Bathtime

Jayne loves the bath. She even loves the bath water...in her mouth. We have to watch her closely or she sneaks a taste of it every time! She's just so calm once she's in the water and kicks her legs all around. Plus she looks so darn cute with her little round belly and dainty hands and feet! 

 This is typical Jayne positioning all in one photo...clenched fists on her chest near her face
or arms straight up, cheerleader style. Or both at the same time. Why not?

How cute are babies wrapped up in a towel!? (never thought I'd say that but hey I'm a mom now!) :)

Jayne - Delivery

So I was started on Pitocin at 5pm. At 6pm they had the shift change for nurses and I met my nurse, Danette, who by the end of the whole process felt like a dear friend. They started the pitocin dose low and increased it every hour. The combination of the pitocin and the balloon caused active labor to come pretty quickly. When I started having contractions they were very frequent and painful. The balloon is made to fall out once I'm dilated over 3cm so that was my goal before getting the epidural. Honestly I was afraid to get it too soon because one of the IV nurses said in passing that I could get it too early therefore causing it to wear off/be less effective by the time baby came...more on that later!

So then we started the waiting game. And by waiting I mean contractions every 2 or 3 minutes and they were about 60 secounds in length with a peak in the middle. Phil was great and counted me down through each one. We tried a dose of Fentanyl to help with pain relief and it worked for about 15 minutes. The second dose did nothing other than make me feel loopy for a few minutes. At this point both Phil and Danette were very sweet in kindly suggesting the epidural. We all knew that I had decided to have an epidural before going in, it was just a matter of when. Again, I was afraid of getting it too early. When I voiced my concern to Danette she said epidurals are different for everyone. Some may wear off slightly but they keep the dosage up so thats not usually an issue, some get the epi and it helps the body relax and labor/delivery happens quickly and others its just a normal pain killing procedure and it does what its supposed to do-you really can't know so why plan on something wearing off/not working when you can't really know? I remember trying to make it through a half hour of "America's Got Talent" and crying through every contraction. Feeling reassured by Phil and Danette I asked for the epidural.

I love my anesthesiologist. :) He talked me through everything, made me feel very at peace and around 10:30 (after 4 or so hours of contractions) I had the epidural. It wasn't painful at all and helped me get some needed rest in those middle hours of the night. I did keep having to roll over every so often to help distribute the epidural to both sides of my body and to adjust the monitors on my stomach but I got some broken sleep. I'm glad that I had the support I did throughout all of the labor and the decision making processes. I couldn't have asked for more from Phil or for a better nurse! Dr. Grover came to break my water around 12am and said I'd probably see her sometime tomorrow as first labors can take in her words "14-16 hours".

Danette kept checking my progress throughout the early morning and by 4am I was at a 9 1/2cm and she told me it was about time to push. I thought, ok, that means a few hours. Nope, 5 minutes later we were pushing through contractions. I'd had my epidural level adjusted a couple times throughout the night. I know it takes a lot to numb me (I usually feel a lot at the dentist!) so I went in knowing I'd need adjustments to the epi levels. By 4am I needed another adjustment but they didn't want to do too much in order to allow me to push effectively. I felt the contractions in my mid-pelvic area so I knew I didn't just need to roll over to distribute the meds. In hindsight this allowed me to know exactly when the contractions were coming and maybe even helped me push effectively. Who knows? With each contraction I'd push 3 times and after about 14 minutes of pushing the baby was crowning and we kind of had to wait for Dr. Grover to arrive. I felt on top of the world as Danette kept telling other nurses who were prepping the room that "this was my first one. Look at her push! She's fast." Those are great words to hear when you're in labor! :) We waited about 10 minutes and then Julie arrived and Danette told her she thought we may have had the baby without her. This let me know how close this all was to being done. After a couple more pushes they told me to look down and see my beautiful baby girl.

I couldn't believe it. There was a baby, that had come from inside me and now she was in this world. She was ours. She was born at 4:32am, weighed 7lbs 7oz and was 19 inches long. They put her on my chest and she was quiet as can be. The room was dimly lit so she worked to open her eyes and I saw my little girl look up at me for the first time. I was a mom. In that delivery room in a hospital in Provo, a miracle had just happened right in front of our eyes. We had a little baby girl. She was beautiful. She stole our hearts immediately.

I had plenty of time with little Jayne and Phil was also able to hold her while I was being tended to.  Around 6:30am it was time to head down to the maternity ward. I was really still in a state of shock as I sat down in the wheelchair and they placed the baby, my baby, in my arms. I had gone through labor. I had gone through delivery. We had a baby girl!

We stopped at the nursery first where Phil stayed with Jayne through her first bath and a few other tests. Meanwhile was settled into our room and felt a little exhausted. We didn't sleep much at all the night of delivery and the following day. It was all so exciting. I just wanted to hold Jayne all day and night. Even when I was exhausted I tried to stay awake just to hold her that much longer.

Jayne Lee Bennallack

We are so happy that Jayne came into this world happy and healthy. She is the heart of our home now and we love her so much. Thank you Jayne for coming into our little family and making us parents, the best job ever. We love you!

Jayne - The beginning

The idea of posting about Jayne's birth has intimidated me. How do you even write about something you can't even put into words? Honestly I feel like the events of September 10th & 11th are so special, precious, and somewhat surreal that I struggle to describe in words everything that was going on and how I was feeling. I'll make briefed attempt...
It all started with my weekly appointment to the OBGYN on September 10th. I was 40 weeks and 4 days and I was so ready to meet our little girl. I had been "expecting" to go late with my first as that is somewhat a normal trend for first children but honestly when my due date hit I was kind of bummed. I wanted our little girl! So, I went into the appointment with the idea that I would "tell" (ask) my aunt to induce me (my aunt is my OB) if that was an option and if I hadn't made any more progress. It was time to get our little baby here! We checked my progress and I was still dilated to just a 1 (had been for about 3 weeks) and about 75% effaced. I hadn't had any contractions at all or anything so this really wasn't a surprise for me. My OB asked me then what we wanted to do. I just told her that we were ready for our baby-but then she told me I couldn't be induced being dilated to just a 1 until a week after my due date because of hospital rules...that meant a few more days...not the end of the world I know but I didn't want to wait anymore.
Then we measured my stomach and I was only 38cm, which was less than I was at the previous week's appointment. That meant I could be losing amniotic fluid being past due and they wanted to do a non-stress test to make sure all was well and healthy with the baby and the placenta, so we booked a non-stress test (done at the hospital) for an hour later that same day. My aunt said they can usually find some reason to induce people with the non-stress tests. Two outcomes could come from the test: #1-everything would be just normal and we'd schedule induction for Friday and #2-they'd find low fluid levels and I wouldn't leave the hospital and would be checked right in, so I wanted to be optimistic for an induction, but couldn't believe it may happen that day, didn't want to get my hopes up, was nervous/anxious...etc.etc.
So we came home for an hour and were kind of in limbo. We cleaned the house a bit and gathered some last few things for my hospital bag. Then we went at 3pm for the stress test and to my excitement and surprise, my fluid levels were very low. They worry about the fluid levels for the protection of the umbilical cord so they told me I wasn't going home but was actually going upstairs to labor and delivery to be induced. I was overwhelmed with emotion at this point. The waiting & anticipation for this moment was done. Miss B would be coming in the next 24 hours. So crazy!
So Phil and I headed upstairs around 4:15 and by 5pm I was hooked up to IV's, monitors, pitocin and had a double balloon put in my cervix to help with dilation. Once I was set, Phil went home quickly to get our bags and to take care of the puppy. Just thinking back to that labor and delivery room is so surreal. I was there. I was going to be having a baby!

Cuuute hair girl! Hey I was just poked and prodded and was starting to feel labor pains-what do you expect? :)

Progress board

View from our room. As we live 2 minutes from the hospital, I'd always drive down the road that is just below this photo and look up at labor and delivery and wonder what it would be like to be there...and then I was there! Surreal!

Saying on the wall of my labor & delivery room that I feel like described many of the events of that night

...to be continued...

38.5!

What is new this week?
Under Pressure! Ha-that song describes me perfectly. :) I feel like Miss B. is moving lower these days. I'm not waddling or anything but some mornings I just have to wait for the pressure to go away, if it even does. Still its on and off though. We also have dilating!-but I feel like I should erase that last exclamation point because I'm still at a 1. But that is ok. I'm still just 38 1/2 weeks so we have time.

How big is the baby? 
Baby-size. Ready for action. Enough said :)

Sleep?
Overall its ok. I don't have many horrible nights anymore but I feel like I've gone back to my first trimester with my sleep/hunger habits. I wake up (early) and starving in the morning and get a little nauseous if I take too long to feed myself. I'm tired by 10pm at night but then again, I'm usually up with our little mover around 6-6:30.

Best moment of the week?
This should read best "quote" of the week. Lately I've found it really hard to find my words-meaning if anything else is going on or I have something else subconsciously on my mind, sometimes a different word will come out than I intend. Like so:

Kaylee- "Phil, will you need to take your laptop to work tomorrow?"
Phil- "Maybe"
Kaylee- "Can't you just go to the airport and work on your presentation?"
Phil- Gives me the "look" and we both start laughing. haha!

Problem here is the word -airport- which was meant to be -library-. Usually we can trace back to where the odd word came from but I honestly can't even tell you where -airport- came from.

There was also a moment where we were visiting with friends and I was mid-story and forgot the whole point of what I was saying. Literally the whole point. Needless to say I had to humbly admit that I had no idea where that story was going...haha! 

We've also finished getting the nursery ready! Like really. Finished. Even all the DIY projects & crafts. It was a lot of fun and I love how it all worked out but it is weird to have things all ready to go and nothing in the works or left to buy. I'm sure we'll find a few things we're in need of once Bump is at home but we're ready when she is!

Food cravings/aversions?
Eggs. The protein is great and apparently they help with "pregnancy brain" with their high amount of choline. I still say really funny things (as noted above) and feel like I can't form my thoughts sometimes but choline is supposed to help. Haha. 

What I miss? 
Bending. Phil and I have had this conversation a lot lately-that we can't believe that I once didn't have a large baby belly. Like I will be normal looking and bend in half with ease one day. That will be nice once it comes again!

Overall mood?
Excited! Come on Miss B. Come ooooooon!

What I'm looking forward to?

Meeting our little girl. Holding her. Looking at her. Loving her. I'm so excited!

Phil snapped this photo before I went to walk Koda the other day...I've never walked our puppy and not been preggers...weird!

38.5 weeks!

36-37 weeks

What is new this week?

I'm one day away from full term! (37 weeks) Where did this summer go? I remember thinking in March that September was ages away, and now public school starts next Tuesday. Whaaaat?!

How big is the baby?

Approximately 7 lbs. What a cute little bundle of joy :)

Sleep?

I've run into an issue with this one...I typically get tired around 2-3 but if I take a nap then that night's sleep is horrible. So I try really hard to stay busy and awake for the sake of my night's sleep. I also have found a renewed need for back support while sleeping. Cue the Snoogle pillow and my worries fade away, until I want to roll over. Then I get to pull old Snoogle to the other side of the bed. Needless to say, I don't think I'm getting much deep sleep these days. And speaking of rolling over, with Bump going head down into my pelvis, well rolling over isn't so much fun anymore. Feeling like there is something between your legs in your pelvis area makes for slow rollovers, complete with groans. Oh jeez :).

Best moment of the week?

Going to hear the heartbeat and our little miss had the hiccups. I don't know why, but hearing a heartbeat with little hiccups in between made this little girl so real to me. Maybe its because of our hiccup-ing bond but it was fun. We also found out that baby's is head down which is good news! Way to go baby B!

Food cravings/aversions?

Applesauce. Cold please. MmmMMM! And with baby heading down, my stomach is starting to catch up with my appetite meaning my stomach is feeling less squished. Stress on the less meaning its not back to normal but its getting there.

What I miss?

To be honest, I'm loving where I'm at right now because I know the time is "short". Yes, the 9th month is loooong but I'm also enjoying it. Maybe I could say that I miss a normal looking belly button? haha-mine certainly isn't an innie as of the last couple weeks, but its not an outie- so right now it just looks goofy. There are worse things though...ah who am I kidding, its not even bad at all!

Overall mood?

I feel a little, frumpy, for lack of a better word. I just don't feel graceful I guess and when I go to move I'm far from it. I also feel anxiously excited. I'm excited for the future but a little anxious as we're doing our best to prepare for something you can never quite be fully prepared for. Poor Phil and I are planners so we're trying to cope with the unknown part of this whole labor/delivery/baby thing.

What I'm looking forward to?

Birthing class tonight! haha. We enrolled in one and it has been great to help us feel much more informed and prepared (again with the planning thing). Plus I'm sure we've heard some of this information before but getting it in one place helps our brains store and process it. We now know when to actually go to the hospital rather than rushing there too early and being sent home...phew! :)

Anything else?

The nursery is just about done. We actually hung up the pictures on the walls this week. Holla! Just two more DIY projects from me and it'll be ready for our newest addition! We are excited!

(36.5 weeks)

Baby Shower for Baby B.

About a week and a half ago my mom threw me a baby shower. It was so much fun! Thank you so much to everyone that helped out with everything and a big shout-out to the host, my momma. She put up with all my  little ideas and made it all turn out just perfect!

My friend Jamie made me a cute diaper cake. She's so crafty! Plus we had a lot of yummy food (thanks Kayla and mom!), old newspaper baby games, goodie bags and lemonade.

 

Jamie also made some delicious cupcakes and even decorated them to stay with the "newspaper" theme. They turned out so cute!

I feel like I was so spoiled! I loved opening presents and seeing what people had picked out for our little girl. I can't even fathom putting all the goods we got to use but I know babies take a lot!

Grandma Grover even made a baby quilt for our little munchkin. Its so beautiful!

It was so much fun to see all my friends and family and feel their love and support. They also had great tips to share with a soon-to-be mom...hopefully I can remember them all!

I know we probably don't know exactly what we're in for but we are certainly excited to welcome our new little one into our family and feel a bit more prepared thanks to everyone's generosity! Thank you again to those who helped/hosted and to all those that came!

San Diego 2013 - LDS Temple

We were lucky enough to visit the San Diego Temple during our stay in California. San Diego's temple is stunning!

While my parents and the other kids did baptisms, Phil, Jocelyn and I entertained ourselves on the grounds and in the car. We spent time taking photos on the grounds, visiting the distribution store and just hanging out. Phil was mainly entertained by our new camera, Jocelyn by mom's phone and Me by singing beautiful renditions of primary songs...haha don't ask. :)

 It was a gorgeous day to be on the temple grounds.

It was fun to spend time with Jocelyn (on her birthday even!). She got to have her own photos taken. Here she is in all her 11 yr old glory. (I promise she's in there...just look close!)

It was a great way to spend time with family while on vacation. We love the Perucca clan!

And I love my Bennallack boy too :)