1999 - Part III (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

We missed a lot during Kellisa's time in the NICU, but Lisa missed one of the moments that moms cherish and remember forever, getting discharged with their newborn. It wasn't the same, but a nurse wheeled Lisa out of the hospital with Kellisa on her lap. Even with oxygen, monitors, and wires everywhere, it was a beautiful moment.

 

The one normal thing we did was order a large wooden stork to be placed on our front lawn for Kellisa’s arrival. It was huge with a large red heart painted with Kellisa’s name and date of birth. When we arrived home, we took celebratory pictures of Kellisa with the stork in front of our house. After the pictures, Lisa carried Kellisa through our front door for the first time. Kellisa was home.

 

1999 - Part II (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

My dad wasn’t known for sharing his feelings. He kept them inside due to a rough childhood without a father. His father showed up unexpected to say “Goodbye” as my dad left for a tour in Vietnam, just in case my dad didn’t make it home alive. This was the last time my dad would see his father and I would never know my paternal grandfather.

 

My dad learned early and often how to keep his feelings from others. I can only remember him telling me that he loved me once and that was while he was hugging me right after Everett passed away. He whispered those three words into my ear. This would be the first of only three times I ever saw my dad cry. The second would be when my mom joined Everett 8 years later. The third was earlier in the day when he realized we lost Kirsten.

 

1999 - Part I (Kellisa's First 18 Years)

Lisa and I rarely purchase alcohol. We decided to buy a bottle of champagne on the last day of 1998. Before checking out, Lisa decided that she wanted to purchase a pregnancy test to be sure she wasn’t pregnant before taking her two sips of champagne to ring in 1999.

 

After many years of countless negative results, I failed to get excited while Lisa went through the process of completing the test. To our shock and excitement, the test came back positive. It was after 10pm on New Year’s Eve, but we wanted to be 100% sure before we got too excited. Lisa found a clinic open and we raced to have another test completed.

 

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Rush University Medical Center

 

Chicago, IL

May 26, 2014

 

 

 

 

We flew up to Chicago so Lisa and the girls could attend a baby shower. Unfortunately, Kellisa was battling a fever and spent most of the weekend sleeping. On our way to the airport for our return flight, we made the last minute decision to visit the NICU where Kellisa spent the first 113 days of her life. It was a very emotional, but positive experience.

 

The full story with pictures from 1999 and 2014 can be found here.

113 Days in Pictures

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

Rush Presbyterian- St. Lukes

Chicago, IL

May 23, 1999 to September 13, 1999

The following pictures tell the story of our little warrior's first 113 days which were spent in the NICU. Many stories can be written about what Kellisa went through (Read More)

A Warrior

We are often asked about Kellisa's name, so I thought I'd share the background. We only had one boy name and one girl name picked when we found out Lisa was pregnant with twins. We really liked Kelly for a second girl name and thought it went well with Kirsten. Lisa had a concern that Kelly wasn't a formal name that could be shortened. 

I don't remember where or when we purchased the following book:

Taking Lisa's concerns seriously and thinking our daughter might be president someday, I opened the book to see if there were any long forms of Kelly. As soon as I saw Kellisa, I knew it was the name. The perfect combination of Kelly and Lisa. At the time, we never intended to call Kelly Kellisa. 

"A Warrior".

Is there a more fitting meaning of a name that could have been given to Kellisa? 

Most people when they see the name written combine Kel and Lisa as they pronounce the name. That may be the proper way to say the name, but when Lisa and I both saw the name, we thought it was pronounced like Melissa, but with a K. 

We named the girls in the womb. Kirsten was the normal, healthy developing baby and Kellisa was the baby without a chance to be born alive. How could we tell them apart? Kellisa was the baby with a large void in the ultrasound (another blog entry for another time). 

Kellisa was born first, just a minute before Kirsten. It's hard to say born, because they were literally ripped out of Lisa's stomach. The anesthesia started only a few seconds before the knife started cutting Lisa. I will always hear the doctor saying, "we don't have time for anesthesia" as he was starting the c-section. Lisa was pleading, "we have time", as I was rushed out of the operating room amid organized chaos. 

I sometimes think about what would have happened if we named the first girl born Kirsten because that was the name we had first. The girls would have had each others names. Would anything be different? Kirsten isn't as unique a name as Kellisa. We wouldn't have to constantly correct people on the spelling and pronunciation. My biggest pondering is- would the personality be the same?

In 1999, Calista Flockhart was on top of the world as the star of Ally McBeal. However, at the time (and even to this date), Lisa and I had never watched the show or really even knew that Calista Flockhart existed. The rest of the world knew and everyone thought we named our daughter Calista. Not to be mean, but no one was happier than us when Ally McBeal ended in 2002 and Calista faded from popular culture.

Kellisa has never been called "Kelly".