Kaylie Rae

My sweet baby is already 2 weeks old- how did that happen? I figured I should record the story of the pregnancy and birth- sorry it's extremely long. In the early stages of the pregnancy, I experienced some bleeding and painful stomach cramps and I spent over a month not knowing if my sweet little one was ok and if the pregnancy would work out. That was a very hard time- I was already so excited to meet Kaylie and couldn’t bare the thought of anything happening to her. Luckily, she was tough and kept growing. We were thrilled to find out that she was a little girl, especially Lyla who is so excited to dress her and feed her. Everything else went well other than things due to me getting old- varicose veins, swollen feet, awful hemorrhoids, etc.

Around 32 weeks, I was measuring small so they did an ultrasound. They found that Kaylie was growing just fine, but that she was in a breech position with her cute bum in my pelvis and her head up by my ribs. Although I was nervous starting from that point, the doctor wasn’t too concerned until she was still in that position a month later at 36 weeks. We tried everything to get her to turn- swimming, laying upside down, chiropractor visits, but she was very content to stay where she was. We did tons of research into the doctor trying a version- manipulating the baby from outside my stomach to turn her around. We knew this could be extremely painful and could lead to other complications. I researched and talked to many people about c sections and was very nervous about having one. I knew it would be a long, painful recovery and it was just something I didn’t think I would ever have to do. We spent a lot of time praying- and Heavenly Father answered our prayers on Monday, July 29^th in a different way that we had expected.  It was a week and a half before my due date so I really didn’t think anything would happen, I was pretty sure I would be induced or have a c section on Friday Aug 2^nd which was still almost a week away. I was laying in bed around 6:40 am talking to Lyla who had just woken up. I suddenly felt some liquid and wondered if I was bleeding or if my water had broken. I spent the next 1 ½ hours trying to figure out if i needed to go to the hospital while frantically running around the house getting everything ready to go to the hospital, the kids’ stuff ready for my mom to take them, and I even tried packing a few things as I panicked about not having that whole week to pack up our house for the move. Paul came home from work and he met Melanie Chatelain at the hospital to get Lyla and Trevor while I went in and checked myself in. They determined that sure enough, my water had broken and I was dilated to a 3 so they had me change into a hospital gown. The doctor came and explained that since most of the amniotic fluid was gone, it would be almost impossible to turn the baby with a version. We felt at peace with moving ahead with a C section. Paul gave me a sweet blessing to help me calm down – I was nervous and couldn’t stop shaking. Let’s face it- I’m a wimp when it comes to pain!  They prepped me for the procedure and everything went well.  It was over soon and I heard Kaylie’s sweet cry.

She is such a beautiful, sweet, tiny girl. She is a great eater- I had to give her formula a few times in the first few days before my milk came in because I wasn’t producing enough for her. She sleeps so well- she’s only had 1 hard night in the 2 weeks of her life- usually she just wakes up once in the night and I then I wake her around 7:30 for the morning feeding. It only takes 10-15 minutes total to feed her, which is so much easier than the 45 minutes it always took Trevor to eat in his first 2 months. The kids were excited to meet her- although Trevor is kind of a whirlwind around her and mostly out of control and dangerous. He pulls her close, then grabs her face, then forcefully pushes her away. Lyla on the other hand can’t get enough of our “sweet, darling baby” as she says over and over. She comes down every morning and rubs her feet and head while I feed Kaylie, and then helps me pick out her clothes. She’s always begging to hold her and take pictures with her- so sweet! I can tell she’ll be a great big sister and they will be best friends!

I feel so much better than I thought I would at 2 weeks. I think the biggest thing that has helped me heal quickly was that my sweet mom stayed with the kids in our house til Wednesday so they could come see us a few times, and then she took them back to her house. I stayed in the hospital until Thursday evening which was so nice to just relax, and then when I got home I had from Thursday until we drove to Utah on Monday morning to just recover and focus on Kaylie. There was still plenty to do with packing, cleaning, etc but I was able to rest a lot more than I otherwise could have done. The pain was pretty bad for about a week and 2 days, and then suddenly it was a lot better. My incision still burns a little, and I have to be careful to remember not to lift things or it hurts, but I feel great! I feel that we’ve been so blessed in every step along the way in this journey- selling our house, finding an apartment to rent for 2 months, finding a house to rent in a nice area in AZ, having our baby and then moving. Every step has been stressful and by no means easy, but everything has eventually come together in a way that we know the Lord has his hand in our lives. It gives me so much peace and confidence to know that he is aware of us and cares enough to make sure things work out for us. I love my family of 5 and can’t wait to start our adventure together in Arizona! Paul has worked so hard to collect our stuff from the 4 houses where it was scattered in Idaho Falls, load the entire Uhaul luckily with lots of help (We got the biggest truck- 26 ft- and it was completely full to the very end of the truck. We could not have fit one more thing inside!), drive the huge truck with the Jetta towing behind all the way to Gilbert, unload with help from his brother Jared, my brother Jared and his wife Alison, and men from the ward, buy a fridge, fill it with food, unpack boxes, and then start orientation for his MBA program after only 1 day of being there. I think he enjoyed the time to hand out with his brother who just got back from his mission to Brazil- and I’m so grateful for a husband who is willing to work so hard for our family! Here are a ton of pictures from the last 2 weeks:

 

 Poor baby- we have to be very careful when Trevor is close by.

 The kids had a blast in Orem and didn't miss us much, especially Trevor who loves the new puppy.

Moving truck- filled to the very edge

 The Grossarth's came for a quick visit- and the kids are having so much fun together!! Crazy cousin time, 7 kids 5 and under in one house.

 Grandma Rumsey has been here this week and spent several days with us which we all loved. She made a darling quilt for Kaylie- I love it!