First Day at Daycare

Here's my first attempt at writing an somewhat fictional illustrated book for Kai. Hope you like it, never got around to adding the illustrations though :(

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Kai's First Day at Daycare

 It was the 1st day and Kai had heard much about daycare.
He was excited to see what it was all about, but not about waking up early.

 Kai was awoken by the gentle embrace and kisses of his mommy and daddy.
It took him a minute for his eyes to adjust to the morning light and before long was calling for his breakfast.

 All fed, a warm bath and a nice outfit and Kai was ready for his journey to daycare
Kai fell back to sleep as soon as he got out the door.

 When Kai awoke he was at daycare and looked around at all the strange new faces.
Some of the people where big and tall like his mommy and daddy, and some were only a foot or two taller than him.

 The kids seemed very friendly, but Kai was too small to go out and play with them.
He looked at all the colours of the room, the pictures and noticed there was another baby crying in a feeding chair.

 Kai wanted to know what had the baby so upset, and realised the baby was just hungry. After one of the tall people gave her a bottle, she was happy.
He rolled over and saw some of the kids were all wearing the same clothes, then he looked at his outfit and wondered why his was different.

 He got one of the kid's attention and found out that older kids get to wear a uniform, and they get to learn a lot of fun stuff.
Kai also found out that the tall people were called "Aunties" and they took care of everyone and taught the kids their ABCs and 123s.

 Kai listened as the lessons went on and the kids said the ABC's, named the colours and named the pictures next to each letter.
"A is for Apple, B is for ball" he could hear one kid saying

 At lunch time Kai got his bottle and watched the kids eat their lunch and then run all around playing and laughing.
Kai really wanted to play with the kids and screamed with excitement and laughed each time the kids ran close to his cot.

 He kicked his feet and waved his arms and even though he was too small to join in, he still had a great time.
He took a nap and in no time it was time for another bottle and his afternoon bath.

 While he was having his bath he wondered when he would see his mommy and his daddy to tell them all that happened on his first day.
Kai wanted to tell them of all the new friends he made and they all wore the same clothes and about the lessons.

 He missed his mommy and daddy and started to cry, the aunty comforted him and took him for a walk to calm him down and he fell fast asleep.
When he awoke he saw his mommy at the door and he was excited to see her, finally he would get to tell her all that happened.

 Kai could hardly contain his excitement when his mother asked how his day was and didn't stop talking all the way home.
When he got home and saw his daddy, he reached for him and told him about all the wonders of the day as well.

 As Kai sat in his dads arms, he couldn't help but think about what the next day had in store.
Maybe tomorrow he will be strong enough to run with the kids.

 "Today was a great day" he thought to himself and fell asleep and dreamt of all the wonders to come.

Week In Recap

Good morning Book of Kai friends and fans, we had a pretty long week and I was away on training so didnt have time to blog. We encountered two more centipede attacks this week, with one being 9" and the other around 8". Both were dispatched promptly but they were also the biggest we have seen since we moved here.

Slipper is size 11

What was even more concerning was the fact that the larger one was found not only in the apartment,  not only in our room, but also near to Kai's crib. Deborah just caught the movement in the corner of her eye an the centipede was moving with it's head in the air like a snake ready to strike. There has been a lot of rain fall recently so we are assuming they are looking for somewhere warm. We pretty much live in the country with a lot of lots over grown with grass, acres and acres of agriculture land and a Stud Farm, so encountering nature is expected every now and then.

We were having some issues with Kai and constipation since we changed his formula and it progressively got worst as the weeks went by. We started rubbing his tummy, bottom and under his feet with Castor Oil (bajan home remedy for our non-bajan readers) and started giving him some water between formula feedings but no more than 2oz a day and that helped but didn't completely solve the problem.

We had an appointment to take Kai to get his first set of vaccinations and decided to address the constipation and his apparent Umbilical Hernia. She told us not to limit his water intake an also recommended Prune Juice; one part prune juice, one part water, twice a day. The formula was also changed back to the Similac Soy and he has improved slightly. We will continue to monitor it and he seems to enjoy the water an prune juice.

I also have to get around to writing the first book in the Book of Kai series, and hope to launch it for his first birthday, so look out for that. We would also like to do a give-away for Christmas to an expectant mother in need. "The Newborn Survival Kit" will have in all the essentials to make it through the first month after the child's birth and we are hoping Corporate Barbados will come on board to donate the items. Should this be successful, we would make it an annual give-away.

So stay tuned as we gather momentum and build the book of Kai one brick at a time. Don't forget to check out our Facebook page.

Kai's Baby Dedication Ceremony

What is a Baby Dedication Ceremony you ask?

A Baby Dedication is a ceremony in which believing parents, and sometimes entire families, make a commitment before the Lord to submit a child to God's will and to raise that child according to God's Word and God's ways. Many Christian churches practice Baby Dedication instead of infant Baptism.  You can also see Bible.org for more in depth information on the actual process.

The service was held at the Collymore Rock Church of the Nazarene and service began at 8am. Kai was dressed up nice in his three piece, all white suit and we arrived fashionably late. Kai's Godparents, Lakeisha, Deborah and Dillon came to be apart of the occasion along with his grandmother Heather, Uncle Antonio and other family members. I must say, he was well represented today. Missing from the service was his other God parent, Darwin, who lives on another island and was unable to make it since his girlfriend is also soon expecting a bundle of joy.

We made sure to put on a bib on Kai after we dressed him and it stayed on all the way to the church... at least his outfit would remain intact should he decide to spit up. Thankfully, he slept through the entire Ceremony and the little picture taking session at the end. His uncle Antonio was the photographer for the day, so will upload the photos to his facebook page as soon as I receive them.

We spent the rest of the day at a family luncheon and had a mini island tour. We are all very exhausted, and had a long day which was after a long night... not as bad as usual, but we're still a little sleep deprived. We had a wonderful day, completed an important milestone for Kai, ate some good food, had some good laughs and we are ready to tick off the next thing on the list.

Kai's Island Adventure

Today was supposed to be Adventure Day, we had lots of errands to run and it was about time for Kai to see some more of the land. Our first stop was Skymall, we always get good reception there and everyone is always so thrilled to see Kai. Almost three weeks after his birth, he still turns the heads of the people working and visiting there. One lady whom we assume was going to shop, met us at the midway point between Trimart and the mall; and at first glance of Kai started to walk backwards while expressing how adorable he was. She wanted to know his gender and age, but at first her quick action to walk backwards and across our path threw us off a bit. 

There was also another case in Cost-U-Less aka Cost-U-the-same-amount-as-any-other-store where while shopping these two older ladies asked us if they could take Kai home with them. Deborah smiled and told her that she can't because we would miss Kai, to which the lady replied that we would be allowed to visit. I'm not sure if Kai secretes pheromones that attracts ladies who want to kidnap him or what, but if he has this effect at this age and 98% of the time he is sleeping... I don't want to see how it will be when he is walking and talking.

We went all over the island today, from Haggatt Hall to East Coast Road, from Mile and a quarter to Britton's Hill and all in between. I took Kai to visit his older brother Dominic today as well, He is 7 years old and has been eager and waiting since he heard of Deborah's pregnancy to see his little brother. I can just see that the two of them will get along just fine... I know boys will be boys and bothers will have their little tiffs, but that's all apart of life and they will work it out. There is also Jayden, he's my cousin Janelle's son (around 2 years old) and and since we grew up together, she would also like our kids to have the same bond we had. So Kai, Dominic and Jayden will have lots of play dates, and hopefully exhaust each other enough that they sleep good at night. I almost forgot about Arianna, she is Deborah's cousins daughter and she is 4 years old, Ari was pretty ecstatic when she first met Kai and even asked her mother if they could take Kai home. So I'm sure that she will be included in the festivities and games.

Now back to our little trip, the rain was falling today and had some pretty spectacular cloud coverage. It looked like something from a movie and I was just waiting for a tornado to touch down. As we got past Farley Hill and into St. Andrew and along the East Coast road, we could see the mist just covering the top of the hills and for a moment it was as if we were in another country. When we reached close to St. John Parish Church the mist was all the way to the floor and we really couldn't see that far ahead of us, now I don't know if this is a regular occurrence but I've never seen it and thought it was pretty awesome. 

Now all of this happened and we saw lots of pretty interesting things while on the road, and would you guest that Kai slept through ALLLL of it? Oh well, we have lots of time to do it again when he is awake, and much more. So Kai's Island Adventure pretty much passed him by, but he was there. *chuckle*

Before we started our journey I snapped a few pictures of Kai. I will only put one here but you can follow along via his official facebook page for The Book of Kai. The facebook page will be the photo gallery, provide short status updates and provide easier interaction while the long stories will be posted to the blog. So head on over to facebook and "Like" the page.

 

The Eagle has landed

Good morning everyone,  baby Kai came home from the hospital yesterday but before we get to that lets back track a little.

So Kai had to go to the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (N.I.C.U) because he had Jaundice and was a little dehydrated. Sometimes it takes a while for milk to come in with new mothers and flow as much as baby would like, so he was getting suppliments along with the breast milk... that is until the nurse decided he wasn't getting anymore and clearly the breast milk wasn't enough.

So in the N.I.C.U Kai was put in an incubator on drips and under the lights to take care of the Bilirubin level which causes Jaundice. In fine QEH form, we walked in for the first time and we were shown where he was and that's it. We sat there staring at him and waiting to be briefed on his condition. The N.I.C.U sounds like slot arcades with buzzers and bells going off and then out of the blue an alarm goes off on Kai's incubator. None of the nurses seemed fazed, nor were they making any attempt to even come in our direction. This is our first visit and a high pitch noise is going off and we don't know why... we stopped a passing nurse to enquire and she mumbled something about temperature and pressed the silence/reset button an continued to walk away.

We then asked another nurse about his condition who told us that the doctor will speak to us in a minute... now I don't have to tell you that visiting hours ended 2 hours later and no doctor spoke to us. Another thing is that half hour after we arrived, the maid decided it was time to mop and all the parents had to go outside until she was finished. As inconvenient as this was, It gave us time to chat with some of the other parents who also stated the lack of information on coming to the N.I.C.U was also a problem they faced. After being allowed to go back in half hour later, we were asked to leave again later on so they could do an xray on a baby on the other side of the room from us. Everyone was asked to leave again but they got to us late and they told us to wait in the Breastfeeding Room since it was closer than the exit. We entered and found the couple with the newborn toddler and while we were waiting she decided to try Breastfeeding him as he wasn't really accepting it. Would you know it another nurse would walk in and tell us that guys are not allowed in the breastfeeding room? As if we salked in off the street and decided this was the ideal place to just chill out and watch the day go by. Then when we got back outside a nurse asked if we wanted to change Kai's pamper and to take down the side for access, and another nurse passed by during the change and told us not to take down the side, but to use the two little holes... these people would send you up a wall.

Anyways, my baby is home and the same evening he got home we found a lump on the back of his head, close down by his hair line. The lump is about the size of a marble and we don't know where it came from. We called back the N.I.C.U and they said he didn't have it when he was discharged, so now we have to make and appointment to take him to the doctor to get it checked out.

The first night home was as expected, little sleep and up every 3 hours or so. Other than the lump on his head I would say my little tike is happy and healthy... he also passes gas like he has a trumpet in his pamper, but better out than in I guess. We will take it one day at a time and tackle each problem as it presents itself.

He usually just breastfeeds and sleeps and doesn't open his eyes for extended periods. So snapped a picture quick so you can see him with them open.
Have a great day and I hope you are enjoying the blog.

Official Release: Book of Kai, 1st Edition, Chapter 1: Kai's Birth

Good night everyone, have been having some internet issues so couldn't update as I would like, but guess what??!!! HE's HERE!!!!!!!! Birthday: 19th July, 2013

Kai Nathaniel Haynes was born this afternoon 36 weeks into the 40 week journey. My baby boy is tiny, looks like 6 lbs but we are not sure as yet. Now before people start scrolling all the way down for photos... I didn't take any today. It has been a very, very, VERY long day.

Now from the beginning. As you know, Deborah had her bloody show last week and with the help of google we found out labour would be along between a few hours, up to 3 weeks after this event. I really did not get any sleep last night and neither did Deborah, if she wasn't getting up for a glass of water, she was going to bathroom. Around 4 am this morning now Deborah woke me up and told me that she thinks her water broke but she is not sure. Now I'm a big fan of google, so out came the laptop to search for "i think my water broke but i'm not sure" and seems this is a very common occurrence with women and there were lots of stories and things to look for. To look at the colour, the smell and consistent flow... Now Deborah's water didn't come swooshing out with a big popping sound some women seem to get, It was more of a small steady trickle, with no sign of contractions in sight.

Since Q.E.H. is famous for sending pregnant woman back home we decided to monitor this event and see if any contractions would start. There was only the usual back pain and the trickle, so I told her to start getting herself ready for the hospital by making sure she had everything she needed, getting breakfast and a shower then relax and wait for our ride. As stated before, the Ambulance is never an option, and if you play stubborn and call, then proceed to wait for one, you better have someone at home with birthing experience.

We got to the hospital around 7:00 am and when Deborah waddled into the Accident & Emergency section we were ushered straight inside to await an orderly. Anyone is Barbados would know the usual procedure of on arrival speaking to the guard and having a seat and waiting to turn to dust. Up on the Labour Ward now I must say the nurses on that shift were very nice and information was flowing on her condition. It was only then that I found out Deborah was a High Risk patient with Edema and Pre-eclampsia so she was awarded her own little private room. Should any complications arise, surgery would take place on the spot to get out Kai.

I was allowed to go check in on her a few times through out the day and was promised to be called when the actual pushing started. When I went in she had drips to try stabilize her pressure and antibiotics since her "water" was leaking for so long before she came in. Around 11:00am they broke her water and induced labour, now induced labour hurts a lot more than natural labour and the look on Deborah's face said it all. The contractions were in full swing now and the breathing technique was sharp, there was no doubt as to when a contraction started as her body would tense up and the breathing would get faster until it had passed. I was only allowed a few minutes visit at a time since they were trying to keep her as calm as possible and I returned around 2:00 pm, this time she could barely speak and her body was shaking slightly as she struggled between focusing on breathing to say "5 minutes apart".

The hospital shift changed at 3:00 pm and from there it was like the dark side of the moon, total black out. No information, no visits, and on inquiring several times was only met with the response "hold on a minute". I heard a few loud cries and in rushed some student nurses ...I don't have to tell you how worried I became because it sounded very much like Deborah and I told myself it couldn't be since I was supposed to be there. Around 5:00 pm her mother and brother arrived from work and also asked a nurse about her status to which they received the same response.

Around 5:30 pm the nurse came to the door and told that my son was born and he is healthy, that Deborah is also good but the delivery came so fast they had no time to call me and with it being high risk all the student nurses filled the room. Half hour later they came for me to go see Deborah and she too said it happened fast as they were focusing on her pressure and tell her not to push, but she was pushing because the pain was too great. I looked around and down the hall and saw a small baby in an incubator with the temperature set to 36 degrees Celsius, I knew he came early so I wouldn't expect him to be 8+ lbs so asked Deborah if it was him, to which she said she was unsure as to where they took him. It was only after I say the ziplock bag on top the incubator with the stuff we picked out for him to wear that I knew it had to be him. He looked tiny, like around 6 lbs and the shimmy the nurse put on almost swallowed him whole. She put on the shimmy, socks, the hat and whole piece suit with legs then wrapped him in a receiving blanket and a baby towel with the head piece over the hat.

At this point Kai was not crying at all and just sucking his finger with his eyes closed. She handed him to me and I held my baby boy for the first time and started to speak to him, and asked him where he was going with such long finger nails. On hearing my voice he stopped sucking his finger and started to open his eyes. I know they say babies can hear you in the womb, and lord knows I spoke to that child almost every night, but it was still breath taking to see his recognize my voice and open his eyes. It was now time for mommy's trial run at breast feeding so the nurse took him back and he closed his eyes and she handed him to his mother to show her the way to breast feed and to see if the Colostrum was already coming out. He found the breast with ease and after the nurse made sure he was latched on it was smooth sailing, not sure if he was getting but he seemed contented and either way if nothing was coming as yet, his constant sucking would eventually bring it down.

Kai's eyes were the first thing I wanted to see when I held him and I'm glad he opened them for me, my other son Dominic had grey eyes when he was born but the turned dark brown a while after. Deborah says Kai will be a Daddy's boy since he only opened his eyes for me and not her. All in all, I am grateful that this high risk delivery was practically uneventful and my baby boy though small is happy and healthy and all went well. Can't wait to go back tomorrow and hold him again, also have to let Dominic know that his new little brother is here.

Welcome to the world Kai Nathaniel Haynes, there is tons of love here waiting for you and I can't wait to see you grow, experience and explore the world.

Intro

Good Afternoon,

My name is Jamal and this blog will be about the birth of my second son Kai Nathaniel Haynes. His due date is August 12th, 2013, so basically the count down is on. Babies hardly ever come on the proposed due date so it's always best to have everything ready for the hospital by 35 weeks into the pregnancy.

I considered the ultrasound shot but that was taken early in the second trimester so the detail is not very good. His mother thinks he will be a daddy's boy since he calms down whenever I'm close or rubs her tummy when he stretches out. That is unless we are having one of our usual conversations just before bedtime and then he gets really active.

We recently moved out on our own and with only one of us with a steady income we were looking forward to the baby shower to see what friends and family got us. The shower was pretty good and the girls played a few games before we got to the unveiling of the gifts. We still have a few more things to get but we have a great foundation to build on. My cousin recently had a baby boy... well like a year ago, and brought us a ton of stuff her son never got around to wearing. I guess it's true what they say, kids grow up so fast... especially the first few months.

I would like to say thanks to everyone that attended the baby shower and even those who couldn't attend but still sent gifts or donations. It was greatly appreciated and will go a long way. So as the title of this blog post states, this is basically an intro to what the blog is and will be about and hope you will join Deborah and I in the count down to Kai's birth. I will try to keep the blog up to date as much as possible but no sure it will be a daily blog, so be sure to follow by email or follow me on google+ to know when a new blog post is added.

Regards
Jamal

P.S here are some photos of the cake his Godmother got us for the baby shower.

photos not showing well enlarged, will check on it later