Fun Pictures

I wanted to get some pictures of Katherine before she starts growing and is no longer so tiny. Duane and I took these today. She was a pretty good sport about it until the end. I am pretty sure she does not like the pink dress. For the last picture we had to give her a binky and then remove it. She held out crying just long enough for me to take the picture. Mean mom and dad. Hopefully one day she will thank me...

Week 2

Katherine got her first bath at home this week. She cried almost the entire time. She was smiling at the begining before she knew what was coming.

Trying to nibble on dad's finger:


She is bright red here:

A little happier:



We tried three different baby formulas because Katherine was gassy. She is not a picky eater, as she took them all including soy.




Katherine doesn't mind the car seat when it is sitting on a running drier. However, she hates the swing and bouncy chair. Go figure?


Katherine loves to be held and be close to us. Except when we take too many pictures. When she gets really upset, mom is the only thing that calms her down.

Coming Home

The hardest two days of my recovery from the c-section was the last day in the hospital and the first day home. The last night we were at the hospital Katherine did not sleep all night. She cried almost non-stop. At first I just blamed it on the nurses for coming in every two hours to check her. Then the first night we came home Katherine cried-screamed again all night. By this point we were pretty tired. Duane and I only had two hours of sleep the two previous days. So we ended up passing Katherine back and forth every 30-60 minutes to keep our sanity.

By Friday Duane was really concerned that Katherine wasn't getting enough to eat. My milk still didn't come in yet. So we made an appointment to go in to see the lactation nurse. I am glad that we did. Katherine had lost quite a bit of weight she was down to 7lbs 2oz. from 8lbs. 8oz. Katherine is one of those "happy to starve" babies. She would latch on only long enough to get a little to eat, then go to sleep.

The lactation nurse had me start pumping and supplementing with formula. We could see an immediate difference in Katherine. Her eyes were bright again and same happy self as the first few days. Needless to say we were thankful.

I am still pumping and we are supplementing with formula. Not sure if my milk will ever come in enough to support her completely. Today we were able to feed her more milk than formula and that made me feel good. We will see how that goes. I am going to start taking fennelgreek an herb that is supposed to help. So we will see.

We were sad to see Clarelyn Duane's mom leave on Friday. She was great company and such a huge help. Clarelyn cleaned the whole apartment for us and helped with the baby so we could rest. Plus made us meals and did the dishes. Having her here was a huge blessing.

Katherine and Grandma Elgan:



Some little things about Katherine...



-Katherine likes the sound of running water

-Her whole body turns bright red when Katherine is mad

-Katherine makes a lot of strange noises

-For the most part Katherine is very well tempered and easy going. However, make her mad and she is feisty

-Katherine is like a clock rising up after about 3 hours to eat

Katherine's Birth

The Thursday before we had Katherine I had failed my stress test. The stress test had indicated that she was moving less. I had noticed that Katherine was moving around less. I just figured it had to do with her getting bigger and having less space. A radiology technician came up and did an ultrasound right away. She scored perfect on the ultrasound test, so they sent me home. We thought everything was okay.

Monday morning I woke up bleeding. Here I thought that I had been sweating. I have been a furnace since 7 months. I am glad that I got up and checked it. When I stood up the blood would not stop running. So I woke Duane and told him something was wrong and to grab me a towel. I told him we needed to go to the hospital right away. So I wrapped myself in the towel and he grabbed the delivery bag then out the door we went.

Luckily we are only about a 1/4 mile from the hospital. It was really scary. I wasn't feeling her move. I couldn't help think how awful it would be to loose a baby at 40 weeks, especially since she was old enough to survive outside the womb. I said a little prayer and felt comfort everything was going to be alright.

Once we got to the hospital they rushed me over to the birthing center right away. The nurses put me on a heart monitor. I was so relieved when I heard her heartbeat and knew she was okay. Doctor Richards got there a few minutes later. He told me that I needed to have a c-section. I was actually relieved.

It turns out the problem I had with the placenta was not resolved. The placenta either had a tear or ruptured. Luckily for us my cervix was still closed. It is also good this happened before I had gone into labor. It could have been really bad for both us. The nurses told us it was good we got to the hospital so quickly. Since we were able to respond so quickly, the baby was not compromised by the problem with the placenta.

Because of the bleeding the staff prepped me for an emergency c-section. They were worried that I might have to be put to sleep for the procedure. Luckily I was able to be awake for everything. Within an hour of leaving home we had Katherine. The minute she was born was the most amazing moment in my life. Words can't explain it. I am thankful that we were both well and I could be awake to experience it.





Recovery wasn't too bad. I had the baby shakes for a while. I was glad when that passed. The medicine they gave me really cut all of the pain. Later that day I got up and walked around the birthing center. Each day I tried to walk more and more. It has made all of the difference in my recovery. The fourth and fifth days were the hardest. After that, it got considerably better. Thank heavens for our recliner. It was so much easier to get in and out of than a bed. It is going to be a while until things are back to normal. However, for the most part it isn't too bad. I really thought it was going to be a lot worse.

My mother-in-law came and helped us for a week. That really made the transition from the hospital to home much smoother.

The lesson I learned from this whole experience...The only thing certain in life is that nothing is for certain. In the blink of an eye everything in our life can be turned upside down. I am thankful and grateful for God's mercy and his blessings. Ultimately he is calling the shots, we are just along for the ride.

Week 40 - Welcome Katherine Claire Elgan

Here is a link to some pictures of the baby. It was a really crazy week. Everything happened so fast that I didn't even have time to change out of my nightgown or brush my hair before we went to the hospital.

We will be adding more down the road. Needless to say, things have been busy here. Good, but busy! I hope to soon write a post about her birth details and give an update on what is new since then. It is amazing how much can happen in a short period of time!

In the meantime...

Katherine Claire Elgan
10/12/2009 8:11 a.m.
8lbs 8 oz.
22 inches long
Hair: Dark Blond-lots of it!
Eyes: Blue

Click Below for Pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=128840&id=697312060&l=760f770511

38 and 39 Weeks

Not much has changed here. I had my appointment and the cervix is still closed. Monday they have me scheduled for an ultrasound to check baby's weight and fluid. I go back Thursday to see the doctor again and they will re-check the cervix. The doctor said, we will decide then if we are going to do the induction or wait longer. In the meantime, I will continue with the stress tests bi-weekly.

For the most part I don't notice the baby moving. I have to really pay attention to notice if she moves or not. Well except when I am sitting in the recliner. She likes to slip up under my right ribs. This week every time I felt her move, I would put my hand on my belly. Always the same thing, her bottom moving as if she is rolling over. Then one day I saw my belly make a strange movement. I put my hand on the belly to feel. It felt like a little foot or knee. I was so excited that I made Duane come right away so he could feel it too. That was fun.

I am still pretty comfortable. It is getting harder to lift my legs up and roll over in bed. I had some swelling in my feet and ankles this past week. I think some of that was from stress.

My dear friend and grandfather passed away last Friday on my mom's birthday. I was sad that I would not be able to travel for his funeral today. However, I was able to write him a nice eulogy and help with other things from here. That made me feel better.

He was a good grandfather. Worried about everyone but himself right up to the end. My aunt said, everyday he would ask if I had the baby yet. Last week she finally told him I had the baby and everything was fine because he was worrying so much. He passed away shortly after. I find comfort that he is in a better place now. I am pretty sure he has arm wrapped tightly around my grandma. He probably won't let her get too far out of his sight. Unfortunately for grandma, she won't be able to turn down her hearing aid when she wants to tune him out. :)

Here is a picture of the ever expanding belly...I am not sure how much more it can stretch!