Anna pictures!

Before I get to Anna's official update I wanted to post some pictures with Grandpa Kevin and Grandma Patti. I think I mentioned before but it was absolutely wonderful having them here for Anna's birth and her first days coming home.

Before surgery

Kevin fixed the chandelier we put up in Anna's room. At it's shortest length it was a little long but Kevin found a way to shorten it further so there will be no head collisions. (Very important in the middle of the night when you're already super tired)

Pretty in Pink

Patti had a little photo shoot with Anna in this adorable gown. This picture happened by accident but it is a favorite now.

Patti and Kevin went shopping and got us all loaded up on essentials from sandwich meat to baby wipes. Patti also did a bunch of cooking and not only did we eat great every night but there were plenty of leftovers that lasted us quite some time. 

Hey Grandma!

Just loved this profile picture. We love her little lips.  

Nose Nuzzle!

We had to stay up for the Stanford game. It got late though and when we thought it might go to overtime we were ready to call it a night! (The next night was the KSU game and we did have to hit the sack early...we were way too tired!)

Let's go Stanford!

Grandpa must be pretty boring.
:) 

It was so hard saying goodbye. The week went by way too quickly but we are so grateful for the time we did have. We love you guys!

 

Anna's Birth Story

As Kevin already posted, our Anna made her grand entrance on November 27th. We are so absolutely, completely, utterly in love with our daughter. It was such a stressful third trimester and to finally have her here safe and healthy is incredible. Time is already flying by so fast so I figured I'd better get to blogging! (I started this post days ago...it takes much longer with a baby!)

Kevin's parents were able to make the drive up and arrived the day before the surgery. We were so happy to have them there for support since we were pretty anxious about everything. We'd been moved to a later time slot so luckily I didn't have to start fasting until after midnight (instead of 8pm as it was previously) allowing us time to get dinner and catch up before attempting to get some sleep.

Finally it was time to head to the hospital but we needed one last pregnancy picture just one day shy of 38 weeks.

We arrived at the hospital at 11am and things happened quickly after that. After changing into my gown they got me started on an I.V. so they could get me pumped with fluid before the procedure. This was one of the worst parts because I got extrememly light headed and felt like I was going to pass out. They turned me on my side, had me sniff some ammonia stuff, and fanned me off until I felt better. They had me sign a bunch of papers, washed my stomach, and went over how things were going to proceed. The two hours flew by pretty quickly considering and once the doctor arrived they had Kevin get suited up before wheeling me into the operating room.

Kevin had to wait outside the doors while I was receiving the spinal. It took him a little bit to get the needle in the right spot (felt like forever because everyone was really really quiet the entire time)and while it was not pleasant it wasn't horrible. The anxiety was worse than anything. Once the meds had been administered I immediately felt first my right leg going numb followed by everything else from the waist down. Then things really got going Everyone was moving quickly...putting in the catheter, prepping my stomach with iodine, marking the incision area, and probably many other things as well. Kevin was finally allowed back and I was extremely happy to see him (I think he was just as happy to see me too).

At one point I got really nauseous. When I told the anesthesiologist tech he got me a basin to vomit in and he told me he'd give me something as soon as they got the baby out. Only problem, every time I heaved my uterus contracted and my doctor had to stop. I ended up getting something and I immediately felt better so things could go on. Kevin was brave and actually watched the doctor pulling Anna out. Shortly afterward we got to hear her cry. Beautiful sweet music to our ears. Kevin was then back and forth between me and the baby telling me about her full head of hair and how beautiful she was. Finally they brought her over to me and we got to be together as a family for the first time. We only had a little bit before they had to go and take her to the nursery and Kevin went with her. It felt like forever before they were done stitching me back up. Finally it was time to wheel me back to my room so that I could hold our little girl for the first time.

We had some time together before a nurse came in and reminded us that Kevin and Patti were waiting to hear how things went. Things had been so crazy we'd completely forgotten! Shortly thereafter they were able to come back and see and hold Anna for the first time.

  

Proud Daddy!

 The rest of the day involved feeling slowly coming back to my legs. They'd have me move my foot and it would surprise me when it actually twitched or moved. At around 10:30pm I got up for the first time and was able to get ready for bed. The next morning they took out the catheter and I was able to take a shower which felt pretty amazing. It felt like people were in and out of the room the rest of the day checking my vitals, Anna's vitals, giving me my meds, visits from my doctor, Anna's doctor. etc. 

One of my many favorites.

The next day was discharge day! I had to have my staples removed, sign paperwork, and final visits from the doctors. We were excited to finally get to bring Anna home!

Kevin and Patti had been busy the last few days stocking our fridge, cooking for us, fixing a few things around our place, and getting ready for us to bring Anna home. It was so wonderful having them there and helping us make the day special. 

I have many many more pictures...including those with Grandpa Kevin and Grandma Patti. I decided to make a separate post with other pictures along with details of our first week at home. Hopefully I can get to that soon...probably with less detail than this post. 

We are thrilled with how well everything worked out. It's such relief to have her here safe and healthy. The doctor was really happy that she got her out when she did. I had very little amniotic fluid left making it difficult to make the incision leading to a small nick on Anna's hip from the scalpel. The cut is already healed and not noticeable.

Thanks again for all your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes over the last few months. It has been difficult but we couldn't have asked for a better outcome. We love our little Anna Rae!

Introducing...

Anna Rae Kent

     Anna was born on the 27th of November at 1:36 in the afternoon by Cesarean Section.  She was 6 lb 3 oz, 17 inches long, and has a full head of black hair.  She cried right away, and then I cut the nurses finger while I was cutting the little bit of cord they left on her for me to cut.  After getting her a bit cleaned up they brought her over to Cara, who was still open on the OR table, and let her see her beautiful daughter (see pic below).

     Anna has been eating a lot, moving her head, pooping like a champ (takes after her Mom), and just being absolutely beautiful (see pic below, also takes after her Mom).  Cara is doing extremely well, looks great, and very happy to be eating full meals easily.  Cara is up and moving around and Anna is doing very well, so we'll be going home sometime later this afrernoon.

Cheers,

Kevin

Baby Update: 37 weeks

Wednesday marked a huge milestone for us...37 weeks! We're so excited to be considered full term, especially since it didn't always seem that it was a possibility. On Tuesday we met with the specialist and from that appointment we have some pretty big news. Baby K will be joining us next Tuesday November 27th!!!

At the appointment we got more of the same. Big head, small abdomen, lower fluid. Since I'm full term now they have decided that it's time to go ahead and get her out. I'll be basically 38 weeks at that point and although I wanted to make it to 39 weeks I am so happy with how far along we've managed to get. I'm nervous about surgery of course but I know I'm in good hands with my doctor. It's also exciting that I'll be able to deliver here in Midland instead of in Saginaw. (We live 1 mile from the hospital here versus 30 minutes to the other one).


So I guess instead of a 38 week update there will be a "Baby is here" update! Thanks everyone for your thoughts, prayers, well wishes, etc. We can't wait to meet Baby K!

Baby Update: 36 weeks

We made it another week but it wasn't without a little drama. I had my usual non-stress test (NST) on Monday and it was just okay. My doctor wasn't super alarmed by it but she decided that since I was having an ultrasound the next day for my fluid levels she would add on a biophysical just to make sure. During the ultrasound we watched as the tech measured the fluid. She's not allowed to discuss results with us but we've seen enough ultrasounds that we know what to watch for when looking at the fluid numbers (amniotic fluid index or AFI). We noticed that she was getting a number closer to 5 which is at the very low end of the range (I've been mostly between 7 and 9 over the last 8 weeks). This lower fluid level lent to a 6/8 on the biophysical exam.

Knowing this we were expecting a call from my doctor at some point in the day. It was a long wait but I finally heard from my doctor in the afternoon. (It did motivate us to order a few things from Amazon for the baby that we'd been procrastinating buying) She had spoken with the specialist in Saginaw and they decided that I needed to go into Labor and Delivery for a prolonged NST. She told me to pack an overnight bag and that they would likely do another AFI reading in the morning. This was terrifying because we were thinking...we could be having this baby this week.

Anyway, off to the hospital where I got all hooked up to the monitors and had to answer a million and one questions. Kevin immediately started playing with things in the room. Luckily the NST was going pretty well and we just had to wait for my doctor to come by to take a closer look. She got there around 7pm and was very pleased with how the baby was doing saying it was the best one she'd seen from me the entire time...I believe she used the word 'stellar' and gave me the okay to go home which I was very grateful for. Hospital beds are not comfortable as many of you already know.

Wednesday brought with it another ultrasound for the AFI check. The numbers were a little better than the day before and the tech reported a 6.6cm to the doctor. (Keep in mind this is a very dynamic number and changes all the time depending on how the baby is positioned, moving, peeing, etc). Thursday I went in for my regularly scheduled NST at the doctor's office and it looked good as well. They are going to have me go into the hospital for another AFI check and NST on Saturday to get me through the weekend. I don't have an appointment with the specialist until Tuesday and they didn't want me to go from Thursday to Tuesday without having the fluid looked at.



The good news is that I'm still pregnant! Wednesday marked 36 weeks and I'm really really hoping that we can at least make it to next Wednesday. It's been a stressful week but this is the reason why we've been doing all this monitoring in the first place. It just kind of caught us off guard because things have been fairly stable for the last 8 weeks. We are literally getting through one day at a time right now and we are thankful for each one that we get.

Besides another appointment on Saturday morning I'm hoping that we can get some of our Christmas decorations up this weekend. I usually wait until after Thanksgiving but considering this whole unpredictable baby thing we have going on we feel okay with getting a little bit of a head start. Our nursery is for the most part set up to where it is functional. There is still some organization and wall decor type things I would like to do but I'm thinking we're just going to wait. Baby K won't know if her name is above her crib or if her closet is cluttered or not!

I'm hopeful that there will be a 37 week update but we will see!

Baby Update: 35 weeks

One more week completed! We met with the specialist again so I'll recap what we learned from that appointment. The Doppler measurements for my placenta function looked completely normal this week. All of the readings were under 3 meaning that my placenta is hanging in there...very good news. My fluid level was slightly higher between 8-9cm but still on the low side. The fact that it isn't decreasing is another plus for us.

Baby K's head (thanks to her Daddy) seems to be growing just fine. They have it in the 90th percentile right now. Our little girls abdomen, while it has grown, is on the very low end of the chart (< 3rd percentile). While not really a surprise at this point we are starting to see the growth level off. Overall she is around the 20th percentile and they are approximating her weight at this time to be just shy of 5 pounds.

The plan is for me to continue the monitoring I've been doing (non stress tests and checking my fluid level) and I'll be seen again by the specialist in two weeks. By then I'll be one day away from 37 weeks which is considered full term. Depending on how the ultrasound looks then they will have a decision to make. Is it better to let her stay for one or two more weeks or would she do better on the outside? I'd love to have an answer now but we must be patient and wait. Ideally we would love to go to 39 weeks. In talking with my doctor today that is about as far as they are willing to let things go.

Baby is still breech and both my regular OB and the specialist are not thinking that that will be changing. They won't consider an external cephalic version (where the doctor manually tries to turn baby) on me for several reasons and I'm okay with that. In an ideal candidate it is only about 50% effective and isn't without its own set of risks...not to mention I have heard it is very painful. This means that we are expecting a C-section to be scheduled.  I'm still struggling a little bit with this but I know that this is what is looking to be the best thing for the baby. I was already at an increased risk of needing a C-section even if she weren't breech due to the growth restriction and in talking with others an emergency C-section is terrible and having it scheduled lends itself to a much smoother recovery.

I'm up about 26 pounds and I'm starting to feel pretty uncomfortable. I've started experiencing Braxton Hicks. At first I didn't realize that is what was happening because they were so infrequent and not painful. They're occurring more often now and they are a little irritating. I haven't been sleeping well for awhile now but the last week it has been much worse. A couple hours at a time and I can't always go back to sleep so I'm relying on naps. When Kevin is home I have him help me with things like sitting up, getting off the couch, donning and doffing my socks, etc. It's not that I can't do these things...it is just much easier if I have a little assistance.  

Snuggling to keep warm so we can keep the heat low for a bit longer!

Now that I know the nausea I've had is from heartburn I've managed to avoid vomiting with the help of my new best friend Tums. If I ever get that sudden wave of nausea then I pop one in and I almost immediately feel better. We went to the pool on Sunday (I was attempting to turn the baby by doing a few somersaults... I heard it can work so we thought we'd give it a shot). It wasn't until walking out of the pool that I realized how heavy I feel. We're going to go back this weekend so I can enjoy a little time with the weight off. I probably wont be doing anymore turns but just sitting and walking in the water feels incredible.

Other weekend plans include watching Stanford and K-State football of course!

Baby Update: 34 weeks

Another week down! This was a big milestone and I'm elated that we have made it to this week. I feel confident we wont be having her in the next week but it's nice to know that if she were to be born she'd have a very good chance and most likely minimal time in the NICU.

My non-stress tests this week have both been fine and my uterus has been measuring at 32cm this week up from 31cm last week. My amniotic fluid was measuring right at where it's been too. The baby is still breech and I'm concerned that she doesn't have enough fluid to flip around in making my chances for having to have a cesarean greater. I have a few more "tricks" to try and get her to flip but I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for surgery. I'm bummed but the most important thing is that she gets here safely.

We went over to a friends house on Sunday to hang out and watch a little football. There wasn't actually much football watching because it was a surprise baby shower! It was so sweet of our friends Elise and Sarah to host this and we had a wonderful time. Even though I was parked on the couch pretty much the entire time I was pretty tired afterward from chatting with people. I'm glad they had it though because it was great seeing some people I hadn't seen in ages. There were a couple of new people I got to meet (spouses of people we knew) and there were even a few babies there so that was a lot of fun. 

We had a pretty quiet evening on Halloween but we did have some trick-or-treaters and I enjoyed seeing the little kid's costumes. There were several older kids out and about too. I don't mind giving older kids candy as long as they are in costume but there were two girls that showed up twice which I thought was a little odd. There are tons of houses where we live so I can't imagine why they would need to visit a house twice! Kids these days...I tell ya :)