Kilee's photoshoot

Ashley, Alissa, & I had a little photoshoot with Kilee...photographing newborns is sooooo fun!

*update on Kilee's jaundice...when I took her back to the doc, she was still looking kinda orange so my doc had me go get her blood drawn AGAIN (4th time outside the hospital...poor baby!). He finally called me back on Sunday and told me her level was down to 10, which was great news because it means its going down! He said it should continue to decrease slowly over the next few weeks, so hopefully our worries are over:)

**when I took her to the doc, she was exactly 2 weeks old, so they took all her stats again. She weighed 7lb 15oz and was 20.75 inches. I was worried about her eating enough (because she sleeps so much) but the doc said he is more than happy with her weight (he said he is really happy if the babies are even back to their birth weight at 2 weeks. and usually those are just the formula fed babies!) she is already growing so fast:( I am glad she is starting out smaller than Allyson so that I can keep her a newborn for longer:)

Kilee's jaundice

So to continue with the whole labor story...we had Kilee at 3:10am on a Friday morning. So about 4am on Saturday morning, they tested her jaundice levels and she was at a 7, which I was informed is in the upper intermediate range. They said she would have to be above a 9 before they would put her under the billi lights. And at this point she had only lost 5oz. My doc thought they would make us stay until Sunday morning because I had the group B strep, but the pediatrician had told me that since I got two bags of the anti-botics, that as long as her jaundice levels were ok, we could be released Saturday. So I was hoping and praying we would be able to go home then! Being at home is SO much nicer and easier than the hospital.

Another side note Ben story: on Friday night Ben left me for about 4 hours so that he could go home and reload some bullets. and then early Saturday morning he went to the shooting range for a few hours with his buddies. I told him he basically has the most awesome wife because who has heard of a wife #1 - giving her husband a haircut during active labor and #2 - letting her husband reload bullets and go shooting while she is in the hospital with a newborn?! To which he replied, yep you are the best! LOL

Anyways, Saturday around noon or so, we were released from the hospital! yay! I was SO glad to go home. On monday morning we took Kilee to her first doctor appointment...she weighed 7# 2oz, so she was back to gaining weight which was good but the doc said she looked really yellow so he had me go get her blood drawn to test her jaundice. He told me "as long as she is below a 14, we will not worry". So I wait around all day and they finally call me and tell me her jaundice is at a 15. He then told me, its really high but its not critical. He said he wouldnt have me check her back in the hospital unless she got to a 21. So then he told me I needed to get her blood drawn AGAIN the next day to see if her levels were going up still.

Side note: when they take blood to test for jaundice the take an entire VILE full of blood. poor baby. I was thinking do they even have that much blood in them?! Kilee was a trooper though. Only cried during the poke the first time and didnt even wake up during the second time! (she is a SLEEPER for sure! I have to wake her up to get her to eat!)

So then we had to wait around all day again for the results. Doc called and said her level was still at a 15 and that was promising because it meant that the jaundice had probably peaked and wouldnt be going up any higher. He said I didnt need to get her tested again (thank goodness) but to bring her in to see him the next day. So we took her in (she is now a week old at this point)...she weighed 7# 5oz which was a good sign and he said her coloring was looking better.

you can kinda see her yellowish-orangish color in these pics

chubby cheeks:)

I love how babies cuddle up like this!

So we have been sunbathing her for a couple hours a day and she poops all the time (which is how they get the billi-rubin out of their system) so I think she is doing better. Still looks kinda orangish to me, but not as bad as it was. The doc wants to see her again this week for a follow-up, so we go back on Thursday to make sure everything is A-ok! She has been majorly stuffed up (not from a cold, just from the gunk they get from being in the womb) but that is finally starting to clear up. And now she has clogged tear ducts. Poor kid...cant catch a break!

meeting big sis for the first time

I have had mixed emotions about Allyson becoming a big sister. I am excited for her to have a new best friend/soon-to-be playmate, but I am also kind of sad for her because she is no longer mommy's only baby. For the first few days, I dont think she even noticed we added a baby to our home because gwama was here to spoil her rotten and give her LOTS of extra attention. She was so sad when my mom left...on the day she left, she woke up from her nap asking her gwama.

she is very good with her...makes sure to be 'soft' and loves to give her kisses

this is the first time they met, and she is saying 'nice baby'

aunt ashee got her this cute t-shirt:)

my cute girlies:)

allyson started having some attachment issues a couple days after my mom left...at one point I said, I'll be right back, I need to go get the baby (she was upstairs and we were downstairs) and she said nnoooooo! and then every time I would nurse, she wanted me to hold her. luckily that really only lasted a day and she seemed better adjusted now. she still wants her mommy cuddling time (which I love) but we are slowly finding a balance!

going with mommy, Kilee, & gwama to Kilee's first doctor appointment!

she loves to hold Kilee...she always tells me 'I hold, I hold'. so far we have only had one accident...she tripped while walking on the couch and the palm of her hand hit Kilee's head. But everyone is ok! I am not sure if it was more tramatizing to Allyson or Kilee? FREAKED ME OUT though! Babies heads are so fragile!! Anyways, lets hope I can figure out this parenting two children thing:)

lots of visitors!

we had quite a few visitors come meet our new little princess...some at the hospital, some at home. if you ever ask me, i will always tell you that i prefer visits at home. its so awkward sitting there in the hospital bed in the weird robe with everyone coming to visit! but i am grateful for everyone who took time out of their day to come see us:)
grampa frazier

future boyfriend tillman

aunt ashee...who, as a side note, had to have her gallbladder removed that same weekend, so she spent as much time in the hospital as me!

aunt alivia

uncle "richie" (thats what allyson calls him)

great g'pa & g'ma barney

aunt lisha

aunt lauren

g'pa & g'ma barney

for some reason I do not have a picture of my mom with kilee but I have to give a shout out to my awesome mother who came down and stayed with us for a few days. she was a lifesaver! cooked us yummy meals, spoiled allyson, and cleaned my house! I was sad to see her go. thanks mom!

mini Ben(s)

ok, so everyone knows that Allyson looks just like her daddy (minus my blue eyes). Well, she DID look like me for about five minutes...her baby pics looked like my baby pics. and then she started looking like her daddy more and more each day.

So I have my hopes up that MAYBE Kilee will start to look like me since she looks JUST like her daddy's baby pics! haha...only time will tell!

labor story of Kilee Jo

Well, in a continuation of the previous post, I continued to have contractions that entire day...they were VERY slowly getting stronger so I didn't know when was the appropriate time to go to the hospital. I just knew I would be going in that night because I was NOT gonna sit in pain like that all night! Well, I waited till Ben and Alissa got home (which of course seemed to take FOREVER). That way, Ben could drive me and Alissa could watch Allyson. Ben got home first, so I told him to pack whatever he needed, etc. And then I need to document this because its kinda funny...I am sitting on the couch (waiting for Alissa at this point) and she is still about 30 min away. Ben walks downstairs and says "can you give me a hair cut?" I said "uh, are you kidding me right now?! why?!" and he says "because its long" LOL. so being the awesome wife I am, while in ACTIVE LABOR, gave my husband a haircut. Alissa got home and off we went. When I got to the hospital I was 100% effaced and dilated 5cm. They started me on the antibotics for the group B strep thing right away. And then came the epidural. HEAVEN! The epidural this time was better (than with Allyson) because I was still able to kind of move my legs and yet felt NOTHING from the contractions! I was also up and walking two hours afterwards this time (took me like 6 hours or so last time). We waited two hours so I could get an entire bag of the antibiotics and then my doc came in and broke my water. He thought that this would speed things up but two hours later I was still at a five. so they put me on a small dose of pitocin and I dilated to a 10 within an hour or so. thank goodness for modern medicine! if I wouldnt have had the pitocin Im sure I wouldve labored at a 5 for three days straight! anyways, we discovered she was sunny-side up which meant she would be a lot harder to push out. but thanks to allyson being the size of a toddler when born, she paved the way nicely which made this little one come out nice and easy! I only had to push for 15 min and she was out. my doc kept saying how he couldnt believe how fast she came being sunny-side up! he said that if she wouldve came head-down, that one push wouldve probably got her out! she came out screaming and healthy:) weighing in at 7 pounds 6 ounces, 20.5 inches long. thank goodness she came early because I am sure she wouldve been as big as big sister! seven and a half pounds at three weeks early is pretty dang good! and no, I didnt do anything to make her come early. she came all on her own! we were debating between two names: Macee Jo or Kilee Jo. Honestly, I liked them both equally but Ben said he REALLY disliked Macee so I just went with Kilee. (I got to choose this time since he chose the name Allyson!)

37.5 weeks

I had an appointment scheduled yesterday but the doctor got called away to a delivery so I had to re-schedule for first thing this morning. Yesterday I was really bitter about having to re-schedule because its a 25 minute drive to his office but I was grateful it got pushed back this morning because I had cramping ALL NIGHT LONG! There was zero sleep last night. I didn't know if it was a gassy pain, braxton hicks, or the start of legit contractions. So this morning I'm sitting in his office, waiting to be checked (still having cramps) and the nurse comes in and says "well, he is usually here by 8am and he is not here yet, so we will be calling him shortly" I was like YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! I told her I needed to see him today because I had cramping all night. Anyways, a few minutes later he walked in...thank the heavens! I told him about my cramping and it was hard for me to tell (they just feel like strong menstrual cramps) He checks me and goes "well it looks like those cramps were doin' something!" I am now dilated to a 3 and 75% effaced. My doc is guessing that she will come this weekend...yay! I am still having contractions as I'm sitting here typing, so we will see. Part of me wants her to come Saturday because I want to go to my Olive Garden baby shower! lol. But then the other part of me is already sick of all the cramping and if it continues like this, I know that the next few nights will be SLEEPLESS:( I forgot to ask him what my stomach was measuring, but the baby's heartbeat was a good 150bpm and my weight gain is now up to 34 pounds!