Monday, August 20, 2012

Katelynn's first bath

A quick picture, before heading to her bath, of sucking her thumb. She loves her hands!
 She wasn't so excited about her bath at first
 but, it got better


 so cute and snuggled up

so sweet

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Day 3: Home

The days were sweet and full of baby cuddles.
 The nights were horrible and painful. 
The first night, Tyler stayed with me and I contracted all night long and cried in pain. The second night, Katelynn started crying hysterically and I couldn't calm her down. I knew she was hungry but she wouldn't calm down enough to latch on and eat. I had to give in and use a pump and then we used a syringe to feed her. I found out that night, she had been latching on but wasn't getting anything. She was starving!! She had lost a whole pound. So, pumping became priority #1.
Tyler tried to stay with me again that night but was just too tired from not getting any sleep the night before. We called Grandmother at midnight and she came right in and helped me all night with Katelynn. 
So, when the doctor gave me the option of going home on day three instead of day four, we decided to go! Annagrace and Emmalee were already at Grandmother's for the night, so it made the transition to home a little easier with just Katelynn. 
 So, I got her all dressed in her "Little Sister" outfit
 and loaded up in the van.
Our third night went much better, at home, in our own bed!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Finally it's Birth Day!!

My c-section was scheduled for noon but they had an emergency come in right at noon so we got pushed back an hour or so. I think that was the longest hour of my life. I was so eager to get into that OR, get her out, and hold her!
 pre-op monitoring and prep
I finally got wheeled to the OR, then had to scoot from the bed to the table, and then curl over and receive my spinal. Honestly, the worst part of the spinal is them digging their thumbs into my hips verifying placement. It's a mixture of pain and tickle all at the same time and makes you want to jump up off of the table. Everything was going smoothly until they laid me back and put the curtain up, that's when the vomiting started and I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. I couldn't breath and just felt horrible. I don't remember my other two c-sections feeling like that. But, after a few minutes, some additional IV meds, and a nasal cannula of oxygen, I was ok and feeling the normal tugging of a c-section. A few minutes later, 13:16 exactly, Katelynn was pulled into this world and I heard her cry out for the first time.  
After all of the poking and checking, I finally got to touch her:
and then Tyler took her out to meet her big sisters


I was very happy that the Medical Center had made a change in the post-op procedure. Instead of the baby going to the nursery to be washed and weighed while I was sent to the recovery room, they now have a washing and weighing room inside of the recovery room. So, Katelynn got to stay with me. I was able to hold her and feed her while my spinal was wearing off.
As soon as I could wiggle my toes, they moved me to my room. (I was in a lot of pain and was upset that they didn't have that under control before moving me.)
After they got me settled in bed and medicated, they let my family in. And boy did they come in! We had a room full! But the sweetest and most excited visitors were Annagrace and Emmalee.
 They ran to my bedside and wanted to hold her immediatly. Emmalee actually got really upset that I didn't just hand her over.
Once they were seated, Grandmother and Aunt Carol helped them hold her for the first time. 




 Me and my girls!
 Our first family photo:
I am overwhelmed with joy. I feel so incredibly blessed to have three healthy, beautiful, happy little girls and an amazing husband who takes care of all four of us.

The belly

The last hour, before we headed to the hospital, we had to capture the fullness of this pregnancy.

My belly got MUCH bigger this time than it ever did with my other two. Katelynn defiantly took up as much room as she could!
The weight of my belly got to be painful but I think that had more to do with being on bed rest. She grew so much right there at the end and being in bed, I think my stomach muscles didn't keep up with the growth. So, when I did get up, the weight and pressure would get really painful.
But, I loved actually having a baby belly!! I've always been so excited to be pregnant and no one could ever tell that I was actually pregnant, I never had a cute round belly. Well I got my wish with this one! There was no hiding that belly!

Monday, August 13, 2012

KINDERGARTEN!!

My Annagrace is all grown up and headed to school!
She is now a Double Churches Wildcat
 She was very happy to see so many familiar faces, many of her Pre-K classmates are in the same class! Her teachers are Mrs. Williamson and Mrs. Rouse who are incredibly sweet and helpful.

 I am so proud of my big girl! We went as a family to walk her to class for her first day. I was so happy that she felt so comfortable and didn't have a hard time telling us goodbye. She didn't cry a bit. I can't say the same about myself though. I cried from the moment I walked out the classroom door until the moment I stepped foot through our house door. I didn't cry the first day of Pre-K, but there is just something about starting Kindergarten (aka real school) that broke me down. It might also have to do with the fact that I'm 9 months pregnant!