What's in a name?

I think I need to preface this post by stating naming our second child was about 5 thousand times more difficult than our first.  Naming a human being is much more important than 15 year old me realized.  In our case agreeing on a female name was proving to be especially difficult - as we really disliked each other's 1st choice female options . . . and spent the bulk of the pregnancy attempting to sway one anothers opinions and not actually crossing said favorites 'off' the list.

The Dr kept asking what our options were prior to delivery (as previously mentioned singing 'happy birthday' is kindof his signature) . . . . and I kept answering "We don't know"

I don't think Michael was satisfied spreading the news that a name-less child was born so as soon as we got to the recovery room we pulled out the list.  As we listed off the possiblities "Kelsey" just seemed to fit her little face.  Yes, its a bit similar to 'Rylee' and I've got them confused a time or two already, but I love the feminity of the "e" sound and think "y" is a pretty letter - so there you have it.

I also like for the first name to basically be something we (Michael and I) simply both like, and the middle name to have more 'meaning'.

That being said, her middle name came MUCH easier.

 For that, we go back really my entire life but basically to last March when my Grandmother passed away. . . . . shortly thereafter we found out I was pregnant and discussed if this baby was a girl about naming her after my Grandmother.  Grandma's middle name is 'E' and I joke that we did what her parents couldn't do - choose.  See my great-great-maternal grandmother was Mary Eliza and my great-great-paternal grandmother was Sarah Ellen.  So, Grandma's parents couldn't decide between Ellen and Eliza finally agreed on 'E'  . . . . . so 'technically' Kelsey is named after her 3rd Great Grandmother, but I claim its just the 1st Great :)

 She has a lot of pretty amazing ancsetors whether she's 'named' after them or not.

but seriously, WHERE did those long toes come from??  I have the ultra-sound pics still on my fridge and my sister commented this last week 'no wonder you can see her toes so clearly' :)  hehe.  She is a tall one. (she grew 2 inches in her first 2 weeks!)

love this baby girl.

Friday Favorite: Surviving and Aunt Missy!!

I've abandoned my "Friday Favorite" posts for a while, due to one of my MOST favorite things: Kelsey.  But today I am especially grateful to her for ANOTHER reason . . . . . . Aunt Missy comes to visit!! I keep telling myself that going to the airport early won't make the plane come faster.

Also. . . . . the ladies of the house survived the past couple days while Daddy has been out of town for work meetings.  Sure, all we've eaten is left-overs and if it weren't for company, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have touched the dishes in the sink either.

shhh. . . .

Daddy's sleeping.

Newborn Pictures

A few months back I was informed one of those daily deal sites was offering a photography package.  I decided to give her a shot and purchased the package for the baby's first photo shoot.  She came to the house, which was SUPER convenient.

Here's a link to view a few (I didn't want to re-size each picture to upload here too). 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150470050962563.354839.693962562&type=1&l=008c10ee4f

Neither of them were very cooperative - considering that - I'm very pleased with the end result.

my thoughts on a cesarean

So, I've been thinking about compiling my thoughts on the subject of c-section for a while, the bottom line being I love it.

I will say I understand why many people avoid surgery and try every possible option before resorting to said surgery but I am not one of them. 

I think I realized what bothers me the most is when people assume I hated it, and can't believe I wouldn't try for a VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean).  I have a little bit of a hard time not being a little sensitive when people say things like "I'm sorry" (really, because I'm not), or "find a new Doctor"

1. I like my Doctor, and I trust him.  He's delivered thousands of babies and I have now had two.  Worst case scenario for me would be laboring for hours (days maybe??) and end up in surgery anyway. Recovering from 'both'? no bueno.
2. My Doctor doesn't do VBACs.  Again, I like my Dr, and didn't want to try to find someone else in a short amount of time.
3. I have had two children and have NO CLUE what a contraction feels like. . . . .  . I hear they suck.
4. Being able to schedule your child's birthday (and TIME) is AWESOME! Yes, the day before can be a bit overwhelming but that's just one day, and although its only one week 'early' I feel it greatly reduces the ticking time bomb of anticipated labor.
5. I actually like being able to stay in the hospital an extra day or two:  yes, the first night in the hospital isn't pleasant (is 5 am really the BEST time to turn on all the lights and draw blood? but blood would be drawn no matter what the form of delivery).  This time around the nurses timed checking on me (blood pressure/temp) with feeding times so I needed to wake up anyway.  Having a call button is awesome.  I think the hospital food is good, and I don't have to think about meals (I also get vouchers for guests meals too).  I take advantage of the option to send the baby to the nursery in the middle of the night.
6.We don't want 6 (or more) kids.  Sorry Grandparents.  Maybe its somewhat of a mis-conception that c-sections limit the number of children you can have.  We asked the Dr about that one and he said 'no'.  His personal 'record' is 6 on the same Mother, and since we don't plan on having 6+ kids in this life, that's not a problem.
7. Recovery. Drugs - problem solved. But seriously, maybe I'm lucky enough to simply recover well but recovery isn't painful.  Yes, my incision is sore for a few days but unless a toddler pushes directly against it with all her weight I hardly notice. Furthermore, is there really anything wrong with not being able to do anything but snuggle your newborn for a few days?

8. In my opinion a preventative scheduled c-section is head over tails better than dealing with a ruptured uterus.

Ok, the 'liquid only' diet after surgery isn't the most enjoyable.  I will say, without getting into all the specifics, it was much easier this time than with Rylee.

I was also a bit more nervous towards the end this time around, as when Rylee was born, we didn't have other children to care for at home, so being in the hospital the 'extra' time didn't matter.  Turns out, its not that big of a deal.  Thanks to some amazing friends, a fantastic husband, and a wonderful (visiting) Mother.  Anticipating leaving Rylee for the evening (for the first time) was much harder than actually leaving her.

Granted, a c-section is all I've known (unlike most that complain about them).

Many people have argued women have been having babies for centuries without resulting to surgery, while this is true, way back then childbirth was also the leading cause of death.

I guess the moral of my rant is instead of complaining about it, I'm finding the positive in what I've been given.  Having c-sections have brought me two of the most beautiful, precious girls and I couldn't be happier.

Going Home

Friday in the hospital was business as usual.

The Dr.'s did their rounds and my Dr gave his additional congratulations, ordered my prescriptions and left me to the on-call dr's for the weekend - and the possible chance to go home a day early.

When the Dr {finally!} came on Saturday to check on us she said everything looked great and they'd release me Sunday, unless I wanted to go home today.  At that point Michael started packing up my bags and taking trips to the car. :)

 I think he was a little sick of this:

 and driving to and from the hospital a billion times a day.  I was fine either way. 

Thankfully some friends had stopped by to say hi and they were able to take Rylee and my Mom home for their nap while we packed up and got all our discharge paperwork together - it worked out perfectly!

Here's the little princess in her going home outfit.

 You can kindof see her lucky fingers in this one:

 adeous room 256, you have been good to us.

 Kelsey girl snuggled up in her new ride.

Welcome home little one!

Sisters

Our first picture as a family of FOUR! what?? I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around that. Our family DOUBLED in size in less than 2 years, remember that? crazy.

Not only does Kelsey LOOK a lot like Rylee did as a baby there is one more thing they have in common. . . . . . . any guesses?

need some help:

 That's right, they (and I) had the exact same room in the hospital!  As we wheeled around the nurses station and headed to our room we started laughing, what are the chances?

Rylee meeting her little sister:

She loves her so much! The first day(s) she especially loved pointing out Kelsey's features (nose, hair, eyes, toes etc) and giving her kisses and occasional hugs.  She did/does NOT like to hold her (who WOULD want someone 1/3 their weight/size just laying on your lap?).  Three days later she finally did oblige us, but not for long.  She often asks where the baby is and when Kelsey cries she is all over it repeating "sad, sad!" She likes to try to give her her bink though that really just ends up frustrating both of them as Kelsey doesn't hold still long enough for Rylee to put it in her mouth so she usually tries to give it to her when she's sleeping. Rylee is a bit jealous as to how often Kelsey gets to drink milk (or as she calls it "booka").  I love hearing Rylee say "key-ale-tee" and shush everyone when she sees her sleeping.

Since Kelsey's birth, Rylee has loved swaddling her bear - over and over and over. 

 Rylee was definitely more interested in her baby sister than her Mother.  Maybe it was the hospital bed that put her off a bit, or maybe she was upset that I wasn't around as much (she had a sleep-over the night before and came to the hospital after her nap making that the longest we'd been apart since she was born), but I was pretty much the last person she wanted to sit beside.  go figure. Though I suppose that's better than the alternative - crying for me when I couldn't be there.

 My Mom also came into town on the 5th and it was so great having her here to help out. 

I miss her already.

Happy Birthday

Kelsey's Birthday started off in the wee hours of the morning, as we had to be at the hospital between 5 and 5:30. . . AM {I commented often why am I waking up so early when we have this scheduled, and for months? . . . . the nurse mentioned that's 6 less hours I have to go without eating/drinking as well as the option to go home a day early . . . I guess}

My last pregnant picture:

 

 We got all set up, monitored for a few minutes {apparently I was having contractions that were 4-8 minutes apart though still braxton hicks as I felt nothing} got some blood drawn then we waited for the anesthesiologist and the Dr to show up chatted with each for a bit, took a little nap and then waited some more.  A few minutes later we hear my Dr chewing out the lab for being over an hour late on my blood work.  . . . . you know in case of emergency they would already have the info needed to keep me alive. Then we headed off to the OR.

Michael, ready to join us a few minutes later (they don't let spouses in the OR until we're ready to go-something about a sterile enviornment and they don't want him passing out at the sight of the needle) :

 The anesthesiologist commented how relaxed I was prior to (and during) receiving the epidural/spinal block.  Shortly after my blood pressure dropped (totally normal) and I felt really nauseous.  They gave me oxygen and some drugs and I felt much better. . . . though not quite well enough to ask for the mirror I originally intended to have set in place to watch the surgery.  Michael was then able to join us - one hand in mine the other on the camera and he shot away. . . . .  This is NOT Kelsey's first picture :) (While I'm totally willing to share *those* pictures, I just don't care to post them the blog)

A few tugs and pulls later I hear "Oh, BLONDE hair!"  {my heart may or may not have skipped a beat} and then Michael announced "It's a GIRL" and the Dr sang "Happy Birthday" to our (at the time) no-name child. It was 8:05 AM.  She cried and cried, it was a wonderful sound.

They then brought her around the curtain to show me and then Michael left my side to watch them clean her up a bit. 

 They wheeled her over into my line of sight and weighed her: 8lbs 10 oz, swaddled her up and Michael brought her to me.

And we meet.  I was so happy to see her sweet face and smell her baby skin. I smothered those vitamin K'd eyes with kisses.

 The Dr finished up, drew 'her' cord blood from the umbilical cord for donation, stitched me up and we were on our way to the recovery room where we could properly inspect our precious angel and figure out what we'll name her before we start making phone calls.

 Kelsey Eliza it is. Perfection.

The nursery came and got her for her bath and tests.  They were just about finished as I headed up to my room.  They made a fun little bow out of her hat and showed her to us through the window. Another nurse complimented myself and the anesthesiologist for how well I was recovering and getting movement/strength again.

Kelsey looks a lot like Rylee did - Rylee's hair was darker and cheeks chunkier.  Kelsey has (what I think) SUPER long toes and she has a little webbed finger (which we'll have surgically separated sometime this year).  She was pretty swollen for the first couple days (the Pediatrician could barely get her eyes open to check them out) and her newborn rash has mostly all cleared up.

My heart is full.  Love is abundant.

Stay tuned for Part 2 . . . .

New Year's

We decided since the firework ban had been lifted that we would keep with tradition and invite a few friends over for snacks and fireworks New Year's Eve.

The show didn't dissapoint.

Rylee however thought it was lame and pretty much cried the whole time.

She was fairly adamant about sitting in her own chair and clinging to my hand (she refused to sit on my lap or let me cover her ears) I finally broke down and asked her if she wanted to go inside.  She immediately nodded her head and said "yea, i-sIde".   I reluctantly obliged, and made the crew promise to come get me when they let off the 'big ones' :)

She did however hold one sparkler.

most of the gang.

this little guy was a bit more daring in regaurds to flames.

Michael has today off as well, so while we're pretty much taking it easy we did pack up a quick picnic lunch and headed to the park to feed the ducks.

Good-bye 2011.  You weren't particularly my favorite year, so here's hoping for a great 2012!