Update on Kate and Finn

Kate's Status

It looks like Kate is going to be in the hospital for longer than two weeks. She has digressed a little -- she is now on oxygen and has not latched well at all for the past couple days. The first few times I fed her, it took her a while to latch but then she caught on well . However, the last couple days she has hardly gotten anything from me. She won't be able to come home until she is latching well for ALL her feedings (and right now they are only having me try twice a day) so this will most likely be a longer road than we originally anticipated.

Why She's a Tiny Gal

I forgot to mention in my last post the reason for Kate's small size. During delivery, the doc discovered that my placenta was calcified -- basically just worn out. It looked (pardon the imagery) kind of crusty and shriveled. I guess this is just a random thing that happens sometimes which causes the baby to stop getting the nutrients they need. So it was a good thing I got induced since she wasn't going to get much more from being in the oven...and at least now she is getting food right to her tummy so she can start growing.

Finn's Status

My other stress is having to leave Finn so much while I go to the hospital. I am so lucky to have so many people willing to watch him, but he is definitely confused by the whole thing and is getting sadder and sadder every time I leave. Today he was crying so hard when I left that he was hardly breathing. Of course he got over it soon enough, but it makes leaving so much harder...and then when Kate doesn't even latch at all on top of it, I find myself really discouraged. I just keep reminding myself that it's only a few weeks, and soon she will be home and our family routine can get back to normal...or as normal as it can be with a newborn in the house :)

Above is a picture of my cute little guy that I just took today. Lately, Finn has been really into cowboys. My sister Megan bought him this cowboy hat that he loves. He calls anything Quaker brand "Cowboy Cereal" or "Cowboy Snacks" because the Quaker looks like he is wearing a cowboy hat. He loves to shout "Yee-Haw! Cowboy!" while he is playing. Also, he is really good at counting and likes to count to ten as seen in the following video:

I can't wait for him to meet his little sister!

Kate is Here!

Here is how my day went on Wednesday, June 24th:

9:15am -- Go to OBGYN check-up

11:00am -- Go to Megan's, feed Finn lunch and put him down for a nap

1:00pm -- Go to hospital for appointment with specialist

1:20pm -- Get told that baby is now measuring almost 4 weeks small, so she has basically stopped growing

1:30pm -- Get an amneosentesis done where they stick me with a huge needle and take a fluid sample to see if baby's lungs are developed

2:00pm -- Get hooked up to monitors to make sure the amneo didn't stress the baby out

2:30pm -- Find out that baby's lungs are developed and they want to induce me!

2:45pm -- Realize that they are not going to let me go home...this is happening right now.

3:00pm -- get changed into hospital gown, call Megan and arrange for her to keep Finn overnight

4:00pm -- get first dose of meds, contractions start

1:30am, June 25 -- get an epidural, halleluja

6:32am -- give birth to a beautiful baby girl!

Kate Elizabeth Parks

3 lbs 13 oz

17 inches long

She is teeny tiny but breathing on her own and relatively healthy. I am home now, but Kate needs to stay in the Special Care Nursery for a couple weeks or so until she gains more weight, so everything still feels pretty surreal for me. Every minute I get with her is so precious. Right now I am going to the hospital twice a day to feed her and it is so hard to leave every time. We are just so thankful that her delivery went well and that she should grow strong enough to come home soon. We will post more updates, videos and pictures soon!

She's a Dancing Machine

Aaron's little sister Kimmy just started dancing this year and loves it. She had a recital last night and one today. Aaron is out of town this weekend fishing with his brother so Finn and I decided to go and support Kimmy. Last night's recital was all the jazz/hip-hop numbers. I was just planning on taking Finn into the hall when he inevitabley got restless but no need because he TOTALLY loved it. He was mesmorized by all the different music/costumes etc. and kept saying "Kimmy! Show! Kimmy! Show!"
Today's recital was a little bit of a different story...it was a production of the ballet "Cinderella" (Kimmy was a florist, pictured above). Since the music was all the same and the dancing wasn't as exciting, he got pretty restless and was ready to leave as soon as Kimmy's number was over. But he still enjoyed himself and loved having Kimmy sit next to us for a little while before/after she went on-stage. She did such a great job!

I couldn't get Finn to smile at the right time, but the middle picture shows how 'in awe' he was of Kimmy. He just kept looking at her and saying her name, it was really cute. He talked about the show all the way home by saying "Kimmy! Show! Chairs!" (they had those fold down chairs that he thought were fun to play on.)

Sometime in the next 3 weeks...

I'm going to have a baby.
Her growth has not improved and my doctor told me yesterday that there is no way they are going to keep her in the oven past 37 weeks. That means the ABSOLUTE latest I will deliver is July 11th...probably more like July 6th...earlier if they see any signs of stress at the bi-weekly testing I am doing at the hospital.
I still feel very taken care of. All three doctors at my clinic are aware of my situation and communicating with the parinatologist regularly. I have an awesome neighbor/sisters who are willing to watch Finn while I am at the hospital for 2+ hours twice a week. But I am also feeling very helpless with an added dose of anxiety. Luckily my nesting instincts kicked in early this time around so we might actually be "ready" (whatever that means) for this baby to be born. I am just so glad that I have such a great network of supportive friends and family who are always there for me, it makes the waiting a lot easier.

Pregnancy Update

I went to see the parenatologist (if that's even how you spell it...fancy shmancy word for high-risk pregnancy doc) today because the baby is measuring small. I am 32+ weeks but she is only measuring at 29 weeks. After being hooked up to monitors for THREE hours, we found out that everything seems to be okay, she is just a tiny gal (less than 10th percentile). I have to go back to the hospital 2 times a week now, plus my regular doctor's visits, so they can monitor her progress and make sure she is getting the nourishment she needs. If she doesn't improve, they will probably induce me in 4 weeks because she'll get better nourishment outside than in. I had to get a steroids shot today to help her lungs develop, and I'm going back for another oh-so-enjoyable dose to the rear end tomorrow. Oy. So, the next few weeks will not be very fun, but I feel very at ease. All of the doctors and nurses have been really great and I am confident that my little girl will be just fine. And hey, if I deliver early, that's a whole month of Utah heat that I don't have to endure as a pregnant whale. I'll try to keep that in mind :)