Kate is here part 2

Well the next morning after Kate was born (which was technically only a couple of hours later) all of the doctors were doing their rounds. Of course......first thing in the morning when we had not slept at all. Oh well.....I guess they were breaking us in to the sleep routine of a newborn. Kate's Dr came in to see here and mentally prepared me that she may have to stay longer than me. The thought of leaving without her made me sick to my stomach. She had to be able to regulate her body temperature, regulate her blood glucose, pass the car seat test and stabilize her bilirubin levels. 
We spent the day being checked on by drs and residents and having visitors. It was so great to have everyone come see our little miracle!
Kate did wonderful with her body temp and blood glucose levels. The drs all seemed so impressed, because she was so small.
Her bilirubin levels were a little high and her doctor said that he would check again the next day and they had to have leveled off otherwise she would have to stay another day and be under the lights. He said he assumed she would probably be staying bc she was so small and the bruise on her head is cause for a spike in bilirubin levels as well.
Praise Jesus! The next day they were perfect! My doctor gave me the ok to leave early. So not only did we get to leave together but we got discharged early! It was AMAZING! Leaving the hospital together as a family!
Mamu and papa brought Kinsey and Logan to meet Kate on friday morning. I was a mess of emotions, having all three of my babies together finally! I had prayed so hard throughout the last nine months and my exact prayer had been fulfilled! Our family of 5 was together and healthy! Kinsey immediately went to her and tried to unswaddle her and change her outfit. She treated her just like baby dolls and had picked out tons of coordinating outfits and wanted to try each one on her! So sweet. Logan was a weepy mess, he knew his life had changed and he wanted nothing to do with me or Kate. Literally 3 days after she was born was the first time he would come and sit with me. He clung to daddy and cried and cried when he realized that daddy was staying at the hospital while he went home with mamu and papa. So very sad.

Now that we had been given the ok to leave it was time to go home and start our new life! Ready or not we are a family of 5!!
Here are a few hospital pics!

Kate is here

Wow! It is so hard to believe that I am now a mommy of 3. It is no secret that this pregnancy has been quite eventful. I don't think it was until after Kate was delivered and healthy that I actually realized how anxious/stressed I had spent the last 6 months. Although it was a very scary time, I want Kates story to be one that glorifies our Father. It was truly His plan. And she is truly His child. Ecclesiastes 3:11 "He has made everything beautiful in its time." (My labor, her delivery, our wonderful support network and even more- the days ahead which I have not yet seen!)
So here it is, Kate's birth story:
We had an appointment with our high risk ob last Wednesday. I was 37 weeks exactly on that day and we had been prepared that if Kate had continued to not grow as she should that we would be delivering her early. The numbers that they were looking at were her percentiles. At our 33 week appointment Kate had dropped to the 20th percentile. They prepared us that if Kate were to drop below the 10th percentile then they would recommend delivery then. After our hour long sonogram at the high risk ob's office, they put all of her measurements in the computer and she measured 6th percentile. That was a very significant dropped and showed that Kate had all but stopped growing. They told us there that they would recommend she be delivered that day or the next at the latest. They told us to go to our regular ob's office and we would schedule a time.
We showed up to our regular ob's office for an appointment later that afternoon. He agreed with the high risk and scheduled us for an induction the next day, Thursday May 8th at 7:00. Suddenly it became very real and we had to talk about some hard things. Although I was 37 weeks and considered full term we were having a baby early and with that came increased complications. We had to talk through whether or not we wanted the NICU team present during delivery. Because she was measuring very small we chose to have them on hand in the delivery room in case we were to need more invasive help. Just talking about all of the possible complications brought up a large amount of fear for us. The sonogram measured Kate at 4lbs 13oz earlier that day. They said that can be up to a 1lb off in either direction. Which meant we could potentially have a 3lb baby. That is a very scary thing to think about. We also talked about the increased risk for a c section this time. Normal decelerations in the babys heart rate are normal during delivery. Our doctor made it clear that he would not tolerate many decelerations in Kates heart rate during her delivery being that she already has her size working against her and that he would move to a c section much faster if that were to occur. Because I have never had a c section that brought even more fear to the situation. More so a fear of the unknown. He assured me that he would be there to deliver Kate no matter the time of the day. For me that was very reassuring. We left his office feeling very anxious about the next day. We had a dinner at the church scheduled for that night but we decided to bail on that and just have a relaxing dinner with some of our closest friends the Blasdels. That was exactly what I needed that night. I just love the comfort of good friends. We are soooo incredibly blessed. After dinner we went home and finished up some last minute bag packing and getting stuff ready. We got the car seat ready, pack n play set up and baby clothes packed. I took a nice hot bath and some tylenol pm and tried to get a good nights sleep.
I woke up at 3am Thursday morning and could not go back to sleep. I laid in bed and tossed and turned until it was time to get up and start getting ready at 5am. We checked into the hospital at 7am and things go to moving quickly. They started an iv and pitocin to induce labor. I was not even dilated or effaced at all. My body was nowhere near ready to have this baby and we were starting from square one. Throughout the day we had many visitors and the company helped keep my mind off of the pain and nervousness that our sweet baby was going to be here soon. My dr called and wanted me to have an epidural very early. He said that was important because if Kate began to have decelerations in her heart rate then we were one step ahead of the ball game if we needed to have an emergency c section. The nurses came in multiple times and told me that Kates heart rate would drop a little if I were to lay in a certain position for too long. They would move me to another position and then her heart rate would go up. This made me even more anxious and I kept my eyes on that baby moniter all day in fear that her heart rate would drop again. They broke my water rather quickly in hopes that my labor would start progressing. By 6pm I was only dilated to a 3 and 50% effaced. It seems the doctors were disappointed in amount of progress I was making. I had maxed out the dose of pitocin that could be given and I was at a standstill. At 7pm we were given 3 choices. 1. Have a c section now. 2. Keep the pitocin where it was and hope that I would start to dilate more (which was unlikely) 3. Take an hour break from the pitocin and then start it up from the lowest dose and hope that it would jump start me into dilating more. We chose option 3. They stopped the pitocin and suddenly all of my contractions stopped. That was really disappointing. My body was really not ready to deliver this baby. I was also feeling a strong amount of pain on my pelvic bone. The anesthesiologist came in and did some test to see if my epidural was working. It turns out my epidural was working perfectly and that it was bone on bone pain that I was feeling. It was her head on my pelvic bone. After an hour they started the pitocin again and gave me a little while to see if it worked. After coming back to check on my I was only dilated to a 4 and not any more effaced. At this point they told us that there was nothing more they could do to help me have a natural delivery and they recommended we have a c section. This was a very emotional time. I had been in labor for 15 hours and now we were having a c section. At this point all of our friends and family had left and I was in tears alone. Just then my good friend Jessica walked in. God is good. Jessica has had 2 c sections and comforted me like no one could. God knew I needed her. After the decision was made to have a c section everything moved very fast. Josh had to get in his scrubs and I was wheeled into the OR. Our amazing nurse could see that I was very very scared and crying. She stopped everyone in the OR and asked if she could pray over me before they got started. Everyone, including doctors nurses scrub techs and the NICU staff came over to me and placed their hands on me while she prayed. God is good. SO good. Once my doctor walked in I lost it. Too many emotions were running. It had been such a long painful day and now we were getting ready for surgery. In a cold, sterile room where everyone is moving very quickly. I did not know if Kate was ok and I felt completely out of control. I was beginning to panic. I have set in on many c sections during clinicals and I knew what was happening. I knew that my stomach was being cut open. I began to feel pain. I told them I was in pain and they gave me more pain medications. That is all I remember. Josh said I then went unconscious. That of course freaked him out. They staff assured him that I was ok. Because I was not awake my doctor told him he could come around and watch the surgery if he wanted. What a brave guy. He watched the whole thing and he watch them take Kate out. She was crying very loudly. Praise God!!! She was absolutely perfect. The NICU team was told they could leave. How amazing is that!! Josh ran back and forth between taking care of Kate and I (who was still asleep) and keeping family informed. She weighed in at 4lbs 13oz and amazingly perfect. I was still asleep when she needed to be fed so they gave her some formula from a syringe. I woke up in a fog about 2 hours later. It took me a few hours to figure out where I was and what happened. Josh said I was talking all sorts of crazy nonsense and the staff told him that the medications make some people do that. The first thing I remember is asking him how much she weighed. He responded by saying "I have told you that 10 times!" After awhile I began to come back to normalcy and was able to hold and feed Kate. Praise God. That was the most emotional part of this whole process. I was holding my healthy (but small) baby and feeding her. In that very moment I felt a sense of relief as if the whole world had been taken off of my shoulders. It was that moment that I felt exactly how anxious I had been over the past 6 months. I felt as if I could breath again. 
We were wheeled back down to our room where our troopers of family and friends were waiting. At this point it was 3am. Nearly 24 hours after we started labor. Exhaustion was an understatement. After a short while of visiting and passing Kate around friends and family left and we tried to sleep. This was about 430am. 
That day was a whirlwind of emotions. I have never felt God in my life more. This was his plan the whole time. Although this was not the birth story I had imagined in my head or even wanted, it was perfect in His time. Our little Kate is here and we are in love. 
Whew......that was a long story. 
Next up I will update on the first few days of Kate's life.

A little DIY goin on here

Small secret......I am totally envious of all of those crafty, creative, just plain awesome people out there who can whip up something totally awesome out of nothing in a matter of minutes. Truth be told, several of my friends are just that (You know who you are!!!)
Another not so small secret. That is just not me! Don't get me wrong, I have other talents, like being super punctual, pretty darn organized and having a hand written calendar/schedule/journal thats pretty awesome.
But the creativity/decorating/dressing myself in stylish ways gene just totally passed me by. 
I am trying to venture out more in that department which brings me to the point of this post. My front porch was in need of something......I mean anything. I have seen those cute little chalkboard easels and went to buy one. I priced them anywhere from 40$ to 70$. No way. Not paying that much.
So I found a DIY tutorial for one online totaling about 20$ in materials and a little manual labor. So off the Lowes I went. I may or may not have had to return things twice due to my husband kindly telling me I had purchased the wrong size lumber and I guess you have to look at the wood and make sure they are really straight before buying them? Well no one told me that memo. I also had to call in some help when it came to using the skill saw and drill motor. Thankful for a super handy man. He showed me how and then let me do it on my own. Yeah I still sucked and some of the boards are cut a little crooked. But oh well. It turned out and my porch looks semi decent!

PS: the awesome artwork credit goes to my hubs. Found a pic online that I liked and he just totally duplicated it. Yeah hes pretty awesome!!

Easter!

In my typical late blog fashion I am just now getting to posting about Easter.
We had a great weekend to celebrate Easter and the weather was perfect! We spent the whole weekend together as a family.
Friday we had some friends over to make resurrection rolls, have an Easter egg hunt and eat lunch. Kinsey loves spending time with her friends and I too enjoyed sipping coffee with the other mommies!
Saturday we had a family breakfast and then dyed eggs. Surprisingly it was rather clean and both kids enjoyed it way more than I anticipated. We spent the rest of the day doing yardwork and cleaning the house so we could have all day Sunday to celebrate and relax!
Sunday we had a big breakfast at home along with a family devotional and then went to church. Both kids got to do the egg hunt after church and then we had lunch with my family.
He is risen and we had a great time celebrating this very special holiday!!

Baby Update

This week I saw my regular ob again. I have not gained any weight in the last six weeks. Also, at my sono last week baby has continued to drop in percentiles. Baby started at 35%, then dropped to 30% and was 20% this week. That coupled with my lack of weight gain, coupled with the measurements of my stomach being low is a concern.
Dr Whiddon said that I am scheduled for another sono and weight check at 37 weeks. That is on May 7th. We will go to that visit and if baby has continued to decline in percentiles we will have a baby then.
What?!
I definitely was not expecting that. He says at that point the baby will be considered growth restricted and it becomes safer for baby to be out rather than in.
That means we could be having this baby in 2 and a half weeks!!!
To be honest I am a mess. I am not sure what to think. I have felt like with all of the testing we have done and the fact that my continued sonos show no new changes in regards to echogenic foci, that perhaps we just have too good of technology and that I will just have this baby and it will be healthy and perfect.
Now we are adding to lack of growth to the mix and I am back at square one. 
I am anxious and relying on my own reasoning to make everything better. Truth is, it won't happen. Truth is, I am trying to handle this on my own. Truth is, I need to lean on my heavenly father. This is His will. This baby is in His care. I know He is a just God and loves me and this baby. And that is enough.
So whether we have a baby in 2 and a half weeks or make it to 40 weeks I am thankful for this journey and this very special baby.
But until then......I better get my hospital bags packed!

Logan as of 2014

It has been awhile since I have done a post all about sweet Logan. I wanted to write a few things about him and give him some blog love since he only has a short time more to be the baby.
He will always be my first born boy and that is a super special place in this mommas heart.
Truth be told I was kind of hoping for a girl when we found out we were pregnant with him. Boy am I glad he wasn't. My heart stretched about a million times the day this guy was born. 

He has grown up so much in the last 6 months. His vocab is pretty darn awesome. Its so fun to hear all of the new sentences he can form and so cool that you can carry on total conversations with him. It is able to articulate easily most of the time his wants and needs. 
He is still my picky eater and would be content eating hot dogs and french fries every day of his life. The two fruits he will actually eat are oranges and bananas. And he has even gagged and thrown up when I insisted that he take a bite of corn. Seriously!? 
He takes one good nap a day from about 1:30 to 3:30 or 4. He now sleeps in the same room as sister (more on that later). The two of them entertain eachother (annoyingly so to me) until about 9 or 9:30 each night despite being put to bed at 8. They both wake usually around 8am! Yay for that!!!
He is quick to follow whatever sister does and her interests are usually but lately he has taken on his own interests. Topping the lists are construction trucks and tools. It is so cute to watch him work with daddy!
He can recognize and name an excavater, backhoe, skid steer, forklift, snow plow, tractor, semi, and many other trucks.....
He has taken very little interest in the potty. I have bribed him multiple times with candy to sit on the potty and he has actually went on it a few times. But he would never suggest it or do it without the candy incentive. I continue to offer it but do not want it to become a power struggle so we will take our time on that one. Although I could do without changing his diapers:) He picked out CARS big boy underwear and we are putting them in his easter basket. Who knows if that will help or not.
He much prefers daddy unless he is hurt, sick or needs something. On those occasions he will come running for me and cry for me. Super sweet that at least he wants momma sometimes.

I could never have imagined the joy this sweet boy would bring to our lives. It really is hard to put into words our love for him. I love the bond him and Kinsey have and I look forward to his new role of big brother. 
You are so loved and special little man!

Girly Girl

I love that Kinsey is such a girly girl. Lately she has been really into wanting her nails painted. She will pick out the color and either Josh or I will paint them. Without fail, within 1 day she will have picked the nail polish off (she gets this terrible habit from me) and then she will want them painted again. 
She loves having them done......its just so darn hard to let them nails be.....trust me I know.
Sigh* its crazy how much a child can bring in to light the things about yourself that you don't really notice much.
For Christmas she got a set of nail decorations that included press ons. I remember loving press on nails and once I was old enough, getting the ones you filed down and glued on. I would place them on oh so carefully and then gently walk around the house hoping not to pop one off.
Its so cute to see her interests develop.
I love watching her have an opinion on things (most of the time:))
She is growing so quickly and I hope that one day when she has children of her own she will remember the hundreds of times I painted her nails for her and the awesome conversations we have while doing it!
Love you princess!

Even baby needs a set of press ons.