We have a 2 week old!

Well, the past 2 weeks have gone by amazingly fast. It is hard to believe that little baby Hunter is already 2 weeks old! We sort of lost that first week, since we were in the hospital most of the time, so I imagine that made it seem to go by even faster.

Hunter had his 2 week checkup with Dr. Terwelp yesterday morning and he is doing great! They want babies to be back to their birth weight by 2 weeks of age (Hunter's was 5 lbs 13 oz). Hunter was up to 6 lbs 1.5 oz! He is in the 4th percentile for length, weight, and head circumference which was great because that was on the term babies chart rather than the preemie chart. Now that he is up to his birth weight, I can also start demand feeding - feeding him when he wants to eat rather than having to wake him up every 2-3 hours to eat - although so far he has pretty much been sticking to the 3 hour schedule. I'm hoping that he'll decide he wants to sleep longer than 2-3 hours during the night soon. :)

Mom and Brad left on Sunday and we sure are missing them! AJ took off Monday-Wednesday to stay home and help me and my sister flies in on Thursday for a visit. We are enjoying our new little family and settling into a routine. Here is a pic of Mimi, Papa, and Hunter before they left!

It's a BOY!!!

Hunter William Johnson made his debut 4 weeks early on Easter Sunday, April 12th, at 8:22am. He weighed 5 lbs. 13oz, and was 19 in. long, and AJ and I are over the moon that he is here. There is a lot that has happened over the past 9 days so I apologize in advance for a long post. :)


AJ sent out a note to our friends after he was born and it is the perfect way to tell the story of what happened - here it is -

________________________


From: Johnson, Antoine
Sent: Sunday, April 12, 2009 10:35 PM
Cc: Johnson, Kristin
Subject: Best Easter Ever


Hello everyone,

By now many of you have heard that Kristin gave birth to our new son this morning. Hunter William Johnson was welcomed into the world at 8:22 this morning. He was quite an Easter surprise.

Details:
Saturday was like any normal Saturday. Kristin’s mom was in town to help get the final things she needed for delivery. They went shopping, picked out new baby outfits, etc. Keep in mind that the due date wasn’t until May 9th. Our friends April and Piper came over that morning to take some pregnancy pictures for Kristin. Boy do we have great timing!

Anyhow, Kristin’s mom wanted to treat us to Salt Lick so that’s where we went for dinner – again everything normal so far. Also, Kristin did not have any Braxton-Hicks contractions at all during her pregnancy – our baby was pretty relaxed and chilled out.

After dinner, she helped her mom pack for her 9am Sunday flight back to Indiana. I went to bed to read and watch SNL. She came to bed shortly thereafter. As soon as she laid down – 11:50 on Saturday night, her water broke. She hadn’t even finished packing her overnight bag!! Well, we got her dressed, woke up her mom, and hustled to the hospital. By this time her contractions started. By the way – Kristin and contractions do not get along! After the epidural she was all good though – many of you got phone calls from her!

She labored for about six hours and pushed for about an hour and a half. My mother-in-law was a godsend. She was there to help us through this and offer encouragement. She was completely complimentary to me and made sure that we were both comfortable throughout the process. My wife is a phenomenal woman. She did so well during this that I was truly inspired by her.

We did not know what the sex of the baby was before he was born. This was the best surprise I’ve ever gotten! I was the first person (other than the doctor) to see my new son enter this world. He is truly a blessing! Andrew was born on Father’s Day and that makes Father’s Day special for me. Hunter was born on Easter Sunday, and Easter will always be special to me as well.

He’s a little on the small side – he came 4 weeks early! However, he’s doing well. He’s taking to nursing right away and he’s discovered that he likes to suck his thumb sometimes. Kristin has done great so far – she’s going to be a great mother. We’re all tired but happy. What more could any of us have asked for? Andrew is very excited about his baby brother. He’s going to be a great role model. I could not have done this without my mother-in-law Jan. I’m so happy she was here to witness all of this.

We have plenty of pictures, and I’ll send them out later. We’re at North Austin Medical Center room 224 for anyone that wants to come by and say hello.

Thanks to everyone!

Antoine Johnson


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We were able to go home on Tuesday, April 14th and had a pediatrician appointment with Dr. Terwelp on Wednesday. They wanted to check his bilirubin levels - this is a breakdown product of blood and high levels cause jaundice - and since he is techincally a preemie it needed to be monitored closely. His bili levels had gone up since leaving the hospital at Wednesday's appointment and so we had to go back for another check on Thursday. Thursday's levels had jumped higher than anyone expected, so he was readmitted back in to the hospital Thursday evening to spend some time under the phototherapy lights to work on getting his levels down. It was very hard for us to see him hooked up to all of the machines and having his blood taken several times a day, but he was able to come home again on Saturday evening.


Here is a picture of the little guy -






He has a special little name, as Hunter is my Mom's maiden name, and William was my Dad's name. He is settling in to his new home and routine quite nicely. He is a good little baby and we are so thankful that he is healthy and is home. My Mom has been here and has been a godsend. She has helped us so much. Brad flew in yesterday and my sister will be here to help out at the end of next week. We are lucky to have such a wonderful group of friends and family.