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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Christmas Letter 2011

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Kellen James!!!

So it's Sunday afternoon and all 3 (yes 3) of my family members are napping.  Why I'm not sleeping as well...good question.  I have come to find out that I don't nap well and I feel better about my day if I've been productive and gotten things done rather than taken a nap.  Right or not...probably not and I should rest, but my mind doesn't let me if I know there's things I want to/should be getting done.

Anyways, updating my blog on Kellen's birth has been one of those "To Do" items on my list so I figured I have a few minutes so I'll see how much of it I can get typed out before nap time is over.  :)

Our son finally arrived!!  We have a healthy baby boy who has been an absolute JOY for us the last week and a half.  I wanted to write about his birth so I don't forget any of the details so here is the story....

My due date was December 1st and with Keira coming right on her due date, I wasn't anticipating going early.  I was mentally preparing to be late and having to stay pregnant for awhile longer.  I went to my 39 week checkup and Dr. Hague said I was already dilated to a 3-4.  Crazy as I wasn't feeling anything yet, just a lot of pressure and feeling awfully large.  :)  I didn't let that fact convince myself that I was going to go any earlier as last time it didn't make a difference.  I was still planning on being pregnant another week.  I stayed busy that week and tried to rest as much as I could knowing that after he was here my sleep would be much less.  My body was achy and I was so, so, so ready to be done being pregnant!  (Side note - this time around, I was ready to be done being pregnant as soon as I found out.  Not that it wasn't exciting, I just realized that I do NOT like being pregnant at all!  Yes I love feeling the baby move and it's definitely a miracle what is happening, but I don't like how I feel or getting fat or being tired all the time or not sleeping... I had crazy insomnia with Kellen and there were multiple nights in a row that I would lay awake for hours...not fun!)

Anyways, that week was Thanksgiving and we obviously stayed home.  It was actually a very relaxing Thanksgiving and we just spent it together just the 3 of us.  We went out for dinner at Ryan's Steakhouse and I actually thought I was going into labor that night.  I was having contractions about 5-10 minutes apart and so we were mentally planning that we might be going to the hospital that night.  My contractions lasted about 2-3 hours and then stopped....ugh!  I was so disappointed!  Good thing we didn't get Keira all packed up and go to the hospital only to get sent home.  That is one thing I did NOT want to happen!

I had another doctor's appointment the next Tuesday morning, November 29th first thing.  Pete came with me as I knew that we were going to schedule an induction date with my doctor and I wanted him there to figure out when would be best.  She checked me again and this time I was dilated to a 5!!!  She told me she couldn't believe I wasn't in labor yet!!  She also told me that if I have 3-4 contractions in an hour to just go to the hospital because once my labor started I wasn't going to have much time since I was already so far along.  We decided to go ahead and get induced the next day - Wednesday, November 30th.

I took Keira with me that night to my friend Angie's house where she spent the next 2 nights.  The next morning we checked into the hospital at 6:30 am.  I got changed and around 7:30ish Dr. Hague broke my water to see if that would start contractions because I still wasn't having anything regular.  That didn't work.  An hour later they started pitocin.  By 9:30 my contractions were beginning to get pretty regular and starting to really hurt.  By 10 am I was in serious pain.  No, actually I was in excruciating pain!!!  The most pain I've ever experienced!!  I wanted that epidural NOW!!!  By the time they got the anesthesiologist down there and the okay from Dr. Hague it was about 10:30 and I was just crying as each contraction came.  The doctor got the epidural in and within about 15-20 minutes it was starting to take.  I was feeling a little relief.  By the time it was all set, I was complete and ready to push.  When Dr. Hague said "It's time to have a baby" I lost it!  They all still thought I was crying from pain but in between sobs I said "No, these are happy tears!  I get to meet my baby" (it's making me cry right now as I type this thinking of those crazy emotions!!)

I pushed for an hour and a half and it was one of the most exhausting things I've ever done!  In between contractions it was all I could do to keep my eyes open as I was just so, so tired!  Kellen James finally made his entrance into this world at 1:11 pm and it was once again, one of the most incredible moments ever!!!!  Holding my baby boy for the first time was such an amazing feeling!  I was expecting a big baby as Keira was just about 9 lbs and usually boys are bigger, but Kellen was only 7 lbs 13 oz and was 19 1/4 in long.  Compared to Keira he was itty bitty.  :)  He was absolutely perfect!  10 fingers and 10 toes, perfectly healthy and a complete miracle!!  What a blessing our baby boy is to our family!!!

So far Kellen has been a great baby and the 2 kid thing hasn't been that hard (yet!).  He is nursing great and sleeping well.  He's up about twice a night which isn't horrible.  My mom was here for the week after he was born and she was such a great help.  She basically took care of Keira which gave me the freedom to just enjoy Kellen and soak him in.  :)  I healed a lot faster this time around than I did with Keira which I was so thankful for.  I was feeling more like myself about 3-4 days after he was born.  I was so ready to feel "normal" again so I was thankful that it didn't take very long to adjust!

So that's it!  And now we begin life as a family of 4.  I still can't believe I have 2 kids...I love it!!  I love spending the day with both of them and playing and laughing with Keira and snuggling with Kellen.  I am so, so blessed to have two healthy babies and I'm just so thankful that God has chosen ME to be their mother!!  What an honor!!

Here are some pictures...

Thanksgiving night...one of our last pictures as a family of three!


Kellen's room - ready and just waiting for a baby boy!


Heading to the hospital


In the middle of it all.....


My sweet baby boy!!  Completely in love!


Pete and his son


First picture as a family of four!!



Keira meeting her baby brother


Heading home


Love him!!


Swaddled tight


Does anyone else see dimples?!?!


MELT MY HEART!


Seriously...MELT MY HEART!


My two babies!!  So Blessed!!!