Gas or No Gas...

...she's still gorgeous!

Bath Time!

Ms. Kylee received her second bath this evening. This girl doesn't even like to be bothered by diaper changes, so as you can imagine, bath time consists of a lot of crying. We're still waiting for her cord to fall off too, and sponge bathing isn't easy! Anyway, she is clean once again. Tonight, right after we wrapped her in her towel, she peed all over daddy, hehe.

I love her freshly clean hair too. The second picture shows how crazy it is. :)

First Bottle

Dr's Appointments

When we were discharged from the hospital, they advised us to schedule an appointment for a weight check a couple days after that, because they like to make sure breastfed babies are gaining their weight back. So Saturday afternoon, Greg and I took Kylee to the pediatrician. Her weight was 7 lbs 1 oz, which was another 7 oz down from us being discharged. The doctor said they like them to be back to birthweight by two weeks, but I was still a little worried. Also, the doctor said she looked a bit jaundice and sent us to the hospital to get her bilirubin levels tested. She said they peak a few days after birth and go down from there. Kylee was right in the peak of it but she wanted to make sure it wasn't too high where extra measures needed to be taken to lower it. She told me to nurse her enough that she was pooping at every feeding because that is how they get rid of the "bad jaundice stuff." (That's not a technical term...just in case you were wondering.)

So anyway, we went to the hospital and had her tested. The doctor called us that evening with the results, saying that they were higher than when we left the hospital but low enough that she should be able to lower them without medical help.

So for the past 3 days, I have been nursing this child like crazy since it was taking care of the jaundice problem as well as the weight loss.

We went in for another checkup tonight. Kylee is way less yellow, only a tiny bit on her chest and the doctor said she looks fine. Also, her weight was 7 lbs 8 oz so she's gained 7 oz in 3 days! I guess my nursing is doing its job!!! :)

Our doctor said she looks very good and we have a healthy baby girl. Needless to say, momma feels much better. :)

MIA

One day, when I figure out how to juggle being a housewife, mother of two children, and someone that sleeps and showers enough to be accepted by society, I'll try to add some time in there for blogging again. Hopefully this won't take very long to figure out.

In the mean time, I'll leave you with an adorable picture..

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My Babies

We're Going Home!

No More Murmur!

Sweet Pea was just checked again by the pediatrician and the murmur is gone.

Thank God. He is so good. :)

Hunter Meets Kylee

Hunter got to meet his baby sister today! He did absolutely wonderfully. After warming up to her, he wanted to hold her every 5 minutes. Every time we put her in his lap, he lays his head by her face in the sweetest way. I think he likes her. :)

There were moments of jealousy but whichever parent didn't have her loved up on him and reminded him that he was our boy and we loved him, and there was an instant change. We are just going to keep loving on him extra while we make this family transition, especially when we bring her home. 

He really does like her and is interested in her. He's a wonderful big brother. :)

Heart Murmur

Miss Kylee had a heart murmur today that they will listen for again in the morning. If it's not gone, an ultrasound will need to be done to see what's causing it. A prayer for our sweet baby girl is appreciated!

First Family Photo

Proud Daddy

Labor

Warning: There is a little TMI so skip the post if you don't want to read about my labor. ;)

Well, let me tell you - it was quite the experience in comparison to Hunter! With Hunter, my epidural took away all my pain and I never had any problems, even when they were first putting it in.

Let me fill in the blanks between the updates that were made.

After I'd updated about my epidural, not much progress was made for a while. At about 5:30, I started to feel contractions again. They tried giving me a higher dosage in the epidural and also tried a "bolus," which is just another type of pain medication. Neither worked and the contractions just kept getting worse.

They checked me at about 6:30 and I was still only at about a 5. Another anesthesiologist came in and said my only other option for pain relief would be to insert a whole new epidural. I knew there was no way I could stay still through the contractions and was terrified of the experience I'd had a few hours before too. I opted to just bear the pain.

I started to feel a lot of pressure and they checked me at 7:20 and I was 9 cm. I told them I needed to push and at 7:25 I was checked and fully dilated. I started pushing at 7:27. It took two contractions and Miss Kylee was born at 7:30!

It was the most pain I have ever felt in my life but I am so thankful that the Lord at least allowed her to come quickly once the pain got unbearable. I pushed for 50 minutes with Hunter. I'm thankful that Kylee was the one where the pain was felt!

She is an even 8 lbs and Greg and I both said at separate occasions, "she's so little!" The nurses laughed at both of us when we said it. But when your first born is 10lbs 8oz, it makes an 8 lb baby look like a little peanut!

I nursed her a little while after she was born and she is a champ! The very first time I tried to get her to latch on, she did so as if we'd been doing it for weeks! She nursed for 45 minutes and had NO problems!

She has barely cried, even at birth. I don't really even know what she sounds like yet. Hopefully it stays that way! ;)

Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts and prayers. We are doing well and are feeling very loved and blessed!

Kylee Ann Wehrman was born at 7:30. She weighs 8 lbs, and is 20 in long. 

She's at a 9!

She's been struggling the last few hours with the epidural not working but we finally have some progress!
Hopefully the next update will be soon and be a birth announcement.
Continued prayers, as always, are appreciated.

Update from Emma

Ok so here's the deal. My doctor said to take me off the pitocin about 1 pm to see how my body would do on its own (because it wasn't needing a high dose of it anyway to have some good contractions.) They kept up for a while so I decided to get my epidural then. They weren't unbearable yet but I was starting to get so fatigued from lack of sleep that I decided a nap was in order.

While waiting for the anesthesiologist, the contractions became very mild. Then he came in and the "fun" began! He couldn't find the right spot and had to use lots of numbing shots, and I had shooting pains in my back most of the time. After a while, I started shaking and couldn't stop. Then, the nurse asked Greg if he was ok. Apparently he was white as a sheet (from not eating) and he was nauseous and had to sit down. After being unsuccessful in finding the right spot in my back for probably 10 minutes or so, he had me lay on my side, and thankfully found it pretty fast on that side. Then after everyone left, I cried. But, praise God, the epidural is working to make the contractions pain-free (although I can still feel and move my legs...weird!)

Since then I have had to be hooked back up to pitocin because my contractions totally subsided. However, I know God was watching over me with the break in pitocin. There is absolutely no way I would have made it through the epidural sessions with the contraction pain I was feeling before they stopped the pitocin, so I know it was no accident that I was taken off of it for a while.

Thank you for your prayers; I can definitely feel them!!!

Watch Out!

Am I the only one that thinks it's funny that I'm a "fall risk?"

"Help, I've fallen and I can't get up!"

Update #2

She's still pregnant.  They stopped the Pit to see if she'd still progress, since she wanted to try and go natural but she's too uncomfortable and just asked for an epidural.  She's really needing some rest.  Hopefully (her hopes) once the Epi's in place they will restart the pit and get things moving along so this doesn't "take all day."

Before the "Pit" kicked in!

1st Update

Well, for all you who are waiting and wondering...Emma didn't get hooked up to Pitocen (I have no idea how to spell that word!) until about 9am, but it started working right away and progressed her contractions to 2-3 minutes.  They just broke her water (11:15), but I didn't get an update on whether the Pit actually caused any cervix progress :( 

That's all I know right now!

39 Weeks

This is it! The big day! We are currently on route to the hospital for our induction. I would say I'm super excited, which is the truth, but it's kind of currently being overshadowed by fatigue and hunger. I got about 2.5 hours of sleep last night. We went to bed at 10:30. The first 1.5 hours I laid awake from excitement, then the next 2.5 hours I was kept awake by my lovely RLS, then the next hour was because of heartburn. I have had to fast, no food or drinks (not even water!) since midnight last night. I'm so thirsty!!
But anyway, we are getting our baby girl today so it's all worth it. :)

I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has already told us they have and will be praying for a safe delivery today. I can't tell you how much that means to all of us!

Stay tuned for periodic updates throughout the morning on the blog. :)

Birthday Girl

Yesterday during school while we were adding the date to our calendar, I decided to inform Hunter that Tuesday was the big day that his baby sister would be coming. He keeps asking when she's coming...I don't know why I didn't think to tell him about the induction date until yesterday! Anyway, I told him when we put the "18" on the calendar, that was the day that the baby would be coming out of momma's belly. He informed me that it would be "Tuesday," and I said, "Yes! And that will be the baby's birthday!" He then proceeded to tell me that we would have a cake for her and she would blow out candles. :) I told him she would be too little to blow out her own candles, but maybe he could be the big helper and do it for her. So Greg and I decided we will have a (cup)cake for her and a "Zero" candle for when Hunter gets to meet her at the hospital, and we will be celebrating her birthday.

Hunter even wanted to put the "Happy Birthday" card on the calendar, so it is ready and waiting for baby girl to make her entrance (no later than) Tuesday!

38 Weeks

Yay, we're almost there! I had my 38 week appointment today and things went wonderfully! I am a definite 3 centimeters dilated, and baby is at 0 station, which means she has dropped and is ready to go! Also, they scheduled me for an induction on Tuesday, the 18th, at 7:30am. So we will have a beautiful daughter in 6 days or less! I'm so excited! Here's the belly pics...

I'm still feeling pretty good aside from the fact that I have TERRIBLE restless leg syndrome. I mentioned it to my doctor today so he prescribed me some Ambien. The first time I ever had Ambien was the night before I had Hunter and was in the hospital. I didn't go to sleep right away and ended up hallucinating. My plans tonight are to take it while in bed, close my eyes, and not open them till morning! Hopefully it will help me get some restful sleep, since I am going to need it very soon. SO EXCITED!

Virginia Beach Auto Show

Sunday after church, my boys and I decided to go to the Auto Show. Right before we were getting ready to leave, I posted on facebook that we were doing so (because that's what I do) and a friend said she had extra tickets, so we didn't even have to pay to go either! (Thanks, Debra!)

Now, growing up in Detroit with the most important Auto Show in the world makes this one look pretty measly, I'm sure. However, I have never been to Detroit's, so that wasn't a problem! ;)Greg said it was MUCH smaller (obviously) but we agreed it was perfect for the three-year-old.

Hunter had a BLAST. I swear this child inherited a love for cars and trucks from his father. I looked at my dream car, a Buick Enclave (pictured left,) and the boys went off and looked at all the fast cars and big trucks. :) Hunter loved sitting in the driver's seat pretending he was driving all the vehicles. Here's a couple pictures showing the fun he had...

Here he is "driving" the Camaro. I cannot tell you how much this child loves Camaros. He has multiple Matchbox cars and can spot one out and about from a mile away. It's insane!

In the bed of a Silverado...

I had Greg take a picture of me sitting in the Traverse, which is Chevy's version of the Enclave. This is probably the closest I'll come to one of these for a very long time, so I at least needed a pciture!

They even had Harley's there. Greg wanted a picture of me on one since it's probably the closest he'll ever come to me riding one. He's probably right.

Greg even posed for a picture too...but only because he's on a Harley.

Hunter even got to "drive" a Porsche!

And my favorite photo of the day...however, I'm sure all too soon I'll be taking this same photo with him on his 16th birthday.

Selfishness

So yesterday at about 4:30 in the morning, I was awoken by a random contraction. After it subsided, I had period-like back pain that didn't subside. The pain was bad enough that I couldn't get back to sleep so I finally got out of bed at 5:30. The pain was constant, and I sent Greg to work with instructions to keep his phone near him, just in case. All day yesterday I felt like I was on my period, which (I've been told) is how you first feel when going into labor. I also had other signs of impending labor, but I'll save you from the gross details. Then, yesterday evening, I was scheduled to work and was sure that being on my feet for 4+ hours would help move things along. By the end of my shift I was in lots of pain, but didn't know if it was still the crampiness or just from being 37 weeks pregnant and on my feet. I decided to go to bed hoping that I would be awoken, once again, to pains. This time I was hoping they would be actual contractions though that we could time, using my new contraction counter app on my phone I'd installed before going to bed last night. Trust me, I was ready to go.

Well, I woke up at 5:30 this morning...feeling fine. No cramping, no back pain, nothing. I can't begin to tell you how unhappy I was. I was SO sure that I had started early labor and was going to have a baby girl very soon. Once I was up and got my coffee, I decided that today was the perfect day to to absolutely nothing but sit on the couch, eat cookies, and feel sorry for myself.

Well, then ya know what happened?

I ate all my cookies and decided I needed a new plan. I knew in the back of my mind I was being selfish, but wasn't ready to admit it yet.

I decided to catch up on Keri and Jenny's blogs, my two friends who were due within days of me with their second children, also. (Keri had medical complications and had little baby Claire on December 20th. Claire is in the nicu because she was born early, and is doing well but will still be in the hospital for a little while longer. Continued prayers are appreciated!) Jenny is still waiting on her baby, Aiden, to come when he's ready. The latest post I read was about her waiting patiently for God's timing on when Aiden should come. She included a verse at the bottom of her post that hit me like a ton of bricks. "...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Philippians 4:11b

Whew! Boy, did I need that! I had a wonderful doctor's appointment on Wednesday where I found out that my body is doing wonderfully on working towards labor, and if I don't go naturally in the next week and a half, they'll be inducing me. I know I will get to hold our little girl in no more than a week and a half, and yet, that wasn't good enough. I decided a pity party was a better plan and was going to be upset if my attempts at natural induction were unsuccessful.

God also reminded me of this time last year. I was physically and emotionally recovering from a miscarriage. This year, I have a full term, healthy baby girl that I get to meet very soon. I broke down at the computer desk thinking about how selfish I was being. Because of my miscarriage, I had such a feeling of greatfulness for this baby when I found out we were pregnant again. Somewhere in the last 9 months though, I lost that. Thankfully I was reminded about how blessed we are for this baby, and again thanked God for her.

It also occured to me that this is the last little bit of time that it will be just Hunter and me during the day. I need to soak up as much time with just the two of us as I can, because our world is going to change forever very soon!

God was gracious enough to bless us with another baby. Who am I to decide when she should come into the world?

So that's that. Would I like to go into labor naturally before 39 weeks when I'll be induced? Of course. Am I going to dwell on it and be upset if I don't? Absolutely not.

In a couple months, when baby girl is growing like a weed, this 1.5 weeks is going to seem like the blink of an eye!

So once again, my prayer for the day (and beyond) is "...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Philippians 4:11b

Thank you, Lord, for smacking me upside the head!

Hospital Bag for Labor

I have the list of items needed for baby on my blog so I thought I'd add this list too.

For you:
*stretch pants (or comfy pants) for after you have baby - 2 pair
*a couple t shirts
*nursing bras
*nursing pads
*nipple cream
*sweatshirt (if you want, although nursing in it would be difficult)
*Toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, soap, razor, fash wash and lotion, regular lotion, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, q-tips)
*hair brush
*slipper socks
*i-pod and headphones (if you want it for labor)
*PJ's
*cell phone charger
*camera, charger/batteries, whatever yours requires
*snacks (for dad)
*extra money inc. loose change (for the vending machine) for dad. remember, you get fed, but he doesnt!
*pillow (if you want)
*boppy

For baby:
*pacifiers (if you're going to use them)
*1-2 onsies, and 1-2 hats (you probably won't need these but I like to be overly prepared)
*going home outfit
*socks, a few pairs (not necessary, but I don't like my baby's feet getting cold and they don't provide socks. just be prepared for the nurses to possibly lose 1, or 2, or 5 of them so you're not upset if they do.)
*baby nail file/clippers
*1-2 receiving blankets
*car seat
*bunting (the baby sleeping bag/coat thing)
*blanket to cover baby when in the car seat
*if in a cold climate, you'll want a car seat cover too

That's everything! (I think)

37 Weeks

I HAVE GOOD NEWS!

As of yesterday, I am officially full term! And I had my 37 week appointment today so I waited until after that to blog.

My doctor examined me and informed me that I am 2-3 centimeters dilated and 80% effaced! When he told me the news I exclaimed, "Oh, praise God!" I can't tell you how afraid I was that I wasn't dilated at all. I never dilated with Hunter until they finally induced at 41 weeks and I was so afraid of reliving that nightmare. But, my body seems to be doing a good job of working towards getting baby out this time around!

He also said that my weight gain is perfect at 27 lbs, and my belly measured 36 centimeters (normal is 1 centimeter per how many weeks pregnant) so I'm actually slightly under with the size. But he said because of Hunter's size (10lbs 8 oz) at birth, he doesn't want to let me go to 41 weeks, but he can't induce me before 39 weeks unless absolutely medically necessary. So, that means at my appointment next Wednesday, we will be scheduling my induction for the following week and Greg and I will have our baby girl in no more than two weeks! YAY! I can't tell you how excited I am! The house is totally ready to go, and I am ready to meet her!

I would LOVE if I went naturally before then, but only time will tell. I've been crampy all afternoon though, so we'll see! :)