Addison Grace Kehrli
Born Wednesday, September 26th at 11:02 a.m.
8 pounds, 9 ounces
18.5 inches long
The complete, unabridged tale of the arrival of Addison Grace (we are keeping this blog to update family and friends, but also as a way to document our life, so apologies for the detailed account, but we want to remember the first few days of our family of FOUR :))
We arrived at Swedish Hospital just after 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, September 26th, anxious to meet our daughter. As soon as we arrived, we entered labor and delivery triage, were given a room (the same one we were in for the version procedure the week prior) and I was hooked up to a machine to monitor our little girl's heartbeat. The nurses asked a million questions, I was given an IV and we waited... The charge nurse came into the room about 9:15 (15 minutes prior to my scheduled surgery) to inform us that a few other more emergent cases had come in and my scheduled c-section would be delayed. So again, we waited...
About 10:30 a.m. one of the anesthesiologists came into the room to explain the procedure and that's when things really started moving! My doctor came in, chatted for a bit and no less than 15 minutes later we were in the OR for surgery. To say that the entire experience was surreal would be an understatement. I was awake, with Bob in the room while doctor's and nurses prepped me for pretty major (routine, yes, but major) surgery. I have never had surgery before, but the way they show it on TV the patients aren't awake, listening to the doctors every word -- and just like on Grey's Anatomy they really do have small talk as they are performing surgery! I learned that my doctor of nine months had gotten engaged in April and the other surgeon took some great trips this summer -- all while, laying on an operating table, holding Bob's hand.
About 5 minutes after the surgery began, our little girl made her debut, butt first and not without a little drama :) Bob went over to her as the nurses cleaned her up. Prior to the surgery, we were told that once she had been with the nurses for a couple of minutes, we would get to hold her while they finished the surgery, but alas our little (still unnamed) daughter wasn't breathing quite right and had been cut on her buns when they made the incision to get her out. A surgeon was called in to look at her cut and then a neonatal nurse was brought in to assess her breathing.
 |
| Our little blue baby (cut buns and all)! |
 |
| Getting oxygen (and some color back!) |
All along we said that we would name our daughter when we met her. We arrived at the hospital with a short list of three names -- two that I really liked (one more than the other) and two that Bob liked. I thought we would end up with the cross-over name, but when I asked Bob what she looked like, while I was laying on the operating table and he had been on the other side of the room with our daughter, he said, "I think she looks like an Addison" (my favorite name, which has been a favorite since I lived in Palo Alto and drove across Addison Street on my way to Homer on a regular basis -- no, not because of Addison Montgomery on Grey's Anatomy ;)). I hadn't seen her much yet and still hadn't held her so we decided to wait to make a final decision...
The nurse wasn't super happy with her breathing so they decided it was best to monitor her for a bit in the NICU. Definitely not what we were expecting, but fine by us to make she was going to be OK. Bob asked if I wanted him to go with me to recovery or with our daughter to the NICU. Obviously, we decided he should go to the NICU and off they went while the doctor's finished my surgery.
 |
| Ready for her trip to the NICU... |
 |
Hooked up to machines in the NICU - she was the biggest baby in there by FAR! |
Waiting in the recovery room while Bob and our little girl were in the NICU was the longest 2 hours EVER! When Bob arrived with an update, I was ready to be taken to a regular room and the nurses said we could stop by the NICU to see our little miss. The nurse had hoped they could just send her with us, but they wanted to watch her for a little bit longer...
 |
Visiting the little miss in the NICU on the way from recovery to our hospital room...
She is about 3 hours old in this picture! |
Just after we made it to our regular room, Dad and Robie (Pops and Mimi :)) arrived at the hospital. They asked what we had named her and after a few minutes of whispering between Bob and me, we decided Addison just felt right! I guess he had decided a few weeks back that he really liked that name and it fit our defiant little girl best.
Bob took Dad and Robie up to meet Addison in the NICU (one at a time). While he was upstairs with Robie, John and Margaret (Papa and Ema) arrived. Bob came back to the room with a great report and Addison in tow!
 |
| Addison with Papa... |
 |
| Addison with Ema... |
 |
Addison with Mimi...
|
 |
| Addison with Pops... |
Our first afternoon/evening was a bit of a whirlwind. Lots of cuddles with Addison, visits from nurses checking our vitals, etc. Late on our first night, Addison was taken to the nursery for a bath with daddy close behind to document the event!
 |
| Not too sure about the whole bath thing... |
 |
| She LOVES being on her tummy! |
Addison slept really well her first night. She woke up when the nurses came in to poke and again to meet her pediatrician in the morning, but otherwise she was a sound little sleeper. Fingers crossed this is a trend that will continue!
 |
| Mama and Addison waking up on her first morning! |
The next two days at the hospital were more of the same... Lots of doctor's and nurses poking at us, checking vitals, etc. and visits from family and friends - Dad, Robie and the new aunties even came to watch the Husky game in our hospital room :).
 |
| Aunt Maddie with Addison - thanks for driving up from Corvallis to meet her :) |
 |
| Auntie Chasie with Addison - who also made a major drive (from Pullman) to meet her! |
 |
Addison with her great grandma Sleavin (Bob's maternal grandma) -
this is the first Kehrli great-grandchild (Addison is #7!) she has met in the hospital! |
 |
| Four generations... |
Addison had a couple photo shoots -- one with her Aunt Maddie and Aunt Chasie (they were so cute with her!), and another with a professional photographer that makes the rounds for newborn shots at Swedish. She was MUCH more calm for her Auntie photo shoot ;)
 |
| Resting with daddy... |
 |
Wouldn't be an auntie photo shoot without some funny pictures...
as Chasie said, Addison is coming in HOT! |
 |
| Proud grandparents - so in love with their first grandbaby! |
 |
| Meeting Bob and Susan Wenzl - Bob and my dad have been friends for over 20 years! |
We were discharged after two nights (pretty typical for a C-section at Swedish as long as mom and baby are doing well).
 |
| Time to head home! |
 |
Mt. Rainier in the distance... who knew we had a view from our room?!?!?
(Bob swears the mountain had not been out at all during our stay.) |
 |
| One of the awesome nurses at Swedish - we had Tara for two day shifts and she was GREAT! |
 |
| Buckled in and ready to head home! |
 |
| Apparently Addison likes car rides as much as her daddy... asleep within minutes! |
 |
Addison with a bone for her pup... we figured it couldn't hurt ;)
|
Overall, the entire experience was incredible! Yes, scary at times, but in the end we got to come home with the greatest gift of all - a perfectly healthy little baby girl. We are so in love with Addison already and we cannot wait for the exciting times ahead. Here's to our next adventure - our life ahead with Addison Grace :)
