Just in case, I emailed the announcement company to see if they could print me just one copy of the announcement. I thought I might have to buy 10 or something but it was worth a try. I got this email back from them this morning:

Dear Diana,

Good news! We often print a few extra of each order, and we were able to locate extras of yours. We have popped 3 extra copies in the US mail for you. You should receive them in a few days.

Glad we could help, and good luck finding the other 10 – babies have a way of turning a household on end, don’t they?

Sincerely,
Becky

Trillium Paper Customer Service

So I must give a shout out to StorkGrams!!! Thank you so much and if anyone wants fantastic announcements with the best customer service ever, check them out!

I can't find the extra announcements. We had about 10 leftover and I needed one of them for Kacey's baby book. I CANNOT FIND THEM ANYWHERE!!! I have searched all over and it is driving me crazy. How can I not find them? It's not possible that I threw them away, I just could not have done that. Ugh, what am I going to do? Does anyone reading this have one that I sent you and you don't want it? WOW, that sounds really tacky, asking someone to give something back... but I am desperate! Where are they??? So much for my super organizational skills. :(

So now that she is a month and as of Thursday weighed 9 pounds, 9 ounces, we have moved on to cloth diapers! YAY! Here she is in her pink ensemble :) and her pajama top. For those of you in the know, she is wearing a prefold with a bikini twist and a Swaddlebees cover. Isn't she cute?!! (That's a rhetorical question, I already know the answer :)



Yesterday we made a trip out to our clinic and Kacey got to meet her doctor and nurse that have not seen her since she was a microscopic embryo! This is Dr. Michelle Evans and Cynthia Arenas from the Pasadena Huntington Reproductive Center. Hopefully we never see them again in a clinical sense, only socially but if we do ever decide to go for #2 and need medical help, this is definitely the team we will be calling on!



I was a bit nervous going to the clinic. I remember being in the waiting room and on very rare occasion someone would bring a baby or child in. I hated that and would glare at them with my evil eye. I didn't want to cause any evil eyes but I really wanted to show off Kacey and thank them once again for our miracle. I did make an appointment and 9am was the time they told me to come in. When the elevator doors opened a couple came out of the elevator with a big bag full of drugs, they glanced at me but I quickly jumped into the elevator. I had purposefully put Kacey in her sling and had her covered up. I was not going to go in with a big old stroller and a screaming baby! When we got to the lobby there was only one person in the waiting room, I went to the window quickly and almost whispered, "I am here to see Dr. Evans" The girl behind the counter very quickly ushered me into a conference room. I was so thankful! It was so nice to see Dr Evans and Cynthia. I can't imagine how wonderful it is for them to see the end result! They must see so much heartache and to see a happy ending must really make it all worth it.

Why? Because I am sitting at the computer at 5:47 am writing in my blog. I have some fig newtons and a cup of this tea and I am all alone.... Well for the moment. The cat is outside catting around and baby and daddy are sound asleep. You would think that being awake this early would be a bad thing but it's not today because I am awake and refreshed. 2 nights in a row of good sleep... ahhhh... heaven.

Good sleep these days is a very different thing than it used to be. In my teens and early twenties a good sleep equaled laying in bed until 11am or even noon. It didn't matter how much actual sleep occurred as long as I was in bed half way through the day. Then I met my husband. He is an early riser and I don't care how much you like to lay around in bed but if the person you share a bed with regularly gets up at 6am you start to do it too. So by the time we had our little bundle of joy I was very used to a good night's sleep consisting of going to bed around 10 and being up and at 'em around 6am. Waking up at 7 was considered sleeping in, even on the weekends. (This is why getting up at 6 am and walking 3 miles with my mom on weekdays was not that big of a deal.)

So what is a good night’s sleep now? Taking Kacey to bed around 10 and feeding her one last time. I then put her in her co-sleeper and she STAYS asleep. I then fall asleep myself (this is key! Must go to sleep when Kacey goes to sleep!) I then wake up around 2:30 or 3am and catch her before she fully wakes up and feed her. This is also key, she must not be fully awake before I start to feed her. She drifts back into a blissful state of slumber (after about a 15 minute feed) and I am able to move her back to the co-sleeper where she STAYS asleep. I fall back asleep as well. I then wake up around 5 and again catch her before she is fully awake and do another 15 minute feed and put her back in the cosleeper where she STAYS asleep. Yesterday at that point I went back to sleep. She woke up around 6:30 but so did daddy and he took her out with him and I went back to sleep until about 8:30. Today I tried to go back to sleep but I was wide awake. I was so well rested that I got up on my own and here I am! This is good times for a mommy!

For several nights before this lovely routine (oh dear God please let this be a routine!) Kacey and I were getting the first part but at the 3amish feeding she would pop her eyes wide open and they would stay that way. She would fuss if I tried to lay her down because she was wide awake. I was lucky if we got back to bed by 5am. I spent several nights her at the computer at 4am holding her and reading blogs. Sorry I couldn’t comment, a little hard to do with a baby in your arms. Jamie pointed out last night that I hadn’t updated my blog….hmmmm, wonder why?

It’s amazing how the day gets away from you when you have a baby. During the day Kacey likes to eat every 90-120 minutes and the whole process takes up about 30 minutes. We then have all the diaper changes and time holding her for burping and that doesn’t leave much time in between. I have been able to stay on top of laundry, dishes and keeping the house tidy (not clean, but tidy) and I feel those are major accomplishments at this point. We have also had a busy schedule. Almost every day we have had lunch plans and we have also had the mommy and baby groups a couple times a week. With everything combined it just seems like 10pm comes faster than I expect it too.

Kacey and I are getting the hang of it a bit and I am not too frazzled. We are so lucky that she is a pretty easy going baby. I guess we are kind of spoiled in that sense. When she does cry or get upset I immediately try to figure out what is wrong. 95% of the time she is hungry or has a dirty diaper so it is real easy to stop the crying. That 5% is when I get upset and feel like I am failing her because I can’t figure out what to do. It truly is so little of the time though that I need to learn to not beat myself up about it.

I miss Jamie being home. It was nice to have little breaks throughout the day. I guess it is just a matter of adjustment. I do not know how teenagers, single mothers, etc do this. I am so blessed with a 95% happy baby and a husband that does much more than most. I also have tons of supportive family around. We are just so fortunate…

OK, so there is why I have not updated my blog in a few days and why the past updates have mainly been a picture or a quick little description of the day. I guess this long-winded post makes up for it!

So here is my little blurb about what we did over the weekend. My uncle came over Saturday and we finished up the molding on the closet in the nursery! YAY!!! Now I just need to caulk and paint and then we are done! On Sunday it was Jamie’s birthday (Happy Birthday my young, hot 32 year old husband!) so we went to grandpa and grandma’s house to play poker (one of Jamie’s favorite things!), took a little 1 hour break and headed over to my Aunt and Uncle Rob and Nancy’s house. They were having a summer family get together with some relatives that we only see once a year or so. It was real nice to pop in and let everyone meet Kacey. In this weeks pictures I have some good ones from it. We then went back to grandma and grandpas for some birthday pizza.

Monday, Kacey and I went to a mommy and me group at the local community college. Some girls from the Tuesday group told us about it. It’s a 6 week session, we missed the first week, and best of all, it’s free! I really enjoyed it and I think Kacey did too. She just looked around most of the time soaking it all in.

Tuesday (which was Ella’s first birthday!!!!) we went to our regular Tuesday group and then had lunch with the moms and babies after. It’s starting to feel less surreal when we go and I almost am starting to feel like I belong. It helped a lot that Alex and Taline were there this week. I have a connection that way. Don’t get me wrong, I am really enjoying the other moms, just having someone there that I know helps me feel like I belong a bit more. It was also great to see Alex and Taline again!!

Yesterday we went to grandpa’s house and had lunch. Kacey really likes going there and sleeps in her bouncer on the table right in front of grandpa so he can talk to her. He loves teaching her new Spanish words! Lucky for Kacey grandpa is fluent in Spanish! Grandma came home from work (yes, my amazing grandma still works! She and my mom have a tax business together) and grandpa took a nap. So Kacey and I then hung out with grandma for a few hours.

Wanna know one of the best parts of the week though? My mom, Kacey and I started walking again! YAY!!! I can’t do the 6am walks anymore so we are meeting at 7pm and have been able to do the 2.8 mile walk which includes walking uphill about ½ mile. Oh it feels sooooo good to get my blood pumping! We take turns pushing the stroller and it has been really nice. On Monday it was still about 90 degrees when we went but yesterday and Tuesday were in the low 80’s and were much nicer.

Here is a pic of me with Kacey in the sling that I have been promising for a while. I think we are both starting to get the hang of it!!! As a bonus, a pic with Jamie and the sling too!





Here is a mini-movie of Kacey playing in her floor gym (which great grandpa and great grandma gave her!). She really seemed to like it although she fusses in the video. When we first put her under it she seemed to squeal with delight. I have since put her in a few times and she lays there in wonder and just looks at everything, especially the mirror, with such concentration.



And finally here is a link to Week 04 pics.

There, this blog entry has taken me an hour! WOW, not sure when the next one will be but please forgive me if I am not up to my past blogging standards. Also forgive me for not commenting as much. I am still reading, just usually at 4am with a baby in my arms! Haha!

Jamie's aunt just emailed this picture to me, it's Jamie from when he was born. Compare the pic to the one on the right hand bar and tell me Kacey doesn't look EXACTLY like her daddy did! WOW!



Just in case you were wondering if she has even a tiny bit of me...



....the answer would be no. I am going to assume she will get my perfectionism, organizational skills and bitchyness! Let the fun begin!

Husbands that is.... I definitely have a good one.

Thursday was a bit of a tough Kacey day. Granted, it was my fault but still! We are both learning! It started in the morning, I had a dentist appointment at 11 that is about 15 minutes away. Kacey was sound asleep. The big debate came up in my mind, do I wake her in time to see if she is hungry and change her? Do I wake her in time just to change her? or... Do I wait til the last minute and try to just transfer her to the car seat and hope she stays asleep? Pick the wrong one and you are in for trouble. I had fed her a little less than an hour before so I opted for the second one and woke her just in time to change her. I then put her in the car seat and we drove to the dentist. She is normally very quiet on car rides so I knew I made the wrong choice when she started crying half way to the dentist. When I got there, she was screaming. So we told the nurse we were there but we needed about 10 minutes for a feeding before we could go in. After about 10 minutes, she was sound asleep so I pulled her off. Bad move! She wasn't quite done but I was already 10 minutes late at this point! So I put her in the car seat anyways and hoped the 10 min feeding would tide her over. As soon as the doctor started cleaning my teeth she started crying. The nurse came in and got her out of the carseat and took her away. YAY nurse! She instantly stopped crying and was good the whole rest of the time. We got home (with more crying in the car) and I was able to feed her to her heart's content. Unfortunately I had ruined her best sleep of the day.

We then went to my grandparents house for the afternoon and dinner to see my uncle who was in town for a layover from Utah. She was able to get a few catnaps in but just never had a good sleep that day. Note for future, this makes for a cranky Kacey. I thought this would mean a good nights sleep but I was wrong. She did fall asleep about 9 and slept til 2:30. When she woke up though... wow! I fed her and tried to put her back down but she was having none of it. Wide awake! Those gorgeous blues would not shut! We were up until about 4:30. At one point I was sitting on the edge of the bed trying to burp her and Jamie looked over and asked why I was awake. I said Kacey was WIDE awake. He went oh and rolled back over and started snoring. The next day he barely remembered the conversation. :)

So yesterday was a bit better. Long insurance venting and complaining story but we had to go down to my work to get some paperwork signed by HR. She was pretty much an angel the whole time and let Katherine get a nice long cuddle. :) We were both able to get a 2 hour afternoon nap (which mommy loved!!!!)

I am not sure if Jamie felt bad about the night before or if he just missed Kacey from having been at work most of the week but he offered to switch sides of the bed and take care of Kacey all night! with the exception of feedings of course. I jumped on the offer and fell asleep on his side of the bad with Kacey sound asleep in her co-sleeper. Well around 2am she woke up for her feeding and when he put her back down her eyes popped open! She was wide awake again! I sure hope this isn't a new trend! So he took her out to the living room and I went back to sleep. Ahhh luxury!

So this morning she woke up at 6 am ready to be up and Jamie was exhausted but I felt well rested! He agreed that the hardest part isn't necessarily the being awake for 2 hours but it's sleeping right next to her and hearing all her little noises throughout the night. So now Jamie is sound asleep in bed and here I am typing up my post. Jamie was a great husband and even better, a great father last night and gave me a nice break.

What is Miss Kacey doing right now? Well she is sleeping too! I have her in the sling since she wants to be held and she is very happy. I know I have promised a picture of her in the sling so here is one that I just took. I'll try to get a full length one soon!

Here are her pictures from week 3. We had more visitors, a BBQ and our first bath!

OK, so I am a day late again! Here she is in all her 3 week, 1 day glory.



Here is the dresser all filled up including Kacey!!



and finally here is a bathtime video :)

• My heart melts when I see Kacey smile even though they say it is involuntary at this point, it sure seems like she means it sometimes!
• Having Jamie home for the past 4 weeks has been wonderful. I thought we might get a bit annoyed by being around each other all the time but it has been the opposite. It would have been sooo hard to not have him here and it will be very different with him going back to work tomorrow.
• I am very pleased with Orangie. She has sniffed Kacey a few times and even head butted Kacey's bottom yesterday to try to get her to pet her. I had to pet her instead and she didn't seem to mind at all. She has not tried to go into the co-sleeper but has looked at it and sniffed the edges a few times. She still sleeps with us at night and used to run away when Kacey would cry. She no longer runs away and just sleeps through it. So overall the cat is doing great, we try very hard to go out of our way to give her pets, scratches and attention and I think it is paying off.
• Breatfeeding is going great. Ever since Kacey latched on when she was put on my tummy in the delivery room, we have not had any problems. I do know how very fortunate I am with this. It's a wonderful feeling after all the IF crap to know that my body can not only grow a baby but keep that baby growing after she has entered the world. I also love seeing Jamie look at us with love when he watches me feed her. He is also amazed by the miracle and it reminds me to not take anything for granted when I see him looking at us. Sometimes I get a bit frustrated at 3am when she is bobbing her head around and "playing with me" but I remind myself of how blessed I am.
• WOW, babies poop alot. Everything I read said that breastfed babies poop doesn't stink. Well I would like to officially disagree with that. Maybe it doesn't stink as bad as formula fed babies but it does have an unpleasant odor to it. There is no mistaking the diaper pail for a vase of roses! Also about poop, I had no idea it would be so watery! Sometimes I open her diaper and it is filled like a mini lake!
• Funny little side poop story that must be written down for Kacey's enjoyment later! Jamie has been on diaper duty since the hospital and he has not complained about it at all (again, can we say lucky me???) At 3am, I will hand Kacey to him, he will change her diaper and bring her back for me to feed her. It works pretty nicely! Sadly this will end now that he has to work in the morning, oh well, I enjoyed it while I could! Anyways... a few nights ago, I heard him yell "Oh shit!" or something to that effect. Found out that he was changing her poopy diaper and still had the wipe in his hand. She started to fart and in his early morning haze, his brain told him to just put the wipe under her butt to catch the little bit that would come out. Well you know where this is going, she let go of a huge load and it covered his hand and the changing pad. I don't think he will ever do that again! BTW, this was only a few hours after he had to change her diaper 4 times in one session because she kept pooping as soon as he closed up the new diaper!!
• I love her little tongue and she loves it too. She sticks it out all the time!
• I hate baby acne!!! My poor little baby's face is absolutely covered right now! So glad we already did the announcement pictures!
• Speaking of announcements, here is ours! We sent them out last week:
  

• Mommy groups, I went to one again today (same one I went to last week with Alex) and went out to lunch with some of the moms afterwards. I was sitting at a table with 8 other moms and babies and thinking how surreal it almost was. Me, sitting with other moms and babies like I belonged there. It was so strange. People would pass us and comment "oh look at all the cute babies!!!" Sometimes it just seems like I am pretending and soon someone will ask for Kacey back.
• Something I wish I knew ahead of time, just because you lose your pregnancy pounds does not mean you will be able to wear your old clothes. I have 3 pounds left and I am sure 2 of those are in my boobs so only 1 should still be in my lower half. Why is it then that I can wear my old tops but am still wearing maternity pants? It just doesn't seem fair. Jamie and I are supposed to go on a walk tonight and that will kick off my regular walking again (I hope!) Hopefully this will get me back into my old pants.
• I am happy, deliriously happy. Although this doesn't seem real and I expect someone to take it away at any time, I am enjoying every minute of it. I feel like I was just meant to do this. I was meant to be a mom and specifically Kacey's mom. I love calling Jamie daddy and hearing him call me mommy. I love talking to Kacey and picking her up when she is upset and saying "mommy is here" and hearing her calm down. That's because of me! I calm her and make her happy. What an amazing gift.
  

YAY!!! The dresser/hutch that we ordered back in JANUARY!!! and was supposed to be here MID-APRIL!!! IS FINALLY HERE!!!! YAYAYAYAYAAYAYAYAYAY!!!!



I'll post another pic tomorrow of it all filled up with Kacey's stuff. Have to wait for daddy to get home to attach it to the wall first, we are in earthquake country you know. I think it would ruin my love of the dresser if it tipped over onto Kacey or the cat!

In other news, check out where Kacey is taking her nap today :)



In her crib! So far she has slept during the day in her bouncy chair, swing or in our arms. This napping in the crib is totally new and where she will start sleeping for some naps every day to get used to the crib.

Big news! Kacey's belly button fell off yesterday so today we gave her her first bath! Jamie took video of it but without thinking about it turned the camera sideways like he was taking a picture... unfortunately that doesn't translate well on video! haha! So my editor husband is in the process of trying to edit it and then I will post it. It's a great video, you can see the magic that is our daughter. She did not cry. She just kind of sat there with a very confused look on her face. A bit interested but a bit "What the hell are they doing to me NOW?" type look. Oh and she also did not pee or poop in the bath! woo hoo! She did go in the diaper about 30 seconds after we put it on her though. Here is a picture of her all wrapped up in her towel afterwards.



We started doing tummy time a couple days ago. She is not very amused by that either. She just chews on her hand and lays there. Every now and then she will move her head side to side then get frustrated and then cry. We'll keep it up though and see if one of these days she can do more with it.

Happy father's day to all the new and old! fathers out there. We're looking forward to our very first one!

Well we are a day late. It's only the 2nd week and already late! WOW, it takes a lot more time to take care of a baby than you can plan for! Getting the picture requires alot of effort. You have to make the beautiful, informative sign :) Get her dressed in a cute outfit, make sure she is awake and have both Jamie and me home (one of us to prop her up and one to take the picture.) So here you go, our 2 week, 1 day picture!



And here are the pictures from her 2nd week, she had alot of visitors!

We went to the pediatrician today for Kacey's 2 week check up. She gained almost a whole pound! 8 pounds, 4.4 ounces. What a big girl! I had started getting a touch concerned in the last 3 days or so because she used to eat for 20 minutes at a time on average. Well the last few days she was only eating about 10 minutes and then completely passing out and would not wake up to eat more. I asked the doctor about it and she said it's not that big of a deal and clearly she is growing! Anyway, I just finished feeding her and she actually ate a bit more than 20 minutes, so maybe we are getting back on track. Next doctor appointment is at 8 weeks. So far away :)

There is another big deal about 2 weeks, I was able to do more today! I really took the doctor's advice of taking it very easy the first 2 weeks and I let the house go downhill. I laid around as much as possible and really enjoyed it. I think it has helped too. My bleeding is very light and I feel really good. I have had a ton of people tell me I look great and seem really surprised when I tell them Kacey is only x days old. So I highly recommend to all the mommies to be, take the 2 weeks! Do nothing! Enjoy your baby and let the house get filthy!

We have a beautiful pine tree in the front yard. It keeps our house nice and cool most of the summer and is just fantastic. The only downside is all the needles. They end up all over the house! The cat brings them in and we bring them in on our shoes. So our floors have been covered in needles for a couple weeks now and I finally got them all swept up and vacuumed today! YAY! It felt so good!Kacey was pretty accommodating and slept through most of it and let me work. So now I have a nice clean house, ahhhhhhh. What a way to celebrate the 2 weeks ending!

Yesterday, Alex and I went to my hospital's New Mommies Group. Kacey was the youngest one there! It was nice to see all the other babies (up to about 8 months old) and especially for Kacey to meet Alex's daughter Taline! They are going to be such good friends! After the group meeting, some girls let us know that they go to lunch every week afterwards and invited us. It was great getting to know more moms. I plan on going back next week!

We had a lot of firsts this weekend! On Saturday, Jamie's friend Laine came over and we all went out to lunch. Of course Kacey's first restaurant had to be Joselito's, our favorite Mexican food! She was great the whole time and waited until I was done eating to wake up for some lunch of her own. Later that afternoon, Kacey and I picked up great grandma Peggy and we went to one of my favorite places (soon to be Kacey's!), the mall!!! We didn't actually go anywhere in the mall except for my friend's jewelry store. I have know them for at least 13 years.. maybe close to 15 now? and they are like family. It was time for Kacey to meet her jewelers! I did wear her in and got some funny looks from people but oh well. She loves being worn! She falls asleep almost instantly when I put her in the wrap. Stupid me, completely forgot to get a picture! I did get a picture of the beautiful baby cross necklace they gave Kacey though! Her very first piece of jewelry!



On Sunday we went to the local Arts & Crafts festival with my friend Gen. This was our very first stroller outing! Jamie pushed her most of the time and said it felt like he was maneuvering a tank. Not because the stroller is hard to push or anything, it is wonderful! But because he felt like he was cutting a path through the people, like parting the Red Sea! People got out of his way! Well here is the proud daddy:



Kacey pretty much slept anytime the stroller was in motion, mommy got a sunburn and daddy had a great time. A very successful day!

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Who wouldn't be happy waking up to this every morning?



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Did I mention last week that my brother brought his fancy-schmancy camera with him when he came to visit and we did a photo session? I got our announcement pic out of it and also these 2 pictures:

As alot of you know, I work for N.estle. Here Miss Kacey is trying to get a modeling contract!



and here she is trying out my computer, if the modeling doesn't work out, she will take after her mommy, uncle and grandpa and end up working with computers!



If you want to see the rest of my brothers pics, click HERE. I warn you, there are over 150 of them but if you click the next button fairly quickly, it looks like Kacey is moving! You can see all the pics in about 2 minutes by clicking through them. Some are really cute and some she will hate me for when I show them to her future husband!

We took these for Kacey's 1 week birthday.




I am catching up on pics.. here is Kacey's 6th day. It was a quiet day. I like this pic best...

WOW, how time flies! I am planning on taking a picture of her today and each week until she is a year old. I haven't done it yet and now she is sleeping soooo soundly that I can't bear to wake her. So I'll get the pic later and post it tomorrow.
We had a big adventure today! Kacey and I went to the grocery store all by ourselves! It took 2 hours to get out of the house from the point when I decided to go, not sure hwy it took so long but there were a couple diaper changes and a couple feedings, in and out of the car seat twice.... anyways, we did it! I brought along my Maya Wrap and she seemed to like it. She grunted a lot at first but she seems to be a bit of a grunter. By the time we were done she was sound asleep and didn't even wake up when I put her back in her carseat. At the store I was very careful not to bump her into anything and enjoyed rubbing her bottom as I walked around. Since I don't have her in my tummy anymore it was a real nice feeling to be able to rub her like that!

Yesterday I went to the grocery store all by myself and it was very lonely, definitely much more fun with Kacey!

In the past week I have already found out what things are my favorite so far:

• Arm's Re.ach Co-Sl.eeper - This is wonderful. We plan to have her in her crib in the nursery by 2-3 months old but for now we wanted her next to us at night. We weren't comfortable with her sleeping in our bed (Two of us plus a cat is plenty in a queen!) So we got this. It is just wonderful. I can't imagine nighttime without it.
  
• Ger.ber T-shirts with the hand covers - We put her in these to sleep at night. They are perfect. 3 little snaps in the front, kimono style I guess you would call it. The hand covers are key. I thought we would have her sleep in onesies but they don't have hand covers and she would lose gloves at night. Also Jamie doesn't like having to do and undo snaps when changing a diaper in the middle of the night. So we just put her in this and a nice swaddle. Perfect!
• Fis.her Pric.e Boun.cer - She loves this. We put her in it and turn on the vibrator and she will sit in it for an hour. We can put it in any room and keep an eye on her. Especially good when we can put her on the kitchen counter and do stuff in the kitchen.
• Gr.aco Swe.atpeace Swing - Again, she just loves this. We can put her in it while we eat our dinner and she will either just lay there happy or even fall asleep. Cool bonus, you can hook up your mp3 player to it and play any music for baby that you want.
• Brava.do Nursi.ng Tank Top - A bit expensive but worth every penny. I got 2 of them and think I may need another one!
• My new baby ring - Jamie surprised me with this the other day and it is beautiful! White gold ring with an emerald in the middle of 2 diamonds. The emerald is Kacey's birthstone! Doesn't Kacey have the best daddy ever???

I am sure we will have lots more favorite things coming up!!!

And now for a couple of videos! The first one is of Kacey smiling. It takes some time but she does finally do it. Ignore her silly parents trying to coax it out of her. I know this is involuntary but we like to think she is smiling for us!



The second one is of her looking in herself at the mirror on her changing table. She loves it! If she is fussing we just show her the mirror and she gets mesmerized!



Send your good thoughts to Jamie today. He went in for a half day of work. He was so sad to leave! He is supposed to go back full time on the 17th but he is thinking they might have him work more between now and then. :(

Click here to view albums from Kacey's birth through 5 days old
Please note that there are 6 "albums" you need to click on next album to see more pictures...

A few of my favorites...

Before we get into the gorey details... I thought I would share a final belly pic. This was taken yesterday which would have been 42 weeks!



Here I am with Kacey, how int he world did she fit in my tummy just 3 days before?????



Here is daddy holding her, he has a lot more room for her in his tummy! We think he could have easily carried triplets.


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Ok, now for the birth story. If you do not want to read gorey details then I suggest you stop now. I want to record everything I can remember, even the stuff that I might not want to really remember!! This is very long............

Monday - We were told to call the hospital an hour before we were scheduled for the induction so we called at 7 and they wanted me to call back in an hour. At 8 I called back and they said it was ok to come in. So we gathered our things and drove on in. It was very odd, I really expected to be driving to the hospital in pain and with contractions. You know, in LABOR! Oh well, this was the beginning of the slope and we stepped onto that slope knowing full well where it could take us.

We got to the hospital and up to our labor and delivery room. Our hospital is a very small community hospital and only has 4 L&D rooms. I got the best one :) It had a big window overlooking the mountains that I could actually see from my bed. The other rooms do not have a view. Maybe the slippery slope birth plan gods were giving me one little thing. As we settled me in, I looked out that window and since it was night I couldn't quite see the mountains but I could see "Touchdown Jesus." What is that you might ask? Well there is a church that has this huge pillar in front of it and at the top is a statue of Jesus with both hands raised to the sky. Unfortunately it is known as the "Touchdown Jesus" It was pretty cool though because they keep it lit at night and I could see it quite clearly. I remember looking at it on Tuesday night in labor as well.

A nurse came in and (please note, this was only one of 2 instances where someone was rude to us. The ENTIRE rest of the stay was really wonderful witht he best nurses I could have ever asked for.) told us that this hospital DOES NOT do cervidil and I would have to do Cytotec. I said absolutely not and she said she would go "see what she could do" Jamie and I were pretty dumbfounded. Wouldn't my doctor have know if they really didn't "do"cervidil? Should we leave and do the induction at the alternate hospital tomorrow? Anyways she came back and made a big deal of telling us that she had to call several pharmacists and get one out of bed to get us the cervidil but she finally found one. And by the way she couldn't insert it, my doctor had to be dragged in to do it. I assured her that my doctor had already told me she would be coming to insert it so that was already arranged. The nurse was clearly put out. I am very happy to say that I don't think I ever saw her again.

My doctor arrived and when I told her what happened she was very surprised and that she had done cervidil there before. Oh well, what's done is done! She did a check and I was 1 cm, about 40-50% effaced and Twiggy at -1 station. She inserted the cervidil at 9:50 pm (I had Jamie start a sheet where we wrote down important times, so glad I did this! How else could I possibly remember?) and left. Jamie hung out for about 2 hours just to see if it happened to cause contractions which it sometimes can. When nothing happened he went home on the promise that I would call him if I felt the slightest twinge. Now don't go thinking Jamie abandoned me! I really pushed him to go. I felt he would get a better night's sleep at home and that I would need all his energy tomorrow. He finally relented against his wishes. So glad he did!!!! I tried to sleep but the excitement was starting to set in and my brain would not turn off. So maybe 3-4 hours of sleep?

Tuesday - My doctor came in around 9 and checked me. I had "progressed" (yeah right!) to about 1-2 cm and 50% effaced. It seemed to me the cervidil hadn't done anything. She assured me it is to soften the cervix and it could still be doing that and it just wasn't measurable. So she decided to leave it in a bit longer. At this point my doula Michele and Jamie were there with me. I felt so bad!! There was nothing for them to do!

10 am - Doctor came back and removed the cervidil, I was a bit more effaced but that was about it. She told the nurse to wait and hour and then start the pitocin. She also did an u/s to see the position of the baby and determined her spine was really low and that was twisting her head a bit and making her head transverse. This comes into play and to just give you advance warning, it meant I was in for the torturous hell known as BACK LABOR. Hear that? It's us sliding farther down the slope.....

11 am - Pitocin was started at level 1. Michele and Jamie waited around about 30 minutes and then left for some lunch. Clearly nothing was going to happen with me for quite a while. I am not sure when exactly I started getting contractions but it was around lunchtime. Very mild and very manageable. I breathed through them and went to a happy place and was very surprised at how normal I felt when they went away.

12 - The nurse ups the pitocin to level 2. She continues the rest of the day to increase it on a regular basis. Jamie and Michele got back soon after and my contractions slowly started getting stronger. I also had to pee almost every half hour. Since I had the pitocin, this meant I also had an IV and 2 external monitors. Every time I had to pee, we had to unplug the monitors, throw the cables around my neck (so they wouldn't fall in the toilet) and drag the IV into the bathroom with me (hang on to this image, it gets better later!) Several times I had contractions while I was on the toilet. I remember our Bradley instructor saying that alot of people like to labor on the toilet and I definitely became one of them. It was soooooo much more comfortable. I highly recommend everyone trying to go drug free try at least one contraction on the toilet and you will love it! Well as much as you can love a contraction.

As the contractions got harder, Michele started coming into the bathroom with me so she could be my support person during the contraction. I remember at one point asking her when the inhibition would go away because I still was embarrassed at the idea of her in there and I refused to have Jamie in there! She said, don't worry, it will come! and boy did it!!!

3:20 pm - I was laboring in bed and felt something weird and then a trickle between my legs. I told Michele that I thought my water broke and she looked (how many times can you say that you were perfectly comfortable letting your friend lift the sheets and peer between your legs?) she said she didn't see anything. I insisted, she looked again, nothing. Then I felt more running out, she looked again and still didn't see anything. Was I imagining it? All of a sudden a gush came rushing out. This time she looked and finally believed me!!! I was glad to be proven right but then all of a sudden the reality of it hit me. I had another contraction that was pretty strong and heard Michele telling the nurse my water broke. I started flipping out. I got really bad uncontrollable shaking that lasted what seemed like about 15 minutes, this freaked me out even more and I started with the uncontrollable sobbing. From here on out I had uncontrollable sobbing and shaking on a fairly regular basis, at least every couple of hours. That really sucked and was quite scary, especially when a contraction was going on at the same time.

4 pm - The contractions were very strong, I could not talk through them and the back pain was getting pretty horrific. Each contraction was in my back and abdomen with the back being worse. Alot of the time, the contraction would end but the back pain would remain. This is where Twiggy's positioning really F^&(ed me up and I learned the meaning of back labor. I decided the toilet was the best place for me and I went into the bathroom and refused to budge. The nurse came in all freaked out that my monitors were unplugged so she agreed to let me stay in there but moved all the equipment close to the bathroom so she could plug me in. Looking back this is where my modesty definitely disappeared. Here I was, naked on the toilet (oh yeah, at some point I decided I was hot and didn't like the gown and took it off rendering me completely natural. At least something about this labor and delivery was natural!!!) and the nurse is trying to get the monitors adjusted because they couldn't pick up Twiggy's heartbeat very well. Since she was at -1 station the monitor was having trouble. So here I am, naked on the toilet with Michele and Jamie watching as the nurse is squatted between my legs saying "You have to spread your legs more so I can get the monitor lower!" At this point I definitely had no inhibitions! I stayed on that toilet for about an hour weeping, shaking, contracting and laboring. I believe this is when I started telling Michele that I would want an epidural. She convinced me to wait 30 minutes and then we would talk about it again. My notes say that my contractions at this point were about 2.5-3 minutes apart.

5 pm - Doctor examines me and says I am 3cm and 70% effaced. I start to cry that I am never going to have the baby and I will be in labor forever.

7:30 pm - Yvette the most wonderful nurse ever examines me and says I am 3-4 cm, 90%effaced and at 0 station. I start to panic that I will NEVER have this baby.

9:15 pm - The doctor called and told the nurse to increase the pitocin, not sure what it went up to though but by the end I was around a level 8-9. Contractions were 3 minutes apart, lasting about 1 minute. I was asking for the epidural during contractions since about 5pm but then during the breaks I would say ok, let's wait another 30 minutes. Michele really wanted me to get to 5cm before the epidural to lessen my chances of a c-section. If I got it before 5cm, there was a good chance the epidural would slow down my labor even more. I think around 9 I started very seriously telling her that I wasn't going to make it and I definitely needed the epidural.

Somewhere between here and 10ish, I had 3 contractions in a row that lasted about 7-8 minutes each and were only 1 minute apart. The back pain did not stop during that minute. During this hellish 30ish minutes, I was pleading with Michele, Jamie and God to just let me die. I remember just crying and giving up, thinking I just could not possibly go on. I have never felt such pain and really hope I never do again. Michele told Jamie to go ahead and ask for the epidural. She told me they asked for it and I started crying with relief until I heard the nurse say it would take 30 minutes for the anesthesiologist to get there. Every time the door opened I would ask who it was, crying if it was just a nurse. When the anesthesiologist did arrive, I was so incredibly happy! They would only let one person stay in the room so Michele stayed since Jamie knew I would have contractions during the procedure and thought Michele would be able to help me through them better. He said that while he was in the hall he could hear my screams during contractions and that they were horrible.

10 pm - Finally 5 cm but my cervix is starting to swell. That is not good. If it gets too swollen, baby can't come out.

10:40 pm - The insertion of the epidural seemed to take forever. I think I had 3 contractions during it. I remember crying to Michele that it wasn't going to work. I remember praying to God, please, please just let it work! As soon as it was done, the doctor asked if my legs were tingling and I realized that it was working on both legs!!! I was soooooo happy!!!! Another bonus was the Foley catheter. I was finally able to stop going to the bathroom every 30 minutes. I never thought I would love a catheter but I never thought I would love an epidural either.

11:15 pm - 6 cm!!!! The swelling is starting to decrease to mild swelling. Michele takes to the rocking chair and Jamie gets cozy in the recliner, we start to relax and doze a bit.

WEDNESDAY - Kacey's birthday!

12:30 am - 7-8 cm, right side of cervix completely open so they turn me on my left to try to get the left side to completely go away.

2:30 - 3ish am - My blood pressure drops, so they administer a drug (not sure what) to bring it back up.

3:30 am - The nurse turns me from my left to my back for an exam. I am 9 cm and Twiggy is at a +1-2 station. (That is really low!!! You start pushing at +4 station) Twiggy's heartrate drops. She does not like me on my back!!! Another nurse comes running in and urgency begins. They staart flipping me and the nurse tries stimulating Twiggy by tickling the top of her head inside of me. Finally with me back on my left side and some stimulation, Twiggy's heart rate goes back up. Jamie and Michele are right next to me and very alert!

The nurses go off to call my doctor as well as a surgery technician to come in. The nurse also shaves me and brings in paperwork to authorize a c-section just in case that is what my doctor wants to do. Jamie and I talk about it and we are ok with it of course. Anything to get Twiggy out and healthy!!

My doctor got there about 15 minutes later and is very happy with Twig's heeart rate and how it has stabilized.

5 am - Doctor flips me on my back and does exam. I am at about 9cm but with just a lip of cervix. Twiggy is really low so she has me do a practice push to see if I could push past the lip. Unfortunately this caused Twiggy's heart rate to drop again. The doctor tells me that I may end up doing the c-section after all if the baby can't handle the pushing.

6:15 am - We try pushing again but keep me on my left side. Twiggy handles this well (heart rate drops a tiny bit with each push but recovers very well and quickly) so we decide to continue! She is definitely at a +4 station and although I have a tiny bit of cervix left the doctor feels I can push past it. She also lets me know that since Twiggy is so low she thinks she could vacuum her out as a last resort so a c-section will most likely not happen. I let her know that with the heart rate issues, I am completely ok with an episiotomy if it will help get Twiggy out faster. Heck, we have already lost most of our birth plan why try to keep this one?

7 am - Shift change. My wonderful nurse Yvette leaves and a new one comes in. Unfortunately she is not fully aware of Twiggy's heart rate going down and coming back so she stops the pitocin thinking it is messing with Twiggy's heart. My doctor comes back in a few minutes later and sees the pitocin is off and gets mad at the nurse telling her she just stopped my contractions, which she did. So the doctor turns the pitocin back on but I spend the next 45 minutes pushing on rare contraction occasion and waiting for the contractions to ramp back up. At some point I told Michele I could feel something in my vagina, kind of like a tampon is stuck or something. Turns out I was feeling Twiggy coming down! Getting closer to 9am they are able to see the top of Twiggy's head and the look on Jamie's face is pure joy and fascination.

9 am - I still don't believe I will have a baby. Michele tells me to take a look at the doctor. My doctor is dressed in scrubs with the hat and face mask. "See, the doctor is getting ready, you are going to have a baby!!!" I start crying uncontrollably, OMG this is really going to happen! Michele tries to calm me down, telling me I need to focus because I still have to push her out! They put me on my back for the final pushes, and the doctor tells me to reach down and feel Twiggy's head. My comment? It's SLIMEY!

9:12 am - Doctor tells me to look down and I see Twiggy's head come out. I just can't describe the feelings that over came me. (Actually tearing up now thinking about it.) I was sooo overwhelmed and started to cry. Again Michele reminds me to pull it together, I still have to push. I keep looking and in the next push, there comes the rest of Twiggy!

Kacey Joleane Layla is born. My doctor puts her right onto my chest and leaves the cord unclamped for about 2 minutes. She never cried, just looked at us. Fully awake and aware. Jamie and I were just in shock with happiness and joy! Finally after all this time I am a mommy and he is a daddy. I truly can't describe it, just amazing. So wonderful that it hurts.

Jamie cut the cord and a nurse took her off to do the checks and weigh her. 7 pounds 12 ounces. 20 inches. 8-9 apgar. Overall, just perfect. They brought her back to me all cleaned up and she immediately latches onto my breast and feeds a bit. We spent the next 30 minutes or so just holding her and being amazed. Jamie then left with her and they went to the nursery to do the rest. My doctor delivered the placenta and stitched up my 2nd degree episiotomy.

Even though nothing about the labor and birth were according to our birth plan, it still was wonderful. We knew when we wrote the birth plan that it might not happen and kept an open mind. I am disappointed and wonder a bit what would have happened had we not induced but I really don't care very much. It just doesn't matter at this point. If I get pregnant again, I will reuse the birth plan and try again.

One thing I do want to make very clear, Jamie and I agree on this. Had Michele not been there as our doula, I absolutely would have ended up having a c-section. Jamie was wonderful and did a great job but he has never done it before. Michele was able to back him and his instincts up and reassure him when we made choices. She was also able to keep us going to 5cm probably making all the difference in the world. If you are considering a doula, I assure you, they are worth it.