Surrogacy & Kids

Wow!  We have just been overwhelmed by everyone's love and support after our big announcement!  Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes!  We appreciate every one of you so, so much!

We just heard back from the doctor's office that the big embryo transfer date is set at June 24th!  I'll have an ultrasound and blood work done on June 5th, and then if all looks good, start my round of hormones the next day!

But in in the meantime, I wanted to answer everyone's biggest question:  What will Micah and Kenzie think? 

Kenzie is only 22 months old and not quite vocal enough to voice her opinions, but perhaps she might be at the end of the pregnancy.  Micah, on the other hand, is pretty aware of what's going on.  He was old enough to remember Adam & Natalie's 2nd miscarriage (if not their 1st) and often references their baby being in heaven with other things going on in his life.  For example, when my mom & Steve lost their dog Champ, Micah immediately said, "he's in heaven with Adam & Natalie's baby now."  These are the moments that make a proud mommy's eyes water!

Adam & Natalie with Micah

So, we've been pretty honest with him from the beginning.  God's making Adam & Natalie a baby at the doctor's office and the doctor is going to put it in Mommy's tummy and then Adam & Natalie will have a baby for you to play with when he or she gets bigger.  He's very happy about this.  One morning, Eli & I went to one of our initial doctor visits/consultations, and Adam & Natalie came over to watch the kids.  Apparently, as soon as Micah woke up and saw Adam & Natalie here, he proudly announced "Mommy & Daddy are going to get you a baby!!!"

So, I think they'll be OK.  They are at the glorious age where they don't know enough to think it's weird, and they don't know enough for me to answer awkward questions either!

Adam & Natalie with McKenzie

On a side note, when I first started thinking of this surrogacy journey, I googled it (of course) and I remember coming across a website for a surrogacy agency recruiting potential surrogates and it suggested that the ideal surrogate already has 2-3 kids of their own and is in their 20s or 30s.  Eli and I are quite content with our biological offspring, and feel very complete having 1 boy and 1 girl, and now hope to help Adam & Natalie complete their family by God's grace!

Happy One Month McKenzie!

One month ago, we welcomed the most gorgeous baby girl I have ever laid eyes on into the world.  She was fashionably late (2 days past her July 30th due date) and had to be evicted (via a scheduled C-Section) just like her big brother!  Since that day, McKenzie has totally stolen our hearts and has made the most perfect little addition to our family!  I just can't believe she's a month old already!  I can't believe her newborn clothes are starting to get so tight... it seems like just a couple hours ago she was totally SWIMMING in them.  Ahh...

She is such a sweet, easy-going baby. We are so blessed!

A FEW FUN FACTS:

• She is named after her uncles Caleb McKenzie Casey & Nicholas Lawrence Hosack.
• The purple dress she is pictured in here is the first outfit we got for her.  Eli and I stopped at Kohl's on our way home from our ultrasound to buy her her first dress.
• She gained 17 oz in one week after we were released from the hospital!  YAY!
• Micah loves to give her lots of big wet kisses and he calls her "Baby."
• She eats every 2-3 hours during the day, but at night she usually goes 4-6!  I'm a happy momma.
• She makes very funny squeaky laugh sounds.
• She has Daddy wrapped around her little finger.   ;-)

People always ask us "Who does she look like?"  or "Does she look like Micah?"

I don't know.  She looks a little like Micah.  I think she looks a little like me.  Micah is a Daddy-clone, so I'm hoping I might have a little bit of stock in this one, but what do you think?

Waiting...

Well, a lot has happened in the Casey family in the last month, so here's a quick update!

Eli has been back to work for almost a month now (went back June 26th) and has had no complications or setbacks after his miraculous recovery!  Luckily, he is at a relatively slow station and he does not have to do any transfers on his own.  He is basically acting as a first responder on all his calls, so even in that God has taken care of us more than we could have thought to even ask for!  The nystagmus is still present, but is much better (according to Eli) and may continue to get better.  Before Eli's surgery, I read a book called Conquer Chiari and in it, the author mentions that his symptoms still flare up in the summertime (even after a successful surgery) due to the heat and humidity.  Considering that we are having one of the hottest summers ever, that could be what is going on...  Anyway, he'll go back in for a follow-up appointment on August 15th so we'll know even more then probably!

As for this little baby girl, we are still waiting...  

I have to admit that it is VERY difficult being patient at this point.  Micah was 10 days early; so for some reason (I know, totally illogical!), I thought for sure she would be early too!  Well, she might still be, but we're 7 days out now and I had a doctor's appointment today and showed no real signs of being close (no dilation, effacement, etc.).  So, please join me in praying that this little girl gets the show on the road in the next 10 days or so.  Because I had a C-Section with Micah (you can read the whole story here), conditions have to be pretty good for my doctor to allow me to attempt to go natural this time.  Fortunately, so far everything has looked good.  Kenzie is healthy, my C-Section scar is healed nicely, I don't have any complications, BUT they will not induce me, so if she is too late in coming, it will be another C-Section for her too.  (For the curious, my doctor will not induce me because the pitocin-induced contractions are so strong and have been known to tear open old C-Section scars, so it has to be natural contractions or C-Section.)  I was terrified of having a C-Section with Micah, but luckily I learned a little humility and grace from God who taught me that He can bless us with a healthy baby in ANY scenario He chooses, so while my hope is a natural delivery this time, I'm a lot more open and willing for whatever God's plan may be!  Though I confess I hope He acts soon!  LOL!  It is HOT here after all!

11 Months

Ooops.  My last post was 5 months ago?!?!?

How does that happen?

What have I been so busy with?

Besides my personal real estate business, Hosack-Casey Team real estate business, Crown Realty administrative work, KAN Concierge web design & computer repair; I have also fed Micah some 1000+ meals and changed approximately 1200 diapers, read to him about 150 times, played peek-a-boo, and ball, and the drop-and-pick-up game more times than I can remember.

I don't know where the last 5 months went... LOL

I do know that being a mother has sped up time.  No 11 months in my entire life have ever went faster.

If you know me at all, you know that I love Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle.  I have listened to every single sermon he has preached (or at least all that are available online) for the last 4 years or so.  Today, I listened to this one: http://marshill.com/media/luke/jesus-and-children

Here's a clip that I loved:


He is the MOST GLORIOUS inconvenience I could ever have asked for... happy 11 months Micah Paul!  Can't believe we're 1 month away from your 1st birthday!

6 months!!!

It's hard to believe that we've had our little bundle of joy for 1/2 a year already!  My how the time flies!!!

I was looking through photos the other day, and because I have a lot of him with his favorite seahorse... thought this would be a good way to show how much he has grown...

And he's learned so much.  He jabbers, smiles, laughs, rolls over, and gives sloppy wet kisses.  He can *almost* sit up - at least for a few moments before toppling over, and he is going to be a happy boy when he can finally crawl everywhere he wants to go.  He is a champion chow-hound and so far loves everything he's tried (brown rice cereal, oatmeal, bananas, apples, avocado, sweet potatoes, and peaches).  He's crazy about his daddy who never fails to elicit some major giggles, and he doesn't mind his furry brothers either.  ;-)

How blessed we are to have him in our lives.  God is so good!

Happy 6 Months, Micah Paul Casey!

Baby Bites

Monday night, I enjoyed a fancy dinner with Mom, Steve, and Nick at the delicious Bone Fish Grill that featured wines from the Somerset Ridge Winery. Eli was at work, so of course, Micah came along too. And was for the most part, a very patient little boy, considering the 5-course dinner took over 2 hours! He didn't get to enjoy the bang-bang shrimp, crab cakes, filet, or sea bass; but he did enjoy a carrot stick off my plate! I think he must be teething because he acted like it felt very good on his gums...

... so Eli and I bought some carrots, peeled and cut them in long sticks, for him to gum...


... which he seemed to really enjoy.

So yesterday, we decided to try a little rice cereal!

I got this awesome book called "The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet" which features tons of awesome cereal & puree recipes... that are so easy!  It also tells you which foods are important to buy organic (ones where you eat the skin like apples, grapes, pears, etc.) and which ones it doesn't really matter.  Plus, it tells you how to freeze and store food so I can make a week's worth ahead of time!  And store it in these cute containers I got on Amazon.

Anyway, yesterday, I used my Magic Bullet to ground up some brown rice until it was powdery, then cooked with water, and put it back in the Bullet and added some milk.  Then, Micah tried his first bites of semi-solid food!  Of course, we video-taped it:


It was messy and fun! Oh, the adventures to come...

Casey Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

I've gotta admit I was surprised that I got equal billing. I was hoping for 25%! LOL.

Like Father, Like Son

Here's a photo from Eli's first Christmas...

And here are our attempts to recreate it...

And here's a photo of Eli with his white German Shepherd "Angel"...



















Unfortunately, Cooper (our black German Shepherd) would not let us recreate this scene...

But, Denver played along nicely...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Micah FAQs

People ask a lot of funny questions.  Here's my attempt to corporately answer the most common and/or most interesting.

How long is he sleeping?
I'll usually swaddle him up and put him down around 9:30 (after feeding him).  He'll usually then sleep for about 6-8 hours, wake up, eat, and then do another 3-4 hours.  I think this is pretty awesome compared to our old 2 hr routine.  However, once Micah's asleep at 9:30pm, I am frantically trying to do laundry, clean up, do dishes, shower, and pump.  On a good night, I'm asleep at 11pm and up again in 4 hours.  Still, this feels pretty good.

Is he sleeping through the night?
This is so subjective.  I give the same answer I gave above (6-8 hours) and some people are amazed and others act like they pity me.  Your definition of "through the night" might be different than mine, but in my book, I appreciate my 6 hours and don't expect any more for quite some time (or ever?)  LOL.

How are the dogs with him?

Good question!  Micah has 2 big furry brothers.  Cooper (our black 7 year old German Shepherd) is the body guard.  He guards me, and by default guards Micah since he appears to be an extension of me now.  He mostly ignores Micah.  Denver (our 5 year old "average dane" lab mix) is absolutely intrigued by every movement and sound Micah makes.  He may be slightly jealous of all the attention he used to get, but he takes it like a champ.  He even puts up with extended photo shoots.  Oh, and he checks for dirty diapers.  Seriously.  We hold Micah up to Denver and he sniffs his bottom.  If he sniffs and leaves, it's clean.  If he sniffs and points, it's dirty.  How handy is that?!?!  haha.

How's he eating?
This one amuses me.  He eats like a champ.  It's his favorite activity.  Do babies have any other hobbies besides eating?

Are you having fun?
Do you see the smile on my face?
(Even when he's screaming!)
Of course, I'm having fun.  Being a mom is the most amazing thing I have ever experienced.

How big is he?
This one is ever-changing of course.  But so far, he remains in the 95th percentile for height and the 25th percentile for weight.  Right now that means, almost 25 inches long and almost 11 lbs.

Who does he look like?

This one is easy!  Definitely all Eli!  He has the Hosack nose, and maybe my ears.  But the rest is Eli.  Blue eyes, straight brown hair (even the same hair line!), chin, forehead, etc.  Check out Eli's baby photo next to this one of Micah:

 And then there's this classic shot.  What more do you need?

Oh, how I love these 2 boys!!!!

11 Weeks Old!

I think I'm long overdue for another Micah update here...  a lot has gone on in his little world since my last post!

For Micah's 2 month birthday, we went on our first road trip to Branson, MO.  And as you can see from the photos below, we had a blast!

Christmas Magic @ Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO

Eli and I left on Thursday, December 2nd and after a pit-stop in Osceola, MO (home of the famous Osceola Cheese), checked into our BEAUTIFUL hotel room just after dark.  We stayed in a condo-resort on Tablerock Lake.  Our room had a jacuzzi tub, a gas fireplace, a full kitchen, and a balcony with a beautiful view.  Micah definitely took his first vacation in style!  On Friday, we were joined by my mom (Grandma Mary) and step-dad (Grandpa Poonie) and Eli's parents (Pappy & Grandma CC) and grandma (Nan).  We spent the full day at Silver Dollar City (one of my most favorite places ever - especially at Christmas time!!!).  And although Micah is too young to appreciate how fun SDC is, he was in awe of all the lights and enjoyed the Christmas parade (music AND lights!).  Can't wait to take him back next year... he'll really love it then!  On Saturday, we had breakfast at Cracker Barrel (a road trip tradition!), went to the Butterfly Palace, and then headed home.

All-in-all, it was a fantastic trip, but I am glad that our first vacation with Micah was a driving vacation and not a flying vacation.  And wow, my little SUV was full to the brim!  I have no interest in being a mini-van mom, but I can see the need to upgrade to a Suburban or something!  LOL.  By the time we packed our gigantic pack-n-play (with built-in bassinet and changing table), 100 diapers & wipes, Micah's 10 outfits, our clothes, my pump & cooler, things started to get interesting...  ;-)  I should have taken a photo of the car all loaded up.  Anyway, it was a good warm-up for going to Mexico in April for Eli's cousin's wedding and going to Little Cayman in May for my Dad's 60th birthday!  Hopefully, we'll have another road trip in here soon to St. Louis!

Micah Paul @ 2 months

Meanwhile, my little man has been growing & growing & growing.  He remains tall & skinny though.  He can really hold his head up well, and is rolling over like a champ!  He smiles and coos and giggles and melts my heart a little more every single day.

I'm back to work now, but really have it made.  On the days Eli is working, I work from home or occasionally take Micah into the office with me.  He's already been to 3 or 4 sales meetings and 3 office Christmas parties (Olathe Crown, Spring Hill Crown, and Paola Crown). Poor little guy probably doesn't stand a chance since he's 4th generation real estate blood... haha!  When Eli's home, he usually brings Micah to meet me and Uncle Nick for lunch so I never have to go too long without seeing him!

Baby Dedication @ Grace Community Church

Between coming to the office with me and going to every single youth group activity at church, Micah is probably about as socialized as a baby can be.  He doesn't seem to mind being passed around and especially loves all his older "brothers" and "sisters" in our junior high youth group!

One other very special event in Micah's life so far was his baby dedication at our church.  Our whole family was able to be there while Pastor Joel dedicated Micah to the Lord and our church family promised to love and teach him.  He is one blessed little boy to have such an awesome biological family and a huge extended church family in his life!!!

OK, I think I'm blogged out for now.  Here's my favorite photo of the moment (I found the hat on etsy):

Anne Geddes doesn't have much on this adorable shot!  ;-)

One Month Update

Today Micah is 5 weeks old.  5 weeks!!!  I cannot believe how fast time has gone by!  He has already changed so much.  His eyes are open longer every day.  He's more alert and he watches me like a hawk.

Friday was his one month check-up and he's up to 8 lbs. 2 oz. and is 22 3/4 inches long!  So he's growing like a champ...  almost 4 inches in a month!!!  He's in the 90th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight - tall and skinny!

People keep asking if I'm sleeping and if he's a good baby - like the 2 are somehow irreversibly connected.  Having nothing to compare to, I always say of course he is!  And it's amazing how quickly your perception of a good night's rest changes!!!  In high school and college, 6 hours was pretty standard; maybe 8 on a weekend.  When Eli and I got married, 8 hours became more my standard.  And while pregnant, 8 hours was a must - 10 ideal!  Now, my hungry little man eats every 2-3 hours for almost an hour at a time.  (By the way, I never realized that when people say newborns eat every 2 hours that means from start-to-start NOT finish-to-start!!!)  That means I'm sleeping in 1 or 2 hours increments.   In God's perfect design, pregnancy has prepared me for this though - since I was up that often making trips to the bathroom anyway!!!  Recently he has occasionally made it 4 hours between feedings, and 3 hours of sleep pretty much feels like 8 now.

As for being a good baby... I'd have to say that Harvey Karp's book "The Happiest Baby on the Block" has been a life-saver in so many ways.  It teaches you that you can't spoil a newborn - which is good to know and comforting because I don't know how you can resist going to pick them up when they start to cry!  But, most importantly it teaches you the "5 S's" to calming your baby:

1. Swaddling - Micah loves this!
2. Swinging - sometimes this helps.
3. Sucking - mostly he wants to nurse, but he has occasionally taken a pacifier now.  And he loves sucking on his fist.  Last week he gave himself a hickey from sucking on his forearm!
4. Side/Stomach - he does like to be carried sideways.
5. Shushing - perhaps the most amazing and counterintuitive of the 5 is that babies love loud white noise (like they heard in the womb) - we have found that our vacuum cleaner works like a charm on Micah.  Just another reason we love our Dyson!  ;-)

In those lonely late night feedings, I have watched a lot of TV episodes and instant streaming movies on Netflix.  My favorite so far:  Castle - Season 1.  I've also read a lot of books (I am so thankful that I can "turn the page" with one hand on my Kindle!).  Also have loved the website breastfeeding.com by The Bump/The Nest/The Knot crew.  It has a whole list of "Things to Do with One Hand" including hilarious videos, lullabies, audio-books, and more!

We have been so blessed that Eli has been able to be off work and home with us this entire time.  He goes back to work tomorrow though which is going to stink.  However, since he works 24 hours shifts, he'll only be gone about 9 days a month.  That's not a bad gig.  And we fortunately will not need any daycare for Micah with that schedule.  I'll be going back part-time in another 2 weeks, but as a Realtor and as Crown Realty's web designer and online marketing IT person, I can do MOST of my work from home with Micah on my lap (like he is right now as I type this blog!) so that's pretty wonderful!

I guess that's about it for now... I will leave you with this adorable photo from Halloween:

My Labor Story

First of all, I should say that I wanted a home birth in the jacuzzi tub without any interventions or medications.  Not exactly what I got, but the end result was the same:  the most beautiful baby boy I have ever seen!  So despite some disappointments and set backs, I am so thrilled to be a mother to Micah Paul Casey!

So, at 4:30am on Saturday, October 2nd, I woke up feeling wet and ran to the restroom.  I called out to Eli, "Either I wet my pants or my water broke."  All he heard was "my water broke" so he was up like a true paramedic on call in no time.  

We called my doctor's office to let them know and they told us to pack our bags and head to the hospital.  We took our time (I even took clothes out of the dryer - one last nesting ritual I suppose) and got to OPR at around 6am where I had to be triaged to confirm that yes, my water had indeed broken.

Unfortunately, since I still had not had a single contraction by 8am, they decided to induce me.  (Most doctors try to deliver within 24 hours of the water breaking to decrease the chance of the baby getting an infection).  And thus began the pitocin  (something I dreaded since it makes your contractions very intense and close together and it has been known to increase the chances of jaundice in a newborn).  It was pretty terrible, but I was able to labor for 11 hours without any pain meds (another thing I wanted to avoid for the health of the baby).  

At 7pm, I was still only dilated to 2 cm (even though I'd been at 1 cm for at least 10 days already!).  So after I had made such little progress and my Lamaze breathing was losing its effectiveness, I decided to go ahead and try and IV-administrated pain reliever called staydol.  I could still feel quite a bit of the pain of the contractions, but felt more relaxed in between.  At 9:30pm, I was still 2 cm, and at that point the doctors and nurses recommended an epidural - thinking that if I could relax a little it might help.  To no avail though...

At 11:30pm, Micah's heartbeat was going up and the doctors were afraid that continuing to have contractions after having no water for so long might be causing an infection... so we had to proceed to a Cesarean Section.  They checked me one last time at midnight and since I was still at 2 cm, Eli gowned up and I got wheeled to surgery.


The C-Section was probably the strangest thing I have ever experienced.  Couldn't feel pain, but I could feel all the stretching and moving of my stomach.  Luckily, there was a curtain up in front of me so I couldn't see anything.  Eli, of course, was fascinated by the procedure, and watched the whole thing!  Finally, I heard a piercing cry and knew that Micah Paul had entered the world at 12:39am.


The nurses cleaned him up and weighed and measured him (7 lbs. 4 oz. and 19 inches long) and handed him off to Eli who got to come hold him by my head.  It was so amazing -- he kept turning his head from side to side as he heard Eli and I talking.  And he got a grip on one of Eli's fingers and one of mine while the docs finished stitching and stapling me up.  


I felt like the Grinch whose heart grew 4 sizes on Christmas day.  Never knew I could love anyone this much.  Such an amazing feeling to be a mommy!!!

Ultrasound Photos

Today was the big day!  We got to see our baby for the first time!

And although he was shy at first, the ultrasound technician poked and prodded him to get him to move around.  And this is what we saw.... no doubt about it, he's all boy!

Eli is very proud.  

I'm sure we will be pulling this out of the closet someday to embarrass him in front of his girlfriend.

And here's his first recorded footprint.  The toes are point towards the left.  Big toe on top.

Needless to say, we are on cloud 9.  Totally awesome day.  

Totally awesome God who already has a plan for this little baby boy!  

One Week...

...until we find out if we're having a BOY or GIRL!

What do you think our baby is?

Vote now!

Pregnancy Update

How far along? 16 weeks 5 days
Total weight gain: 0
Maternity clothes: not yet, but some of my jeans are getting too tight to be comfortable
Best moment this week: knowing that the baby can now hear is amazing!
Movement: none yet (at least none that I am positive is the baby!)
Food cravings:  salty stuff mostly - pickles and pizza (though not together!)
Gender:  we get to find out on May 26th!
Belly button: no changes yet - I sure will miss my "innie" when that happens!
What I miss: margaritas, horseback riding
What I am looking forward to: finding out the gender and seeing our baby for the 1st time on our May 26th ultrasound!
Milestones: we received baby's first stuffed animal (a teddy bear named "Chaucer") from good friends in St. Louis!

Big News!

Yesterday, we got to hear the most amazing sound in the whole world. Our baby's heartbeat!

I have to admit, I am super-paranoid and didn't want to share our good news until we reached this milestone. I mean, I took 4 pregnancy tests just to make sure I wasn't seeing double (lines, that is!).

I was so nervous while the nurse searched for the heartbeat with the dopler wand. We kept hearing mine and she explained that wasn't it as it was too slow. Of course, the longer it took to find baby's, the faster mine got! And then... there it was! like a little train engine going 170 bpm! What a miracle!

Of course, our parents and family already know. Here is a video from the night we told my mom and Eli's parents. Our brothers both already knew, so Nick was filming it!


The Unveiling from Katie Casey on Vimeo.

My due date is October 13th - which is actually Nick's birthday - and we are so excited to be in this journey towards parenthood!!!