Bath time-- 6 weeks old

How is it even possible that Kinsley is 6 weeks old?!!? She loves bath time and I thought today would be a great time to show you how much she has grown. Truthfully, I have had no idea just how much she has been growing. Compared to Avery, she is so small. Everyone always tells me that she is getting so big, but I just couldn't see it. Yesterday, we went to visit our friends in the hospital who just welcomed their second baby boy, Eddy Brant Haynie II, and Chris and I were both shocked to see just how much bigger Kinsley was than Eddy.... and they are only 6 weeks apart! Then, looking at these pictures I am just stunned that our little girl is growing so fast. Oh so bitter-sweet.

1 day old

6 days old

6 weeks old

Kinsley- 1 month

Our precious little Kinsley is one month old! It's hard to believe! These past 4+ weeks as a family of 4 have been so wonderful. Kinsley is such a good baby and we are all adjusting well. Chris was home from work for two weeks and we had requested that family allow us to have that time together before they all came into town to visit. It was an amazing 2 weeks that of course, went by too fast. We had Kinsley's one and two week dr appointments, ventured to the Seaside farmer's market and to church during those two weeks. Chris and Avery also had a blast going to the pool together. I was sad when Chris had to go back to work, but the day he started back was the day all of my family started coming into town to meet Kinsley. She had several visitors during that next week, which also meant extra helping hands for me! Of course, everyone planned to visit during the same week, so it was a crazy busy week, but the next week was much more quiet and finally my time to adjust to being a SAHM to two precious girls all by myself. I think I have adjusted well! On our first day just the three of us, I braved an outing to CVS and then to meet Chris for lunch. Later that week we also went to the grocery store. I must admit- I was quite nervous to go to the grocery store by myself with a newborn and a 20 month old- but was pleasantly surprised at how smoothly it went. I simply put Kinsley in the moby wrap and Avery sat in the buggy. I didn't have a melt down from either girl and was able to complete my shopping experience with no problems! Praise the Lord!

I don't have one month stats for Kinsley because she didn't have an appointment this month- but here are some other stats for you.
BIRTH STATS:
weight: 7lbs 8.5oz
height: 22in
head: 12 3/4 in

ONE WEEK STATS:
weight: 7lbs 2oz (25%)
height: 20.5 in (75%) ... yes, this is shorter than her birth stats: according to the nurse babies tend to shrink in length once their heads round out and aren't cone shaped from being in the canal during labor. I just wouldn't have guessed it would be THAT different!
head circ.: 13 in (10%)

 TWO WEEK STATS are:
weight: 7lbs 9.6oz (above her birth weight!!!) (25%)
height: 20.5 inches (75%)
head: 13.5 in (25%)

Kinsley at one month:

-still has her hair!!! :) I'm praying those beautiful locks don't all fall out!
-wears NB clothes and is squeezing into her NB diapers... we should proabably move her into size 1 diapers, but I can't let the remaining NB diapers go to waste!
-nurses 7-8 times a day every 2.5-3 hours
-must be an efficient eater because she NEVER eats more than 6-8 minutes. It's RARE that she will nurse from the second side at a feeding. She always pops off after 4 minutes of eating and I struggle to get her to latch back on for another 2-4 minutes. Of course, this bothers me, but I keep reminding myself that she is obviously growing because her clothes are getting tighter and she has way more wet and dirty diapers than the books say she should! Now if I could just be okay with her eating habits and stop spending another 20-30 minutes trying to force her to eat!
-sleeps a good majority of the day, but does have more wake times than Avery did at this point.
-goes 3.5-4.5 hours between feedings at night
-started babywise at 3 weeks, but it is MUCH harder to accomplish when my attention is also on a 20 month old.
-has great neck strength and can hold her head up really well
-hates tummy time... she lasts about 2-3 minutes before the screaming begins
-loves to be held up over our shoulder as opposed to the cradle position.
-when she is crying we have discovered the best way to console her is by walking around. If we stop for even a minute she starts to cry again-- this is NOT COOL! We are really trying to break this before it gets any worse!
-still sleeps in the pack n play in our room and probably will until she is sleeping through the night. I don't want Avery's awesome sleep habits ruined!
-seems to really enjoy bath time
-eyes have changed from that dark grey newborn color to a beautiful blue.

-has the most ear piercing cry I have ever heard.

**Thanks to my sweet friend, Kim, for the stickybellies!!! **

Kinsley Rae Ireland

Kinsley Rae Ireland

June 21, 2012

7lbs 8.5oz

22in

Our beautiful little Kinsley has arrived! The week of her delivery was a whirlwind of events. Monday night, the 18th, Chris, Avery and I went out on a friends boat. We all had Papa Johns Pizza and enjoyed spending time together. That night, Chris and I were up sick ALL night. I would say it was food poisoning, but Avery and our friends weren't sick at all and they ate the same things we did.... 

Tuesday came and went and we were feeling better. Wednesday morning I woke up feeling like I had the flu. I had the chills one minute and the next I would be sweating. Around 6:30am I was having terrible stomach pains (gas like pains) and was achy all over. Along with my stomach pains came some contractions and low back/abdominal pain. I ended up calling my parents to come watch Avery for me because I was feeling so sick and weak. As the morning went along, I began thinking that these were definitely contractions and began wondering if I should go to the birth center and get checked out. I wasn't in a lot of pain and wasn't really sure if this was real labor or not. The contractions felt differently from braxton hicks, but I wasn't miserable and in terrible pain like I expected real labor to feel like. My parents came over to help with Avery and I took a much needed bath and shower. I also decided I should pack the remaining toiletries for my hospital bag and packed a bag for Avery in case I was admitted if I did decide to go get checked out. Around noon on Wednesday my parents and I decided we should at least go over into Destin and I could walk around the outlets for a while and see what happened with the contractions. I wanted to be close to the hospital and not worry about having to drive over the mid-bay bridge in the later stages of labor. (A few weeks prior, a girl delivered her baby on the mid-bay bridge and I was panicked ever since!!) Dad took Avery and Bailey home while mom and I walked around the outlets. By 2:45 I was getting hooked up to the monitors at the hospitals birth center to see what all was going on. When the nurse checked me I was 4 cm and 80-90% effaced (same #'s from my dr. visit the day before). They monitored me for an hour and my contractions were coming every 2-5 minutes, but my cervix wasn't changing. The next hour I was givin fluids because I was a little dehydrated and Kinsley wasn't as "perky" as they would have liked for her to be. The fluids helped her and didn't really change my contractions much. They died down a little bit, but were still coming about every 5 minutes. After 3 hours of being monitored and having zero change they decided to send me home. I have to admit I was pretty dissapointed by that point. The conractions continued for the next 2-3 hours, but not as frequently. Chris and I headed home that night and I didn't have the first contraction throughout the night. We had already planned for my parents to come help with Avery again on Thursday morning since Wednesday was such a crazy day. I'm so glad they did, because Thursday morning around 9:30 my doctor called and said that she would like for me to come in before noon. I immediately showered and headed to the dr (hospital bags in tow, just in case!!!). I wasn't exactly sure why she was wanting me to come in, but once I got there they hooked me up to the monitors again and she told me that since Kinsley wasn't as active the day before that she wanted to check on her to be sure everything was ok. After an hour of being monitored she came in and was happy with Kinsley's report. She decided to check me again and I was 5cm, but not having many contractions. After she checked me she told me that she was ready to send me over to the birth center if I was ready. We decided I would go eat lunch with Chris and walk around some to see if that sparked any contractions before I went to the hospital. SOOO.... I picked up subway and went to Chris' clinic. We ate and then I walked on the treadmill for a while. I still wasn't having many contractions, but after talking about it, we decided we would head on over to the hospital anyway. 

LABOR AND DELIVERY:

2pm checked in to the hospital

2:45pm dr came and broke my water

3:15 started pitocin

3:30pm epidural

5:50 dr came to check me and I was 8cm 

6:50 started pushing

7:02 Kinsley Rae was born!!!!

We had a wonderful team of nurses and of course I just love my doctor! She has delivered both of our girls and I am so thankful for her. I didn't have to push nearly as long with Kinsley as I did with Avery, but both deliveries were quick and easy for me. (Gotta love those epidurals!) 

Checking in and signing my life away....

Last picture as a family of 3!

ichatting with Justin, Adriane and Micah

My love

So thankful for my parents

KINSLEY!!!!!!

Avery meeting Kinsley for the first time.

Avery absolutely loved Kinsley from the moment she met her. She wouldn't stop giving her hugs and kisses- it was the sweetest sight ever.

The big sister!

Family of 4--- I have never been happier!
Not sure if you can read Avery's shirt, but we had this made as a way to tell our parents Kinsley's name.
The front of the shirt says "Kinsley Rae's big sister" 

FaceTime with my sister, Amanda! 

The back of the shirt

The proud grandparents and their granddaughters!

Kinsley and her head full of dark hair! I LOVE IT!

The proud Daddy!

Avery showing Kinsley her shirt

Tuckered out after a long day for us all! I love these precious Daddy Daughter moments. :) 

Father's Day 2012

We had a wonderful Father's Day weekend as a family and it went by too fast, as usual! Friday night Chris and I went on our last date night before baby K arrives. My parents were so sweet to offer to keep Avery for us and we enjoyed dinner at the French Quarter Grill in Val-p. Saturday morning Chris and I took Avery to the children's park and Dairy Queen. While she napped, Chris and I watched a movie and then we all went to the Saturday night church service. Sunday, Father's Day, I made a yummy french toast casserole (thank you, pinterest!!) for breakfast and we gave Chris his cards and gift from Avery. Later that morning we met some friends from MCG at the beach. For dinner we met my parents at a Japenese restaurant and then went to get ice cream with our dear friends, the Haynie's. It was such a great weekend getting to spend so much time together, just the three of us. And, for some Father's Day fun, Chris and Avery had a blast playing in the box that our diapers.com order came in! 

My two loves!

39 weeks

As of Sunday I am officially 39 weeks! One week to go until my due date and a week and a half until my induction date! It's so excited to know that baby K will be here within the next week and a half no matter what! I'm really hoping to go into labor on my own this time and am anxious for the process to begin. I have tried everything to get this little girl to come out, but it seems as though she is just as comfortable in her home as her sister was. Still, I'm continuing to walk, exercise on the elliptical, and attend my strength training class. It seems that no amount of squats, lunges, mountain climbers or planks are going to get this girl to come out until SHE IS READY! 

I haven't been too uncomfortable until this week. The swelling has kicked in and I'm not sleeping well. I am definitely ready to meet our little girl!! 

Here is my HUGE belly at 39 weeks!

38 weeks and READY!

We're 38 weeks today and so ready to meet this precious little gift from the Lord. It's funny, because this whole time I've been telling friends that if she's a few days past her due date, then that is fine. What's another couple of days, right??? Well, once I hit 37 weeks that philosophy went out the window and every day I am more and more anxious to meet this baby girl. Actually, I thought Friday might have been the night.... I was having quite a few contractions and a lot of vaginal pain. I went to bed and around 11:30pm I woke up with pretty severe low back and abdominal pain. By midnight, all the pain and contractions were gone and here we are on Sunday at 38 weeks with no baby! So, I guess my body is still preparing for her arrival and I know she will come soon. I have to be patient and know that God's timing is perfect.  :)

FULL TERM

Baby K and I have reached yet another milestone-- FULL TERM! I'm 37.5 weeks preggers today and thrilled that we've made it this far. I'm still feeling really great. I get uncomfortable at times and I am MISERABLY HOT all.the.time!!! My sweet, loving husband actually brought home an ice pack from work for me to borrow for the remainder of my pregnancy and it's been a huge help. I am so thankful I don't have to go past the end of June in this Florida heat and feel sorry for my friends that do....

I went to the Dr. yesterday (I'm now going every week) and she did our first cervical check of the pregnancy. Of course, the numbers don't mean that anything is going to happen right away, or that it's going to be a while. It's just to let us know that my body is getting ready....

Drum roll please......

2 cm dilated
80% effaced
+1 station (this just means that the baby's head is really low)

I was 2-3 cm dilated and 80% effaced for 3 weeks with Avery and ended up being induced, so it will be interesting to see how this pregnancy plays out.

For now it's just a waiting game. We did schedule an induction for June 28th if baby doesn't come before then. (My due date is the 24th).

I will be sure to keep you all updated as best as I can!!

and now for a little laugh....

For all the mama's out there: Don't you remember how proud you were of your bumps when they were this size? I think I was about 17-18 weeks at this point and I was obviously SO proud that I was finally "showing".

ummm... yeah, I wasn't showing AT ALL compared to today!! lol. 

Here I am at 37.5 weeks!