1 month

Here are Kenzie's 1 month pictures.  She was not a happy lady this night, but I insisted on putting her through a photo shoot!

4 Week flashback

4 weeks have gone by, and I thought for sure I'd be thinking, where did the last 4 weeks go.  But luckily (and for now) that doesn't seem to be the case.  I hope I feel the same way when I go back to work in 2 weeks...my guess is I won't. 

Mackenzie is becoming more and more alert as the weeks pass, and we are quickly learning her quirks.  She rarely ever cries unless she is hungry.  We've learned her "poop face" and have recognized that when she tries to eat her fist, she's hungry. She is getting much stronger at holding her head and griping our fingers.  We've also been able to figure out a pretty good routine, which usually includes her sleeping from 11 or 12 at night until 5 or 6 in the morning.  She's perfect!

We started cloth diapers, even though they are a tad big!

    

She learned all about cell phones from her Daddy

This is the ever popular poop face!

And this is the "I'll punch you in the mug if you take any more pictures while I poop"

Peek a boo.

Sleeping like a little angel.

Smiling in her sleep.

Setting the fashion trends.

Baby wearing.

Resemblance

So anyone who has seen or had 3D sonogram pictures...lets be honest, it always looks like the same baby.  But look at the resemblance...  The first is the 3D picture, taken 2 days before Mackenzie was born, while the second was taken 2 nights ago.

3 Weeks

Look who turned 3 weeks old today!  Along with the constant flashes in little Mackenzie's face, we will also be doing a picture of her on her monthly birthday! 

So here is the first one...lets watch her grow.

0 months old!

I spy with my little eye

Kenzie's 3 week birthday is quickly approaching.  Over the past 2+ weeks, I've realized so many new things. 

1. There is a good chance if you reached into my coat pocket you would find a pacifier
2. Speaking of pacifiers...where do those always disappear to? (besides my coat pocket)
3. Watching someone poop sounds disgusting, but when its Mackenzie I find myself laughing as well as taking pictures of her facial expressions-poor thing
4. Laundry day has now turned into laundry day(s)
5. I can not resist buying baby clothes
6. Showers, brushing my teeth, and lunch has taken a backseat to burping, feedings, and diapers
7. Just like boys, baby girls are more than capable of producing a "pee geyser"
8. I'll need to work on doing things with 1 arm/hand
9. It is shocking that such a small little package is capable of producing such a room filling stench
10. I've found that it is such a fun game to have Donny change Kenzie's diaper when I know it'll include a little bonus...SURPRISE!

Picture perfect

Kenzie had her 2 week check-up on Wednesday.  She is now 22inches long, which is in the 95% percentile for her age.  She is up to 8lbs 5oz, so almost to her birth weight.  Her pediatrician says she is "perfect" but I was pretty sure of that. 

She is really an "easy baby."  She is sleeping about 3-4 hours at night, which usually means a 3:00am or 4:00am feeding, which lasts about a 1/2 hour, then back to bed until about 7:00 or 8:00.

We also just started using the cloth diapers since her umbilical cord fell of.  A tad big for her little body, but she looks so cute in them. 

Her big brothers are doing so well with her.  Fausto could really care less, but Grady likes to check in on her from time to time.  Grady comes running when he hears her crying, and Fausto runs the other way!   

Not so happy all the time!

Watching daddy

Napping with Aunt Katie

Hating tummy time

Watching the Knickerbockers

Puppy Sandwich!

So girlie!

A week in the books..

So we've now been home for a week, and I must say, time is already flying!  She's already over a week old.  So since its been a week, I thought I'd share her birth story.

Well Monday night (January 24th) I started to feel a little crampy about 10 o'clock at night.  I had felt this before in the last few weeks, but this time it was sticking around.  The next day, Tuesday, Donny was home from work because we got a new furnace.  I hid out in bed with the dogs all morning, keeping Donny updated on any changes.  Everytime I said they were sticking around he'd say "Ohhhh boyyy!"  Well could this be it?  So we decided to call the doctor and they had us come in, instead of heading to the hospital.  I had another nonstress test which showed...Nothing (as far as contractions)!  Well we felt pretty silly.  Baby was still moving, but I wasn't feeling it as much, which many people told us would happen.  So I then saw the nurse practitioner who I had seen the previous day.  I was now 80% effaced, and 5-6cm dilated!  Whooo!!  A dilating machine!  So she talked to the Dr and came up with a plan because something was defiantly going on.  Soo..she said to go get some lunch/dinner, and head to the mall for a hour walk, then head over to the hospital to be checked again.  We may stay we may not.  But holy cow we are doing this!!

So we headed to Panera Bread for a late lunch, then headed home to do some walking on the treadmill...afterall we have our pups at home.  We wanted to delay their world being turned upside down as long as possible.  So walking on the treadmill, I'm now feeling consistent contractions 4-6 minutes apart.  I walked a total of 45 minutes, then did some last minute packing, showering, and cleaning up.

Off to the hospital...(after a quick stop for dog food)

So we got to the hospital about 7:30 and got in an exam room.  They had the midwife check me.  The funny thing is (and by funny I mean not really funny at all) was she said I was 4 cm.  What?!?! Umm, where is my optimistic nurse practitioner!  So we got to now walk around the L&D unit and mother baby floor.  Now this is not nearly as private as the comforts of your own home.  Who wants to hug the wall in pain, while random people are watching you.  So come 9:15 I got checked again, and I'm now 5-6cm.  Contractions are defiantly about 4 minutes apart, and are very much visible on the monitor.  Donny was so excited to see the number go up and up and up.  Like it was a contest to see if we could beat the previous one.  What a "fun game."

So they decide to admit us, and were put into Labor and Delivery room 1.  Contractions are strong and horrible, intolerable really.  I tried the birthing ball, with very little success, and quickly realized this was not going to happen.  So, about 11:00 I called my nurse Amy, and she came in and said "uncle?" and I said YES!  So we called anesthesia and epidural was placed by 11:15.  Ahhhhh! The epidural process was something I was really nervous about, but I think my IV hurt more!  Oh and no problem at all with my platelets!

Alright, so I got about an hour sleep, and was checked again.  8cm!  8cm in 1 hour!  Whoo hoo.  About 2:00 they decided to break my water, which I didn't feel.  Probably got about another hour of sleep.  So at 4:30 or so they checked again, and I was fully dilated and practicing pushing!  The nurses kept saying, "oh these are great pushes" "this will be easy for you" and they called my doctor.  Well Well Well....Since I wasn't feeling anything from that miraculous epidural, they decided to turn it off so I could make my pushes count.  Well ouch!  My doctor and nurse kept saying you're so close she's right there.  (they were all calling her she because of all of the hair!)  Well almost 2 hours later, I was exhausted and not knowing how I could possibly do this any longer.  So because her heartrate was going up a little and I was pooped, they decided to use the vacuum to help assist.  She popped off the vacuums a couple of times because of all her hair.  But then pop!  She came flying out!  The Dr had Donny tell me what it was, which I felt like I was waiting for 5 minutes, not 5 seconds to find out!  A girl!  My "little" Mackenzie Leigh!  21.5 inchs and 8lbs 7oz of pure love and joy!

Here are some pictures from her first week at home!