first bath & new pics

I'm finally able to upload new pictures! So this post will have a lot of pictures from the past two weeks. We also gave Katelyn her first real bath in her bathtub and I took pictures of that. She actually enjoys bath time and having her hair washed. Its fun to give her a bath!

This last one is of her after her bath in her cute little outfit. She fell asleep shortly after this!

3 weeks

Today Katelyn is three weeks old. I can't believe how time flies. It seems so long ago when we were at the hospital! She is getting bigger by the day too. I love to hold her on my chest as she sleeps, she's such a good cuddler. I hope to soon get to a real computer with Internet access so I can upload new photos, (I'm currently on my iPhone). Anyways that's about it on the baby news.

Family outing

On Saturday Brad, Katelyn and I went out for the first time. We went to the mall with a mission of getting new shoes for Brad. It was so nice getting out of the house! We had a good time, even though we weren't out for long. We did get to use the stroller for the first time, it was fun pushing her around. Brad and I took turns! I can't wait for it to become warm outside so I can take her out for walks.

As for other updates, she is smiling more but I am not quick enough to get a shot of it. Her umbilical cord fell off over the weekend as well. She loves her swing and falls asleep easily in it! Our love for her grows more every day.

2 week dr. appt.

Today Katelyn had her 2 week appointment and she is doing really well. (She's actually 2 this Friday.) She weighed in at 7 lbs. 13 oz. The doctor said she looks good and had no worries. Her umbilical cord is going to fall off any time now also. She is pretty much formula feeding now since I am not having any luck breastfeeding. She sleeps very well at night and only cries when she is hungry. She holds her head up and has good strength in her neck. She has been smiling more too, its so cute. I'm going to try to get a picture of it if I can. I can't believe how much love Brad and I have for her. It grows more and more every day.

Yesterday I went to Wal-Mart, (my first trip out of the house!), and I ordered birth announcements. Family and friends should expect those soon. They turned out really well. Plus they were a lot cheaper than the ones I was looking at earlier on. I hope everyone likes them.

Bella Baby shots

While we were in the hospital a woman came into our room to take photos for the hospital website and then took multiple shots as an option for us to buy them. We ultimately bought the cd of all the pictures she took and got a free 8x10. Here are a few of those beautiful pictures she took. (We also plan on using one of the shots for her birth announcements.)

Birth story & pictures

Here is my more detailed story! Thursday morning I went to work and ultimately left 2 1/2 hours later because of contractions. Being at home was more comfortable but my contractions were starting to get more intense and Brad wanted to go to the hospital so we put the bags in our suv and set off. Once we got to the hospital we were taken to a triage room so the nurse could evaluate me and see if I was far enough along to be admitted. I happened to be 3 centimeters and having real contractions so they admitted me. (This was around 12:30 pm). We called our immediate families to let them all know that Katelyn would be arriving.

I remember going through contractions as they were getting harder and more intense and deciding that I wanted Nubain to help with the pain. I was 4 cm at this point. The Nubain is a good drug but only lasts a couple hours and then the pain was back and even more extreme. After it had worn off and I suffered through some more contractions I decided to go for the epidural. I think I was 5-6 cm. I was prepared for the epidural if I needed to get it and it is not as bad as some would make it seem. It kicked in pretty much immediately and was great. I was finally able to talk to our families, (who arrived while I was on Nubain and that made me loopy!), and I couldn't feel the intense contractions anymore. However, 2 hours after getting that shot it started to wear off and I had to have another shot. That one lasted up until I started pushing.

When I got to about 8 centimeters it was probably around 11 pm. The doctor started pitocin to help me get to 10 and I was able to get to 9 but they had me push to get to 10. After I got to 10 I started the real labor pushing. This was literally the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. I pushed for about 1 1/2 hours. I remember in the final stages of pushing looking at Brad and saying that I couldn't do it anymore. He was the best, he kept telling me that I could in fact do it and that I was so close. He was the reason I did keep going. I felt the 'ring of fire' or when her head came through and being shocked that I'd done that, I actually stopped pushing because I wasn't sure what to do!! Once I realized, I pushed one last time and Katelyn came into the world and put onto my chest, it was 12:56 am. She was beautiful.

Brad got emotional and I just stared at her in amazement. They took her to the heater and did her apgars, she first got an 8 and then a 9. She was 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 21 inches long. Perfect. I remember telling Brad to get the camera and taking as many pictures as he could! I started getting stitched up by the doctor at this point because I had a first degree tear and an episiotomy to keep from tearing more. After that I don't remember much because I was so tired. I could barely keep my eyes open.

I'm happy with my birthing experience and it went the way that I would've wanted it to. We want to breastfeed and she's having trouble latching on so we're having to supplement with formula at the moment. Hopefully she'll get the hang of it. I am pretty sore and slow moving as well. Brad is the most wonderful father and doing such a fabulous with Katelyn. He's even changing poopy diapers! I'm so lucky at how helpful he's been throughout this whole experience. I couldn't love him more.

Katelyn has arrived!!!

I'm doing a small quick update for now until I can get our laptop and upload lots of pics. I will also do a more detailed birth story then. For now here are the basics; I started having contractions Thursday morning, went to the hospital that afternoon, labored all day, Katelyn arrived at 12:56 am on Friday morning. She was 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 21 inches long. She has a full head of dark hair! She's a fussy eater but otherwise great baby. Check back for a bigger update soon.

Dr appt update

Today we had our 39 week appointment and everything looks good. Dr Sutandi said that I was 80% effaced, almost 3 cm dialated and +1 station. He told us that's great progress for a first pregnancy. He thinks she'll come before the 14th. I certainly hope so!!! I really am getting so impatient!

Boredom at work leads to...

researching random baby stuff online. Recently I've been obsessed with finding or creating the cutest birth announcement. I've come across a great website that has so many different designs to choose from. Its called www.tinyprints.com and I love it. It might be a little pricey though, I still have to talk to Brad about it. Anyways I wanted to post some of the designs that I would love to choose from. I obviously wanted to do something similar in color to her bedding and with a photo.




I'm leaning towards the 2nd from last, I love how simple it is. Plus we can use a nice big picture. They are all so adorable though. I'll have to get Brad to check this out soon and get his input!!! Looking at these makes me that much more impatient for her arrival! Hurry up Katelyn!

39 weeks

39 weeks already, I can’t believe it. One more week until her due date (if I make it that far!) I’m actually hoping she comes early, but ultimately its her decision. At my last appointment Dr. Sutandi talked about induction and I told him if it wasn’t medically necessary I didn’t want to do an induction before 40 weeks. After 40 weeks then we’ll talk! I really don’t want to be late! Everything else seems to be fine, she’s still kicking around in my tummy letting me know she’s there. I can’t wait to see her face though, I wonder who she’ll look more like, Brad or myself. Brad’s wondering how much hair she’ll have and what color it’ll be. I think she’ll have blonde peach fuzz hair! I am getting so impatient as is Brad. Every little thing I feel makes me wonder. I just want to meet her already. I forgot to mention though, I have acquired a few small stretch marks. They are all around my belly button and are fairly light so hopefully they will easily disappear after birth.

On Monday when we had to go back to work everyone kept telling me they were surpised to see me there. Everyday is a what if for me. What if this is the day?! Anyways, when I got home Brad later told me that everytime he heard the phone ring at his work it drove him crazy because it could’ve possibly been me. It made me laugh. He said yesterday didn't bother him as much though. My 39 week appointment is tonight and I’ll have an update later for everyone.

How your baby's growing:
Your baby's waiting to greet the world! She continues to build a layer of fat to help control her body temperature after birth, but it's likely she already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of her skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

Maybe I'm nesting...

I haven't yet felt that burst of energy you supposedly get after the baby drops and before you go into labor. But yesterday/last night I started cleaning up different areas of the house. I first started with the upstairs bathroom then moved into the baby's room and decided to bring all of the bottles and supplies down to the kitchen to free up the dresser drawer space it was all taking. I folded some towels after that. I I setup and attached a mirror on my middle backseat headrest where the car seat sits so I can view the baby in the rear view mirror. Somewhere in there I also made dinner!

Tonight my plans include washing the dishes and putting extra baby items into the drawer that the bottles were in, and who knows what else I'll find to do!