Well I think that we’re all well again. Around the begining of January, Kirra and I came down with a nasty cold, however her’s unfortunately turned into pnemonia. So she had to be on the nebulizer, and antibiotics, but she is as good as new again. Jason is enjoying being a stay at home dad, and Kirra is on a good sleeping schedule. She sleeps from 10pm until 6:30am, pretty much every night, so it’s very helpful for us to get that good 8 hour sleep!

I am meeting up with other new moms in my area. I met this group of mom’s through my hospital in Coon Rapids. It’s nice to get together with people who have stuff in common with you, and who are at the same point in their lives.

I can’t wait until the spring, when me and Kirra can go on walks outside, and go to the zoo. Well, we still have a few months before that! Going back to work is hard every morning, but once I am at work it’s not too bad. Of course I miss everyone, but it’s helpful to have pictures up, and on my desktop/screensaver etc.

Until Next time!

Be Well.

Well this week I ventured back to work! After 7 weeks of vacation is has been good to be back, although I miss Jason and Kirra so much! I guess at least now I have a lot to look foward to.

We just enjoyed some very nice company with our old roomate, and friend Dylan. He has been serving overseas at the American Embassay! Kirra thought he was a special guy!!!

Sunday is Kirra’s Baptism, and next week is my first full week back to work!

Until next time.

Be Well.

Well, we went to the orthopedic surgeon today at Gillette, and they took an x-ray. Our doc came in, and told us that the bone has healed up very very well. She formed a nice calus around the fracture site , and it has succesfully closed the broken ends… So, he let us take her out of the brace for good. Gosh she loves it (stretching way out!), and she looks so much taller!!! Imagine that! Thanks for any thoughts, and prayers you may have sent our way!

Well we took Kirra to the Orthopedic Surgeon for a follow up appointment on Monday 12/3. Her X-Ray looks really good. She is healing very well, so that makes me quite happy! You could easily see on the x-ray how much better it’s getting. The doctor loosened up her brace (however it’s still on) and he want’s to see us again on 12/17. We will do another set of x-rays, and then he suspects that she can come out of the brace that day! FANTASTIC!!!!

We also took her to the general pediatrician on Tuesday 12/4. She is gaining fantastic weight. She is already at 7lbs, 13oz! She is gaining just over an oz per day, so by Friday (tomorrow) she should be about 8lbs!

Kirra is still not sleeping in her crib, or her bassinette. She either sleeps in the swing (during the day) or the bouncy seat (at night… which is inside the pack n’ play). She is doing pretty good though.

Jason has been on night duty since I have to wake up every 4 hours and pump. Kirra wasn’t latching on, but feeding her breastmilk was still very important to me. So he has been a hero to me for that. I am therefore on morning duty, taking care of her until about 1pm, and then we both take care of her for the rest of the day.

Jason and I (and Kirra) have filled our days with the morning news, soap operas (well only Days of our Lives… I could care less about the rest) the Food Network Channel, and blockbuster movies! Gotta love Blockbuster online.

I go back to work on January 2nd. That’s only 4 more weeks! The time is flying by unfortunately. I enjoy spending so much time with my husband and daughter. However I think that I won’t mind too much. There is only so much you can surf on the internet, and so much of the food network channel that you can watch. Plus I really really like my job, so it will be nice to get back to my co-workers, and my work.

Well the doctor called a few hours ago with the results of the ultrasound and it looks like her Kidney issue is getting better. She no longer needs antibiotics, and she doesn’t need the diagnostic test to see if fluid flows up into her kidneys. They will do another ultrasound in 3 months… This has taken such a huge load off my chest. I feel so much better!

Well we’re getting settled into our routine here at home. Kirra is doing pretty good considering a fractured femur. It doesn’t seem to bother her too much, unless you move it accidently. I am doing a lot better too. I was quite emotional and overwhelmed right after her birth, and once we got home. So many hormones flying all over the place, and especially with her leg being broken, and me trying to heal from major surgery was definitely more challenging, emotionally and physically than I thought it was going to be… Plus not going into labor, and having such a surgical/painful birth was different too.

I am now 2 weeks post-partum, and am really sliding into this routine. My tummy feels so much better, I can really get up and move around pretty easily now. Once in a blue moon I feel kind of a snag of pain if I have moved too much, or twisted wrong. I can’t quite bend foward too much yet, but each day gets better and better. I’m only on pain meds maybe once a day…

Kirra goes for her follow up appointment with the orthopedic surgeon next Monday so we will see if her broken leg is healing properly. She is doing pretty good with her pain management as well. We give her tylenol as she needs it, but maybe only 2x a day…

On my prenatal ultrasounds she had a dialated left kidney, and it has continued past birth. We went in today to the doctor to get another ultrasound to see if it has gotten better, and it is still midly dialated. This means two things…It could be that she has a mishapen kidney, or she may have a condition called Hydronephrosis, which basically allows fluid from the bladder to go back up into her kidney. It’s very very mild on her tho… we go back to our pediatrician next Tuesday (12/4) and she will decide if she needs further testing… So if it is this condtion… it’s something that you can treat with antibiotics, and follow up with every year and monitor… Hopefully it’s just a mishapen kidney, but if it’s not it’s manageable.

Kirra has had a few baths now, and doesn’t seem to mind them at all. I think she will like them even more when her leg fully heals. Also her umbilical cord stump fell off. She has the cutest belly button I have ever seen!

Until next time!

Be Well.

We arrived at the hospital about 11am to prepare for surgery. The doctor came in and verified that the baby was still breech. (which she was) After this, the nurses prepared me for surgery. (Ok… now I started to get a little nervous, because I knew that it was ‘real’ at this point.

After the nurses etc got me prepared, I walked into the OR. The anethsesiologist gave me my spinal block, and we were ready to get underway. They did the pain test to make sure that I wasn’t feeling pain. I could still feel things but at that point nothing was really painful.

So the doctor made her inscision, and i could tell that she had made her cut, but it didn’t hurt. Then they started with the levers, and pulling and tugging. That hurt really bad. So they gave me Fentynal which is one of the strongest narcotics known. That didn’t seem to help so they gave me some local lidocaine and marcaine (which is like what you get at the dentist) in the spot. I was still in a LOT OF PAIN. Some of the nurses, etc compared it to intense labor pain! They had never seen anyone react painfuly to the procedure. Usually it numbs you up pretty good.

I could hear the anesthesiologist, “here comes baby”, and I did hear the baby cry, and I just cried and cried. The baby was real! I really had a baby in my belly! They brought her over to me so I could see her. She looked soo pouty at this point. But she was definitely cute!

Jason and I decided miss K!

K’s pouty look

They told me that her leg was swollen, and that they needed to take her away…After they took her away the lidocaine etc still didn’t work either, so finally they gave me nitrous oxide, and I didn’t care about much after that. After I started dozing off I sent Jason to go check on K.

Monday afternoon they told me that she ended up being in a really really tough position, and was extremely hard to deliver. When the doctor was finally able to lift her pelvis out of my abdomen she heard a pop. They did X-Rays on her, and she broke her femur 😦 Poor little thing.

K in the level 2 nursery

At first they thought she would require surgery, and that she would have to be transfered to Gillette that night, but they got a hold of some ortho-pod surgeons, and they didn’t think it was nesicary. But we would need to follow up.

She had to live in the level 2 nursery for the entire time that we were there. So it was pretty sad for me (mom). The only way I could go and see her is if I went down there. This I think was the hardest part. I went thru 39 weeks of a less than stellar feeling pregnancy, had a very difficult delivery, and then couldn’t even see my little bunny right away :(. I did manage to get down to the nursery quite a bit tho. So, after major abdominal surgery it was really tough at first, because you’re so sore, and you can’t move… and you feel so helpless… but because I got up so much it actually helped me heal faster. Jason was an absolute MILLION DOLLAR DIAMOND because he helped me SO MUCH! I couldn’t have done any of it without him! Not the pregnancy, delivery, or recovery. He has been absolutely great!

Jason, K and me in the level 2 “family” room

This morning (Thursday 11/15/07) we were all released from the hospital and we drove down to Gillette. Nobody told me the first time you have your baby in the car you’re a paranoid mess. I was SOOO scared of everyone on the road.

K all bundled up for the car ride to Gillette

The ortho-pod Dr. E saw her, and fit her for her little brace. It’s kind of like what adults wear if they break a colar bone. Exept for your hips. So… we got her home, and we’re all relaxing now… well I am off for the evening. If anyone wants to call please do so, we’ll be here!

Finally Home

Baby…

You have hereby been evicted from the uterus. You must pack your belongings and remove yourself from the premisses no later than 1:30pm on 11/12/07 or you will be taken by force.

Sincerely,

Your Mother.

Well I will probably start blogging more often about my feelings etc. It seems like this 38 weeks have gone by so fast! Four more days and I find out when the C-Section will be!

Yesterday I felt really uncomfortable on my way home from work. The baby was actually hurting me! If these were Brax Hix contractions, I am in a world of hurt if I actually go into labor. However I can’t even be sure that it was contractions, because it wasn’t something that I could time, it was just painful the whole time. My back, and my ribs were hurting to the point of tears! I think she was nuzzling her head up in my ribs or doing something, either way it was not cozy for momma.

Perhaps the doctor can scan me again on Tuesday and see if our stubborn baby has decided to do gymnastics and turn herself. (Not counting on it (the fact that she flipped), but it’s a good thought!) Regardless, she (the doc) said before she does the spinal block on C-Section day she will scan me to make sure she (the baby) hasn’t gone to a head-down position, so that’s good at least.

I am a bit nervous for the surgury. I’m a little scared about the spinal block, only because that has to be a really weird feeling, of loosing all of your feeling; waist down! Also because I have read that shorter people can sometimes have the numbing agent come up to high, and make them short of breath. I’m sure the doctors, and anesthesiologist will be there, and help me out if a problem should arise.

The actual surgury I know will be fine, because I will not feel anything. But the idea of having my arms straped down sounds a bit terrifying, so I am going to ask my doctor on Tuesday if I can leave my arms free, or at least one of them. Jason will be there the whole time, so that is definitely re-assuring.

And I am scared for when the numbing agent wears off. Am I going to want to die? Is it going to be the worst pain of my life? I am sad I won’t be able to move around freely during her first few days/weeks of life, but Jason is taking off work to help out, so that is definitely a bonus on my side, plus it will help him to bond with her a little more quickly.

Sometimes we turn on the baby swing, and Tyler gets all nervous about what it is. It’s cute to watch him, especially if he gets too close, and the chair hits him, he gets kind of spooked. But then we shut it off, and he just sniffs it. I think he will be really good with the baby.. (until she starts crying!)

I’m nervous, scared, and beyond excited all at the same time!

What a great feeling!!!

Well we now have a new birth plan! The origional plan was to go to labor at home as long as possible, and then go in to the hospital… have dim lights, relaxing music on the CD player, utilize the birthing ball, and to have the baby vaginally, with our without drugs. That didn’t matter. I was basically going to just take it one contraction at a time.

Today I went in for my 37/38 week appointment, and found out that our baby is breech! She was breech at my 21 week ultrasound, as well as my 28 week ultrasound, however the doctors weren’t worried, because there was always time to flip. Well our little turkey has decided that she likes to be upright, because there is no evidence that she is going to flip her head to a down position.

The doc gave me two choices. Either try external version, or schedule a C-Section.

External version is where they try to flip the baby by use of a lot of pressure, and hand placement. This is done in the hospital and is closely monitored because the risks are high. Your water can break during the process, baby can become distressed, or the umbilical cord can get wrapped around their neck. If these situations arise you need to have an emergency c-section. However the plus side is 50% of the time, the doctor can flip them to a head-down position.

Well we (Jason and I) went back and forth with it and decided just to schedule the C-Section. Our biggest concern is that something could go wrong during the version, and then I would need an emergency C-Section. Furthermore the procedure only has a 50-65% sucess rate at best, so it’s kind of like flipping a coin, for something that is apparently very painful.

So I will call the doc tomorrow, and after we have the “Delivery Date” scheduled I will post. Wish us luck! We love you all 🙂