Thursday, July 28, 2011

The end of Volleyball

Madison has been playing Volleyball this summer (something she's been desperately wanting to do for over a year now) and last week was the end.  With a few missed games and practices in the middle, due to the birth of Layla, she learned a little but had a lot of fun!  Here's a few photos from her last game...








Wednesday, July 27, 2011

3 weeks


Last night was very exciting for momma, Layla only woke up ONCE!  Fingers crossed that this continues.  We are continuing to chunk up, we are slowly but surly getting some fat baby rolls and some chubby cheekers. 

Monday, July 25, 2011

Weekend Update


TV shopping wears little ones out!
 
Saturday night dinner at a new restaurant, Brick House.  We had some delicious Kentucky Ale on tap....yummo!

My handsome hubby

Madison learned how to french braid her hair by herself

My wonderful husband mounted the old living room TV on our bedroom wall.  Momma is a happy girl!

Friday, July 22, 2011

2 weeks


We are now 2 weeks old.  We had to go to the doctor today to get weighed because at last week's doctor's appointment we weren't up to our birth weight.  (I think the nurse wrote the wrong weight down.)  Anywho....we now weigh 8lbs. and 9oz., we are chunking up quite nicely.  We also lost our umbilical cord on Wednesday so we now have a beautiful belly button.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

1 week old


Guess who's one week old?  That's right, Miss Layla Grace!  Well, we're one day off but it's close enough.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

She's Here!



Layla Grace finally decided to grace us with her presence and everyone in our family couldn't be happier or prouder of her!  Daddy is utterly smitten with her and big sister Madison just can't get enough of her!  Adjustment on the home front has been fairly smooth so far, but the road to getting Miss Layla here certainly was not.


Layla's Birth Story
Tuesday, July 5 I had a scheduled doctor's appointment along with an ultrasound.  The ultrasound showed that everything was perfectly fine with our bundle of joy; which is always a relief.  My doctor however told me that I had barely dilated to 1 cm.  At this point in the game, I was 5 days over due and it was time to take measures into our own hands.  The doctor and I already had a game plan in case this happened and it was time to execute!  The plan was for Casey and I to spend the night at the hospital so that I could receive some Cervidil.  This drug took 12 hours to fully work, which was why we had to spend the night.  Then the next day we would start the Pitocin to kick my labor into gear.


So that night Casey and I finished packing our bags, went out to eat and then checked into the hospital at 8pm.  By the time they checked me in, asked me a million questions, put my IV in and started the drug it was 9pm.  Around 10, the in-laws came in to visit (they were on their way to spend the night at our house so they would be closer to the action) and we chatted and laughed it up for about an hour and a half.  Half an hour after that, my contractions started.  My doctor said that it's really rare for the Cervidil to actually cause you to start having contractions, it was simply suppose to thin out your cervix.  Well, not in my case.  I didn't mind though.  I was ready to get this show on the road and meet my little princess.  I did my best to entertain myself to get my mind off the the contractions which worked for awhile.  I was doing fairly well so Casey and I decided that we would try to get some shut eye since the next day would be a big one.  Well, one of us got some sleep that night and it wasn't this girl.  I was up all night and I let the hubby sleep since I figured he would be wore out by tomorrow as well. My nurse on duty that night was amazing!  She kept checking on me and getting me whatever I needed.  She checked me periodically and I was progressing nicely. By the next morning, 12 hours after the Cervidil, they let me take a quick shower, which was amazing, and then it was time to figure out our next move.  Before they started the Pitocin, they decided to check me to see how far I'd actually progressed, 5 cm!  Whoo hooo!!!  And then my water broke.  Since I had all of these great advances they decided to hold off on the Pitocin to see if I would continue the labor on my own.  I was relieved!!!  I was deathly afraid of the Pitocin.  I had heard so many horror stories about the awful labor it caused and like my first child, I was planning on having this one all-natural.  


Fast forward four hours later and I was stuck at 6 cm.  It was time to do something.  The doctor came in to talk with me and she decided that we needed to get me moving.  So she ordered the Pitocin.  So at this point I had been in the hospital for a total of 16 hours and still no baby.  So the Pitocin was started and I hoped for the best.  An hour and a half later the pain was so terrible I had tears streaming down my face during every contraction.  This was nothing like I had experienced with Madison.  The stories were true the Pitocin was making my contraction more than I could bare.  So I asked for an Epidural.  Something I was not planning on getting, but couldn't continue without.  While we were waiting on the Anesthesiologist the nurse check me again....7.5 cm.  At least the Pitocin was doing what it was suppose to be doing!  As soon as he got there I felt a small sigh of relief exit my body.  Soon, very soon I wouldn't hurt.  I sat on the edge of the bed so the Anesthesiologist could administer the Epidural.  It wasn't pleasant, but it was far better than the pain from the contractions!  Ten minutes later the pain was gone.  I was so relieved and exhausted at the same time.  The nurse said that she would come in in about an hour to check me again to see where we were.  I had every intention of sleeping during that hour since I had gotten none the night before.  Wrong!!  20 minutes after everyone left I had excruciating pain shooting down my butt.  "This was bullshit!  I had an Epidural I shouldn't be feeling anything," is what I was thinking to myself.  This pain was just as bad as the contractions I was having.  I was clenching the rails of the bed each time I felt them.  So I called the nurse and she in turn called the Anesthesiologist back in.  Then he gave me another dose of some kind of drug.  I didn't care what it was, I just didn't want to hurt!  Relief once again came over me.  I could feel my entire body relax as the new drug slowly seeped in.  The only bad thing was this new drug made my entire body numb.  My legs, both my hands and my chest.  I was a little concerned that I wouldn't be able to hold Layla once she was born.  My doctor came in and once again checked me.  I was at 8.5 cm and she decided that we could try to push at this point.  And so we tried and tried a little more.  I was so numb that while I thought I was pushing, I was doing nothing.  To make matters worse.  Every time I had a contraction Layla's heart rate dropped.  So they put me on oxygen.  The mask was incredible uncomfortable and wouldn't stay in place.  With all of this happening we decided to wait an hour and then try again.  I was utterly exhausted at this point but I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I was my own cheerleader in my head.  The hour was up and we pushed again.  This time I was making some progress.  Only I wasn't.  We tried for awhile, but every time I pushed she would come down but when I stopped she would go back up.  Nothing.  At this point we had to make a decision.  Keep trying or we needed to do a C-section.  A C-section was the last thing I wanted to do.  I asked Casey's opinion and he told me it was all on me.  And I asked my doctor's opinion and she was leaning towards the C-section.  And so the decision was made to do the C-section.  I think it was a combination of the exhaustion, the frustration, but mostly of the fact I was completely unprepared to have the C-section that caused me to cry at this point.  This isn't what I wanted!  This isn't what was suppose to happen!  


So the prepping started.  Doctor's were called and nurses were gathered.  It was about 6 pm at this point and I was ready for everything to be over.  I was scared to death and wanted my baby girl in my arms.  Shortly after the decision was made they rolled me bed down several hallways towards the OR.  The lights above was all I could see and I suddenly felt very nauseous.  I had to close my eyes until we got to this unknown location.  Once we got there it seemed like a circus was about to happen.  There were multiple doctors rushing around gathering their needed items.  Nurses were moving me from one bed to the other, giant lights were being adjusted and I was alone; Casey was getting his mask, shoe coverings and paper outfit on while I was being prepped.  Once the nurses moved me onto the OR table the Anesthesiologist (a different one...I was secretly thankful) instructed me to put my arms on two boards on both sides of my body.  I suddenly felt like I was being crucified.  That didn't help matters any.  My IV arm had about 3 or 4 different bags attached to it.  The other arm simply had a heart monitor on my finger.  The Anesthesiologist started putting multiple drugs into my IV; I could always tell because it felt like a cold trickle running down my back and the nurses finally put a blue sheet over my chest so I couldn't see what was going on.  At this point Casey finally made it in the room.  Relief came over me knowing that he was there with me but panic raced in shortly after because I knew they were about to start.  Horror stories of people going through surgery and being able to feel every single incision and prick entered my mind.  Every worse case scenario crept in after that.  I closed my eyes and prayed.  I prayed for knowledge and steady hands for the doctors, I prayed that everything would go okay, I prayed that Layla was okay and I prayed for strength for myself to get through this ordeal.  As soon as I finished the Anesthesiologist asked if I could feel anything.  He said that one of the doctors was pinching my stomach hard with some tool.  Nope, couldn't feel it.  Good, at least I wouldn't be one of those people who felt the entire surgery!  The doctors then asked Casey to stand up so he could see what was going on.  He immediately sat down and said that he would wait.  Apparently, he has a queasy stomach!  So I laid there like a someone waiting to be crucified and Casey sat next to me holding my hand.  There was nothing else to do but wait and listen.  Every once in awhile I could feel my body being tugged from one side to the other, but no pain.  And then we heard a cry and the waterworks came flooding...for the both of us.  They brought her to the side so I could see her in her bloody, gooey, glory, and then she was gone.  Casey followed her to watch her get cleaned off, weighed and measured.  I could hear the nurses calling out all of her measurements.  She was a healthy 7 lbs 4 oz, 18 3/4 inch baby! Born at 6:44 pm. FINALLY!!  She was here and she was healthy.  Then, my nurse from last night came in.  She was joking with me that I was still here.  I joked back.  It was a little comic relief I needed at that moment.  She let me know that as soon as I was done in here that I would be in recovery for 2 hours before they moved me to the nursery.  It was nice knowing that she would be with me at the end of this long haul.  Casey came back over to me and told me she was beautiful with tears in his eyes and a shaky voice.  He was holding her but with me being in the position I was in could barely see her.  It was incredibly frustrating!  I suggested that he let everyone know that she was here and that she was healthy and to let them know it would be a couple hours before they could see her.  One of the nurses said that they could take her out to see everyone in the waiting room.  That made me happy.  So off my little princess went.  While they were gone the doctors were sewing me up and talking with me.  My doctor said that the cord was wrapped around Layla's neck twice.  So it was a good idea that we went this route!  It would have ended this way eventually....better now instead of a few minutes latter.  And if we would have waited it would have been an emergency C-section and even more chaotic than it was now.  I felt better about the decision we made.  I was finally done and they wheeled me into the recovery room where I finally got to hold my beautiful baby girl.  It was finally all worth it!