He is Here!!

Please help us welcome our new addition, Kiran Whitney James Harmeling! Born Wednesday, May 25 at 3:55 and weighing in at a hefty 8lbs!

The short story:
Kiran was born via c-section after a quick decision was made by Dr. Nakamoto that it was time for him to come out (the sooner the better). Within an hour, I was in the operating room and little Kiran made his way into the world!

He had some initial breathing difficulties due to fluid in his lungs which gave his daddy a good scare and prevented his very anxious and impatient mommy from being able to hold him for several (and I mean several, looong) hours. He made a complete recovery, though, and is doing great! During that time I did get to sit in my wheelchair by his bassinet in the nursery and touch and talk to him which helped me get through to the time of being able to hold and nurse him. I got this pic- our first handhold!


Big brother Lance made it up to visit and meet Kiran on Thursday morning and it was pretty much everything I had hoped their intial meeting would be.

We are happily home now and are all recovering well. We are adjusting to being a family of six- the dogs are doing well and Moses has resumed his role as the den mother. Lance is doing great for the most part but has had a few out of character break downs and seems a little confused about why I can't pick him up and play with him like usual. So far, though, so good. We are incredibly grateful to have another healthy boy in our arms.

For those of you wondering about his name, Kiran is pronounced like "keer-an" and means light, or ray of light. He has two middle names, both after important people in our lives. Whitney is after one of Stef's oldest and best friends, Fabian Whitney Chichester. James is after Stef's older brother Jimmy, his Uncle Jim (Dan's identical twin), our nephew James, and my dad's dad James McLaughlin. And so we proudly introduce you to Kiran Whitney James Harmeling, our newest addition.