coughing and sneezing, Brad was the first to fall ill, catching a nasty virus that left him laid up for a full weekend and feeling down for the remainder of the month. Soon after Brad began to recover, Krislyn caught the same bug. Recovery has been slow, but with some extra rest she hopes to be back to full health soon.
Happy Birthday to: Grandma Niggli, Ethan, Brandy, Krislyn, Joan and Derek
Congrats to: Neal and Eve (Happy Anniversary!), John and Alicia (Welcome to Baby Carter!)
March became an even busier month in the Coons household. Brad took a break from his work finishing the basement to begin to tear apart the upstairs flooring. Tired of the difficult cleanup of the current carpet, Brad and Krislyn decided it was time to put in an easy cleanup, durable floor. They chose natural travertine stone, which is not only an environmentally friendly floor cover, but an elegant addition to the home. Of course, it meant a ton of tear-out work for Brad to get ready for the installation (professionals, of course; Brad wasn't going to tackle that one).
The flooring went down quickly in mid-March. Things went a bit too well such that Brad decided to tear out the front bathroom and the laundry room at the last minute to get the same flooring throughout the main area of the first floor of the house. After the professionals wrapped up their installation it was time to clean and seal the new floors. Many hours of crawling around on hands and knees left Brad very tired and sore, but with nice new shiny floors.
In the meantime, Krislyn was busy spring cleaning as she had finally gotten her energy back. She's found that her reach has been limited by the bulging belly, but has still managed to get around and get the house dusted off after the major remodel. Birth classes also began; the Bradley Method was chosen for birthing and all has been going well. Brad has been practicing his coaching techniques and Krislyn focussing on relaxation.
The weather has been unusual so none of the outdoor spring projects have been started, which has been helpful to ensure that the house gets put back together properly. Now it's on to preparing the baby's room and hopefully some nice warm April weather!
Happy Birthday to: Reighgan and Nathan
Congrats to: Dave and Amber (Happy Anniversary!)
April became even busier than March, both around the house and at work. Brad's company began a couple of new projects that kept him very busy with a bit of travel. While busy, it was great to see that the company is strong and able to keep projects coming. Krislyn has also been preparing at work to hand off for her maternity leave, so work has been steady there as well.
April was spent around the house putting the main living area back together after the floor was installed and getting the baby room torn apart to be redone. In early May Brad was busily painting the baby room and getting it ready for flooring to be installed, while Krislyn continued to put the house back together and clean up the mess left by the projects.
Krislyn and Brad spent Easter Sunday at Krislyn's Grandmother's house, and enjoyed a nice meal and had a chance to visit with the family. Everyone was marveled by Krislyn's now rapidly growing baby bump. Niece Ava's birthday party came shortly after and was held in the park. Every enjoyed a nice picnic lunch and watched Ava celebrate by diving face-first into her birthday cake.
In mid-May, Brad and Krislyn headed north to Wisconsin for their baby shower, hosted by their sister-in-law and Brad's mom. The drive wasn't too bad on the way up, but Krislyn did get pretty uncomfortable on the way home. It was a nice, cool day in Milwaukee, and was a wonderful time visiting with the family! Krislyn and Brad were very excited about all of the nice things given to the baby!
In late May, Krislyn and Brad went to a baseball game with her dad and brother's family. Krislyn was comfortable in the cooler evening weather, and everyone enjoyed the game, especially the little ones since this was their first ballgame. Memorial Day weekend was a great time to catch up on the projects around the house, and still sneak in a bit of relaxation time.
Happy Birthday to: Lana, Randy, Ava, Aaron, Carol, Kim, Ken O., Brad, Ken, Scott, Meaghan, Kerrie, Greg, Krista, Andrea, Connie and Sarrah
Congrats to: Brad and Krislyn (Anniversary -- 8 Years!), Andrea and Dan (Happy Anniversary!), Aaron (Happy Graduation!)
Brad and Krislyn finished up their long line of birth classes to prepare them for the upcoming birth. They also attended a dog training class, learning interesting tips and tricks to help the dogs adjust and accept the new addition to the family.
Krislyn's Cousin Aaron graduated from high school this year, so Krislyn and Brad spent a bit of time visiting with him and the rest of the family in Highland, IL. Shortly after, Krislyn's family held a baby shower for her with all of the local family and friends. It was a great time at one of the local tea room, and all enjoyed nice teas and appetizers. Brad's co-workers also threw him a wonderful surprise shower at the office. They convinced him that he needed to be at an important meeting, only to surprise him with a great shower and a wonderful array of gifts!
Work for Krislyn and Brad has been very busy, keeping up with the current workload. Projects around the house have kept both of them busy outside of work, with the house finally being re-assembled after the renovations. The baby room is now fully prepared and most of the rest of the house is back together.
The fourth of July holiday weekend was more quiet than usual around the Coons household. More finishing work was being done around the house, and the neighbors threw a few small parties on the 4th with great food and some small fireworks. Everyone missed the big party and fireworks show, but had a nice relaxing evening and are very much looking forward to next year
With Krislyn only days away from her due date, the wait is on for the baby!
Today's the day! Or so the doctor's say. Krislyn's original due date has never changed from July 10th, but with a month of no measurements and no progress, it was unclear how accurate that would be. The doctor had scheduled a non-stress test and ultrasound to make sure everything was ok with the baby, so Brad and Krislyn were waiting to see what the day brought.
At 4.30am, Krislyn woke up with the urge use the restroom, which occured very often for the next hour; apparently her body was preparing for labor, though she thought the baby was sitting on her bladder again. The alarm went off as usual for work at 5.30 and Brad groggily crawled out of bed. Realizing something was off, he suggested that Krislyn stay home from work that day. By 6am she was having hard contractions about 10 minutes apart. Brad ran through the house trying to get things in order (last minute packing, cleaning up the kitchen and getting the pets situated). Krislyn took a shower which sped up the contractactions, although they weren't as hard as before the shower; she also ate a light breakfast. Her doctor's appointment was at 9am, so off they ran to drop the dogs at the kennel (just in case this was the real thing) and to get to the doctor.
At the doctor, they quickly took Krislyn back and checked her measurements, since the pains were increasing to the point of scaring the other patients (she was not yelling, but grimancing horribly). She measured at 3cm dilated, 90% effaced, with contractions every 5 minutes lasting 60-90 seconds. They rushed her to the hospital labor & delivery unit. Thankfully it was in the same building as she was not going to get back in the car after the drive to the kennel and hospital. Within the half hour to get checked in at L&D, she had already progressed to 5cm dialted but still 90% effaced. The baby was on the move.
Once settled into her room, the nurses hooked up an external monitor to see the baby's heart rate. Krislyn was sitting on a birth ball, which was causing some problems reading the heart rate. The staff was concerned that there was some "loss of heart rate" with the baby, so they wanted to break the bag of waters and put in an internal monitor. Brad and Krislyn really wanted as natural a birth as possible, and instead insisted on changing positions and delaying the break until absolutely necessary. Sure enough once off the birth ball and onto the bed on her side, the baby's heart rate was back to normal. Krislyn was experiencing a ton of back labor, so sitting up and leaning over was the most comfortable for her, but tended to raise concerns over the baby's heart rate. So, she was often forced to lay on her side. Brad was a champion coach. He was on his feet the whole time, getting cold rags, water, blankets (Krislyn went through a lot of hot & cold spells), and applying counter pressure to her back. He may now need physical therapy to his wrists after a dozen hours of constant counter-pressure to Krislyn's lower back, though his feet and back hurt the most right now.
By 6pm, Krislyn was ready to push. The bag of waters broke naturally and she sky-rocketted to 10cm dilated and 100% effaced. She was ready and was not going to wait. Brad and another nurse held her legs back because her energy was fading fast and her feet wouldn't reach the stirups. Unfortunately, Dr. Lemoine, was out attending another patient, and Dr. Durel, another member of the practice was busy performing a c-section in the hospital that evening. Krislyn didn't care what doctor delivered the baby by that point, and as she began pushing they found two residents to assist. At this point she was already moving forward so a nurse "catching" the baby was fine with her. Dr. Durel made it to the room just in time! After 2 hours of pushing, the head finally came through and the doctor was there to help her through the rest. The baby came out "sunny side up" (face up) which was the reason for all the back labor that she was experiencing, but also meant the baby wasn't turning to the side to help get the shoulders out. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Krislyn couldn't stop the pushing and the baby's right shoulder caught, causing a 3rd degree tear (ouch!), but the baby came shooting out (Brad's words).
Averett William Reid joined the Coons family at 7.59pm on Friday, July 10th, right on his due date! He came just as planned, obviously taking after his parent's rigid scheduling habits. He weighed 8lbs, 8.4oz (on the big side like mom who was 9.9) and measured 20 inches long (just a little under dad who was 21). His head was huge at 13 3/4 inches (he gets that from his father too) with dark brown/black hair and dark blue eyes. Brad cut the cord, which apparently is like cutting tough gristle with a dull scissors, per his description. Little Avery also did his first good deed by donating cord blood to the St. Louis Children's Hospital Cord Blood Donation program. Mom and baby both did and continue to do great. Krislyn is sore from her stiches but otherwise ready to go, and baby is quite content. Dad is also doing well, with the exception of his tired feet and back. Mom and Dad are thrilled to be new parents!
In spite of a desire to update the news more frequently, Krislyn and Brad did not plan on only a few hours of sleep each night and a baby that eats constantly!
Baby Averett was doing very well after the birth, as was mom, though she was still in considerable pain and restricted on movement. When they left the hospital, he weighed 7lbs and 15oz, right in the 10% range of weight loss that is typical for a newborn. He also passed his hearing test, though the tech said he was a little wiggly. At home, he was met by the neighbors and balloons announcing his birth to all that drove by the house. He slept through the whole thing, but nonetheless it was very thoughful of the neighbors. Averett's first week home was quite the shock to Brad and Krislyn's schedule and habits. They quickly learned that the little guy was a voracious eater and not so big on sleeping now that he was home. They got very little sleep that first week, and Krislyn was feeding him constantly.
At his first pediatrician visit (at 5 days old), Averett had already gained back some of his weight to weigh in at 8lbs and 1oz. Everything checked out great and he was sent home in confirmed health. His next appointment was scheduled when he is 1 month old.
At the end of the first week, Avery had his first visitors! Brad's family came into town to see the new addition. Avery tried hard to stay awake and visit with the family, but ended up sleeping through most of their visit. Shortly after the visit, Brad and Krislyn settled in for another week at home with the baby. Brad took 2 weeks paternity leave, but ended up taking a few work calls and emails during that time. The second week was a quiet one as Averett began to settle into a routine for eating, but there was still little sleep for Mom and Dad. Even the dogs had rings under their eyes from the lack of sleep!
The pets have all been great with the baby. The dogs are a little jealous, but have been very careful with Avery. Samantha attempts to mother" him, so Brad and Krislyn have been working to keep her from giving him constant tongue baths (thankfully!). The cats haven't taken much notice, though it seems likely that will change once Avery starts crawling and toddling.
Brad went back to work this week. He misses the time with baby during the day, and rushes home at night to scoop him up and spend some time. Krislyn doesn't mind sharing time since she has a lot of bonding time with Avery throughout the day. She can actually take a shower and run to the bathroom while Brad relaxes and play with the baby. Avery's sleep schedule has begun to spread out to about 5 hours at night, though during the day he continues to take cat naps. He's still eating well, but prefers to cluster feed in the evenings and graze throughout the day. His eyes have not changed color yet, so it's still undertermined if he will have brown eyes like his parents or the recessive blue eyes from Krislyn's side of the family. The family, friends and neighbors take much enjoyment in attempting to divide up Avery's features between Brad and Krislyn. Brad and Krislyn have determined that he has Krislyn's hands and Brad's ears and feet, but his hair is starting to lighten and is very straight and fine, so it's appearing to become much more similar to Krislyn's hair. All will have to wait and see how his features shape up, and look forward to the many upcoming surprises as he matures and grows!
Happy Birthday to: Charlie, Christiana, Josie and Archangela
Congrats to: Tara and Mitko (Happy Anniversary!), Aaron (Congrats on your Graudation!), Karl and Missy (Happy Anniversary!), Peter and Melanie (Happy Anniversary!), Marcie and Josh (Happy Anniversary!), Greg and Kerrie (Happy Anniversary!) and Jim and Joan (Happy Anniversary!)
August has gone by very quickly at the Coons household. Krislyn is very much enjoying her time at home with baby Avery, well, except for his cranky hour in the afternoon. She still has a month of maternity leave left, so she'll have a bit more time with him before heading back to work. She hasn't been totally confined to the house however; she and Brad have taken taken several opportunities to take Avery out and about, doing a small bit of necessary shopping and catching a few quick meals.
Brad has been very busy at work, trying to keep up with many projects going at the same time. It's exciting to see so much work going on in today's economy, but he's trying to pace himself so he has plenty of energy to spend time with the baby. He very much looks forward to coming home each night and spends the evenings playing with, feeding and generally hanging out with Avery.
Avery had his one month check-up and was given a clean bill of health. He's growing very well, putting on a couple of pounds and growing a few inches! He's in the 75-90% range on height, so early indications show he will be tall.
Krislyn went back to her doctor for her post-pardum check-up. She healed very well and has had all restrictions removed, so she can now return to her normal, pre-pregnancy activities. She is also quite excited to be losing the baby weight quickly.
Happy Birthday to: Samantha (the dog), Kaylee, Oliver (the cat) and Tara
Congrats to: Brian and Julie (Happy Anniversary!), Karl & Missy (Congrats on your new Addition!)
Avery had his two month check-up in September, and again got a clean bill of health. He's still a very long baby, and about middle of the road on weight (he must be taking after his father). He had his first round of vaccines, which briefly made him unhappy. They also checked out his motor skills and he measured in at a four month level!
Krislyn's cousin Robin got married at Pere Marquette park in late September. It was a beautiful fall day and Avery got to meet the entire family. Everyone thought he was very handsome in his wedding outfit.
The weather began to get cold and rainy at the end of September, and it's been raining off-and-on ever since. Brad escaped for a few days to sunny Orlando, FL on a business trip, but Krislyn and Avery had to tough out the cold, wet fall weather.
Krislyn went back to work the first week in October, and Avery had his first week in daycare. So far it's been quite rough, throwing off Avery's schedule, keeping him up all night and hurting his eating habits. Krislyn and Brad hope things will settle in soon or they'll have to change things up.
Happy Birthday to: Gabriel, Morgan and Bret
Congrats to: Bret & Heidi (Happy Anniversary!), Krista & Bob (Happy Anniversary!) and Meaghan & Dan (Happy Anniversary!)
Avery experienced his first Halloween! It was exciting for Brad and Krislyn to dress him up in his Tigger suit. Unfortunately he came down with a head cold the day before Halloween, so he couldn't make the rounds to visit the neighbors, but at least a few pictures of him dressed up were caught.
After a month of being back at work, with Avery at daycare and still not adjusting terribly well, Krislyn decided that it would be best for her to stay home with him. She left work at the end of October, and has been spending the days playing with, teaching and enjoying the baby! She and Avery also enrolled in 'Baby & Me' yoga, which provided some fun and exercise, and a bit of time out of the house.
November brought cooler weather in St. Louis. It also brought friends and family to visit, and to join in Avery's baptism. Avery was baptized on November 22nd, and a large group of friends and family came together to share the day.Thanksgiving was quiet at the Coons house, but Brad, Krislyn and Avery did manage to get out to visit with Krislyn's family at her Grandmother's house on Thanksgiving day. Brad made his usual Thanksgiving dinner later in the weekend, and he and Krislyn enjoyed leftovers for the next week!
December got even colder, with winter heading in early (some say right on time). Avery got his first chance to meet Santa one Saturday at the mall! He sat quietly on Santa's lap, and was excited to see all of the other kids and the Christmas display. Later that day he helped Brad and Krislyn select their Christmas tree, which they brought home and promptly setup. The rest of the decorations have recently gone up, and everything is ready for the holiday season!
Happy Birthday to: Jim, Nancy, Simone, Paige, Kelsey, Kina, Charlie, Eve, Marcie, Josh, Jenny, Ben, Burt and Aaron
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