This day will be a day Adrienne and I will forever remember. An amazingly beautiful yet terrifying day. I’m not sure I can even think of the words that would come close to describing the emotions that were flowing through all of us yesterday.

The Thursday before we had decided to induce labor because it wasn’t looking like her cervix was going to be opening anytime soon, and the baby being 4 days late already, he really needed to get out of there! We arrived at the hospital at Monday morning at 5AM. Neither of us had slept the night before because of the anticipation of what would happen the next day. Early in the day they decided to give her (drug escapes me now) which is just a gel tablet placed inside to help the cervix to open. While waiting for this drug  to work they drew some blood to make sure everything was looking a-okay. Unfortunately they weren’t. Adrienne had an abnormally low amount of platelets in her blood, and on top of that her blood pressure was starting to rise. During the course of the day they ran 3-4 more blood test which all revealed her platelets sinking lower and lower. At this point our doctor had told us that she indeed had preclampsyia and could become a serious problem if her platelets kept dropping. Since the platelets were so low they decided upon not allowing us to induce with pitocen, and also not allowing the use of a epidural.

Considering the size of the baby and not being able to use an epidural, or any other drugs because of her high blood pressure, the only other option was a c-section, and the doctor made it clear that it had to happen now. My subconscious must have known something because that uneasy feeling I felt on the way to the hospital that morning was now justified.  Adrienne had been poked and prodded, wires everywhere, machines all over the place, and now had to go into surgery to make sure our son was able to get out there and take his first breath!

I wasn’t able to join her in the surgery room, which was horrible, because I couldn’t imagine how scared she was in there, and her parents and myself were stuck in her labor room waiting for the word. The word came, about an hour after she left the room and we immediately ran up to the nursery to make sure everything was well. And indeed it was.

The moment I saw him was surreal to say the least.  I kept telling myself, “This is your son, this is your son!” but my brain never replied back. I couldn’t stop staring, i couldn’t take myself out of the moment, and it lasted forever.

I was still worried about Adrienne’s condition and left my son in the nursery to see how she was doing. She was in an immense amount of pain as anyone can imagine, and it was horrible not being able to do anything about it. And through all of this pain, she still managed to smile for the rest of us.  At this moment she is now anemic, but making a speedy recovery. Her blood pressure is getting better and her platelet count is almost back to average. The doctor is letting us go home tomorrow (wednesday) after they take out the staples and glue the incision, OUCH!

There are so many things I’m feeling right now, and so much I wish I was able to say and express because I’ve never felt as alive as I do now in this very moment. I want to say thanks to all of our family and friends who supported us through the ridiculously long 9 months of anticipation. I know that all of you will still help and support us through Avin’s life and that is more than we could ever ask for. We love you all!

Avin Koan Keller, born June 2, 2008 at 3:46pm. 9 Ibs!!!!!!! 

We had our 3rd ultrasound visit today, at 8AM to be exact, and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t awake then, but still somehow managed to drive through the morning rush to make it on time. By the end of our appointment I was definitely awake, and moreso pretty content with what we heard!

Thankfully, the doctor from our last ultrasound wasn’t even there so we had a chance to sit down with our usual ultrasound doctor who had some very informative knowledge about our situation. I still regret not being able to see him on the last visit, but that’s all besides the point right now. I’ll go ahead and sum up the entire visit by telling you the greatest thing I’ve heard all week.

“You have nothing to worry about.”

The doctor explained to us that based on the information he gained from our previous visits, doing an amniocentisis isn’t at all necessary to our situation. Why didn’t we hear this the first time?! I keep telling myself it’s not important anymore…. Anyway, he explained that based on what he saw on the ultrasound screen,  the most likely scenario is that some fluid slowed down through the narrow parts of the intestines which caused the ultrasound machine to pick it up brighter than usual.

Adrienne and I both felt relief like never before. It’s one of those unexplainable moments where you just know that everything is going to be okay.  Adrienne does however have to take 3 more blood tests to rule out the possibility of an infection. I haven’t had a chance to do a some research about the tests yet, but once I do I’ll post an update on any information I find. 

Other than that, everything looks normal. His weight, size, development all looks fantastic! It was pretty awesome to see him on a 4D machine. Adrienne swears up and down that he looks exactly like me and looks nothing like her. I am win. Adrienne’s mom also came with us for some moral support, just in case we needed it, and thankfully we didn’t. But even so, it was nice to have one of Avin’s grandmothers present to see his ultrasound.

In conclusion, today was a great day.

OH HAI! 

As you may or may not have noticed, IEYU has an entirely new look! The last layout was nice, but I think this new layout is way more distinct and interesting. It screams out fun, and fun is what we’re all about.

Let me know what you think about the new design, and check back soon for more updates!

It’s official, we are indeed married. Husband and wife, till’ death do us part, and the like. No ridiculous ceremony, very little planning, and best of all, no stress. Not yet at least. We decided to get a marriage license from the court, and have a family friend make it official for us on Christmas Eve by notarizing the license. Only our families were involved in this mini-matrimony, since we didn’t want it to become a big deal, which people usually tend to make things that need not be. The “Big Deal” ceremony will probably come in a year.. or two, which will involve the entire family, friends, stress, and planning.

So why didn’t we just wait until we could have the big deal ceremony? There are a number of answers for that question, all of which do not include “Love” in them. (*gasp*) Relax, i’ll explain why a little later. So why then? Avin, of course. We wanted him to be born sharing the last name of his parents, a unified whole, a.k.a. family. And also because our finances, bills, insurance, and the like all work together easier when we combine them together, as we have been for a few years now. The only difference now is that it’s “officially” combined. So why then was love not included? Well, I suppose marriage to me is ultimately, nothing but a contract. I mean, look up the defintion, that’s what it says; “The marriage vow or contract.” Love is something entirely different, it’s emotion, something that can not be put in to words very easily. And definitely not something that can be put down on a piece of paper. You can’t provide a defintion for it because it will just resist. And you don’t need a marriage license to prove that. Not that you have to prove anything to anyone, because true love exists with the only two people that matter, you and the person you love. It might even be safe to say marriage is only a way for everyone else to know you are in love. Which is silly to me, considering I believe that a relationship involves one other person and no one else. Am I trying to say that I would rather not be married? Of course not. Marriage was inevitable for Adrienne and I, just not as soon as we had initially thought. And being married just makes everything easier for us and everyone else involved. It’s a convenience which will make everything easier on us now and in the future. And like the baby, we accept with open arms.

I suppose all I’m saying is that a ritual won’t change the way I feel about our relationship. I love her with all the energy and emotion my underweight self can muster. The same way i’ve always loved her. So there you have it. We are the same unified whole as we were before, except now we share the same last name.

Marriage isn’t something you are; it’s something you do.

Back to this moment: I am indeed updating from the couch. Because I’m sick. I’ve had a 24 hour fever bug, and still feeling the congestion. The last thing I want is for her to get sick, so I’m recuperating on the couch, which just gives me reason to stay up late, watch tv, collect my thoughts, and update this website.

Can you tell?