Well, Lukas seems to be "coming into his own" now and has asserted between his 2-week-birthday and his 3-week-birthday that he doesn't want to go to sleep. He has trouble settling for naps and occasionally can't get back to sleep after a middle-of-the-night feed, which is especially not fun for his mommy!
Inspite of this new-found stubborn-streak, he still is pretty cute--at least his Mom and Dad think so! Here are some recent pictures of him striking poses for the camera...
Friday, September 28, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Here are some photos from our first weekend at home...
In celebration of the Rugby World Cup being hosted in neighboring France, we donned our black and white colors in support of the New Zealand rugby team the All Blacks. Olli and Lukas are actually wearing All Blacks jerseys.
Lukas and Daddy having some Father/Son bonding time.
A greeting from Lukas with a flap of his sleeve and a sweet (but accidental) smile.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Some "Firsts" for Lukas
The Many Faces of Lukas
Another indication that he's doing well is the fact that he's gained weight since his initial "newborn weight loss". As of yesterday, he was only a few grams away from his birth weight! Below are a series of pictures taken after one of his feedings--the main reason for his weight gain. :-)
The Various Stages of "Milk Induced Coma"
The Blissful Stage
Why Lukas David?
I'm writing this on Lukas's due date, which now just so happens to be exactly a week from when my labor was induced and Lukas's six-day birthday. First of all, thank you for all the wonderful comments and congratulation emails that you've sent to us over the past six days. We have so cherished reading them and knowing that our loved ones are just as delighted as we are about the arrival of our first born son.
As many of you have commented on our choice for his name, Lukas David Höltje, I thought I would take the time to write about why we chose that name. Most of you know that we were looking for names that sounded similar in both German and English so that he could easily "fit in" when interacting in both cultures. Lukas and David both fit that requirement. However, more than this, we wanted the meaning of the names to be something special that we could tell our son about when he is old enough to understand. When we began thinking about names, I was convinced that I wanted a Biblical name so as to give our little one a "role model". Lukas is a derivative of the name Luke and as Luke was one of the New Testament gospel writers, we thought that he would be a great example for our little one to learn about. David is also a Biblical name and many aspects of his life make him worthy of being a role model as he was a courageous boy who trusted God to help him stand up against Goliath and later on was described as "a man after God's own heart".
We also wanted to take into account the meanings of the names that we chose and we wanted them to say something about the person we want our son to be and the way we feel about him. Lukas means "bringer of light" and our son sure has brought light into our lives already in the six days of his existence in the "real world". More importantly, however, we hope and pray that our son will, like Luke in the Bible, one day come to know Jesus, the Light of the world. David means "beloved" and our little guy is exactly that! (A little trivia fact/"inside info.": After seeing Michelangelo's beautiful and masculine statue of David in Florence, Italy a couple of years ago, my affinity with the name David increased even more :-) )
We decided to spell Lukas with the traditional German spelling as we really like the way it looks and it makes more sense to me that if he wants to go by Luke when he's older, his first name be spelled with a "k" rather than a "c" and since our Lukas is half German, it seemed only natural to spell his name this way!
As many of you have commented on our choice for his name, Lukas David Höltje, I thought I would take the time to write about why we chose that name. Most of you know that we were looking for names that sounded similar in both German and English so that he could easily "fit in" when interacting in both cultures. Lukas and David both fit that requirement. However, more than this, we wanted the meaning of the names to be something special that we could tell our son about when he is old enough to understand. When we began thinking about names, I was convinced that I wanted a Biblical name so as to give our little one a "role model". Lukas is a derivative of the name Luke and as Luke was one of the New Testament gospel writers, we thought that he would be a great example for our little one to learn about. David is also a Biblical name and many aspects of his life make him worthy of being a role model as he was a courageous boy who trusted God to help him stand up against Goliath and later on was described as "a man after God's own heart".
We also wanted to take into account the meanings of the names that we chose and we wanted them to say something about the person we want our son to be and the way we feel about him. Lukas means "bringer of light" and our son sure has brought light into our lives already in the six days of his existence in the "real world". More importantly, however, we hope and pray that our son will, like Luke in the Bible, one day come to know Jesus, the Light of the world. David means "beloved" and our little guy is exactly that! (A little trivia fact/"inside info.": After seeing Michelangelo's beautiful and masculine statue of David in Florence, Italy a couple of years ago, my affinity with the name David increased even more :-) )
We decided to spell Lukas with the traditional German spelling as we really like the way it looks and it makes more sense to me that if he wants to go by Luke when he's older, his first name be spelled with a "k" rather than a "c" and since our Lukas is half German, it seemed only natural to spell his name this way!
Monday, September 10, 2007
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Introducing Lukas David Höltje
The wait is over, our baby has arrived! At 13h55 on September 6th, Lauren gave birth to our son Lukas David Höltje. He weighs 3.3 kg (7.3 lbs) and measures 50 cm (20 in). Mother and baby are doing well after a long day (and night) of labor.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
In the Hospital
Olli and I are presently in the hospital awaiting the birth of our baby boy in the next 24-36 hours. We had a doctor's appointment this morning and discovered that the amniotic fluid surrounding our precious little one was lower than normal (but Olli wants to point out it was not in the danger zone). I then went for another ultrasound scan at a special clinic where they measured the fluid again as well as did a Doppler scan to assess how well the placenta is functioning. The placenta was found to show signs of being old from its looks (there is some calcification), but the actual function is quite good. Nevertheless, after the appointment our doctor suggested that my labor be induced as the baby is a good weight (3.1-3.3 kg/6.8-7.2 lbs) and in a good position for birth, but due to the low amniotic fluid level, he thinks it best to encourage the baby to come sooner rather than later.
Apparently, there is a dual process for induction and we have already begun the first stage. I (and the baby) will be monitored overnight to see if this method is able to encourage strong enough contractions for labor. I have already begun some contractions, but if they are not sufficient enough, they will give me a more traditional injection tomorrow morning in hopes of a delivery sometime during the day tomorrow. We are excited and a bit overwhelmed as this is not what we expected when we went to the doctor's this morning, but are happy at the prospect that we will have our baby in our arms sometime very soon!
Apparently, there is a dual process for induction and we have already begun the first stage. I (and the baby) will be monitored overnight to see if this method is able to encourage strong enough contractions for labor. I have already begun some contractions, but if they are not sufficient enough, they will give me a more traditional injection tomorrow morning in hopes of a delivery sometime during the day tomorrow. We are excited and a bit overwhelmed as this is not what we expected when we went to the doctor's this morning, but are happy at the prospect that we will have our baby in our arms sometime very soon!
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