Some Saturday Randomness...

All of my kids love taking baths. I took some pictures of Nathan in the bath tonight. He was having a lot of fun in there!

A family Friend Betsy bought this Taggie blanket for Kendall when we went out to Indiana over the summer. It is so soft and beautiful! The sleeping gown she is wearing is from My aunt Cindy. It has been pretty cold here at night now and this is so soft and warm! Makes night time diaper changing easier too! It is hard to believe Kendall is already 3 weeks old! Time is going so fast!

Kendall Well baby check-11 Days

Kendall had a checkup today. She is doing really good! she now weighs 9 pounds 3.2 oz and is 20 1/2 inches. She has been a really good baby so far. She only cries when she is hungry and then calms right now. She eats about every 2 to 3 hours day and night so I don't get a whole lot of sleep. It is okay with me though because I know this time in her life will go really fast and eventually she will sleep through the night.

Here is a picture of her sucking on her hand this morning. 

This is a picture I took with my phone of her at the doctor appointment. She was watching the screen saver on the computer in the room before the doctor came in.

Update on the Kids

Kendall is doing great at home. This first week is flying by! I can't believe she will be one week old tomorrow. She fits in so well with our family. All of the kids just love her to death! I had almost forgotten how much fun having a baby girl is! I can't help dressing her up and taking pictures! She is so far my easiest baby. The only time she really cries is when I am changing her diaper. At night she wakes to nurse and then goes right back to sleep. She hasn't had to have any formula since we have been home. Her Jaundice level went down so she doesn't have to be poked for that again. I have to take her next Wednesday to have her hearing checked again and then on Thursday she goes back to the doctor for a weight check.

Avalynn is doing well in Pre-K. She seems to like it a lot. Now that she is in school I have really noticed the speech problem even more. At home I can always figure out what she is saying because she uses words that I know. But yesterday I asked her what is her favorite part of school and Kevin, Gabby and I could not figure out at all what she was saying. It breaks my heart. She also wanted to sing us a song. I had no idea what she was singing. Luckily Gabby knew the song and when she sang it I could know what the words were. Avalynn has started to work with a speech therapist in school so I hope that she will soon be able to communicate better.

Gabby is doing well in school. She is happy that her best friend from last year goes to her school and she can play with him at recess. She says she hides on him. Does someone have a crush? She likes Art and Music but her least favorite is  Gym "Because they make me run too much".

Nathan is doing well adjusting to have a new baby around. He loves to hold her. He does not like to share her with his older sister's though. I have to remind him to be gentle around her. He also has to be reminded to not throw toys near her.

Avalynn's First day of Pre-K

Avalynn is going to Pre-K at the same School Gabby goes to. Her first day was today. I was really worried about her because we tried sending her last year and after a week of crying all day long I pulled her out. This year she had the chance to go half day and I decided that would probably be better for her. She has a speech delay and I think it is a lot of her problem when she is around other kids she doesn't know and she is so shy with adults too. She was really excited to go this morning but I could tell she was also a little nervous. She had missed her orientation because it was the morning that Kendall was born. We went in and found her Cubby and hung up her things. Then we found her name on her table and they had a picture of a school bus for her to color. When I introduced her to her teacher she grabbed a hold of me and got pretty choked up and tears in her eyes. When the teacher walked away I sat her back down and told her I would be back in a couple of hours. She kissed both Kevin and I goodbye and then she sat down and started coloring so we left. I was of course worried sick about her all morning thinking she was probably crying all day. When we went back to get her I sat in the Van with Nathan and Kendall while Kevin went to the door to get her. The bring the kids right out to the door for the parents. It took a few minutes for her to come out and then Kevin picked her right up and carried her to the Van. I was surprised to see she had a huge smile on her face! The teacher said she had a great day and did not cry at all. Avalynn told me that she got to paint and play playdough. Also she saw a speech therapist. The therapist sent a note home saying that she was too shy with her to do any of the Therapy today but they played together so she could get to know her and feel comfortable with her. Here are some pictures of my baby girls first day.

Kendall's First day at home

We had a busy day today. Avalynn started her first day of Pre-K (She will have her own post on that). After we dropped the girls off for school we had to take Kendall in for a WIC appointment. They gave me a hand breast pump because I don't have one. When they measured Kendall she was only 18 1/2 inches long. At the hospital they said she was 20 inches. I think the way that WIC measure are actually more accurate. She looks so short to me. After the WIC appointment we had to go pick Avalynn up for school. Then we went home and I inhaled a sandwich and then I had to take Kendall to the hospital to have blood drawn for her Jaundice. I had to go alone with her because Kevin had to be home to pick Gabby up from school. My Mom works at the hospital and we took Kendall to the Therapy department where My mom works so her co workers could see her. After her blood was drawn I took her to her pediatrician. She still weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce which was her discharge weight. The doctor said everything with her looks good except that she is Jaundice so we have to go back tomorrow to have her blood drawn. If the level has started to go down she won't have to have it done again.

All ready to go to her appointments. My Aunt Dee Dee bought this diaper bag for her.

 I don't want my picture taken, I want to eat!

Okay maybe one picture.

Are you done yet?

Kendall's second Night

She slept really well last night. I went over to NICU around 8:30 and nursed her and also fed her about a half an ounce of milk I was able to pump after that she was still hungry so I gave her about an ounce of Formula. I went back to my room and slept from 9:30 to 11:30 when she woke up again. I nursed her again and then also gave her an ounce of formula. She burped and then went back to sleep. I went back to my room and was able to sleep from 12:15 until 3:30. It Felt really good to sleep that long at one time! She nursed and had another ounce of formula and then slept until 6:00. They weighed her and she is down to 8 pounds 1 ounce. Hopefully my milk will come in today and she will gain quickly. My Mom and I went over at 9:00 and they told me she was going to be able to come home with me later on today. She still had to have some of her newborn screenings done and they need to check her Bili level. It is going to be so nice when I can hold her without all of cords and IVs attached!

A day full of visitors

Kendall had a lot of visitors today. My cousin Bobbie Jo came over at 9:30 this Morning and she got to hold her. Kendall was awake the whole time Bobbie was here and very alert and looking around at everything. I didn't have my camera at the time so I wasn't able to take a picture of Bobbie holding her.

Around Noon My sister Shelly and Shelly's Sister in law Shaina came to see Kendall. She was a lot more sleepy when they were here. I nursed Kendall and then Shelly fed her some formula from a bottle. We are supplementing her with about an ounce after each feeding so that she won't have jaundice. I don't want anything to potentially keep her in the hospital any longer then she has to stay.  Shaina got to go in and hold her for a while after Shelly was done.

My Twin sister Shelly feeding Kendall

 My sister's Sister in Law Shaina Holding Kendall

A few minutes later my Mom came and she finished feeding the bottle to Kendall and got to hold her for a while. Shortly after that Kevin came in with Gabby while Shelly was watching the kids for a few minutes. Gabby loved seeing her little sister. Then it was Avalynn's turn to come in and see her.

My Mom took the kids so Kevin and I could have some alone time with Kendall. Then Kevin held her for the first time. She looked very content in her daddy's arms.

Kendall's First Night

I walked over to the NICU around 8:30 P.M. to feed her. She nursed pretty good. They brought a crib over and wanted to have her sleep in that to see how well she maintains her temperature. After feeding her I went back to my room to get a little sleep. Of course when I got back I had to get an IV antibiotic and then some vitals and Meds. I probably went to sleep a little after 10:00. I set an alarm on my phone for 12:15 and I got back up and went over to feed her again. I had a little bit of trouble getting her to latch on. She has a binki a lot and I am sure it confuses her. I have allowed them to give it to her though because I know they get busy and she needs it to calm down a little. After I finally got her latched on she ate really well. I went back to my room a little after 1:00 and got some more sleep until I got up at 3:00 to go feed her again. This time she latched on easily but she didn't seem to want to nurse very long. I got back to my room around 3:30. I set my alarm for 6:00. at about 5:50 the clinical assistant came in and said the NICU wanted to know if I could come nurse her because she was being really fussy. I went over and they said she hadn't ever really settled down too much since I had left the last time. She kept waking up and acting hungry. I tried to nurse her again but she was having a hard time latching on. I fed her one of the bottles I had pumped earlier and she drank that right down. It was only a little over an ounce though. I tried getting her to nurse again but she just wouldn't get latched on good enough. She did fall back asleep though so I put her back in her bed and went back to my room to try to pump some more. I sent it back over to the NICU and will be going back over after I eat my breakfast. Her nurse said she did really well in the crib and kept her temp up. When I was there at 3:00 they weighed her and she was 8 pounds 6 ounces now so she has lost about 3 ounces which I think is pretty normal.

Kendall Elizabeth Boots Birth Story

On Friday September 6th a little after noon I started getting bad menstrual type cramps and my Back was very achy. I also had lost my mucous plug in the morning when I first got up. I have had light cramps on and off for a few days so I didn't think too much of it at first. But the cramps kept getting worse and worse. They were pretty much constant. This is how my labor usually starts so I figured that I must be going into labor. I decided to take a bath and see if that would help. It did make the cramps feel better but I was so cold in there and couldn't stop shaking. Then we started getting a bad thunderstorm with hail and lightning so I knew I should get out. As soon as I got out the pain felt even worse and I could not stop shaking. I could hardly even dress myself because I was so cold. Kevin had gone to get himself and the kids something to eat so I called him and told him I needed to go to the hospital. Kevin had to go to court at 7:00 so my sister came over to watch my kids and My mom drove me down to the hospital. They got me into a room around 6:30 and hooked me to the monitor and I told them I think I have a fever. They took my temp and it was 102. My heart rate was 113 and Kendalls heart rate was 208. They said the fever was making her heart rate so high and that they would be starting Pitocin to get her out as soon as possible. I was still dilated to 3CM and 50% effaced like I had been at my last appointment on Tuesday. The first thing they needed to do was get some blood work and then start an IV. I was so dehydrated that it was almost impossible to get the blood work. I lost count after being poked 7 times. Finally a nurse got an IV in and then someone from the lab came and she was finally able to get the blood drawn. They pumped 2 bags of IV fluid in, then started the antibiotic and Pitocin around 8:30. At around 11:00 they were going to break my water but her head was still up high at -2 and the midwife was afraid the cord might come down in front of her head so they decided to wait a little longer. Finally around 3:00 a.m. I was dialated to 4CM and they were able to break the water. I think the midwife was expecting me to go fast after that. Little did she know my babies are way too comfortable and I never have short labors. I don't remember exactly when they started the Epidural but It was so painful when she put it in. I have never had one hurt going in before. She actually had to poke me twice because she didn't get it the first time. Then after it was in my right hip was hurting for about 5 minutes. Finally it started working right and I felt great. At around 4:30 I was starting to feel some pressure and realized my left leg was no longer numb. They checked me again and I was only at 5CM and 70% effaced.  I was comfortable enough to rest a little bit on and off. Around 5:20 I was starting to feel a horrible amount of pain and asked them to check me again. It was very depressing because I was still only 5CM and 70%. I asked the nurse if there was some way to turn up the epidural. They had me roll over to my left side.  She gave me a button to push for the Epidural but it literally did nothing. I was feeling like I was splitting in half by this point. About 15 minutes later they could tell I was about to jump out of the bed in pain and the Midwife told the nurse to Check me again just to see if something was going on. I was Fully dilated and her head was coming down. I could not even believe I had dilated the last 5CM in only 15 minutes after taking hours to go from 3 to 5. They got everything set up. I pushed about 1 1/2 times before the midwife yelled "whoa not so fast Stop pushing!" but my body just pushed her out while the midwife was unwrapping the cord from around her neck. She put her on me and Kevin cut her cord. Then the NICU had to check her out in my room. Then they let me hold her for a couple more minutes to get pictures and they took her down to the NICU.
She was born on September 7th at 5:56 a.m. at 38 weeks 3 day. She weighs 8 pounds 9 ounces and is 20 inches long.
I had to stay in bed until the Epidural wore off. My left leg was perfectly fine and I could move it with no problem but my right leg was totally numb still. I could not lift it up at all. It was the weirdest feeling. It was a couple hours after I had her before I could get out of bed. Even then my Right was still pretty much numb so I had to kind of pivot to a wheel chair. I got washed up a little and then My nurse pushed me down to the NICU to see Kendall. Kevin and Shelly came in too. My parents had gone in to see her earlier but were not able to hold her. I was able to hold her and Nurse her. She latched on really well and drank for about 15 minutes. Then My Nurse wheeled me into my room. Everyone was exhausted so they went home to get some rest. I slept for about an hour when I got to my room. After lunch I took my shower and then they brought me a breast pump so I could pump some Milk for Kendall. The lactation consultant was so impressed with how much I got out. I was too because usually I cannot get anything out with a pump even after my supply comes in. I walked that down the the NICU for her but I could only stay about 10 minutes because I was due to get my IV antibiotic too. Poor Kendall had an IV that they had put in her arm but it would not work right so they took that out. Then they put one into her belly button and it looks so red and sore. That one also would not work right because it went toward her liver. So when I was visiting her they asked me to sign a consent for them to put in a Picc Line. She has to have antibiotics because of my Fever and how our heart rates were high when I was in Labor with her. I was able to go back over again before they started the Picc line to feed her again and I held her for about an hour. Then they sent me out so they could sedate her to put the picc line in.
The started putting the Picc line in around 5:00 and told me it would take about an hour. Kevin came back to the hospital and we waited an hour and a half and still  hadn't heard from then. I pumped another bottle and we took it over and they were still working on her so we waited in a parent room until they were done. The line still hadn't gone in as well as they hoped but they said that it will be okay for 48 hours. She was still pretty groggy from them having to sedate her so I couldn't feed her yet. It was a little after 7:00 so Kevin had to go and get the kids from my Mom.
The nurse said as long as her cultures come back okay she could possibly come home with us on Sunday afternoon. If they find some kind of infection she will have to stay for at least a week. She had a fever this morning when she was first born but since then her temp has been normal. She also had some problems with her o2 and breathing this morning but that also has gotten better. I am really praying hard that she can come home Sunday. It is hard to bond with her and nurse her over in the NICU. I feel so lonely without her.

First Day of Kindergarten

Gabby has been nervous for the past couple of days about starting school. On Monday we walked there to find out what room she would be in and who her teacher was. We also found out a girl from her class last year was going to be in her class this year. This Morning she was really excited to go to school. Kevin, Avalynn, Nathan and I all walked her to school. We were able to go into her class with her. They gave her a name tag she wears around her neck. Then we put her bag in her cubby. She found her name on one of the tables and got to sit down and play with playdough as the other kids were getting there. I hugged her goodbye and then we left. She was so brave and happy to be there. I was worried about her all day and kept wondering what she was doing and if she was okay. I had a non stress test and didn't quite make it back in time to pick her up but I walked to meet Kevin and the kids on their way back. She ran to me and hugged me and started telling me all about her day. She loved her class and teacher. She had so much fun and cannot wait to go back tomorrow. She kept telling me it was "The best day ever." The only parts she didn't like is that they keep her blanket for rest time at school and she cannot bring it home every day. Also she said she didn't like Gym because they made her run too much, lol. Here are some pictures of my baby girl on her first day.

Nathan was so excited to see Gabby when they picked her up. He gave her a big hug and then he hugged her a lot all afternoon. Then later on they watched Diego together.

Induction date is set

I had my 38 week prenatal appointment today. They wanted to set my induction up for 39 weeks but they have too many already schedule so the soonest they can get it for is September 13th. If something opens up on the 11th or 12th they will get me in on one of those days instead. 

I lost 2 pounds so I am at 28 pounds gained for this pregnancy. Baby's heart rate was 138. The doctor checked my cervix and I am 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced. She said that it is possible I will go into labor on my own before the induction date and if I am induced my cervix is very soft and favorable for induction. My iron level has come up a little. It is now at 10.6, I am still anemic but not as bad as before. My platelet count is also low  but she said as long as it stays above 100,000 I should be okay.