A Late Welcome !

Miss Kaylee Paige is here! LOL, she's BEEN here...for 3 weeks as of today, exactly 3 weeks 1 hour and 12 minutes right now, hahah.
Kaylee was born on March 14th, at 4:59pm. She was 6lb 15oz and was 20 inches long. :) We are so blessed!

That's her first picture in the world :) So, let's talk a bit about the whole labor experience. It was something else, to say the least. lol. We went in to be induced at 10am that morning (i was 40 weeks, 3 days and my blood pressure was a little high at my ob visit on the previous Friday, so my doctor said we'd go ahead and get her out before my blood pressure went crazy). We got there, checked in, got situated, and met the BEST nurse in the world. Her name was Shai, and i swear, i love that woman like she's family. She was so unbelieveably amazing. She explained everything, and made me feel so comfortable. Not to mention that she reminded me of my bestie (Allyson!!) so of course i loved her from the get-go lol. So anyways, we finally started the pitocin to get things going, and i started having regular contractions...long story short....they got to be about 2-3 minutes apart, but they never really got any stronger once i dilated to 5cm. Once i dilated to that point, Kaylee's heartrate started dropping. And everytime her heartrate dropped, it took a little longer to get it back to the baseline it was at in the beginning. So my dr and i started talking about a c-section and all the other things. He said he didn't want to do a c-section if possible because i was progressing great and "i had a wonderful cervix for a vaginal birth" (umm..okay, lol). So he broke my water, and to monitor things a bit better, he put an internal monitor in to monitor my contractions' strength, and another monitor in the top of Kaylee's head to precisely track her heartrate. So i dilated to 7 and the dr came in and said we had to talk. We started talking about a c-section more seriously. And getting an epidural. I had it set in my mind that i wasn't going to get an epidural. BUT the dr said that if i did have to have a c-section (it of course would be a quick decision, no time for planning, etc) that if i DIDN'T have the epidural before we made that choice, they would have to put me to sleep, and my husband couldn't go back with me. So i told him to go ahead and get me the epidural because i didn't want to go back there alone. So they gave me an epidural and we waited about 10 more minutes, and the dr came back in and said that we couldn't keep testing it, the baby was obviously not dealing with the contractions well, and we had to have a c-section. So we get ready, my hubby Terry gets dressed in his scrubs, then they take us back to the OR. Another experience all in itself. LOL.
I must say, epidurals are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. After they gave me my epidural, i never felt another contraction. And you know how they tell you it takes away the pain, but you still feel the pressure? I didn't feel pressure either lol. Once we got into the OR, they gave me some stuff thru my epidural line, and i went numb up to my arms. It was awesome. The dr who gave me the epidural took a cold alcohol sponge and said to let me know when i felt it, and he started at my hips and went up. I didn't feel it until he got almost to my armpits HAHAH! So they are getting me ready and they finally bring Terry in (he couldn't come back for prep). So my dr leans over the blue sheet and says "i just pinched the crap out of your belly, did you feel that?" And i laughed and said "i sure didn't!" So he went back to work. Well, we waited about 5 minutes or so, and i figured they would tell me before they cut me. So the nurse that was at my head said "Okay, he's making his way through the layers to the baby, this should take about 8 minutes, then once the baby is out, he'll sew you up, and that should take 30-40 minutes". And i was like "what?! Huh?? He cut me already?" LOL. I didn't feel anything. No pressure. No pulling. Nothing. The only thing i felt was when they rolled me to move me to the other bed to take me to recovery. Once they got the baby out and they cleaned her airway, hearing our little girl's first cry was something i wish i could have recorded. I would listen to it everyday. That was by far, one of the most amazing things i have EVER E.V.E.R. heard in my life. She was so beautiful. But so small compared to what i thought. She was healthy. We were happy. We are happy.

Turns out, Kaylee's heartrate kept dropping because her cord was wrapped around her neck once. Only one time usually doesn't make a big difference, and you can still have a vaginal birth. BUT...Kaylee's cord was also short. So with every contraction and every little bit that she slid down in the birth canal, it was cutting off her airway and she couldn't breathe. My dr said that if i had done a vaginal birth, with every push it would have tightened the cord even tighter, and could have been deadly if it wasn't a quick delivery. So I fully believe God was leading my dr. He was such an amazing dr. <3

It's been 3 weeks since she made her debut. And these have been the best 3 weeks of my life. It's like i'm living on Cloud 9. Kaylee is such a great baby. Yeah, she cries, and she fusses when she needs to eat. Or When she's wet. Or cold. Or wants to cuddle. But i love it. I am such a proud parent. Terry is such a great dad. It's all just so surreal. It's hard to believe. We thank God each day for blessing us the way that he did.
On a bittersweet note. This Saturday (April 10th), it will be one year since we lost Rylee. It's still hard to digest some days. I feel sad, but ....."__________". i don't know what that feeling is. It's like, I want Rylee. BUT i know that if Rylee wouldn't have been needed as an angel in Heaven, we wouldn't have Kaylee. And i can't imagine my life without my little girl. So i'm not sure what that emotion is. I feel it, whatever it is. It tugs on my heart strings. Certain things trigger it. I don't cry anymore, because i'm at peace. But. It's still there. And he always will be. God is just so amazing, he knows what the plans are, he knows whats next, he knew before we even knew we were pregnant with Rylee that we would have Kaylee. All i can do is praise him and thank him for bringing me through what he has, and continue to follow him for what's to come. <3 <3