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 :)

Baby Update: 33 weeks

Another week down! Feels good but we're not quite ready to relax just yet.

We had another ultrasound with the specialist on Tuesday and considering our situation things are looking fairly good. The measurements for the placenta weren't as good as the last time but were still better than the first appointment (mostly less than 4...borderline but stable). My fluid while low is still pretty similar to what we've been getting. I will continue to have my fluid measured weekly so that they can keep a close eye on it in case there is a sudden drop.

The baby's measurements were more encouraging than last time. Baby K's head grew some more and is back up to the 80th percentile. Her abdomen is slightly lower percentage-wise but the difference was pretty small and there was definitely growth there over the last two weeks. They are still having a hard time getting a really good measurement of it because of how her legs are positioned. Her overall size clocks her in at about the 27th percentile vs only the 18th previously. Her estimated weight is about 4lbs 5oz.

My nonstress tests this week have continued to look good as well. There is still a lot of unknown and we know that a lot can change but if they stay stable like they are then we have really good reason to think we can make it to at least 37 weeks and possibly even beyond. I try to keep my hopes focused to one week at a time though.

I'm getting to know the staff at my doctor's office very well and they have been great. When I show up they wave and say... "I'll let her know you're here". I don't even have to check in anymore.

Kevin's co-workers threw a baby shower for him today at work. I was welcome but I had my appointment and after discussing we thought I could do without that level of excitement (lots of new people). Kevin did bring me home some cake and it was delicious! It was wonderful of them to organize this and now we're that much closer to being ready for our little girls arrival.

As we speak Kevin is raking some of the leaves in our front yard. It is seeming a little pointless with the wind but at least our driveway is cleared of these tiny annoying leaves that easily get dragged into the house. We live on an older block and the leaves seem pretty endless sometimes! Our gutters need cleaned out pretty bad but I think waiting another week will be better.

This weekend we plan on spending some time working on the nursery. Once things are a little more organized I'll try to get some pictures up. Until next week....

Baby Update: 32 Weeks

We made it to our first goal...32 weeks! We are very excited about this number and 34 weeks is the next goal. It's hard to believe that it's been 4 weeks since we first heard about the growth issue. It hasn't been an easy 4 weeks but thanks to all the love and support from family and friends we've made it this far.

Bedrest still isn't fun but with a few restrictions lifted I don't feel quite as isolated as I did the first week. It's still frustrating not being able to do all the little things around the house that you sort of take for granted but we're managing.

I had an ultrasound earlier this week to check my amniotic fluid level and it seems to be staying steady. They did a biophysical on the baby and she scored an 8/8 (graded on fetal movement, muscle tone, breathing, and the fluid level) so that is good news as well. My uterus measured at 31cm the other day and I'm still gaining weight. I've gained 23 pounds so far and they seem happy with both these numbers. I just came from a non-stress test and the baby's heart is reacting normally also. We go next week to see the specialist and they'll check on her growth again so we'll have an even better idea of how things are going. Feeling pretty optimistic this week though!



I'm definitely feeling more and more uncomfortable each week. Things like rolling over in bed, putting my socks on, and getting up off of the couch are not nearly as easy as they once were. I've taken more and more to grunting while doing these tasks. Adjusting myself in bed warrants the most grunts and typically involves at least 4 of them. And yes...Kevin does laugh sometimes...but before you get mad I must admit...it is kind of funny.

A bit of nausea has also crept back. It's not like the first trimester nausea but it isn't exactly fun either. I have to eat so slowly and it's frustrating because there are times when I am famished and want to scarf food down. That, however, is a big mistake and typically results in that delicious food coming right back up.

We celebrated 32 weeks last night with a toast. (I'm having goblin juice in case you were wondering...sparkling apple and cherry juice)

During Brian and Moria's visit, they bought Lupin a Halloween costume. They chose a devil costume which only seemed fitting for Lupin's personality. He didn't exactly love having it on but I think his facial expression in the picture is a good representation of his overall character. Not going to lie...it was pretty cute watching him walk around in this thing.