Proof That We Now Have Two Kids

Craziness. I'm the mother of two children. And my firstborn now seems huge to both Braden and I, ever since she walked into the recovery room at the hospital, and we saw her next to Katie. Funny how she used to be the baby, and now she's not...but she is. Weird.

Jenna "kicking" Katie lovingly


Daddy and his two girls

Quick Update

Ker here.  I'm sleep-deprived.  You probably won't be hearing from me much in the next few weeks.  Besides, for some reason my back still bothers me when I sit at the computer, among other things.  Anyway, things are slowly improving on the nursing front, although I can never really get into a comfortable position, and there are still other issues.  I must say, even though nursing is difficult, it sure helps things when you have a baby who wants to nurse.  Katie wants to; Jenna didn't.  Katie currently is not too keen on sleeping at night.  She likes to sleep on her tummy or in the bed with us, and neither of those are good options or lead to restful sleep for Mommy and Daddy.  We're working on that, but it also doesn't help that we don't want her squealing to wake up Jenna, so the crying it out thing is tricky right now (we'll try that later on, I think, and see how it goes; she's so young right now).

We went to the pediatrician today, and she said that Katie has a very slight heart murmur.  She said she doesn't think it's anything to worry about (she'd put it at a 1 out of 6 and didn't think another doctor would have even heard it; she's just really into cardiology), but she wants us to make an appointment with a cardiologist to make sure everything's okay.  She also said she thinks it's something that will eventually go away on its own.  Anyway, we're seeing her again at the end of the week, and I'll make an appointment with the cardiologist in the meantime. 

I did have some injury in the delivery; I'll phrase it that way, BUT my postpartum recovery is going sooooo much better this time around.  Now I can understand why some moms are able to walk around a few days after giving birth, which I was amazed at before, since all I knew was how horrible my pain was after Jenna's birth.  Things aren't all rosy, of course, but compared to last time, the difference is astounding.  I am so grateful that Katie's delivery went so much more smoothly. 

Thanks to my mom for helping out so much, both with Jenna and Katie.  I think I'll keep her.  :)

Thanks to my hubbin for all his help as well.  I wish he didn't have to go back to work tomorrow.  I'm definitely keeping him.

I'd best get to bed.  I might have gotten 4 hours of sleep last night, and that's a generous estimate. 

For Comparison...

Another cross-post:  This is Jenna 1 day after she was born.  Methinks they look a lot alike.

Watch Out, World!

K.J.

I posted the following on my Nursing Blog, and because nothing has been posted here yet and there may be some peeps out there that read the family blog and not the Nursing Blog, here it is cross-posted for your pleasure:

Mrs. Braden and I are pleased to announce the birth of our second child, Little Bradenette, yesterday morning at a few minutes to 6.  We went to the hospital the evening before after slowly increasing contractions all day.  I was actually in the middle of a staff meeting when Mrs. Braden called and said,  "you had better come home now."  I didn't need any more incentive than that.  I rushed back into the room, grabbed my papers, and literally ran out the door.  A short while later we were on the road to the hospital 20 minutes away (the hospital that I work at doesn't have labor and delivery - thanks, lawyers!).

At first, the doctor was threatening to have us sent home because, despite contractions 5 minutes apart and painful, they were not opening the cervix compared to a check earlier at the doctor's office.  This caused much distress in the pregnant one and a lot of concern for me and the expectant Grandma as well (Since the contractions are already close together and we can't tell if her cervix is changing, if we go home now, how will we know when to come back?)

Luckily, an hour of walking madly around the floor to the point of exhausting even me brought about more frequent contractions and a slight cervical change.  And a call to the midwife instead of the doctor brought about a decision to keep us, and eventually a visit from God himself the anesthesiologist.

Labor progressed slowly and without note until the baby decided to suddenly engage in the birth canal, setting off all kinds of alarms as her heart rate dropped into the 70s.  People came running in and repositioned Mrs. Braden and they determined that delivery was imminent.  Within 30 minutes she was pushing, and after just six contractions, out came a burst of emotion as our second baby was laid on Mommy's tummy.

Now we are just past the 24 hour mark and everything seems to be going fairly well.  Baby sounds alternately like a cat and like the baby velociraptor from Jurassic Park with all her little grunts and whines, but the doctor said multiple times while assessing her that she is "perfect", which I'm sure is a word that she does not say on every baby that she sees, but rather saves just for our baby.

So now we are hoping to be able to go home tonight, and if we are lucky, get some sleep some time in the next several years.  Wish us luck!

No Whammies, No Whammies!

Not to jinx myself here, but I think we're going to the hospital here in a few minutes.  My contractions are stronger and 4-6 minutes apart.  Plus, I was 4cm at the midwife's appt at 3pm, and then she stripped the membranes a little bit more.  I had my last supper of Pollo Asado and am ready to do this thang.  My mom thinks that they won't send me home if I'm this far along and having regular contractions...she thinks they'll probably just break my water.

So I guess you can be walking around at 4cm, Carolyn!  I have done it.  :)

All My Bags Are Packed...

...I'm ready to go...

So you may surmise by the fact that I am sitting down writing this post that I have not as yet had the baby.  The contractions were pretty consistent for a few hours last night...until I went to bed.  Then they slowed down, and I'm not even sure if I had some while I slept.  Each time I got up I would have one, and then maybe 2-3 more when I went back to bed.  I've had some this morning, but they are not that consistent so far.  I got the distinct impression that if I get up and move around, it will get things started.  So I am going to take that and run with it.  I'm eating breakfast, and then I will commence the movement, baby. 

As I was getting up this morning, I received a phone call from a very dear friend of mine who I haven't heard from in over 2 years (Old Man Marv, for those of you in the know).  I'm so grateful for a Heavenly Father who knows exactly what I need; the call lifted my spirits immensely...I was really discouraged, especially last night, and now I feel so much happier. 


And Ryan, if I have the baby on your birthday, that is soooooooo not my fault!  :) 

...Is This It?

Maybe... I've had a lot of false labor this time around, but right now feels different in that I am up and moving around and the contractions are still coming. I blame Panera Bread and Target. :)

All the other contractions have been sporadic and have stopped once I got out of bed. These seem to be pretty consistent at 7-10 minutes apart. Mom thinks it's the real thing, so we had Braden's mom stop by on her way home from the temple just now and pick Jenna up. It seems so final to have someone be watching my child because I think I'm in labor!! So yeah, I hope it's not another false start, although it will be nice for Jenna to see her Grandparents E. :) Thanks to Mom E. for taking care of Jenna!

Further bulletins as events warrant. I've been advised to quit counting and go rest. I was also advised to eat something a little lighter than chicken cordon bleu, but I ignored that. Perhaps I will regret it later. :) I just don't feel like soup, what can I say?

Contraction

I just said, "Mom, I think I'm having a contraction right now.  Come feel!"  So she did, and then Jenna came over and felt my stomach, too!  She is so funny.  She just doesn't want to be left out, even though she has absolutely no idea why we were manhandling my basketball belly.  :)



NO NEWS!!  I'm not going into labor.  I take contractions with a grain of salt these days, seriously.  We will let people know if anything serious is happening, which is not the case right now. 

Jenna - 9 Months

Jenna Video