My little brother is 1 month old

Me and my little brother in matching shirts. Just in case you didn't know, I'm the big sister! And he's the little brother!

Check out my new glasses!!

From Just 4 Alicia

Ben's Birth-Day Story

We were just a few days shy of the 39 week mark. What an accomplishment for us to get this far! We had been concerned all along that the preeclampsia or the blood clot concerns with mommy's health would put us at an earlier due date. But wow, modern medicine and great doctors really rock and allowed us to get to this point. So, Monday, January 31, mommy had another routine appointment at the doctor's office. For the last month or so, we had weekly non-stress tests to monitor the baby to make sure mommy and baby were handling the pregnancy well. Unfortunately, it was not uncommon for us to fail the non-stress test in the dr's office and get sent over to the hospital for an extended non-stress test/monitoring at the labor and delivery floor. Let's just say, we were getting to know and see some familiar faces and names of some of the nurses on that floor :) On Monday when we were told the non-stress test wasn't getting the readings they liked, we weren't completely sure this was really IT. So they did one more check of the baby and did an ultrasound in the office and saw my fluid levels dropped significantly from last week too. That was the final straw to send me over to the hospital. We were to come back in a few hours after we had a meal and had gathered our belongings for an induction.

Sidenote: This was kind of a blessing to us, as quickly approaching was one of Chicagoland's biggest snowstorms. It ended up being the 3 largest blizzard in Chicagoland history dumping over 20+ inches of snow starting late Monday evening continuing into mid-week. So we were safely stuck inside the hospital getting great care while the weather outside was quite blustery. I guess if I had to be stuck or stranded somewhere during a blizzard, the hospital was the place to be :)

So, Monday evening, the induction started. Mommy had been having some contractions on and off before hand and was already dialating some, so we just had to turn up the pitocin and see how fast things progressed! Tuesday, February 1, Mommy's water was broke at about 6:30 that morning, and the contractions started rearing its ugly head and mommy ordered the epidural by mid-morning.

By 1 o'clock, the contractions and pitocin were also taking a task on little peanut too, as when mommy had a contraction, baby's heart rate would drop. :( With the nurses and doctor watching us closely, we were almost ready to deliver naturally and began to push. However, the pushing began to appear too stressful for the baby and we were immediately rushed off for an emergency c-section. At 1:30, we were signing consent forms and daddy was being sent off to find some scrubs to go to the operating room. By 1:46 p.m. baby Benjamin safely arrived into our world. During our stay, we had a few friends stop by the hospital, and of course, a special big sister, Alicia, was able to make an appearance after the snow settled so she could finally meet her new baby brother. On Friday, Feb. 4, all were headed home to start our life of the family of 4!!

new year fun

We started the new year off with a relaxing meal and some evening fun at the Suttmann's house that new year's eve. The kids enjoyed playing and dancing around to some good ole Christmas music, aka most favorite requested Jingle Bells, before we convinced them that the music is special music that we only play once a year... However, it was with much debate that I think we were able to finally put the holiday music to rest. Not sure why I didn't have any pictures with my camera that night, but thankfully the Suttmann's took some of that evening for us :) Check out the Suttmann blog for some pics... http://jksuttmann.blogspot.com/2011/01/starting-new-year.html

Maybe we should have camped out on the Suttmann's floor on New Year's Eve, as then the next day, we ventured back up to their house to attend the Annual New Years Day Dinner!

Happy valentines day

Mommy self portrait with kiddos :)

Ready for some football!!!

Yeah Green Bay Packers are in the Superbowl! Go pack go!

I'm a big sister!

Hey! Look at my kid brother. Isn't he cute?

Alicia was quite excited when Big Carl brought her to see Mommy/Daddy and Ben today. First she went to mommy's tummy looking for Ben, and she ran right passed his little crib.

For future records, it should be noted that Ben was born right before the big blizzard of 2011.

2/1/2011 1:46pm , 22.5 inches, 7lbs 7oz.

Here are a few more pictures. I'm sure Mommy will elaborate on this further, when she feels better.

Also.... you may want to visit http://thekluesners.blogspot.com for further kluesner blogs (not necessarily related to Alicia). Alicia's blog really isn't translated well into a family blog, so we'll keep this around for alicia, and someday maybe she'll take over it. In the mean time, we'll keep this little place for Alicia, and post some family things in the knew blog. Note: the new blog may not have much difference from alicia's now, but in time it will. Also, in time, i'll get to more pix of Ben.

Also, Special thanks to our chicagoland friends here that have been so kind in helping out when we needed them. Its greatly appreciated.