In My Dreams Awake

Chrissie

We have had a busy last couple of months. Reagan is 8! I can't believe she's 8 already. She had her birthday party at Panola Mountain State Park like she has so many other birthdays. We had perfect, sunny weather. She had several friends come and they had a wonderful time. And since her birthday fell on the weekend this year we were actually able to hold her party on St. Patrick's Day. She had a shamrock theme for the party and it was very cute. I think she had a great day.

Kinley is walking now! She took her first steps a couple weeks ago at Mom and Dad's house toward PaPa! It took a couple more weeks for her to get the hang of it but now she's a full time walker. Weekend before last we took a trip down to Stride Rite and got Kiki her first pair of shoes. She loves them and gets so excited when I put them on her.

Reagan has 3 weeks left of school and she will be out for the Summer! She's ready; I'm kinda ready. Ha! We're all very excited for the vacation we have planned for the week of Caleb's birthday. We are planning to go down to Gulf Shores for a week for his birthday and can't wait! Caleb's speech is improving every day. He can now tell me how old he will be on his birthday and even hold up the fingers to show me. He knows we're going to the beach to play in the water and he told me he wants a Ka-Chow (Cars) birthday cake.

The weather has been wonderful here all Spring. It has only recently started to get hot with temps in the upper 80s. We spend as much time outside enjoying it as possible. We have the best little spot in all of Georgia to enjoy being outside, with all of our beautiful shade trees and our quiet, safe neighborhood. Here are a few pics of the kids from the last few weeks. I'm sure we will have much more to post after our vacation in June.

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Kinley is 1!

Chrissie

On Sunday, February 26, Kinley Jocelyn turned 1! The night before her birthday was filled with nostalgia for the night we went to the hospital to have her. I was sentimental on Reagan and Caleb's first birthday as well but there's something surreal about knowing your last baby is turning 1. There were tears. :)

For her birthday celebration we had friends and family over to Mom and Dad's house for yummy food on the grill and cupcakes. It was a beautiful day as we had excellent weather. Kinley got a lot of great presents and loved her cupcakes.

As for the rest of us, all is well. Mike started a new job at a different hotel a few weeks ago so we've all been adjusting to a somewhat new schedule. Reagan's school year is winding down and we're excited about spring and summer. Caleb is his normal wild self. We still watch Cars and Scooby Doo (Loo Loo) every day. Kinley isn't walking yet but is getting very close. She loves "pouches" by Plum Organics and bananas. She has a few words but nothing intelligible yet. My business is (slowly) growing. I love every minute that I get to spend there with my clients. I really enjoy my work.

This week is all about preparation for Reagan's 8th birthday party. I can't believe she will be 8 years old this Saturday!! She wants a Lilo & Stitch birthday cake but wants St. Patty's Day decorations. We are planning to have her party at Panola Mountain Park like most of her birthdays and are praying for beautiful weather like we had last year.

Here are some recent pictures of the kiddos.

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Another New Year

Chrissie

I've let so much time pass since my last post. Thankfully, I think everybody keeps up with us on Facebook so you know we're still here and just busy, busy.

Reagan is doing well in 2nd grade. It has been a struggle at times but her grades are outstanding and we are seeing improvements elsewhere. She has lost several teeth and has another loose one! She is officially a Snaggletooth!

Caleb is finally talking and I LOVE it! He is the sweetest (most of the time), cuddliest, and cutest boy. His favorite movies are Cars, Cars 2, and Scooby Doo. We watch them frequently!

Kinley is growing up so fast. She is the owner of two bottom teeth with two tops ones getting ready to pop through any day now. She crawls, cruises the furniture, and is becoming brave, trying to stand hands-free. This results in frequent crashes so it will probably still be some time before walking. She also waves and claps! She is such a good baby and a wonderful addition to our family. I think she has the greatest laugh and such a sweet personality.

My business is doing very well! Back in October I opened in my own space and it's been wonderful! I love my little building and I have the greatest clients! There is so much opportunity for growth and I'm hoping to have a great 2012!

I will try to get together some other photos from throughout the year. Wishes for a Happy 2012 to everyone!!

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Smiles!

Chrissie

Hard to believe our Kinley-bean will be 2 months old very soon. We are starting to get some personality! This photo makes my heart melt.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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Kinley Jocelyn is here!

Chrissie

Our long-awaited addition arrived on February 26, 2011 at 8:34 am. She weighed 7lb 15oz and was 20.5 inches long.

After a few days of on/off contractions and other impending labor signs, Friday morning I woke up extra uncomfortable and agitated. Mike left for work which was becoming increasingly stressful for both of us due to him being an hour from home and us living up to an hour from the hospital. Thoughts of going into labor at home alone with the kids compiled with worries of repeat placental issues were making me a wreck. I decided to put in a call to Kaiser to explain the situation to one of my doctors and see if they would be willing to induce since I was already past my due date. The nurse got me an appointment for that afternoon. Mom left work early to take me to the appointment and help with the kids.

We got to the appointment a little early but they took us right away. The nurse came in and took me into triage and hooked me up to the monitors. They monitored contractions and baby's heartbeat for about half an hour. The doctor came in and looked at the monitor report and then checked me. I was fully expecting for there to be no change from my appointment two days earlier but to my surprise, he said, "Yep, you're in labor." HOORAY!! He instructed us to go straight to the hospital, that he would be notifying them that we were on the way. :)

I called Mike on the way out of the doctor's office so that he could meet us at the hospital. It was rush hour, no doubt!! Thankfully, Mom had convinced me to bring my hospital bag with me, just in case. So, we began the drive up. Caleb fell asleep and watching him, it sunk in that it would be the last time I saw him while he was still "the baby". (Can you say hormones? LOL)

Mom dropped me off at Piedmont Hospital at around 5:30pm and Mike was waiting for us. We said goodbye to Mom and the kids and went up to L&D. Once we got there, they took us straight to my room and got things started. I was still about 4cm at that time. I got my epidural around 6pm, was nice and comfortable, and they left us to rest for awhile. Probably around 8pm, the midwife checked me again and I was about 5cm and contractions were still weak and pretty far apart. So, they started me on a low drip of pitocin and gradually increased it throughout the night.

My epidural didn't take all the way and I began feeling some pretty intense contractions in the early morning hours around 5am after the midwife came in and broke my water. About 7am, I felt some definite movement and a little pressure. About 5 minutes later, my midwife and nurse came in and said they had seen it on the monitors. My midwife checked me and said that I was almost complete. They raised the back of my bed up and lowered the bottom so that I was in a mostly sitting position. They left me that way to "labor down" for an hour. At 8am, they came back and my midwife began "gloving up". She asked me to do one test push and then told me to stop. She and the nurse finished getting everything ready.

Once they were ready, I was allowed to push. Less than 5 easy pushes later, the midwife had delivered Kinley's head and shoulders. She asked me if I wanted to deliver the rest of her. I reached under Kinley's arms and lifted her onto my chest. It was the most amazing feeling in the entire world. I held her and she was looking up into my face and barely crying at all. The midwife then asked Mike if he wanted to cut the cord. He declined so they let me cut it instead. All in all, it was a really amazing experience that I will never forget for my whole life and by far the best delivery experience of all 3 of my babies. Kinley never went into distress, never required internal fetal monitoring, and there was no need for an episiotomy, forceps, or vacuum. :)

They let me hold her for quite some time before taking her to get weighed, measured, and cleaned up. Then the drama began. My midwife couldn't deliver my placenta. It was happening again. I tried to remain focused on Mike and Kinley and what was going on with her but kept getting distracted by the amount of blood I kept seeing in front of me. Lynette (my midwife) had the OB surgeon paged to the room immediately. Once he arrived, it was an extremely painful repeat of my post-delivery with Caleb. External uterine massage is excruciating pain. After about 30-45 minutes of massage and manual curettage, an increase in epidural, and a shot in the leg of pitocin, the doctor was able to remove all of the placenta.

Things calmed down after that and we were feeling good that everything seemed to be more controlled this time around vs. with Caleb. I ordered some breakfast and was enjoying spending time with Mike and Kinley. Once my breakfast arrived, I began to feel nauseous and weak. Suddenly, I told Mike that I was going to pass out and we put in a call to the nurse. The nurse and my midwife were in there in a matter of seconds and were tilting my bed backwards and checking my blood pressure. I felt like I was in a tunnel as my hearing and vision began to fade. I heard one of the nurses say that my blood pressure was 77/45 and distinctly remember beginning to cry. I looked at Mike holding Kinley and thought of my other two babies. I've never been so scared in my whole life.

The OB surgeon came back in and they ended up doing more massage and gave me more medications to help my uterus "clamp" as I was still passing a lot of blood. Thankfully, they were able to stabilize me and I began to feel better after some time.

Later in the afternoon, Mom and Dad brought the kids up to the hospital to meet their new baby sister. Reagan instantly loved her but I think Caleb didn't really care one way or another. Ha!

We brought her home Monday afternoon and have been adjusting well. Kinley is such a joy. She is a great sleeper and has been eating well also. She has become more alert and awake in the last couple of days and I just can't wait to see her little personality and smiles as she gets older. We are so in love! :)

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Due Dates Come and Go

Chrissie

At least in my case they do. So, today was my due date and Kinley is still refusing to give Mommy a break. Doctor said, at my appointment today, that I'm 2.5cm and 70%. She's lower than Reagan and Caleb ever were until 2nd stage labor, measuring 35 weeks.. Dr. Madden said he couldn't even feel her head through my belly, only the base of her skull. Her heart rate seemed low so he sent me to be monitored for 20 minutes. During that time, I had ONE lousy contraction. He was happy with her heart rates after monitoring and said she looked great. Next appointment is March 2 at which time they will schedule an induction but not before. This Mama wants to cry just thinking about that appointment. (And I probably will when I wake up tomorrow still pregnant.)

In the meantime, I am cleaning my house like a mad woman. No, it's not nesting. It's a diversion. I can't sit still or I will do nothing but cry until this kid comes out.

Hopefully, I will have something cheerful to report before my next appointment. :)

Here is my glorious due date photo. Ha!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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39 weeks!

Chrissie

Well, here we are, down to one week. And I am evaluating every twinge, kick, and pain. I have some good, some bad, and some really miserable days but that shouldn't be a surprise since I've been here two times already! Yesterday was a pretty good day as I managed to pushed Caleb up and down the driveway several times in his Cozy Coupe and on Sissy's scooter and then play hopscotch with Reagan. I'm definitely paying for it this morning, though, with painful swelling in my hands and feet. For the third time this week, I am wide awake at 6 am. So, here I am! :)

I decided to do an ExpectNet baby pool again. I did one for both of the other kids so I might as well have one for Kinley too. So, please go vote!!! We want lots and lots of votes!

My awesome sister-in-law to-be threw me a baby shower last Saturday, the 12th, at hers and Casey's house. It was so much fun and so sweet of her to do! We had about 8 people, the food was great, the games were fun, and Kinley definitely got showered with gifts. She has so many cute clothes that I can't wait for her to wear and lots of cloth-diapering "fluff" that her Mommy is pretty excited about too. I think Reagan had a really good time as well. She was the photographer and seemed to be really excited about some of Kinley's new outfits with the way she "oohed " and "aahed" over some of them.
Here I am at 38 weeks: