March Update

Whew! It's been a busy few weeks at our house! I've been busy with fundraising for swim team, and we've been spring cleaning at our house. We have updated our living room, organized and painted the bathroom, organized and painted our bedroom, started organizing Kara's room, started organizing the garage, and organized the kitchen (thanks to my mom and sister for helping!) Oh--and we've been spending loads of time with Kara! I still have the garage to finish and organizing in the kitchen, bedroom, and Kara's room to finish, but these things have been driving me crazy, and it's so nice to finally get to them!

I had my employee review this morning at the school, and I got an excellent review! It made me feel so good to know that my hard work is noticed/appreciated. I also was offered a job from another high school's coach to work with him over the summer for a summer league, and have accepted the job! I am VERY excited, but it's about 4 hours a day, so that on top of nannying full time, I know I'll be busy! We're trying to get all the money saved up we can this summer, because in the fall, it's back to school to finish my classes and get my teaching license! I also have to renew my coaching license and renew my lifeguarding certificate this summer, (and somehow squeeze in a family vacation), so it's going to be fast-paced from here on out!

Kara is growing so fast. She's still in newborn clothes, but I can't believe she's already 6 weeks! She is so much fun, and smiles at me all the time. I love her to death!

Here's a crummy picture from today (from off my phone). I got a new camera, and I can't wait to use it, but this will have to do for now!

Can't Get Enough of Kara! Part 2

Two posts in one day... But here are some more cute pictures of Kara!

Can't Get Enough of Kara!

We took some pictures of Kara yesterday to test out some options for baby announcements. Here are some candid shots of her--it'w hard for me to choose my favorite, but I love the smiling picture! The very last picture is a picture of Kara with my great grandma--her great GREAT grandma! We are lucky enough to have 5 generations of oldest daughters in my family! Kara is the oldest daughter, of the oldest daughter (me), of the oldest daughter (my mom), of the oldest daughter (my grandma), of the oldest daughter (my great grandma)! Isn't that cool?

Kara Update 3/19/10

Kara is finally off the oxygen! Yay! She is also finally up to 7 lbs 1 oz--yay for our growing girl! Newborn clothes are actually still a little baggy on her, but she's starting to get a little meat on her legs and arms, so we are happy to see that!

We're having a little of a hard time with formula. She's been really sensitive to everything, so we're having to try just about every kind out to see what works best for her. I am hoping I will be able to nurse the entire time with our next children, especially after the struggles we've had with Kara.

Overall, Kara is completely adorable and is just about the prettiest baby in the world!

Alright!

We're going home today! They're sending us home with oxygen and home care because Kara still can't breathe completely on her own, but we are SOOOO happy to be finally going home!

Good News

The doctor wants to watch Kara for another 24 hours, and if she's still doing ok on the regular oxygen, he's going to send us home on oxygen. Even though Kara is going to be on oxygen for a while longer, the prospect of going home makes me really happy! Let's hope she does well for the rest of the day!

Picture

I have nothing interesting to look at here other than Kara... So I guess everybody is going to have to put up with a million pictures of Kara on the blog until we're out of here!

Isn't she a cutie?!

3 Weeks

Our baby is 3 weeks today. I can't believe it--I don't even remember what life was like without Kara! It makes me really sad that 2 of these 3 weeks have been spent in the hospital. I feel so bad for my poor little baby! We've all had a rocky start, but I count my blessings every day that we're both here, and that I get to give her hugs and kisses every day. Every time I get to hold her and feed her is so special to me, and I know more than anybody how lucky we are to get to be together.

Tiny Baby

How tiny does Kara look here?

Now that we've been here for over a week, I can definitely say that I am TIRED of hospitals and going absolutely crazy! Here are some things that I am wishing I could do right now:

-Sew
-Organize my house (something that got disrupted by our little hospital stay)
-Test out Kara's new swing from my Aunt Carol
-Put something other than button down clothes on Kara--we got so many cute things at the shower and from my family!
-Go on a walk
-Have visitors
-Have something to look at other than the boring walls and boring window view
-Do my hair
-Do my makeup
-Sleep in my own bed
-Pet my cats
-Have some family time that isn't interrupted by monitors and nurses (as wonderful as the nurses are).
-Be able to make dinner instead of eating gross fast food and hospital food (I am really, really, really tired of the food we've been eating).
-Go do something... ANYTHING!
-Get back to normal life!

Kara 3/8/10

Today, the nurses turned Kara's oxygen down a little, and she seems to be doing ok. Her oxygen saturation isn't as high as we would prefer to see, but it isn't as low as it has been before when we've turned the oxygen down. I am hoping she is able to stay on the lowered oxygen all afternoon, but it's hard to tell--she does really well sometimes, and then decides to not be able to handle the lowered oxygen just out of the blue!

We'll still be here for a few more days, but I'm hoping this is a good sign that we can go home soon.

Kara Picture 3/7/10

Here's the picture of Kara for the day:

Kara Update 3/7/10

Here it is, 5:00 AM, and I am wide awake. I can probably thank the Excedrin I took to cure my various aching body parts.

We are still here in the hospital. They turned Kara's oxygen down a little yesterday (again), and she did well for about an hour, and then ended up needing it turned back up. She is just moving at her own pace! Her IV catheter (they left it in in case they needed to reinsert the IV) gave her a tiny bit of an infection, so last night they removed it and put antibiotics on it. This morning around 4, the swelling and her fever had both gone down (the fever was most likely brought on by the infection). So, pretty much, all I have to report on is that she is in the same condition. We MIGHT be able to go home Tuesday. I am so ready to go home and be able to really cuddle her again (a feat that is pretty difficult with a million wires plugged in to her!)

On another note, I'm sure that every mother thinks she has a genius baby, but I really am sure I have a genius baby :) I am constantly impressed that she's smart enough to pull the cords off of her, she holds her pacifier in her mouth with her hand, and she tries to hold the bottle when we give her a bottle. Doesn't that sound like a smart baby to you?

My mom pointed out to me yesterday that Kara recognizes my voice and that it soothes her when she's upset. It made me feel so good as a mom to recognize that! Last night when I was reading Green Eggs and Ham to her, she woke up and stayed awake "listening" to the story until I was finished, and then promptly fell back asleep. It was so sweet!

My Aunt Shelley (who is also Mom #2 to us kids) made Kara the CUTEST giraffe! We named the giraffe Shelley. When Kara is awake, she stares at the giraffe for the longest time! I was a blanket baby myself, but Aunt Shelley is determined for Kara to have to cart this giraffe everywhere! I can't wait until Auntie Awesome can come out and meet the cutest baby ever!

And to wrap up, I will be posting about my baby shower here pretty soon! Our wonderful friend Ashley threw us a lovely shower, but unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera! As soon as I have pictures from the other attendees, I'll be sure to write all about it (and all the wonderful gifts people so generously made and gave us).

Kara Update 3/6/10

We are still in the hospital waiting for Kara to get better. They were able to take her off the IV yesterday, but every time they turn the oxygen down, she doesn't do very well. They've been trying to turn it down by 5%, but as she doesn't do well when they turn it down that much, they're going to try turning it down by only 1% or 2% at a time. She's still working a little hard to breathe, and her lungs still sound a little raspy, but she is being well taken care of and has wonderful doctors and nurses. She has a pediatrician, a nurse, and a respiratory therapist come in to check on her regularly, and they have been really great. Right now, my goal is to go home on Sunday--we'll see if that happens! Keep us in your prayers! I am dying to bring her home!

Kara 3/3/10

Kara is still on humidified oxygen today, and they increased the flow last night from 2 liters to 2.5 liters. She is about the same as she was yesterday, but not doing any worse, so that is a good sign. The respiratory therapist continues to pull a ton of mucous out of her nose when they suction--she is just a little mucous factory!

Yesterday, I caught this picture of her sleeping with her tongue out. I think she's a pretty darn cute baby, even when attached to medical equipment!

There is another baby down the hall, and whenever he/she cries, Kara does a little cry for about 2 or 3 seconds. Maybe this means we have a compassionate baby?

Kara has the longest little fingers of any baby I've ever seen! She uses her hands quite a bit, and while I love that she uses her hands so much (it is very cute), it is also a bit of a pain! She pulls her cords off, pulls the blankets down, and when she's distressed, grabs part of her face (she has chubby cheeks) and squeezes them.

She also likes to sleep with her head all the way arched back--we wrap her up and set her straight in the little baby bed, and ten minutes later, she looks like this (it's kind of hard to see, but she has her back completely arched and her head thrown back):

*Another* Kara Update

This morning around 11, after checking Kara's lungs, they decided she was ok to be switched to the regular oxygen. After having her on it for an hour, however, they determined that it was making her work too hard to breathe and switched her back to the humidified oxygen so they could increase the flow. Her nose is just too congested to get enough oxygen without the extra help (and, something I learned here, newborns and infants are built such that they breathe best out of their noses, not their mouths). They have nasal decongestant drops they have been giving her, but she can only get them every 8 hours, and they don't want to suction her nose too much and cause swelling and make the problem worse. So, at this point, they do what they can, and the rest is up to her to decide when to stop having a stuffy nose!

In the mean time, they will keep her hooked up to the IV as well until they are able to switch to regular oxygen and start pulling her off of it.

So, it looks like we will be here until at least Thursday. Everything else looks good--we're just waiting on her congestion to clear up, and things will start improving from there!

Kara's Arrival (Rachel's Version)

I updated the blog with a few posts, so make sure you check them all out!

I wanted to write about Kara's arrival from MY point of view, partially so I could have it for future reference, and partially just because I wanted to write it down.

On Monday, after I went home and we called the doctor, I just KNEW that I was going to have a baby that day. When we went in, they told me that I was dehydrated and that was causing Braxton-Hicks contractions, and that we wouldn't be having a baby--but still, I knew. When the doctor finally ordered a blood panel and came back and told us I was very sick and would have to be induced, my first thought was that I wasn't ready yet, I had at least 2 more weeks! I didn't think too much about it though because I was so sick and felt pretty out of it.

On Tuesday morning at 4:00 AM, the doctor came in to induce labor. My mom, sister, and brother were all in the room. Bryan had planned on leaving the room once I was in active labor, but it came on really fast and he ended up being in the room during the birth. Because my platelet count was so low, I was not allowed to have an epidural--something I hadn't been sure I wanted anyway--but at about 9:00 AM, I wanted that epidural! Bryan went and hid on the couch in the corner, but thinks it was pretty funny that I was mad at the doctor for not letting me have an epidural. At 10:03, I started pushing, and at 10:14, our sweet baby girl was born! I was completely shocked when they said "it's a girl," but was also so exhausted and so happy to be done with labor that it didn't really sink in at first.

The doctor and nurses were going to take her away after cleaning her up, but thankfully, someone spoke up and made them let me hold her. I am so grateful for this, because it was the last time I saw Kara before I had the seizure.

After they took Kara away, I started having micro-seizures--the nurse caught this right away and knew what they were, but the doctor who handled the delivery (and who wasn't a very good doctor) dismissed it as the sun being in my eyes. Throughout the day, they kept trying to clean out the blood clots, which quite honestly, was just as painful as labor. Then I had the big seizure that evening. I don't remember much from that day other than telling the nurses my body and eyelids kept jerking shortly after Kara was born, so pretty much from noon on is pretty foggy for me.

After the seizure, the nurses brought Kara to me to hold, which I don't remember, but I'm glad I was able to anyway. I started going pretty downhill after that, and I remember feeling like I couldn't breathe and just had no energy even to open my eyes. My family wasn't sure I'd make it through the night, and to be honest, I had some moments when I was barely awake that I was terrified I'd never get to hold my baby again. I am so thankful that we got a new doctor that came in and took over, I'm thankful that they were able to do a surgery to stop the bleeding, and I'm even more thankful that I was able to get a priesthood blessing.

After a day in the ICU, all I wanted was to see Kara. They promised me I could see Kara Thursday morning, but then weren't able to move me yet, so I didn't get to see her until late Thursday evening (and even getting them to let me do that was a fight!)

We finally got to go home Friday, and it was a bit hard to figure out some sort of a routine, but we love Kara Leigh to death, and I wouldn't take her back for the life of me!





P.S.


There are two winners for the baby competition--Theresa, who guessed closest to the date, but had gender wrong (she guessed a boy on March 10th), and my Great Grandma who guessed the gender right and had the earliest date for all the people who guessed a girl (she guessed a girl on March 13th). I'm not sure what they won yet, but I'll think of something!

Kara Hospital Update

Today, they are going to try to start pulling Kara off of the humidified oxygen machine and put her back on regular oxygen to see how she does. If she does ok on the regular oxygen, they're going to start slowly decreasing the levels until she is completely off of the oxygen. At some point, they will also start slowly pulling her off of the IV fluids. After she is completely off of the IV and the oxygen, they want to watch her for another 6-8 hours to make sure she'll be ok to breathe on her own, so I am thinking that we will be going home some time tomorrow.

On another note, I think we have a stubborn/pretty smart child on our hands. She doesn't like the oxygen nose thing, and keeps trying to pull it off. The nurses have had to re-tape it multiple times. She also doesn't like when we dress or undress her, so she (somehow) figured out that if she straightens her legs and locks her knees, it makes our job a million times more difficult.

What does this mean for her teenage years?

Pictures

Here are some pictures of our little Kara Leigh a day before we had to take her to the hospital: