Monday, September 8, 2014

Family Photos

A few of my favorites from getting family photos a few days after Kate was born!








Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Welcome Baby Kate!

So, I've been playing a little catch up with the blog obviously, now that we are home and a family of 5! I'm taking advantage of the first few sleepy weeks of infant life and getting a few things done here and there...probably should be napping myself, but since Noah is launching himself off his bed, yelling "Astronaut" instead of taking a nap, I should probably be awake and alert!


So, Kate made her appearance to the world on Wednesday, September 3, 2014. I went into work that morning, the boys were at school and Matthew was at work as well. I felt fine until I got close to work and my head just felt a little 'off'. My blood pressure had been a little high the previous day at my OB appointment, so I checked it when I got into work. It was slightly high, but not too alarming. I got up on the floor, saw one patient and went to document and noticed the screen wasn't as clear as it normally was. I checked my BP again and now it was high, 152/110...so called my seniors and let them know, called the OB office and they asked me to come in, called Matthew and he met me at our church where my manager drove me for Matthew to take me to the OB office. (My co-workers insisted I wasn't allowed to drive with high BP and vision changes...crazy!) As I left that morning, I knew in my heart and my mind that she was going to be born that day...


We went to the OB office, BP was still high, they sent me to the floor to be observed for an hour and my BP was ok as long as I was lying on my left side - any other position and it started to rise again. The OB on call was my OB from when I was pregnant with Noah which was great since we knew each other well. She suggested we induce - there just didn't seem to be any reason not to...it was that or go home on bedrest, and the OB knew I wouldn't comply (she's right about that, I had laundry to do!). So we went through the motions to induce, I got my epidural and I'll spare you all the details...Kate was born about 5 hours later at 7:07pm!


She was perfect and beautiful from the first moment...even the nurses commented on how few blemishes she had and was just so pretty! We were of course just so overjoyed that she was here, and healthy! I still couldn't hardly believe she really was a girl! I had several people throughout the pregnancy tell me all their stories of people being told it was a girl and a boy was born and so I asked several times to the nurses and OB, "It's really a girl?!" Matthew and I were just elated!


By the time we were able to call our families, it was a little after 8. The boys were picked up by Joyce and Dennis and were spending the night with them while we were in the hospital. We called to let them know, but they were already in PJs and ready for their movie before bed (Drew said Mommy had promised him he could watch a movie at Grandma's for sleepovers...I don't remember making that specific promise, but Grandma couldn't refuse, and who can blame her?!)


The staff were great throughout our stay, though our favorite nurse was our first one in the delivery unit. But all were very helpful and we had a pretty good stay all things considered. The boys were able to come up on Thursday after school with Grandma and Papa...there faces were lit up when the door opened! Drew stayed back a little bit, but Noah made a bee line for Kate! He even tried to hug and then walk off with her, ready to take care of her, for a minute at least! We'll have to keep a close eye on him no doubt! Drew warmed up and then couldn't get enough hugs and kisses from her! They did well during the visit thanks to toys Kate picked out for them to play with!




We had several other visitors, including Aunt Lynne, cousin Taron, friend Tara with her daughter Ava and mother Tirol. It was so nice to see everyone...hospital days are long, even when your husband and newborn are there to keep you busy!



We stayed 2 nights so they could monitor Kate for jaundice (she was positive for the Coumbs (sp?) test, which put her at risk) as well as they wanted to get the test results back from her urine test for CMV so they could take more samples while we were still in the hospital. She also had to re-take her hearing test since she didn't pass the first time. (This was a bit frightening for Mommy knowing that CMV frequently affects hearing and vision), but thankfully she passed it without any issues on Friday! Whew! We waited until mid afternoon for when we thought we would get the urine results, but turns out that test was sent to Utah and takes 5 days to get results. So we finally made it home Friday afternoon around 4.




Grandma and Papa brought the boys home around 5 that evening and it was wonderful for us all to be home together! Nana and Grandpa made it in Friday evening around 7pm and was great to have them meet Kate and be home for extra support!


Nana was able to stay for a whole week, and we all got a little spoiled with her being with us. The boys loved having her around, and I did too...everything is better when Mom is around!


Grandpa came up the next Friday again, as well as Uncle Kevin. We had a fun time with them Friday and Saturday, and then they all left Saturday after dinner...making for a very empty house feeling despite having 5 people living there!


We've had lots of support and help from the Palmer family already and more visitors, which has been wonderful! Our neighbors have been helping and looking out for us too! We are truly blessed!


Oh, and Kate's CMV test came back negative - YEAH! Praise God! Thank you for protecting and creating our sweet Baby Kate!