The Angry Dimple

Hitchcock Profile

Kaitlyn had to get in on the action, too.

Please don’t mind her messy face and play clothes.  Who knew having six kids, and homeschooling four of them, would be so much work?  Ha ha

Kristen has some pretty good baby acne going on, and we’re still dealing with the colic.  Thanks to everyone who left comments and emailed suggestions.  We went to the doctor yesterday, and she  said for us to use the Hyland Colic Tablets…now if we can just find them.  Rod went to two stores yesterday with no luck, we’ll try again this evening. 

Everyone is dealing with a cold or allergies or the flu or something.  We are supposed to go to Rod’s parents house tomorrow for a 90th birthday celebration for his Papa Joe.  I’m praying we’ll be well enough to go. 

Rod has to work this Easter.  I can’t believe they are open this year on this important day.  Now HFT is only closed for Christmas day, I don’t understand the reasoning of this decision.  Well, enough of the negativity…we hope you all have a blessed Easter.

She is smiling.

I think she must have colic, because she spends several hours each day crying and also cries for 2-4 hours in the middle of the night.  The whole family is beginning to feel exhausted, so I’m trying to find tricks to calm a fussy baby.  When Kristen isn’t in a crying spell, she is so calm and sweet.  I pray that we can find a solution soon, and if anyone has a suggestion I would love to hear it.

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

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

I am also feeling overwhelmed with the knowledge that I will soon be responsible for six children.  As my kids have gotten older the more I am realizing the importance of mine and Rod’s job.  The weight of this God-given assignment seems more than a flawed person can handle.  I am so thankful that we do not walk through this alone.  And I pray that we don’t screw up too terribly .

Anyways, back to the baby-she seems to be doing well.  She is getting big and running out of room.  I feel like I am definitely at the end of the pregnancy.  We have decided to change the name we picked out for this little one.  Instead of naming her Sarah Joy, we will be naming her Kristen Sarah.

Anyone care to play the “guess the baby stats” game?  If so please leave a comment with:

Date of Birth:

Weight:

Length:

*I am scheduled to go in on March 10th at 8:00pm to be induced and the doctor thinks I’ll have her sometime on the 11th.  I will be 39 weeks on the 10th.

*You can click on each picture for a larger image.