6 years ago
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Kyveli is 2 weeks old!
Everyone told me that time would fly once she arrived, and WOW, they were sure right! I can't believe it's been 2 weeks already. Kyva looks like a completely different baby to us now. Her features are much more defined, and she's packing on some pudge thanks to all the round-the-clock eating she does. We'll find out exactly how much weight she has gained at first her appointment with the pediatrician on Tuesday. She's tracking things with her eyes now, and staying awake for slightly longer periods of time. She's really alert when she's awake. She's also gotten just a teensy bit fussy, but only when she's overtired and she's pretty easy to calm thanks to Dr. Harvey Karp and his 5 S's.
We're feeling sort of lost in a sweet haze of newbornness, where time stops yet flies by at the same time. Kailen went back to work after the first week. He's eligible to take up to 7 weeks off, but he decided to take Fridays off until mid-October instead of taking his leave as a chunk of time. My mom has been here since last Saturday helping out a TON. I seriously don't know what I would have done without her, and I'm a little afraid of what will happen when she leaves. Last Sunday she even made us breakfast in bed! We've had a steady stream of visitors including grandma Marge, aunties Sage, Madylan and Heather and cousins Shasta and Jevria, in addition to lots of friends and other admirers. Everyone seems to agree that we "made a good one."
Here are some pictures from Kyva's first two weeks!
Posing in front of our cheesy garage sign/balloons:
Proud Grandmas Marge (Kailen's mom) and Renee (Zoe's mom):
Auntie Heather with new cousins (yay...cousins!) Shasta and Jevria:
Aunties Sage and Madylan:
Pitsie and Kyva getting to know eachother:
Visits from Vi, Caitlin and Molly:
Visiting daddy Kailen at work:
Who knew nursing pads made such perfect yarmulkes?
Doing a pretty good impression of her peapod doll:
We're feeling sort of lost in a sweet haze of newbornness, where time stops yet flies by at the same time. Kailen went back to work after the first week. He's eligible to take up to 7 weeks off, but he decided to take Fridays off until mid-October instead of taking his leave as a chunk of time. My mom has been here since last Saturday helping out a TON. I seriously don't know what I would have done without her, and I'm a little afraid of what will happen when she leaves. Last Sunday she even made us breakfast in bed! We've had a steady stream of visitors including grandma Marge, aunties Sage, Madylan and Heather and cousins Shasta and Jevria, in addition to lots of friends and other admirers. Everyone seems to agree that we "made a good one."
Here are some pictures from Kyva's first two weeks!
Posing in front of our cheesy garage sign/balloons:
Proud Grandmas Marge (Kailen's mom) and Renee (Zoe's mom):
Auntie Heather with new cousins (yay...cousins!) Shasta and Jevria:
Aunties Sage and Madylan:
Pitsie and Kyva getting to know eachother:
Visits from Vi, Caitlin and Molly:
Visiting daddy Kailen at work:
Who knew nursing pads made such perfect yarmulkes?
Doing a pretty good impression of her peapod doll:
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Kyveli's birth story, Volume 1: At Home
DISCLAIMER: This thing is freaking LONG, sorry! I broke it into two parts to make it a little easier to read. Once again, I am simply incapable of making a long story short...what else is new?
On Saturday, we decided to take a walk. We had been meaning to get library cards at our local library, so we walked the ~1.7 miles over to the library thinking it couldn’t hurt to move things along since my due date was the next day. We walked slowly and I felt mild contractions along the way, but every time I sat down I would have another one and these were much stronger than any of the Braxton-Hicks contractions I had been feeling up to that point. We got our library cards, checked out a bunch of CDs and books, and walked the 1.7 miles back home, stopping a couple of times for a late lunch and at Trader Joe’s to pick up supplies for the barbecue we planned to have the next day if I didn’t go into labor (yeah…that barbecue ended up getting canceled!). Once at home we started timing the contractions and noticed that they were consistently 10 minutes apart. We called Mireille, our doula, and let her know that this might be the beginning of labor. She advised that we get some rest, because if it was the real deal, we’d need to save up our energy for the possibly long haul ahead. We watched “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” on TV, had some dinner, and went to bed around 11pm. I couldn’t sleep much due to being jolted awake by painful contractions every 10 minutes, but drifted off in between.
Around 3am I got up to attempt to distract myself from the pain, which was getting harder and harder to ignore. I updated the blog and began timing contractions again and saw that they were now averaging 5-8 minutes apart. I called Mireille again to let her know that this definitely seemed to be real thing. She said she’d come over as soon as I felt like I needed some extra support. I told her to go back to bed for now and that I’d call again if the situation changed. Around 4am I felt like I needed her to be here with us, so I called again and she arrived around 5am. She assessed the situation and said I was still in early labor, and helped me breathe through the ever strengthening contractions while encouraging me to rest in between. During each one, it felt best to moan really low, sort of like a cow mooing. I remembered what we had been taught in our Bradley class and relaxed my entire body and just tried to concentrate on taking each moment and each sensation individually instead of focusing on what was to come.
We got up a few hours later and ate some breakfast, and this same pattern continued throughout Sunday morning and early afternoon. Every so often, Mireille would suggest changing up our routine to encourage things to continue progressing, so we took a few laps around the backyard, and at around 3pm I took a shower. While in the shower I had 4-5 really strong contractions that I had to lean on the wall and moan through. Mireille said that this could be the beginning of the active labor stage and looking back, I think it was. Mireille and Kailen took excellent care of me by making me snacks and reminding me to drink lots of sips of water, juice, coconut water, etc. At one point, she listened to the baby’s heartbeat using her Doppler and noticed that it was a little on the high side, but not by much so we didn’t worry about it (more on this later). By 6pm the contractions were much stronger, longer and closer together and sometimes I didn’t even have a break between them. We decided it was time to head to Kaiser so Kailen called in and let them know we were on our way.
On Saturday, we decided to take a walk. We had been meaning to get library cards at our local library, so we walked the ~1.7 miles over to the library thinking it couldn’t hurt to move things along since my due date was the next day. We walked slowly and I felt mild contractions along the way, but every time I sat down I would have another one and these were much stronger than any of the Braxton-Hicks contractions I had been feeling up to that point. We got our library cards, checked out a bunch of CDs and books, and walked the 1.7 miles back home, stopping a couple of times for a late lunch and at Trader Joe’s to pick up supplies for the barbecue we planned to have the next day if I didn’t go into labor (yeah…that barbecue ended up getting canceled!). Once at home we started timing the contractions and noticed that they were consistently 10 minutes apart. We called Mireille, our doula, and let her know that this might be the beginning of labor. She advised that we get some rest, because if it was the real deal, we’d need to save up our energy for the possibly long haul ahead. We watched “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” on TV, had some dinner, and went to bed around 11pm. I couldn’t sleep much due to being jolted awake by painful contractions every 10 minutes, but drifted off in between.
Around 3am I got up to attempt to distract myself from the pain, which was getting harder and harder to ignore. I updated the blog and began timing contractions again and saw that they were now averaging 5-8 minutes apart. I called Mireille again to let her know that this definitely seemed to be real thing. She said she’d come over as soon as I felt like I needed some extra support. I told her to go back to bed for now and that I’d call again if the situation changed. Around 4am I felt like I needed her to be here with us, so I called again and she arrived around 5am. She assessed the situation and said I was still in early labor, and helped me breathe through the ever strengthening contractions while encouraging me to rest in between. During each one, it felt best to moan really low, sort of like a cow mooing. I remembered what we had been taught in our Bradley class and relaxed my entire body and just tried to concentrate on taking each moment and each sensation individually instead of focusing on what was to come.
We got up a few hours later and ate some breakfast, and this same pattern continued throughout Sunday morning and early afternoon. Every so often, Mireille would suggest changing up our routine to encourage things to continue progressing, so we took a few laps around the backyard, and at around 3pm I took a shower. While in the shower I had 4-5 really strong contractions that I had to lean on the wall and moan through. Mireille said that this could be the beginning of the active labor stage and looking back, I think it was. Mireille and Kailen took excellent care of me by making me snacks and reminding me to drink lots of sips of water, juice, coconut water, etc. At one point, she listened to the baby’s heartbeat using her Doppler and noticed that it was a little on the high side, but not by much so we didn’t worry about it (more on this later). By 6pm the contractions were much stronger, longer and closer together and sometimes I didn’t even have a break between them. We decided it was time to head to Kaiser so Kailen called in and let them know we were on our way.
Kyveli's birth story, Volume 2: At the Hospital
When we got to Kaiser, Mireille knew exactly where we had to go since she had assisted with deliveries there before. That was a very good thing because nobody was at the information desk and the halls were pretty much deserted. I started getting really emotional being wheeled through those halls, knowing the reason that I was there and that when I was wheeled back out, I would be holding our baby – my baby – in my arms. The led us into the triage room where our Labor & Delivery nurse, Marcia, evaluated me. She took my temperature and hooked me up to the external fetal monitor to listen to the baby’s heartbeat. Both were elevated enough to make them worry that I was either dehydrated or that I had an infection, though an infection was not likely because my water hadn’t broken yet. She said she wanted to start me on an IV and right then, Mireille pulled out our birth plan and let her know that we were really hoping to avoid one. Mireille asked the nurse if there was anything else we could try before the IV, and after consulting with the OB on call, Marcia told me I could try drinking a whole lot of water and after 45 minutes if the situation hadn’t improved, I’d be getting an IV. Fortunately, the water lowered both my temperature and the baby’s heartbeat! No IV needed – woot! The OB, Dr. Bender, came in and checked me and said I was 5cm, 90% effaced, and at -2 station. We were definitely staying, and I was definitely in active labor! We were all thrilled because this was exactly what we had been shooting for but up to then, we had no idea how far I had progressed aside from Mireille’s assessment of my labor progress, which ended up being spot on.
Around 7pm we were led into the delivery room and got settled in. I lost all track of time at this point. My contractions were getting much stronger, longer and closer together and at some point I entered transition. I vomited during one really strong transition contraction, which was no fun since it caused me to tense my up my muscles. At 9:30 I felt a pop and a gush…my water broke! I felt an uncontrollable urge to push after that, and Mireille had to call Marcia back in to let her know that my water had broken and I was pushing. The room filled with people and in walked the OB who would be delivering me, Dr. Nichole Mahnert. Mireille said “oh hi Nichole, are you staying for the delivery?” and there was a grand reunion. Apparently they had done deliveries together before and knew eachother on a first name basis. Mireille told us later that there was nobody else she could have chosen for our delivery, even if she could have had her pick of anyone, and that Dr. Mahnert probably heard that we were going natural and wanted to be a part of it. Sweet! Dr. Mahnert ended up being fantastic.
I started pushing in a semi-reclined position, but that quickly became really uncomfortable and I decided needed to be upright. A squat bar materialized out of nowhere and I pulled myself up on it in sort of a kneeling position. With each contraction the urge to push was unimaginable. I could not have held myself back if my life depended on it, and I had absolutely no control over what I was doing. I just had to take a back seat and let my body do what it needed to do. This part was incredibly intense and to be honest, incredibly painful. I’ve heard so many mothers say that they pushed for two or more hours, especially with their first babies, and I remember thinking that there was no way I would survive if I had to do that for even one hour. It felt like I was being ripped apart. But looking back, I think it was as intense as it was because the baby was coming so quickly. All the while, Dr. Mahnert was literally kneeling on the floor at the foot of the bed and looking up at the action. I have so much respect for her for letting me be in whatever position was most effective and comfortable for me, regardless of her own personal comfort or convenience. After 20 minutes or so, Dr. Mahnert told me to reach down and feel my baby’s head beginning to emerge. It was all wrinkly, warm and incredibly soft. What a strange sensation! A couple of contractions later out she slid – head, shoulders, body and all - in one big gush. I had done it! I had given birth to a beautiful, perfect baby girl after pushing for all of 27 minutes!
They lifted the baby onto my belly and I began getting to know our daughter. She was crying and healthy, and held onto my finger with her little hand. I didn’t even realize it at the time, but the nurses did her APGARs while she was still on my belly, and she scored 9s on both the 1-minute and 5-minute evaluations. Kailen cut the umbilical cord about 20 minutes after the baby was born, when it had nearly stopped pulsing. Then it was time for him to have a turn holding her. It was important to Kailen that his first contact with his daughter be skin-to-skin, so he ripped off his shirt as the nurses handed her to him. He got some funny looks from the nurses, but it was really sweet. While Kailen held the baby, Dr. Mahnert began “inspecting the damage,” which wasn’t bad considering how quickly she came out – just a 1st degree lateral tear (they later upgraded it to 2nd degree, but still not bad). We had asked the nurses to delay all newborn procedures for at least the first hour to allow time to bond with the baby, so we didn’t even know now much she weighed until she was over an hour old. I was on the phone with my mom when they finally did weigh her, and we all took turns guessing, which was fun. Turns out she was 7lbs, 2.3oz and 19” long. I don’t even remember who won the bet!
Mireille stayed long enough to help us get breastfeeding established, which went very well and still is. Finally, she left us in the good hands of the Kaiser staff after being with us for nearly 20 hours and making such a wonderful contribution to our labor and delivery experience.
Around 7pm we were led into the delivery room and got settled in. I lost all track of time at this point. My contractions were getting much stronger, longer and closer together and at some point I entered transition. I vomited during one really strong transition contraction, which was no fun since it caused me to tense my up my muscles. At 9:30 I felt a pop and a gush…my water broke! I felt an uncontrollable urge to push after that, and Mireille had to call Marcia back in to let her know that my water had broken and I was pushing. The room filled with people and in walked the OB who would be delivering me, Dr. Nichole Mahnert. Mireille said “oh hi Nichole, are you staying for the delivery?” and there was a grand reunion. Apparently they had done deliveries together before and knew eachother on a first name basis. Mireille told us later that there was nobody else she could have chosen for our delivery, even if she could have had her pick of anyone, and that Dr. Mahnert probably heard that we were going natural and wanted to be a part of it. Sweet! Dr. Mahnert ended up being fantastic.
I started pushing in a semi-reclined position, but that quickly became really uncomfortable and I decided needed to be upright. A squat bar materialized out of nowhere and I pulled myself up on it in sort of a kneeling position. With each contraction the urge to push was unimaginable. I could not have held myself back if my life depended on it, and I had absolutely no control over what I was doing. I just had to take a back seat and let my body do what it needed to do. This part was incredibly intense and to be honest, incredibly painful. I’ve heard so many mothers say that they pushed for two or more hours, especially with their first babies, and I remember thinking that there was no way I would survive if I had to do that for even one hour. It felt like I was being ripped apart. But looking back, I think it was as intense as it was because the baby was coming so quickly. All the while, Dr. Mahnert was literally kneeling on the floor at the foot of the bed and looking up at the action. I have so much respect for her for letting me be in whatever position was most effective and comfortable for me, regardless of her own personal comfort or convenience. After 20 minutes or so, Dr. Mahnert told me to reach down and feel my baby’s head beginning to emerge. It was all wrinkly, warm and incredibly soft. What a strange sensation! A couple of contractions later out she slid – head, shoulders, body and all - in one big gush. I had done it! I had given birth to a beautiful, perfect baby girl after pushing for all of 27 minutes!
They lifted the baby onto my belly and I began getting to know our daughter. She was crying and healthy, and held onto my finger with her little hand. I didn’t even realize it at the time, but the nurses did her APGARs while she was still on my belly, and she scored 9s on both the 1-minute and 5-minute evaluations. Kailen cut the umbilical cord about 20 minutes after the baby was born, when it had nearly stopped pulsing. Then it was time for him to have a turn holding her. It was important to Kailen that his first contact with his daughter be skin-to-skin, so he ripped off his shirt as the nurses handed her to him. He got some funny looks from the nurses, but it was really sweet. While Kailen held the baby, Dr. Mahnert began “inspecting the damage,” which wasn’t bad considering how quickly she came out – just a 1st degree lateral tear (they later upgraded it to 2nd degree, but still not bad). We had asked the nurses to delay all newborn procedures for at least the first hour to allow time to bond with the baby, so we didn’t even know now much she weighed until she was over an hour old. I was on the phone with my mom when they finally did weigh her, and we all took turns guessing, which was fun. Turns out she was 7lbs, 2.3oz and 19” long. I don’t even remember who won the bet!
Mireille stayed long enough to help us get breastfeeding established, which went very well and still is. Finally, she left us in the good hands of the Kaiser staff after being with us for nearly 20 hours and making such a wonderful contribution to our labor and delivery experience.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Introducing Kyveli Jade Irene Wright!
She's here! Kyveli was born on Sunday, March 8 (International Women's Day!) at 9:56pm. She weighed 7lbs, 2.3oz and is 19" long. She's just precious if we do say so ourselves, though we admit that we may be a tad bit biased. We got home from the hospital yesterday afternoon and I'm just now getting a chance to get online for a minute. I'll post her completely natural and med-free birth story soon.
If you're wondering about the origins of her name, check out this link. She was named after a very strong goddess figure from ancient Greek mythology, also known as Cybele. It's pronounced kee-VEL-ee and she'll go by Kyva (KEE-va) for short.
Here are a few pics - more are online here!
If you're wondering about the origins of her name, check out this link. She was named after a very strong goddess figure from ancient Greek mythology, also known as Cybele. It's pronounced kee-VEL-ee and she'll go by Kyva (KEE-va) for short.
Here are a few pics - more are online here!
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