Introducing Kristen Sarah

*Warning:  Long and picture heavy

My parents arrived on March 4th and we had a wonderful visit with them.  We drove around and showed them around this little town and also went to the George Bush Presidential Library.  We mostly just hung out and enjoyed each others company.

On March 8th, Rod and I woke up at 4:30 am to get ready to leave for the hospital.  I called Labor and Delivery at 5:00 to make sure they were ready for us, and they said to call back at six.  We decided to leave our house a little after 5:30 to get some breakfast, although my nerves made it impossible to eat.  At six we called and they said to come in at 6:30.  We checked in and the nurses change shifts at seven, so we lounged around in our room until almost eight when they finally hooked up all the IVs and started the pitocin.  The nurse had a hard time finding a good vein, but finally got the IV in however she wasn’t able to draw enough blood and we had to wait for the lab to send someone up before starting my epidural.  In the past I have never wanted to use pain medication for my labors, this time I was so exhausted from this difficult pregnancy that I knew I would not tolerate the labor well.  I went into this labor knowing that I would get the epidural as soon as possible and was looking forward to finally being pain-free.  Once the lab results came back the anesthesiologist was called and after several pokes I was happily numb and the waiting continued.  I progressed very slowly at first and I began to think we were in for a very long labor.  I stayed at 3 cm for most of the day.  At about 3:30 in the afternoon I was checked and was at a five.  The epidural was no longer as effective so the anesthesiologist came and gave me a more powerful dose.  At about 4:15 I began to feel very uncomfortable and had to concentrate through the contractions, even though it really wasn’t painful.  The nurse checked me and I was at 7 cm.  She called the doctor who said she was about 20 minutes from the hospital and would head in.  Within ten minutes the pressure increased and I was finally at a 10.  The nurse called again and the doctor said she’d be there in three minutes.  The doctor ran in, put on a gown and in came three students to observe my birth.  It was very strange to have so many people in the room and the nurse kept reassuring me.  I only pushed for three contractions and Kristen Sarah made her grand entrance.  My nurse was sure that I would need to push for a long time because the baby was so high.  The moment I saw her I instantly saw her resemblance to Kaitlyn.  As time goes on though, I don’t see it as much.

Kristen was born with a knot in her cord, just like Kaitlyn.  I had wondered why God had impressed on us the need to have her in the hospital and to induce her early, and now we know the reason.  I am convinced that if we would have waited, Kristen would have had major problems.  Only one percent of babies will have a knot in their cord, and of those babies 10% do not survive.  I don’t know why we have had two babies with this, but I am so thankful for God’s protection and his guidance.

Kristen was a little jaundiced at first.  We had to go to the doctor several times for blood tests and we had to expose her to sunlight often.  She has recovered nicely and is doing fantastic.  We had her two-week checkup today and she is gaining weight at a great pace.  She weighed 8 lbs 1 oz and was 22 inches long at birth.  At 48 hours old she weighed 7 lbs 6 oz, so she lost quite a bit.  But, today she weighed in at 9 lbs 2 oz.  The doctor was pleasantly surprised that in less than two weeks she has gained almost two pounds.  She is a little piggy and I love it!

 

8 lbs 1 oz

 

 

Little Sister

Meeting Timmy

Meeting Sammy

Meeting Kaitlyn

Meeting Dylan

Meeting Allie

Meeting Pa

Meeting Nana

Meeting Gramma

Meeting Grampa

 

My parents left on the 12th and we miss them terribly.  Rod took some vacation time last week and goes back to work tomorrow.  We started back to homeschooling yesterday and it went pretty well.  I wish we could make a trip home to show off our newest blessing, but I don’t think that will be happening any time soon.  I’m so happy to have Kristen here…we are so in love!

 

She has curly hair!

Two weeks old

Daddy's Little Princess

 

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