Williams' Family Blog

Sleep Singing....

2009-04-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

I think Katelyn may have a future singing career. Here's a video of her "sleep singing":

Update and More Pictures!!!!

2009-04-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

Day 5: Katelyn is doing great. She's a little jaundiced but we've been told that her level of jaundice is normal, especially since she's breastfeeding. Laura is doing great as well!!! I went into work a little bit today. It was nice to get out a little bit. I'm trying to convince Laura to get out and do a little shopping with her mom. I think it would be good for her. We have our first appointment with the Pediatrician tomorrow so we'll see what he says about the jaundice and how shes progressing. Keep praying and as always....stay tuned!!!

Here are some more pictures:

Our friend Laci came by to visit the day we took Katelyn home.

Home, Sweet Home

2009-03-31T08:23:00.000-07:00

It was a good first night here at home. It took us a few hours to figure out what sleeping situation would work best for Katelyn. In one spot, she was too cold, in another, it was too hard for Laura to get by when making her way to the restroom. This morning was GREAT!!! Katelyn fed at about 6 a.m. and then Laura put her on her chest and she (and Laura) fell asleep. After about an hour, Laura got up and got in the shower. I took her and she fell asleep on my chest for about an hour. We have Katelyn in the sunlight right now (she's a little jaundiced). We're trying to keep the house straight and constantly doing little chores here and there. My Mimmie and Papa just walked in and are here for a short visit. All is well here and Katelyn is going GREAT! Tomorrow, we'll take Katelyn to the pediatrician for an initial checkup.

All our bags are packed, we're ready to go...

2009-03-30T07:30:00.000-07:00

It's 10:38 and Laura is about to have her staples removed. We've been cleared by both Dr. Killeen and Dr. Craig (the pediatrician) to go home. Now, all that's left to do is finish all of the discharge paperwork, pack up and GO!!! We can't wait to get Katelyn home to show her her big sister Lily and her beautiful nursery. Stay tuned...

Angel of the Day: Shannon the lactation specialist

2009-03-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

I decided to go ahead and make an additional post today to thank Shannon the lactation specialist here at Covenant Lakeside. She has been amazing! There really is an art to breastfeeding and Shannon is a true artist. Katelyn has been feeding pretty good but Laura has had some issues with feeding (pain/trouble with Katelyn not feeding long enough). Shannon came in this morning and went over a handful of tips with Laura that has really put her a little more at ease with breastfeeding. For all the pregnant couples out there, if you have a lactation specialist at your hospital (most do), use them as often as possible. Have them come in during every feeding until you get the hang of things (it will make your life much easier). Thanks again Shannon!!!! God Bless you!!!

Settling in for the long haul...

2009-03-28T15:50:00.000-07:00

Alright. We're just about settled in for the long haul now. Last night was rough for us mainly due to lack of sleep (I know, I know...we were warned!) We're doing good now though. Katelyn has been nursing great from the get-go. Laura is feeding her right now. We're feeding her every 2-3 hours, so it's pretty much non-stop (feed, change diaper, sleep...repeat). The hardest was feeding her last night. She was in such a deep sleep that it took us a while to wake her up and feed her. She just kept wanting to go to sleep on mommy's chest.

Now, for the detailed explanation of yesterday. We got to the hospital at about 10:30 a.m. Laura changed into a gown and the nurses came and took her vitals. Turns out that the worst part of the day occurred next: the IV. The nurses tried four different veins and blew one before actually getting an IV started on Laura. They told her that it was probably the fact that Laura had not ate or drank since 12 midnight on Thursday night. Her veins were pretty malnourished. After they get the IV started we waited, and waited....and waited. Laura's C-section was scheduled for 1 p.m. We actually didn't get called back until 2:30. It seemed like a lifetime of waiting. They finally called us back. They sat Laura and I down in the hallway outside of the operating room.

The hardest part of the day for me came next. The operating nurse came and took Laura to the operating room. She told me I'd have to wait until right before Dr. Killeen made his first incision. I waited about 20 minutes and then the nurse came and got me. I missed the spinal block but Laura said it really wasn't bad. When I got into the room, everything was already in full-swing. I sat down beside Laura and grabbed her hand. In just a matter of minutes, the doctor had Katelyn in his hands and the nurse took her over to a table to start her assessment. We heard Katelyn cry right as the doctor took her out. That's about the time Laura and I really started our waterworks. It was a beautiful moment! I looked at her and told Laura that I saw red hair. After the delivery, the nurse gave Katelyn to Laura for about 5 minutes of bonding and pictures and then whisked her and I off to the nursery. Laura went back to recovery for about 2 hours where she took a good nap. I rolled Katelyn down to the nursery where they poked and prodded on her some more (and gave her a bath). After Laura's two hour recovery, the nurses rolled her down to the nursery where Laura got to hold Katelyn a little bit again. We then settled into our room and Katelyn stayed with us. Katelyn then had her first meal and, again, did a great job.

Katelyn was with us most of the night. We did send her back to the nursery for a couple of hours so that we could try and get some rest. We did get a little rest but between the two hour feedings but not much. Katelyn has had a lot of visitors! Thanks to everyone who has come to visit! We're still doing great but looking forward to getting home! God is good!!!!

March 27, 2009, 3:04 p.m.

2009-03-27T20:06:00.001-07:00

Katelyn Grace Williams has arrived!!! Weighing in at 8.01 ounces and measuring 21 inches long. I'll try and post a more detailed description of today's events tomorrow but for those of you still up and interested here are some pictures:

Up all night.....

2009-03-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

...well, not really all night. But, here we are 11pm the night before Katelyn gets here and we're still up. Everyone keeps telling us to get sleep (and we both know we should) but we're still scrambling around getting last minute stuff together. Thank you all for your prayers. We know that God is in charge of this whole process and that Jesus is Lord!!! See everyone tomorrow!!! -Luke and Laura

Post 2: Now for the real good stuff!!!

2009-03-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

We had another appointment with Dr. Killeen today. Laura set down to take her vitals and one of Dr. Killeen's nurses gave her a really funny look. She asked Laura if she was aware of how swollen her ankles were. Laura said she was but hasn't thought too much about it. Dr. Killeen's nurse then took Laura's blood pressure and went back and got the head nurse. Apparently, Laura's blood pressure was high and the head nurse said that there was quite a bit of protein in Laura's system. This combo means she's got preclempsia. So, they whisked us to one of the rooms and we waited for Dr. Killeen. As we waited, the head nurse kept poking her head in periodically and asking us questions about out pediatrician and what our schedule was like this week. Finally, I asked her what was going on and she told us that we would be having Katelyn this Friday. Dr. Killeen finally came in and advised us that because of Laura's condition and because some of the things in her body aren't quite prepared for a natural childbirth he would be scheduling a C-section for this Friday.

So, here we are. It looks like tomorrow will be Laura and I's last day as a childless couple. Friday, we become parents. It was a little shocking for us because we were expecting next week sometime, but we're ready! We will be going to the hospital at 10:45 a.m. on Friday and we'll welcome Katelyn into the world at around 1:30 p.m.

On another note, our good friend June Musick painted us some absolutely AMAZING pictures for the nursery. She took scenes from the pattern of our bedding and made a GREAT three picture set.

Here are some of our latest pictures (what do you think is missing from these first few?):

Here's the pattern that June painted from:

And here are June's paintings (not hung yet...and these small pics really don't do them justice):Stay tuned! More posts will be coming in the next few weeks. Keep praying for us everyone! We know that we've got this far because of HIS presence in our life and we know that we'll keep going because of HIM.

Post 1: Catching up on last month...

2009-03-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

We had a great shower in Post! Mendy Dalby and a literal "host" of wonderful ladies from Post threw us an amazing shower. We were blessed with more gifts than we could have imagined. Unfortunately, we left my camera in Post. Melanie took some pictures that I will post as soon as I can. The hostesses gave us our travel system. I installed it a few days ago (good timing...see next post)! Laura's co-workers and my co-workers also threw Laura showers. Laura's co-workers got Katelyn an AWESOME swing and a great assortment of other cool things! My co-workers were GREAT and pretty much finished Katelyn off with absolutley everything she needs. On top of these showers going on Laura and I went to a photographer to get pregnancy pictures taken. They did an "alright" job but Laura and I decided we'd try our hand at photography (See below). That's what's happened in the last month (beside Laura's stomach growing and the child that's in it). Take a look at the next post to see what happened today!

Laura, Carol and Melanie
The day of the Post Shower

Our Pregnancy Photography

Shower and Nursery

2009-02-14T08:56:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been almost a month since I've posted and a lot has happened. First, I want to thank all of the Houston ladies and Melanie for a WONDERFUL baby shower for Katelyn. We especially send out a million "thank you's" to Betty Martin. She was TOO kind to host the shower and did an absolutley amazing job. Laura and I were overwhelmed with how much kindness all of you showed us. We are more than blessed to have such special people in our lives. We've got Katelyn's room in good shape right now and all we have left are the finishing touches. We had another visit with Dr. Killeen yesterday and it looks like unless Katelyn has other plans for us, we may be inducing on March 30th. We would rather do that so that her Nana and Papa from Houston can be here and so that we can plan accordingly. Other than the shower and the nursery, life is going on as usual. Every day we get more and more excited about our little girl making her way into our world. We can't wait for the world to meet her and we can't wait for Katelyn to know the people who have already shown so much love to her! Thank you all, we love you all and God Bless!!!

Here are some pictures from the shower:

Jane and Carolyn

Melanie, Laura and Betty

LOTS of great presents for Katelyn!

Great friends!

Laura, Laura, and Amy (All expecting)

And here are some pictures of Katelyn's nursery (not fully completed yet):

Katelyn's crib.

Lots of pink!

Lots of "happenings"!!!

2009-01-22T13:53:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since we've posted, so we're going to be including quite of few pictures with this one. Laura has been growing great (and Katelyn too)! We just got back from an appointment at Dr. Atkinson's office (the radiologist). It looks like Katelyn is weighing in about 3.4 pounds right now. All of her measurements look great and she is developing normally. We're definitely on the downhill side of the pregnancy. We've been attending childbirth classes and are really getting excited just to meet our little girl. It's getting a little uncomfortable for Laura to sleep at night but so far she's been great at adjusting to getting more and more pregnant. We've got Katelyn's furniture here and are in the process of getting the nursery painted and all fixed up. We've got a couple of showers coming up that we're really excited about but other than those, there will be no more traveling for us. We are so thankful for all of your prayers and will keep you updated with more developments as they happen! We love you all! Luke and Laura.

Laura at Christmas

Laura and John Hartnett at Christmas in Katy

Laura at 29 weeks
The Latest picture of Katelyn Grace Williams

(Katelyn wasn't very active today at the radiologist's office. As you can see above, she was fast asleep against her mom....at least we got a pretty good look at that beautiful face!)

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T14:13:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!! May you all be blessed this season and as we all enter into the New Year.

P.S. Congratulations to Sean and Morgan....It's a Girl!!!!

A Wonderful Thanksgiving, A New Bassinet, and Another Trip to Dr. Killeen...

2008-12-04T07:02:00.000-08:00

Well, we're home from Thanksgiving in Katy and we had a wonderful trip!

Laura has felt great the last few weeks. Katelyn has been doing a great job of making sure we know that she's doing great too. Every now and then, Laura gets a little kick from her. They've been getting more and more frequent and more and more forceful.

The day before Thanksgiving, we drove to Katy and arrived about 9:00 p.m. Little did we know that Melanie (Laura's mom) would have a great big suprise for us. We walked into the livingroom and there sat the most beautiful bassinette we've ever seen! Melanie had taken Laura's old bassinette and gave it a complete makeover! Here are some photos:

We also had another trip to Dr. Killeen on Monday. It was just a short visit to make sure everything is going good. It looks like Katelyn is growing just fine. She's now a little over 1 pound and, like I said, she's reminding Laura of her presense on a pretty consistant basis. Here's the most current baby bump pic:

Thanks for reading and God Bless you all!!!

Katelyn Grace Williams (*)

2008-11-17T15:53:00.001-08:00

(*) Tentatively. We're calling her that right now. We both really like that name and I think that's what will probably stick when all is said and done. Let us know if you have any other suggestions.

First Order of Business: Congratulations to our friends Marcus and Jacque!!! Jacque gave birth to a 4 pound, 12 oz. healthy little boy named Elliot Friday morning. We're so happy for them and still so grateful for all of their help and advice as our pregnancy has progressed. Here are a couple of pics:

Jacque (Tired Mamma) and Marcus (Proud Papa)

Baby Elliot - our daughter's first friend

Second Order of Business: Today was our trip to the Diagnostic Center at Covenant for a more in-depth sonogram. Good news! Little Kate is looking great! The radiologist gave her a clean bill of health. Her heart's valves are pumping strong, her measurements look great and she's very active in the womb. Also, we now know "beyond a reasonable doubt" that this baby is a girl!

The radiologist thought that there is a possibility that Laura may be a little bit farther along than Dr. Killeen thought. The radiologist is giving us a due date of March 29, 2009. We'll see! I'm going to go with Dr. Killeen on this one...I figure since he's written the book on this stuff (literally), then he knows more than any ole' machine does.

The radiologist did say that Katelyn is resting a little low. She says that as the baby grows, she should rise in the womb. It didn't seem like anything to cause concern. We know that God is in control of this little one's development and the evidence of that so far is overwhelming. Laura is still feeling great!

So, without further ado...let me introduce to the world Katelyn Grace Williams:

She's not quite big enough to get a real crisp view but I think this is pretty darn good.

Here's Laura reclining for the show (the sonagram was displayed on a nice 52" Flatscreen)

Somewhere between 20 -21 Weeks

Here are a couple of videos I took:

Katelyn says, "Hi Mom and Dad!!!"

Amazing Grace!!!

Thanks for keeping up with us everyone! We love you all and God Bless! Keep praying (not just for us)...God answers!

LADIES and gentlemen....

2008-10-24T07:21:00.000-07:00

Well, if that title doesn't give it away, then this will: IT'S A GIRL!!! According to Dr. Killeen, he's about 98% sure that our little one is a girl.

We made our third trip to Dr. Killeen's office today. I keep thinking these doctors visits are going to become "old hat", but each time we go we feel more excited than the last. Today, we anticipated finding out the sex but were still unsure of how well the doctor would be able to tell. I had a sneaking suspicion that it was a girl for two reasons: (1) as noted in an earlier post, my girl did NOT want the doctor looking at her in an ungentlemen-like way, and (2) (as I write this getting ready to fly to Vegas) I felt like the odds, were greatly favoring a girl (according to my calculations we had a 10-5 shot at having a girl...it's highly mathmatical and scientific (yeah, right) and I don't have time to explain it).

ANYWAY...We are extremely exicted. I'm already daydreaming about how to decorate the nursery and I'm pretty sure Laura is daydreaming about the many shopping trips she's going to get to take in the years to come. Laura and I can't wait to have this little girl! Now...to begin the name search!!! Feel free to send us suggestions! Love you all! God bless!!!

Newest Pictures of the Baby bump:

P.S. We did take a video of part of the doctor's visit, but you couldn't hear him actually announce the sex so we choose not to post it. However, if anyone REALLY wants to see it we'll be glad to email it. Love y'all!

12 weeks, 3 days down...

2008-09-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

We made our second trip to the doctor today. By now, Laura and I are getting more and more familiar with the idea that we're actually pregnant. We were both still extremely excited and nervous but, now we just want to make sure everything keeps progressing normally. This trip to the doctor was not as "new" as the last one. We know we're pregnant, so I didn't think it would quite "hit" us like it did when we first saw the little guy (or girl). Boy was I wrong. As soon as the doctor showed us the baby, we were both - again - in awe. This time, we were SO shocked to see how much he/she had grown. Not only could you see the baby's major features, but the baby was very active. His/Her arms were waving around and he/she was kicking it's legs. At one point, the doctor thought that he might be able to look for the sex (which would've helped out writing this post) and at the moment he got a good shot, the baby crossed it's legs. I'm thinking this may be a sign that it's a girl. If it's my girl then she already knows that Dad wants her to be very suspicious of strange men trying to get a look at her. Anyway, we had another amazing trip to the doctor and, again, I think Laura and I feel like we just found out we're pregnant. We still can't believe that God has blessed us so much! Keep the prayers coming and we love you all!

Here he/she is at 12 weeks, 3 days (according to Dr. Kileen):

(Face Down, fist in front) (Same position, fist a little more pronounced)

(Back towards us, laying on it's side, trying to get some sleep)

And here here Laura at 12 weeks (the OFFICIAL baby bump picture):

As promised...

2008-09-02T19:50:00.001-07:00

Here is Laura who is now at approximately 2 months...(picture subject to change)...

San Antonio...

2008-09-01T19:45:00.000-07:00

Laura, the little peanut and I took a trip with Mom and Laura's parents this weekend to San Antonio. The little guy/girl took it's first float down the river in New Braunfels. We also did some shopping (picked up a few maternity items) and ate at some great restaurants. Tomorrow, we're going to take a picture of Laura at 9 weeks now so that we can start documenting the "belly progression". More to come...

Oh what a beautiful sound...

2008-08-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

...a heartbeat that is! It really hit Laura and I when Doctor Killeen flipped on the sound switch and we heard the "swish, swish, swish" of a heartbeat. It's amazing that at only 8 weeks we can now see our baby forming. Everything at the appointment went off without a hitch. The doctor said that everything looks normal at this point. Laura was really relieved that we only heard one heartbeat. She was really worried about the possibility of twins. (I wouldn't have minded...you need strong and weak side tackles on the line of scrimmage.) Our due date is officially April 5th, 2009 (Palm Sunday). Our next appointment is at the end of next month, but until then....here's the first pic!!!

P.S. For a lot of you this is probably the first post you're reading. We wanted to wait until the doctor gave us the "o.k." There are older posts in front of this one and more posts to come (Including Laura's "first month" picture!) We're so happy to share this time of our life with all of you. Keep checking back!!!

Update...

2008-08-08T15:55:00.001-07:00

No real news to report. Laura has been feeling tired lately. We pretty much lounged last weekend and will be this weekend as well. She's had some mild cramping, but other than that and fatigue, she's doing great. We're getting more and more excited about our first trip to the doctor. We've learned that we'll get our first glimpse of the little guy or girl and will also get to hear the first flutters of a heartbeat. We're praying everyday for a healthy and fully developed baby and know that God is with us each day of this pregnancy. More to come! Stay tuned!

Confirmed!

2008-07-29T10:41:00.000-07:00

The doctor confirmed today that Laura is indeed pregnant! She is schedualed for her first appointment on August 26th. We look forward to keeping you all updated on her progress!

One more thing to add...Laura's doctor did inform us that, as a result of her blood test, he found out that Laura has hypothyroidism. The doctor did say that she is at a slight risk for some complications but all of that can be and will be cleared up by some hormone replacement therapy. We're confident that our doctor and God will take care of Laura and our baby! All of your prayers will be greatly appreciated!

Guess What????

2008-07-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

So, we're posting this pretty early just to see if anyone runs across it over the world wide web. Laura and I have been "trying" for the last month and it looks like we may have achieved our goal! Last night, Laura took a pregnancy test and the read-out definitely read, "Pregnant." We decided to take it again this morning and once again, "Pregnant." So, tentatively that's what we are.

Laura took a blood test this afternoon and will find out sometime tomorrow morning for sure. We know it's early, so right now most of you will be reading this well after we've confirmed everything (we're keeping pretty tight-lipped for the time being). We're extremely excited! Extremely! Having a family of our own is something that we've both dreamed about and can't wait until our little bundle of joy enters this world. We've been blessed by God and will continually praise him for his presence in our lives.

I guess it's off to bed for us to start reading, "What to expect when expecting." To all our friends and family reading this right now, we love you and can't wait to include you in this blessing.