Friday, September 18, 2009

Welcome Kylie Rae

We have been home now for several days and are doing well.
Here's a brief recap.
When I had the boys I had both a normal delivery and a c-section. Due to the c-section there were some precautions to be taken for this delivery. (I really didn't want a c-section again) From the beginning I was told they would not do any form of induction. We weren't concerned since we were certain she would come early :)
Well....we hit 40 weeks and had some decisions to make. I was able to see the dr I saw with the twins the majority of the time and in the end she said I was a good candidate for a vbac (birth after c-section) and it should be fine to break my water and maybe give me some pitocin to get things kick started - but it was my decision. It was a decision I was stressed about making but in the end decided to have the water broken at 41 weeks and then we could decide further options from there.
So, on Sun I was in at 8, she broke my water at 9:15 and we were sent to walk around and around and around the TINY loop at the hospital. This was causing some progression and by around 1:00 I was about 8cm dialated. I was beginning to get pretty uncomfortable and while I did NOT want to miss my opportunity to get an epidural, I didn't want to get it sooner than I felt desperate for it because I know it can slow the process down and I didn't want to bring it to a halt and then have to make decisions about drugs and a c-section. so we decided I would walk for another hour. But after a couple laps I knew I was done so we sent for the guy to give the epidural. He came in and commented that I was doing this pretty late so I was glad I went ahead at that time. Then I got to rest for about 3.5 hours. It wasn't a very restful rest but it was something :) We called all the family a little after 6:30 to tell them probably only the boys and the parents could come in since visiting hours were over at 8:30 and we could only list 4 people to come in after that time. We thought there would be no way we'd be ready for visitors until after that time. Well, in came the nurse, I started pushing a little after 7, she was born at 7:28, and we had the whole family (ALMOST) in by around 7:45! In fact, the dr almost didn't get in there in time! Anyway, the boys got to come in first and they were very analytical. They did get a chance to hold Kylie and they seemed pretty excited about it :)
So, that's about it. I'm so thankful it went so smoothly, quickly, and I didn't need a c-section! The next morning we made it clear we really wanted to leave and the dr said that was just fine (though I think it's unusual for them to allow a newborn out sooner than 24 hours after birth). My parents came on the 2nd to stay for a few weeks and we all thought the baby would be here the entire time. However, I was able to catch up on some rest and get a few extra things which was great. And of course the boys had a blast. Unfortunately my dad had to leave first thing in the morning the day after Kylie was born so he was only able to see her in the hospital - but we're thankful he was able to see her at all by that point! He'll be coming out in a month or so though on business so he'll get to visit a bit then. My mom stayed an extra week and has been very helpful around the house and with the boys giving Jared and I time with Kylie and to rest. Jared has also been able to spend a little extra time with the boys which has helped them not feel like we've left them in the dust even though they've had a great time with their grandparents.
She's eating well and sleeping well. She likes to eat a bunch of times in a row and we're not supposed to let her go longer than 4 hours until her weigh is consistantly going back up (which should be soon!) But she's doing really well.
Random/funny things....
* Everyone at the hospital would say...this is the mom that came in a couple years ago with 32 week twins ready to deliver. They would all say...oh yes, i heard about that. I'm not sure whether that's funny or scary :)
* I was the only one there to deliver for a long time.
* This is SOOOOOOOOOO different and more "relaxing" than last time!!!!
* Last birth everyone was talking loud, going crazy, rushed, and there were at least 10 people in the operating room. This time we were in a regular room and we had one nurse with us till the last moment when Dr Tu and 2 other people came in.
So here's a photo album of the boys building Kylie's dresser with dad and building the swing set which finally was completed the day before Kylie was born as well as hospital pictures and a few from home.

Oh, and here's a link to her hospital announcement...
http://www.newbabynews.net/hospitals/stj5/public/stj5birthannouncement.pl?babyID=h5-12523

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