Thank you to everyone who has called, e-mailed, texted and/or Facebook-messaged us today! Your well wishes really, really mean a lot to us.

We’ve had a parade of people come in today–the overnight nurse, the day nurse, the resident OB, Kristin’s baby doctor, our pediatrician, the nurse’s assistant and Meriter’s volunteer welcome person. And of course, our parents came this morning and stayed a few hours. Finally, Kristin’s sister Marcie stopped for a while this afternoon. 

Before Marcie came, we asked our nurse (Carol–she’s outstanding) if we could have some privacy to sleep. So we got a DO NOT DISTURB sign and then napped for an hour–we really needed it.

We’ve been feeding Braden every two hours or so. He smacks his lips and sticks his tongue way out when he’s hungry (it’s so damn cute!). He’s been sleeping a lot, and he hardly cries.

It’s funny, Braden loves keeping his arms by his head (like he was in the womb).

As mentioned, we didn’t expect to be in the hospital this long. Brian already is out of clothes, so he may just wear a gown the rest of the week. Thank goodness we brought Brian’s laptop to stay connected to the world.

It’s about 4:45 p.m. and we’re just relaxing until the next feeding. Kristin is disconnected from her PCA [meds] so she can move around as needed (she’s still sore, though).

Did you see the pics of Braden?

Journal family, hospital

We are pleased to announce …

… Braden Jie Lee, born 12:03 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 8 lbs. 3 oz and 19.5 inches.

Kristin began pushing at 10:20 p.m. At 11:30 p.m., the doctor felt it was best to switch to a C-section. The procedure was perfect, and Kristin is recovering speedily.

We are now in a different and smaller room (C-section families are transferred out of the birthing suites).

We are both exhausted, as the nurse checked Kristin every hour, then the OB came, so we’ve had less than four hours of interrupted sleep.

We’ll be in the hospital until about Friday. We didn’t think we would be here that long, so we didn’t pack the connector for the digital camera to the laptop (nor enough clothes). Brian will upload camera phone pics later today.

Friends may visit us on Thursday. More info to come.

Thanks everyone for checking in throughout yesterday evening. We’ll keep this blog updated!

Journal Braden, hospital

Almost 9:30 now. The nurse flipped Kristin over to her other side about 30 min. ago. She’s almost fully dilated now and is trying to nap to conserve her strength.

The baby has about 2.5 hours left to be born on my Chinese birthday this year (it changes every year).

By the way, it’s worth mentioning that everyone is very nice–the nurse, the physician and the anesthesiologist.

The cleaning crew just came in by accident. They were paged to the wrong room! They were puzzled why this room was so clean, and Brian answered that we hadn’t given birth yet. They felt bad for the mistake.

Journal hospital

Kristin just received her epidural about 45 min. ago (it’s 8:15 p.m. right now). She’s resting and “very happy right now.”

We have the movie “Stripes” playing in the background. “Heroes” is on, but we’re taping it.

Journal epidural

Before Brian left work, Kristin suggested he pick up some dinner for himself, since we would be heading to the hospital around dinner time. So he bought some subs at Cousins on his way home.

Since we’re just killing time, we decided Brian should eat while he can. Kristin is not allowed to eat, so Brian went to the nearby waiting room so she wouldn’t smell his food and get hungry. The patient kitchen also is nearby; Brian is allowed to access it (keypad) to get things for himself and Kristin.

Kristin is sipping some apple juice right now. Brian chomped down his 7.5″ sub in 3 minutes and now doesn’t feel well.

Journal hospital

Kristin’s water broke today. We called our doctor, then headed to the triage station at Meriter. They confirmed that her water did break, and they admitted us.

So we’re just hanging out now, watching “Groundhog’s Day” on TV. Brian is sitting on his pullout sofa bed, and Kristin is sitting on a birthing ball right now.

The room is huge, about three times the size of Brian’s dorm room at Sellery. The outlets are unfortunately placed at inconvenient locations.

We’ll keep you posted as we can!

Journal hospital, water break

More details to come! The time now is 3:30 p.m. Monday.

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Thanks everyone for your inquiries, but we still are not parents yet. We are still living day-to-day on pins and needles. That Feb. 4 due date is looking more and more accurate!

Today is Brian’s Chinese birthday, so that would make for a nice birthday gift.

Journal due date, timeline

Go the video page to see episode 2 of “Brian and Kristin Plus One.” Get a tour of the nursery!

Video nursery

Kristin finished her last day of work on Tuesday, and now she has three months off.  Though she feels some regret for not working a few more days since the baby hasn’t arrived yet, at least now she can be in the comfort of our home rather than be on her feet all day at UW Hospital.

Plus, Brian can get to her more quickly at home vs. at UW Hospital.

In the meantime, we’re going to probably add another video soon. Episode 2 was supposed to take place from the hospital, but that will likely be episode 3 now.

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