Life With Kate

One of my friends who recently had her baby a bit early told me how strange it felt to know that her baby could still be inside of her. Now that I'm in that same position I feel the same way! Yesterday I looked on our calendar and saw that we had a growth scan scheduled... obviously that wasn't needed anymore! Something I'd left out of my last post was that I'd actually just set an induction date with my doctor for October 5th, at 39 weeks. I still have a couple more weeks to ponder the thought that Kate could still be inside me! So strange!

Anyways.

Kate is doing so much better and we are so happy that she is finished with her photo therapy. Kate was using a biliblanket at home. Here is a picture of what that looked like.

We had to keep it wrapped around her basically 24/7. We could take her out for feedings and diaper changes. It wasn't very fun! 

Then her pediatrician told us that we could lay the blanket out flat, let her lay on top of it and swaddle the blanket around the two of them. The even better news? We only had to keep her wrapped with it for 16 hours a day!

She spent most of her time like this or in someone's arms. It was a lot easier to hold her this way. The Rock-n-Play was amazing. It kept Kate from rolling over and the vibration settings were soothing for her. The best news of all was when it was all over though! Oh, we were so happy! Now she goes to bed (or "night time naps" as I call them) like this! 

It's so much fun being a mommy! I used to be so preoccupied with all of the plans I'd made for myself and hadn't followed through with. I spent so much energy stressing over what my purpose was in this life. From the moment my eyes fell on Kate I've know that one of my most important tasks on this earth is to be her momma. I feel so blessed to have that honor. I came across this quote and it just really struck home for me. 

"I would rather be what God choose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest, and most precious thing in all thinking."

God choose me to be Kate's mom. Praise the Lord~ for that is my most beautiful calling yet! :)

Kate's Birth Story

I had no idea what was in store for us on Sunday, September 14th. In fact, I'd been thinking about all of the things I wanted to share with you about pregnancy like how I'd recently decided to paint my toes... which is quite the experience when you're in your last month! 

Anyways. Life is full of surprises! 

On Sunday evening we were getting ready to go to sleep and I noticed my lower back was hurting. That's not so strange as my lower back hurts even when I'm not pregnant. What was strange was that it would hurt for about 30 seconds, go away, and then come back about 2 minutes later. The pain was uncomfortable but still pretty mild. The pain picked up a bit. We had turned off the lights to go to sleep but I couldn't help but wonder about the pain... so I got up and went to google it. I discovered that it could be contractions, and a sign that I'd gone into labor. So I called the doctor at 11:30. They didn't seem that concerned... me being 36 weeks and with my first babe... I'm sure they thought I was being overly concerned! Heck... I thought I was being overly concerned. The doctor told me to drink lots of  water and wait 30 minutes to see if it stops. If it didn't, I needed to go to the hospital. 

Well the water didn't happen because I soon got sick for the first time during the pregnancy. Gross. 

About 15 minutes into my waiting period I knew that I needed to go the  hospital because the pain was picking up a bit and I just had a "feeling". Blake was great. As soon as I got off the phone with the doctor he took a shower and started packing the car.

 (It was a good thing that he insisted we have our bag packed!)

The drive there was uneventful and quiet! I kept thinking everything was so strange! The pain would come on kinda strong and I would slowly breath long and quiet breaths and then it would pass. 

We got to the hospital at midnight and were taken upstairs to the labor and delivery floor. I was walking around and really my pain was still what most would consider mild. However the moment they had me lay on that HARD table the pain definitely picked up. The nurse checked me and I was apparently 5 cm. dilated. She didn't tell me this though... just had me whisked to our room right away. The pain was picking up quite a bit, but I stuck with my calm breathing and fought the nauseous waves. Every thing I said about not wanting an epidural went out the window. My back hurt. Give it. 

I got the epidural. (By the way... it doesn't hurt at all. The idea of a big needle always freaked me out but I didn't even feel it. Getting that awful IV in my hand was much worse!) 

Anyways, the nurses made us think we had some time, and Blake was sitting down for a moment. They checked me though and told Blake to get on over because I was having this baby! 

They got the table all ready and the doctors and nurses started flooding in. Then I started pushing. 3 very quick pushes later, we heard a sweet little cry. It was 2:23 AM on September 15th. Our baby girl was here! My entire labor process that I was aware of began at 11 PM on Sunday. Less than 4 hours. 

Life changes quickly! It was a sweet and wonderful birth. I'd even go so far as to say it was fun!

We came home with Kate on Wednesday evening and had to take her to her pediatrician the next day to be checked for jaundice. She'd been very tired and and not feeding well either. Her weight had dropped to 5 pounds, 13 oz. She did have jaundice and so we've been using a biliblanket for her phototherapy at home. She's had to be in the blanket pretty much constantly but we had her levels checked again on Friday and everything seems to be going well and she now only has to be in it for 16 hours a day. She is taking food a lot better, though we're using pumped milk through a bottle to help her out because she hasn't had energy to nurse. But she is getting so much better... every hour! 

Last night was precious. She did all of her feedings with no fussing and was wide-eyed and cuddly. She loves her rock-n-play. We have her using her biliblanket in it because it's the most comfortable for her that way and she can't get enough of it! I'm glad that I stocked up on batteries! She'll be in the blanket until she is 7 days old. So Monday we'll be done with it! We'll be able to dress her in clothes again! :)

We've been blessed beyond measure! 

I still can't believe how life changed so much in less than a week. 

Thank you so much for all of the love you've given to us! 

good news!

When you've got good news you've just got to share it!

Today we went in for a growth scan and everything was just wonderful! She was a little over 5 pounds and that put her in the 50th percentile which is completely perfect! The last scan she had been in the 78th and though it wasn't a cause for concern... it was close to being a cause for concern... which was concerning!

She was completely asleep and so they had a really hard time picking up her movements so I had to do a NST (non stress test) to see if they could pick up healthy movement, and they did. I'll have to go in for 2 of them next week just to make sure things are going well. We think part of the reason we had trouble getting her to move was because I'd woken up a lot earlier than usual for this appointment and I hadn't eaten any breakfast so our schedule was just "off".  I joked with Blake that I need to eat a donut before my next appointment! That will wake her up! :)

We were just really excited that her weight is healthy and that it doesn't appear that my gestational diabetes is having any negative effects on her right now. Thank you, Father in Heaven!

All for now!