Week 10- April 30th

October 2, 2017October 2, 2017 / jennyalden / Leave a comment

Dear Friends and family,

The peanut is coming along! Weighing in at 5lbs 12 ounces, he’s a little bruiser!

He’s really getting a hang for the passie

And he loves story time.

Here’s a pic of him holding my hand while listening to daddy read him a book.

And here’s that same pic of him next to Mommy as a baby in the 20th century..

He does Tummy Time on our chests when we ‘roo him, and the other day he got himself into this position..

Here he is celebrating the comb-over look

While it’s harder to have visitors in our small space here than our palatial pod in Denver, we’ve had some friends and family make the trip..

A.C got to meet his Grandpa, Daddy Ellis! IMG_1540 (1).JPG

And Jesse Draper..

And my cutie nieces fell in love with their new cousin..

Derek and Kirk look like proud parents here..

And Alden‘s loving the blondes with Aunt Lindsey and Helena!

Thank you to the Powell family for having us over for Sunday Indian food and game night!

And speaking of Yum, I discovered that if you ask- they’ll make you the most delicious Mint Chip milkshake at the Menlo Grill (Stanford Park Hotel)

And finally, Charlie’s back to hogging my hubby

According to “the Bump” ap I’m over 36 weeks pregnant and due to give birth in 3 weeks and 4 days!

Our goals for Alden are to keep breathing (ha), get off the gentle flow of oxygen, keep putting on weight steadily, drink from the bottle, breastfeed, and be the happiest little baby we can possibly raise

XOXO

The Spaldens

PS! We will be in LA for the Milken Global Conference where Joon Yun is speaking on Longevity. Tuesday, May 2nd, we’ll be celebrating Kirk’s 40th BIRTHDAY!!! If you’re in LA and want to join, please email me for details.

PPS: I realize Kirk’s hairy chest is a popular feature of these updates. I’m sorry to not have one this week, but worry not, there are surely more to come..

Week 9- April 23rd

October 2, 2017October 2, 2017 / jennyalden / Leave a comment

Dear Friends and Family,

I was going to give you a break on the updates, but many are still checking in (very sweet

) , so here’s a quick one to show you his progress 🙂

Here’s our little guy right after Kirk fed him his very first bottle – I think he liked it!

He’s also rocking the binky. Awesome for a kiddo who’s still over a month away from his due date!

And he’s sporting some pretty cool hats these days..

and opening his eyes wider when he’s awake..

Gearing up for Dartmouth, he follows the pages when we flip them as we read him books. (His favorite is Giraffe’s Cant’ Dance

)

As of today, Alden weighs over 5lbs!! He’s almost 5 times bigger than his first week of life. With his due date being May 24th, we should be bringing home a real sized newborn!

XOXO

Spaldens

8 Weeks = 2 Months! April 19th, 2017

June 25, 2017July 8, 2017 / jennyalden / Leave a comment

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Easter and belated Passover!

Today our little boy is 34 weeks, and 2 months out of mama.

It was a BIG week for the Spaldens! Here we are on our last day in the U of Colorado NICU, in cardinal red and Stanford gear- ready for the big move!

Mr. Alden Charles Spahn must have known exactly what was up, because he was very wide eyed and alert that day.

Mama explained the trip ahead, and while he was excited to go to California, he knew he would miss all the wonderful caregivers in Colorado who lovingly tended to him during his first weeks of life.

As we took a last lap around the NICU, Kirk started crying, and then I did too… So many feelings, and memories..!

An awesome team arrived to transport the peanut into a massive capsule for his flight out west.

He fit in snug as a bug…

It was tricky trying to maneuver the capsule into the small jet..

But our team figured it out!

We enjoyed scenic views out the window..

And then we Arrived…!But then….
☠️

DISASTER.

In the spirit of trying to stay positive, I will spare you the dissertation I could write on the horrors of the Stanford NICU, and simply say… it was like going from rolling green pastures, to a loud, bright, chaotic, metal farm factory surrounded by sick babies with no privacy, space, or quiet to kangaroo our child.
When I told Kirk on the phone, he thought I was exaggerating.. then he walked in, froze, and declared: “We need to get th F- out of here”

Thus began a 24 hr panic/sob fest where were wracked our brains to get back to the free range fields of our Colorado NICU. We would pay out of pocket if we had too..

WHEN…

baby boy did something marvelous!With the help of sea level air, A.C got off of his hi-flow tube onto Low flow, which qualified him for a level 2 NICU. The very next day we got a transfer to Sequoia hospital, a much more peaceful space that serves as a satellite nursery for Stanford

While Sequoia is still not as great as the U of Colorado- it is a zillion times better than Stanford, and we are relieved and Grateful to be there.

Seeing the Dr. Seuss quote there made made us feel at home..

But WOW, guys.. How LUCKY were we to end up in Colorado in the first place!?! I was appreciative then, but even more so now that I know what’s out there. We must have angels.

In the meantime, Great aunties Betsie and Barbie have visited our boo

And we’re back on the Kangaroo program….

While you may think this is a Sears catalogue shoot for discount pashminas, it’s actually my besties visiting me in Woodside enjoying the fresh, brisk air.

Thank you Julie, Janelle and Kristien for making the flight up north!

Charlie too loves his walks in Woodside..

Inline image 1

On Saturday we had a family reunion in Atherton..

And then another one in Woodside for Easter..

Overall, Alden is doing great. He’s had few episodes (de-sats and bradies) due to the new low-flow, changes and adjustments.. but he’s our little champ.

Thank you all for letting us share this journey with you so far.. !

Xoxo

The Spladens

Week 6 – April 2nd

June 25, 2017July 9, 2017 / jennyalden / Leave a comment

Dear Friends and family,

Today our little boo is 6 weeks old! Well, he’s still not supposed to be born until May 24th, but he’s been out of the oven and baking in Aurora for 6 weeks..

Weighing in at almost 4lbs now, he could totally take on that VOGUE magazine..

Look how sweet he is!

Friday he had his big eye exam and is exactly were he’s supposed to be for a 32 weeker. (Which I guess means going cross-eyed at moments is perfectly fine for now..

)

And you can see in better lighting how blonde he is! Brows, lashes and all..

Kirk and I are getting into the swing of things in Colorado. We’ve found some amazing food joints. Who knew once you get out of the chain restaurant ruck there are incredible farm to table places here?! A foodie’s paradise!

We’ve also been lucky enough to have some home cooked meals- Thanks Jeff Salzenstein and parents Jan and Miles for the incredible rack of lamb! (Sorry Vegan friends)

(Ladies, Jeff is single…

)

Also, thanks to the Favre family (er, Beers) for the delicious gluten free Lasagna.

And nothing could beat the Umbrella show performance we had after dinner. #PartyTime

Tommy Haas made a special Denver stop to see our A.C! (Happy birthday to Tommy tomorrow!!!

)

And Uncle Chris and Aunt Daphne flew out to visit as well 🙂

They managed to escape with Kirk to a local Escape Room.. which of course was nothing like the one Chris designed at the Palace of Fine Arts in SF

(Palace-Games.com plug!)

As for Charlie, he digs playing fetch down the endlessly long hallways of our hotel..

He’s also gotten into March Madness

It seems my pump schedule through the night is really taking a toll on the boys, though..

Kirk and I are still Kangarooing the boo for hours everyday, and enjoying all the fun gifts y’all are sending- like this swanky Beverly Hills Hotel bear (thanks Steve and Katia!)

I asked the NICU nurses if they can tell a difference between babies who get a lot of Kangaroo time and those who don’t. They said though Alden is alert and lively, he’s a lot calmer than the other babies there. The ‘roo time is certainly a part of it.. also they said it could be genetics or the fact I didn’t do drugs when I was pregnant ( low bar in the NICU).

Before we ‘roo the Boo, we go to Moo.

Moo is our local ice-cream spot where we get our daily shake on (and I wonder why I’m the only person to keep putting weight on after the baby’s born.. I’m trying to up my milk production!

)

You can just see the look of sheer joy and delight in Kirk’s eyes when we first discovered the joint.

On Monday we’re going to try again to get Alden off his Cpap (the mask) and back on Hi-Flow (the tube).

Depending on how this goes, it looks like we may get a transfer to Stanford Hospital as early as next Thursday!!

Kirk and I will be living in my childhood home in Woodside until A.C is out of the hospital and construction on our house in LA is completed this summer.

Pretty neat my son will be coming home to the same place I did when I returned from Stanford hosptial as a newborn.

(And like his grandma Connie Spahn was born near Denver..!)

Thank you all for your continued love and support.

Despite the challanges we face, you make us feel like the luckiest for having such incredible people in our lives.

Xoxo

The Spaldens