First Bath

Kendall got her 1st bath at home on Saturday night, she was a dirty little birdie!  It wasn't her favorite thing we've done so far :)

Poor girl...she has to be sweet and clean though!

Readmission & the flu :(

We took Kendall to her 1st pediatrician appointment this morning.  It was just supposed to be a bilirubin and weight check, but her bilicheck was 18-waaaaaay too high!  So Dr. G came in and saw our peanut pumpkin and sent us to the hospital for a blood draw :(

Dressed up for her 1st doctor appointment

 Long story short, Dr. G called us a couple of hours later and let us know that Kendall needed to be readmitted to pediatrics for phototherapy.  So I headed to the hospital with my pumpkin.  She was admitted and placed under 4 lights to treat her bilirubin.

I called my mom to let her know Kendall was readmitted and she informed me that she had the flu....as did my SIL, my brother and my other brother's girlfriend....all of whom had visited us in the last 48 hours.  Then I called Alan to tell him we were settled in....and he told me that when he picked up Alyvia from school, they had her sitting with a garbage can because she felt sick.  I hadn't felt good all day, which I had been chalking up to a busy day after just having a baby, but I started thinking maybe I had the flu too :(  At 9 pm I got my answer, I did indeed have the flu.  I called Alan, my Father In Law went to our house to watch the kids and Alan traded me at the hospital so I could go home and not expose Kendall to anything.  It was a miserable night, I felt awful and I didn't want to be away from my baby.  BUT, it could have been far worse and I wasn't sick anymore at least.  I felt very achy Saturday morning, but I was determined to purge our house of sickness so I cleaned and washed sheets.  Then Brittany came over to watch Cole & Alyvia so I could go up to the hospital and see Kendall. 

Alyvia made a decoration for Kendall's bed at the hospital :)

Kendall's bilirubin level was down on Saturday morning so they let her out from the under the lights and rechecked her level at 3 pm.  Around 5, we were discharged again! 

We went home and had a re-do as a family of 5!  We were so happy to be home (and healthy) again!

Alyvia's Welcome Home sign for Kendall

Homeward Bound

Kendall and I were both discharged Thursday.  Her bilirubin level Thursday morning was 9.1, so the doctors gave us instructions to have her re-checked at her pediatricians on Friday and we were released!  Daddy came to the hospital to pick us girls up!

Dressed & ready to go!

It's cold outside, a hat is a must!

We got home around 2 and we all went to pick up Alyvia from school, she was so surprised!  We had a nice, quiet night at home.  Nana came and visited for a little bit in the evening and ate dinner with us.  Kendall was such a good girl at home, hardly a peep from her :)  I feel so lucky today to have 3 healthy kids, a husband who loves his family so much and lots of friends and family who are so supportive of us.

1st time in the swing!  She loves it, just like her big sis and big bro

A certain big sister was so happy to have her little sister home

"Me hol, me hol"  I think big brother loves her too!

Ready for bed in the pack 'n play

We are blessed!

Sun bathing beauty

On Wednesday morning, my nurse came into my room to let me know Kendall's bilirubin level was 6.2, so she was placed under phototherapy in the nursery.

My sunbathing beauty was so relaxed even under the light-she's such a good girl :)  The day shift nurse was nice enough to move my beautiful girl into my room so at least I could be "with" her.  Mommy could also feed her and maybe play just a bit of dress up :)

She looks just like Colson here!

Oh my, poor girl has a mullet!

 We had lots of visitors on Wednesday!  First was Uncle Adam, he had worked the night before and still came up to meet baby Kendall.

Then Laura stopped by with Sienna and Lawson.  Kristin came about the same time too.  Unfortunately, Kendall was under the lights most of the time, but she did come out briefly to eat and visit.

Aunt Kelly came up next...and brought us Avanti's gondolas for lunch :)

After Aunt Kelly left, we had a break in visitors and we just relaxed with our new girl.  She had a bilirubin level drawn and it was stable so we got to take her out from under the lights :)

Kendall in her very 1st outfit

After school, Nana and Papa brought up Alyvia and Colson to actually meet their baby sister.  Alyvia was so happy.  She kept telling me she loved Kendall's name and Kendall was so adorable!

Alyvia picked out a gift for baby Kendall

Kendall & Alyvia with their matching monkeys

Sister love

Big brother was actually excited to meet Kendall too!

Nana & Kendall

Papa & Kendall

Awww, Big brother loves baby sister

And he loves brownies!

Big Sis wanted me to change Kendall into her matching shirt :)

My girls

Our family of 5!!

 

Aunt Anne, Un Cha, Finn and Lindsey came back to meet baby Kendall too!

Lindsey & Kendall

Finnegan meets Kendall...and wants to eat her headband!

"Crazy" Aunt Anne (as she calls herself!)

Un Cha & Kendall

After they left, Stephanie stopped by to meet Kendall, I didn't get a picture though!  While she was there, Aunt Cheryl, Reagan and Rylie came to the hospital to see Kendall too!

 

There are so many people who are excited about Kendall's arrival and we feel so lucky to have so much love surrounding this baby girl <3.  Every baby should be so lucky!

Alan picked the kids up from my parents that night so they could spend the night at home.  We were hoping when he came back up Thursday, both Kendall and I would be able to go home!

Kendall Ashway Cowser

Kendall Ashway Cowser was born on November 6, 2012 at 18:23.  She weighed in at 6 lbs. 13.6 oz. and was 18.5 inches long.

This might be boring for the 4 people that read my blog, but I want to remember so here's a recap of the day.  I got up at 4:00 to get ready to be at the hospital at 6.  I called at 5:00 to make sure that they had bed space for me and....they didn't!  So, a small set back.  I still left home and went to my mom and dad's and hung out with my mom for a bit.  The L & D nurse called me at 6:30 and told me to go ahead and come in, they were ready now.  My mom and I got there around 7 and we finally (slowly) got things going.  Alan got to the hospital around 8:30 after dropping Alyvia off at school.  We were still waiting on doctors orders to start the induction.  Finally around 10:30, the pitocin was started.  My contractions actually started right away!  Dr. B came in to check on me around noon.  I was only 3 cm, but she was able to break my water.  I got my epidural close to 1 pm and then we waited for things to pick up.  I was contracting every 3 minutes and on the monitor the contractions looked strong, but I couldn't feel a thing from my stomach down!  At 4 pm, my new nurse came into check me and I was still only 3 cm dilated :(  We were disappointed and assumed we were in for another long labor (like Colson!).  Kristin came up for a visit and my epidural started to wear off while she was there.  We had my parents bring the kids up for a visit too since we assumed baby girl wasn't going to make her appearance until late in the night.  Alan walked the kids out with my parents around 5:15 and Dr. L stopped by to see if we were making any progress.  I was 8 cm and he thought things were probably going to move fast!!!  I called Alan and told him to get back upstairs quickly :)  I started pushing a little after 6 pm, pushed through 3 contractions and Miss Kendall made her appearance at 18:23.  She came out crying, declaring herself healthy and mad at being born! 

After spending a little time with Mommy and Daddy, Alan's parents were the first to meet our Kendall.

Next Chris, Anne, Finnegan & Lindsey came to meet her.  It was time for Kendall to go to the nursery though.  Nana and Papa brought Alyvia & Colson back to the hospital to meet baby sister too.  Alyvia apparently was almost demanding to be brought up!

Colson sees Kendall for the first time...he was really hollering for Daddy :)

Alyvia "meets" Kendall

Daddy feeds Kendall her 1st bottle

Unfortunately, Kendall had to stay in the nursery to warm up and it got late so everyone left before they got a chance to actually meet her. 

Big Sis and Big Bro hanging out in Mom's room.  Colson pretty much only cared about Daddy at this point!

After the crowd left, Alan went and got us some food (McDonald's for me!) and then we hung out with little Kendall for a bit. 

I sent Alan home for the night.  I was in a double room and I was afraid that I would get a roommate (I didn't though!) and he would have to leave anyway.  He planned to take Alyvia to school the next morning and then come hang out with us girls at the hospital.

We are so excited that Kendall is here!  I can't wait to see how she fits into our family.  I love having this little girl already!

Twas The Night Before....Induction

November 6, 2012-hopefully our new baby girl's birthday.  If she follows in her brother's footsteps, it will be November 8th....I'd like to avoid that :)  I am so excited to meet this baby!  In some ways, this pregnancy has gone sooo fast.  So cliche, but I am so busy with Alyvia and Colson that I haven't had a ton of time to focus on the wait for our newest little girl.  But then I think about how we've known this baby was coming since early March and it feels like FOREVER!  It seems crazy that it could be "over" in 24 hours, or just beginning depending on how you look at it :)  Our bags are packed, her big sister and big brother are set, we have as many "plans" as we could have for the possibilities-yet it still seems surreal.  I want so badly to meet her, see who she is........and then I want time to stop, just stand still so we can soak it all in.  I want these 12 weeks off with my babies to crawl by ever so slowly.  I know they won't, but it's what I want.  It won't be perfect, don't get me wrong I have no delusions of grandeur.  But, I want to be home with my little family and all of our imperfectness :)
Baby girl, we love you so much already.  When you make your appearance I just want you to be healthy, so take your time if you must.  Just know that your mommy, daddy, big sister and even your big brother are super excited to meet you and we might seem a little impatient tomorrow :)