McKenzie's Arrival

I went into labor around Friday evening and it felt like one constant contraction that would not go away. I ate dinner, went to bed, and did everything as normal. About midnight I woke up with horrible contractions & heart burn which of course...would not go away but I got up drank some milk of mag and went back to bed.

Saturday morning I awoke with the same intense pain but decided that if I was going to go into the hospital, then I was going to get a nice long shower because I knew I wouldn't get another one for a few days. I ate just a little soup because I knew I had to eat for the baby...but really didn't feel hungry so I just ate 1/2c or so. Laid down to time my contractions and realized that they were not only intense...but they were 2-4 minutes apart!!! So I called the doctor on call since it was Saturday and she insisted that I go into triage at Highland Hospital. When I arrived I went through the normal ordeal of being hooked up to the monitors in which they agreed, I was having huge contractions of about 2mins apart. The dilemma? I ate lunch. Darn it! So...needless to say, I had to wait 8hrs from the time I had eaten lunch to have my C-section.

Around 8:15pm that night, they took me into the OB unit's OR and prepped me for the C-section and 8:39pm, McKenzie Elizabeth was born. She was 8lb 7oz and 21.5 inches long. Big baby right!?! She sure doesn't look like it though. She's a little peanut with long arms, legs, fingers, and toes! :)

We both went home on Tuesday Sept 7th and we are doing very well. Mom is a little sore but just finding the "new" muscles and McKenzie is loving being close to her mom. And of course being held by Grammie and Poppi too! She absolutely adores her daddy and loves looking into his eyes (even though cross-eyed at times). :)
Aidan loves being a big brother and has been adjusting well. He loves holding her and kissing her. His words: "Mom, I love my sissy!" So precious! I pray over them both every night as I'm up feeding her. My prayers are that they would have a very close knit relationship and that they both would grow up with a strong, awesome relationship with Jesus! Also that God would guide us in raising them to be good well rounded kids!

Here are some pictures. :)

Eleven More Days

Today I was having a self-pity party, complaining about how much pain I'm in with my right leg. It definitely has been an issue and stops me from doing the normal every day things with Aidan. I have to constantly tell him "Mommy's leg hurts so I need to sit down for awhile..." It's annoying and the pain is intense! But...I also came to the realization that we only have 11 more days until our C-section!!! There's finally light at the end of the tunnel! :)

This weekend was a very enjoyable weekend with the Peers family. Ian & Lindsey got married yesterday at a beautiful Episcopalian church in Brockport and then had their reception in Kathi's backyard. It was great to see the Peers' and good to see the happy couple! Here's to a good rest of the year...weddings, babies, and more!

Thinking while the house is quiet

I have really been thinking a lot about my spiritual health. I don't know if its because Aidan's getting older & we're adding little McKenzie to our family soon. But I do know that I want to be a good example for my children and also have a healthy spiritual life for myself.

I struggle with this though because I have a hard time reading the Bible and staying interested. I don't know how to read something that I've read over and over again and make it feel like something new. I've tried some devotionals but they all seem pretty lame and they ask the simplest questions that don't really make you think. I need something that will make me think deeply about my walk with God and bring back that love that I have had in my heart once before. The one that felt like I had just met a new boyfriend & I had flutters in my heart. :) I'm not really sure how to attain this but I know that it's needed and that I need a huge change in my life.

Any suggestions for books, devotionals, better experience with quiet times, etc? I'd like to hear your thoughts.

C-section vs. Natural Birth

So we've decided to go for a repeat C-section this time around. I think I just feel better about it for me. That's all I've really known because I had a C-section with Aidan and I know that its a quick and easy process. There won't be too much pain involved and that makes me rest easy. Plus it will be easier for family who will be coming in from out of town to make arrangements around her birth. Highland Hospital should be calling me sometime this week or next to make the appointment. I can't wait to have a date finally set in stone. 8 1/2 more weeks!!!

Waiting for McKenzie

I've been having a really fun time picking out cloth diapers, setting up registries, and going to Carters for sales that come up. I had to stop myself today because I would have bought every cute little thing I saw. But instead I limited myself to about four outfits. Gotta love Carters and their sales! So cute! Now I just have to get a good changing table and I'll feel like I have enough to set up a room for her.

Speaking of registries: We are set up with Target, BabiesRus, and BuyBuy Baby. But I've put most of our needs on BabiesRus and Target as I love those stores! I so can't wait to meet her!

Road Blocks...

I found out two weeks ago that I had failed the 3hr glucose tolerance test for pregnancy by like 5 pts. But according to a doctor I spoke to, "if you're five points over, you're still a diabetic". I really wanted to have words with her! I really felt like they did it to me. I don't give myself 100grams of glucose in 5 mins...I don't even do that in one day most of the time. I understand the reasoning for the test but I have also read through University of Rochester's intranet that the glucose tolerance test is very controversial and that some doctors aren't even practicing it. Come to find out, there are only 25-30% of pregnant women that pass the darn test! Anyway, since finding this new diagnosis out, I had to go to a Endocrinology clinic and talk with a nurse educator and get some blood tests done. I've also had to monitor my blood glucose with a home monitor (finger stick) 4 times a day. I've switched my diet to exclude most carbohydrates and added more protein & veggies/empty carb fruits (ie: strawberries, apples, etc). My blood sugars you ask!?! 80s-120s range. So I am hoping that on Tuesday when I meet with the Nurse Educator again, she will have mercy on me and let me just control by diet alone. My poor fingers are so sore!

Other news: McKenzie is measuring big or ahead of schedule so I may be farther along than they thought. No surprise to me because I thought I was pregnant the month before they confirmed the pregnancy. My period was only 1 day and it was weird...and none of the other symptoms went away. So we may have an August baby instead of September. We shall soon find out. My next appointment is July 6th!

Work has been more tiring for me lately and I've had several patients telling me that I should think about going on maternity leave soon. LOL! I worked all the way up until a week before Aidan was born. I know I can make it with this little gal! Tiring as it may be! Of course the thought crosses my mind but it would be hard for me to take off in the next month. I only get short term disability and it's half of my pay. But I'm going to push on. Twelve hour shifts kill me but its a good floor and we all help each other out. I can't wait to meet little Ms. McKenzie!

Pregnancy, Labor, and Birth...

I'm reading a book called Birthing From Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Preparation by Pam England and Rob Horowitz. It's a very good book by the way especially if you want to try an all natural no drugs route or have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean).

The first task that it gave everyone was to get out a pen and paper and write as fast as you can about your thoughts on pregnancy, labor, and birth. You're not supposed to stop and think...but just write, write, write. So here are my thoughts.

Even though in nursing school we had clinicals on the maternity unit, I never knew what to expect of pregnancy except for what I saw my mom go through 6-7 times. She was always sick during her pregnancies and didn't do well for various reasons. But it must not have been all that bad, because she had eight of us! Yep thats right...eight!

My pregnancy with Aidan wasn't all that enjoyable for me because Jesse and I were always talking about moving out here to New York and I felt stressed out. I had horrible swelling the last two months of pregnancy and begged the doctor to take him out early. He was breech so I ended up having a scheduled C-section at 39 weeks. The nurse anesthetist was good about letting him lay on me the first few minutes after delivery so that I could see him before they whisked him away as they cleaned him up and made sure he was healthy. During this time, the doctors and OR staff realized that I wasn't breathing like I should and thought that I threw a clot to my lungs. So the baby was whisked away along with my hubby and my mother stayed at the bedside with me to make sure that I was okay. It ended up being that I was really sensitive to the anesthesia and it had effected my breathing/speaking/swallowing. It was horrible! The spinal epidural had finally wore off and I was able to do everything normally in about an hour....except for moving my lower extremities. That took a long time to wear off. :O) Boy was I glad when I was finally in the post partum unit in my own room! I was still with no use of my legs, I was hooked up to every "line" imaginable (foley catheter, BP cuff, IV lines, etc.) but I was able to hold and bond with my new son!

This pregnancy has gone much better so far. I'm 24 weeks on Thursday and we're having a little girl. We've decided to name her McKenzie Elizabeth. I haven't been as stressed out and even through the aches, pains, and nausea, I've somewhat enjoyed being pregnant. I still notice some swelling when I'm on my feet a lot and when I'm dehydrated. This time around though, I'm determined to do things different. I've watched my diet a little closer to make sure that I'm making smart choices and if she's not breech, then I'm going to have a natural birth with no drugs (unless I have back labor) in which I'll try not to have an epidural but will still accept pain medication (nuban or whatever is offered now (non-narcotic)).

With Aidan I was unable to breastfeed. I'm not sure if I didn't make enough milk, Aidan wasn't interested, or I just didn't have the support I needed to make it through. I want to give breastfeeding another try with McKenzie and not give up on it this time.

I'm really scared of this whole "birth experience" this time around probably because I've never experienced a vaginal birth or even labor. What if in all the pain I yell out curse words or scream too loud!?! What if my mom can't make it out for the birth and Jesse can't be with me in the room because he has to be with Aidan!?! There are a lot of fears going through my head but I am still determined to experience a natural child birth if possible!

Good news: Just found out that my pediatricians office has a lactation consultant in the office and I can make appointments with her. :o)

It's a girl!!!!!

We're naming her McKenzie Elizabeth! Daddy tried to tell the ultrasonographer (sp?) that there must be a "pee pee" there somewhere. LOL Aidan is excited to have a little sister and can't wait to hold her!

Just a little update

When I first set out to blog I had full intentions of keeping this site updated frequently but I have been horrible at it. I guess I just feel like there's nothing new to talk about sometimes. But here's an update for ya'll since finding out we're pregnant!

I am now going into my fifth month of pregnancy and I'm feeling very big & heavy but definitely feeling good. I have the normal aches and pains that go with being preggers and its hard to sleep at night but so far the pregnancy has been going very well. We have an ultrasound on Monday (tomorrow) to find out the sex. I love seeing the baby and hearing the heart beat. It's so precious! I wonder if there's two in there. LOL! I feel huge!


Aidan turned three on April 20th and we had two birthday parties for him (one for church family and one for family). He had a blast and loved every minute of the attention. Thanks everyone who made it to his parties!


Jesse completed his last week of classes at St John Fisher this last Friday and graduates with several history awards & with Alpha Sigma Lamda for his scholastic achievements. He also got a job at the George Eastman House (George Eastman's mansion - founder of Kodak) where he'll be working under the curator of the museum. We're both very excited about that and I'm very proud of him!


Well, that's all the updates for now. I'll post the excitement from tomorrow when we get the news!

We're pregnant!!!

I found out Saturday that I am pregnant!!! We're all so excited and Aidan is excited to be a big brother. He asks me if he can see the baby, points to my belly button, and tells me that the baby is in there. I told him tonight that the baby is really really small but he can talk to my tummy and the baby will hear him. It's very cute watching him trying to comprehend it. I will be posting baby bump pics when I start showing...If I do the calculations right, I'm only about six weeks along. I'm hoping for a girl but I would be happy with another boy so that Aidan would have a little playmate. Yay!!!