Aloha World!

My name is Caden Charles Koehl.

I was born of humble parentage on August 17th, 2007, at 5:08 PM HST, on the island of Oahu, in the beautiful State of Hawaii.

I weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces (including hair) and was 20 inches long.

And now, for my first official action, I hereby take command of this blog from my weary mother, as I am now the only one in the family with free hands (when I'm not swaddled).

Here are some photos of me and the fam, plus some movies.

Looking forward to meeting you!

Love and gurgles, Caden

It's the Due Date!

Knock, knock. Are you ready to come out, little guy? He's happy and content in there, still punching and kicking. Only Caden can decide if it's time.

Only about 4% of women will actually give birth on their due date. While the rest will give birth 2 weeks before or 2 weeks after. The average first time mother will go more than four days past her due date.

My sister has a theory that everyone has a particular day of the week when all their significant milestones happen. For her it's Thursday. She met her husband, Ed on a Thursday and both her kids were born on a Thursday. Crazy, huh? I think my day is Friday. We'll see. I'm aiming for Friday, August 17th.

10 Days to Go!

We wanted to get some pictures of my belly while it's still here. I can't believe it's the last week! A part of me is going to miss being pregnant. I have enjoyed every little kick, punch, and hiccup. Nine months of reading, worrying, advice seeking, having people open doors for me, letting friends touch my belly, strangers showing their friendly smiles. It's been an incredible experience.

Not Yet!

I had another doctor's appointment today. My internal exam revealed that I haven't started dilating and the baby has some time. Caden is getting bigger though and squirming a lot! No telling when he's going to come out, so we're just waiting. I get a lot of strangers saying "Whoooa, I guess it's pretty soon, huh?" You know I'm big when people start saying that. Luckily it's all in the belly! :-) We have some predictions on when he'll be here. Mom and Charlie think it will be August 7th. I say August 10th. Any guesses?

Ready for Take Off

I had my weekly doctor's appointment today. I was worried that the baby had turned sideways and fears of a C-section were in my head. Just to make sure, my OB-GYN did a quick ultrasound. I was so excited. I got to see our baby boy! Great news, he's head down and ready to make his move! It seems the hiccups that I was feeling high on my left side are just his butt jutting out everytime he takes a breath! How cute! His legs and arms are on my right side, which is why when I lie down on my right, I can feel the pitter-patter of hands and feet. We're so excited and counting down the days...29 to go! 3 more doctor's appointments! 1 little miracle!

Surprise! It's My Baby Shower!

My sister Tara and my Mom threw me a surprise baby shower at a quaint little place in downtown Honolulu called Tea at 1024. It was the perfect place to have it, so unique and everyone had such a great time. They serve tea, salad, and small sandwiches. For desert they had cream puffs, small cheescake squares, and cranberry scones. Mmmmm! To top it all off we had a chocolate sheet cake that read, "Welcome Baby Caden". Thanks to everyone who made this afternoon so special. It really meant a lot to me to see all of you. Charlie did a great job with getting me there. I was convinced that I could never be surprised, but he took me there saying that we were going on a 'date' together. I believed him only because everyone has been scaring us with how little time we'll spend together after the baby comes. What a shocker when I walked in and saw the balloons and smiling faces. It was great! Now I feel like Caden can officially arrive. We received almost everything on our registry and within hours of arriving home from the shower, we assembled, washed, organized, and stored all of his gifts.

Caden's Nursery

Well, his room is finally ready! The endless hours of combing through catalogs and bookmarking websites is finally over. It's perfect! We're so excited to show everyone. If you'd like to stop by and see it in person, we'd love to have you.