Kristy and I ventured off to the doctors today for another appointment. On the way, we had what’s become a familiar and frequent conversation; the “what do you think it’s going to be?” one. Then inevitably, the question of name comes up. I’m stuck. I can think of a bunch of girl names I like but not so much with the boy. I often chose to opt-out of the conversation. Since the gender is unknown, the conversation is pointless…until today.

In case your wondering what you’re looking at, just look in the middle. Those are two legs and a…yup. You guessed it. No shame in his game.

While it’s fun to think about having another baby, when I found out that it was a boy, it immediately felt different than with Savannah. Here’s why:

• He’ll learn what being a man means from me, and sometimes it won’t be by what I say
• He’ll watch and learn of my weaknesses; which will give him the desire to be different and better, but not in a “dad you suck” kind of way
• His perspective of God, the ultimate “Father” will be molded by me, his earthly father
• His drive and ambition will be directed by what he sees in me…even when I work late into the evening
• His love and respect for women will be developed by how I respect, love and cherish both Kristy and Savannah; nobody else will have more influence regarding this, than me
• What’s important to me, will be important to him … even I don’t see it until he’s 32
• Finally, my branch of the Chowning name will live on another generation

January 17, 2009, here we come!

We recently had some pictures of Savannah, Kristy and I done. Here’s a couple to tease you.

The rest are available here.

Here’s the Savannah picture of the day.

More are online at www.flickr.com/photos/chownage

Since my last post, Kristy’s been discharged from the hospital and is furthering her c-section recovery at home. She’s doing great and getting as much rest as she can while Savannah is getting ready to go home at the hospital.

Today, Savannah was moved from an isolette to an open crib; which is a major improvement. The challenges now are keeping her temperature up in the open air and getting complete feedings bottle feedings. Lately, the afternoon has been met with a very lethargic little Savannah and she’s had a hard time taking her entire bottle. This is of some concern and a couple of times she’s had to have a feeding tube inserted to finish. Once Savannah takes her bottle well for a day or two, then she’ll be very close to coming home. At this point, the doctor said that she could be a few days from coming home. We’ll see.

Prayers: Temperature stability and feeding consistencies for Savannah. Rest and patience for Kristy and I; especially Kristy. We feel like parents when we’re there, but it’s a little weird to leave and have our pre-baby life back. We’re looking forward to being parents WITH our daughter in the near future.

Thanks for all of your prayers and love. We appreciate it greatly!
Kyle, Kristy & Savannah Grace

30+ more pictures were posted on our flickr account today:

www.flickr.com/photos/chownage

Wow. Savannah made her way into the world almost exactly 24 hours ago. It’s hard to believe. Here’s a quick update:

12:20p: Savannah was born weighing 5lbs 1.5oz and 17 inches long. Immediately after she was born, she was taken to the regular nursery for cleaning and initial shots. Because she was born so early (5 weeks) we knew that she might have a hard time breathing. While she is able to do so on her own, the doctors felt it best to put her into the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) for further observation and testing. So far, she’s doing great and the doctors are anticipating that she won’t be in there long. Of course, we’d love to know how long she’ll be in there but it’s not possible to define that as of yet. Best guess right now is about a week.

At this point, I get to visit her about every 3 hours to deliver some breast milk from Kristy. I love those times. Just me and my girl. I love squeezing her little hand, talking to her, trying to get her to open her little eyes, and when she cries trying to comfort and soothe her. It’s even fun to squeeze her knees and tickle her feet. She doesn’t like it, but I do. I’m going to love being a dad.

Kristy is doing well. She’s surprised that the pain and inconveniences of the C-Section aren’t as she anticipated; it’s better than expected. Today has been a bit of an emotional day; as expected. She’s very hormonal because of the physiological aspects of what her body is going through but when you add the fact that we can’t hold and be with Savannah, it just adds to the emotions. She’s now off of her IV and eating real food. Today at some point, she’ll probably start walking some. We’ll see.

I’m doing very well. I have a lot on my plate with the company and the construction of our house, but I really couldn’t care less about all of that right now. The most important people and concerns of mine are sitting in a hospital in Nashville, TN. I will be their protector, their provider and a helpmate. We’re a family now and that means that we’re a team; working together, sticking together and helping each other embrace our new life. Nothing is more important than that right now.

I’m already starting to experience an inconsistent sleep schedule. I finally went home last night at 11 and got back at the hospital around 12:15a; helped Kristy pump at 12:30, delivered the milk to Savannah at 12:50a and hit the hay about 1amish. Woke up at 3am to the nurse, 4 am to pump and deliver, 6am by the nurse and 7am by housekeeping and to pump again. And so life with a new born starts. I love it and wouldn’t change it for anything.

Finally, I’m so excited that my parents are coming up to see us on Friday. They were planning on coming up next week to actually be here for the birth but since Savannah surprised us all, they’re coming up as fast as they could. My dad is going to stay the week to help me with the house and a bunch of other necessary and timely projects. I can’t even express how much that’s going to help me. I’m VERY appreciative.

If you’re wanting to see more pictures of Savannah, we’ve posted them on our Flickr site: www.flickr.com/photos/chownage. By default we have all of the pictures set to private. If you would like to see them, you’ll need a Flickr account and then request us as a contact. I’ll grant friends and family access.

I’ll keep you posted here as things progress. Thanks for your love and care.

Kyle, Kristy & Savannah Grace

PS. Savannah is now 25 hours and 16 minutes old.

Mommy Zabs, this is for you. You’re probably one of only a few that will actually read it (besides my wife of course).

I am to list 8 wonderful things about my wife! This is a cinch; here you go:

1. One word: Beautiful
2. She is THE sexiest pregnant woman alive
3. The truth is, she’s an amazing cook. How do you think I gained 20lbs after getting married? That isn’t sympathy eating.
4. We are both thoroughly enjoy late nights
5. We are both well aware that late nights will take on a whole new meaning when our baby is born 6. She absolutely loves to cuddle…and I love it too
7. She knows what it means to love; whether its me, a friend, our soon-to-be-born baby or a stranger on the street
8. And finally, I got her before the other guys did. Seriously, two other guys were out to get her finger before I came along. Cha-yeah!

Awaiting Savannah
Originally uploaded by Kyle & Kristy

Kristy and I had another OB appointment this past week. They’re always fun to go to. Since this is our first, it’s all new, which means it’s all exciting. Here’s a picture of our little Savannah Grace.

We did learn that Kristy has Placenta Previa which basically means that the placenta has implanted too close to the opening of the cervix and could cause problems in the future. The good news is that little Savannah is just fine and so is mom. The only thing that this changes is that there is a good chance that we won’t have a natural birth, rather a planned c-section AND miss Savannah will come 2-3 weeks earlier than her due date. So it looks like our new family will start at the beginning of August rather than mid. Yahoo! Now if we could only get into our house by mid- end-of-July, that’d be better!

We got word yesterday that Britt’Knee and Elizabeth aren’t going to come live with us this month. If I were honest, it’s a bit of an emotional let-down. It’s taken a lot of mental energy and stamina to prepare ourselves for their arrival so to just let it go, is proving to be hard to do for me. Maybe because it seems like a final decision. I don’t know that Britt’Knee is expecting that, but her deciding to not come in May complicates our future decisions. Last she mentioned, she’d like to move up here the week before the baby is born. At this point, that isn’t happening. It’s not fair to my wife. It’s not fair to Savannah and it’s not fair to Elizabeth. So I rest it into God’s hands and work towards really letting this go.

Proverbs 16:9 (New Living Translation)
9 We can make our plans,
but the Lord determines our steps.

I’m gonna be a dad.

cool.