All is well

I took both of our girls to the dr. yesterday for their "Well Baby" visits. Gracie is doing great. She's 40 inches tall and just under 36 pounds. I got some helpful tips on finishing the potty training race. (My idea is to have nap time or nite-nite time continuously for the next few days. Everytime she hits the bed, she declares a need to "Go potty." And, she actually does!) Any other time of day, she's too busy playing to be bothered with anything as trivial as using the bathroom!

I'm thrilled to report that Karis Joy is growing beautifully. She's now moved into the 75th percentile for height and weight. 23 1/4 inches long, 11 pounds 3 ounces. I knew she was growing, but it did this nursing mother's heart good to see such healthy growth.

I would truly appreciate your prayers over the next several days. I am returning to work on Monday, August 15th. I'm not sure if I can describe how I feel about that. I'm sad, scared, numb, but also hopeful that God will strengthen and help me to be a working mommy. When I went back to work with Gracie, I was a basket case, and in total denial! I didn't even begin looking for a sitter until a week or so before going back. My mother in law stayed with Gracie for those first few weeks, which made the transition much easier, but it still broke my heart to leave her. I'll never forget my third day of work. I was attending convocation, which is a gathering of all the professional staff in our school division. Our superintendent was giving opening remarks and then an inspirational video was being shown. During those first few moments, I just cried my eyes out. I had arrived "just on time", and was too late to sit with my coworkers. No one was on either side of me, so I just bawled uncontrollably. A woman seated a few seats down reached for my hand and asked, "Are you alright?" To which I replied, " Sniff...I just...sniff, sniff... left my baby... sniff ,sniff...at home...sniff, sniff...." She patted my hand, the lights came back up, and I tried to regain my composure~although, I really didn't want to! During the break, this same lady (Who, btw, is a principal. One of my good friends works at her school. Whenever my friend mentions my name, the principal asks, "Is that the girl who cried?") gave me hug and asked about my little one. She said she had just had a baby too. As we compared notes, I discovered that she hadn't just had a baby...she had a baby on the same day and in the same hospital as me! In fact, because labor and delivery was so busy that day, I had to wait to be prepped for surgery in the family waiting room. I was there when her sister came in with pictures of this woman's baby.
It was incredible. Here I was, surrounded by over a thousand people. Out of all the places that I could have been seated, God orchestrated my path, so that I would sit next to someone who was in the same situation as me. This experience taught me once again that God in heaven is mindful of me... here on this earth. It was as if He was saying, "Krisa, I know what you are going through right now. I have not forgotten you. I will be there to support you through this journey. I know it's not the path you wanted to take, but it is a path that I will walk with you." It makes me cry, just thinking of how very often God poured out His grace into my life that first year. That very present grace gave me courage to work the second year, the third, and now the fourth. I am still praying that God will open a door so that I can stay home with my girls, but until then, I will endeavor to keep my heart fixed on trusting Him.

Ahhh...Sleep!

For the first time in almost 10 weeks, I got 5 continuous hours of sleep! What a blessing!!!

Missing the Blogging World!

Warning~This post is long and long overdue! I don't have time to put these pics into the story. :)Gracie!

Karis

Sleeping on Grammy's lap!

The girl loves her new sister!

Gracie enjoying the pleasures of summer.

Mommy and baby. Check out that neck! She's been tryng to hold her head up since day one.

Karis~ 4 weeks old!

I've just got to update my blog! It's been difficult for me to determine what I should do whenever I have a few moments to myself...laundry? the checkbook? quiet time? sleep? blog? Last week, I told my husband that I felt the bulk of my prayers have been about asking God to help my children sleep, pass gas, or (in the case of my 3 year old) to get potty trained. Later that day, I turned on the radio and heard the speaker say that the number one indicator of your spirituality is the quality of your prayer life. I changed the station!

Karis turned 8 weeks old yesterday. It's so hard to believe that so much time has passed! Karis is such a good baby! She rarely has times of inconsolable crying, and if she does, there's always a reason~ she's hungry, she needs to burp, or she wants her diaper changed. The first few weeks were really difficult, however. I think my easy delivery sort of added to how hard it was once we got home. I wasn't prepared for the days that followed. On top of being totally exhausted and sore from my c-section we had the following 'issues' going on...





Week 1- Karis developed breast-fed jaundice. Her billirubin levels continued to increase at the time that they were to supposed to peak and then decrease. We took her to the hospital everyday for a week for heel pricks. She spent about a week on a billi-blanket, which kept her from having to be hospitalized, and thankfully 'did the trick' to rid her body of dangerously high billirubin levels. During that same time period, I lost feeling in my left index finger and thumb, and had terrible pain in my left shoulder and arm.




Week 2- A couple more trips to the hospital and pediatrician to monitor the jaundice situation. I had my stitches removed, made a visit to the chiropractor, and later developed a UTI



Week 3- Karis was still yellow, but was declared, "Out of danger!" Praise the Lord!!! I had an MRI, and made a visit to the neurologist. I also had a dr's appt because I was still having UTI symptoms. My parents returned to Ohio this week as well. It was so hard to see them leave. I wasn't sure how I was going to function without their help. I cried a lot and often! Gracie would say, "Aw, Mommy! Don't worry. Your mommy and daddy will come back. It'll be ok."




Week 4- I had a second MRI, and then a nerve/muscle study (the latter was not fun at all) I felt like I had been run over by a truck! The good news, however, was that I got good news. All the tests came back within normal ranges, and my arm problems were deemed pregnancy related. Apparently pregnancy hormones, thyroid problems, and diabetes can cause inflamation internally that can cause a disruption of the nerve passages. I do have some problems with C6 and C7 in my neck, but nothing that would require surgery. The Dr. said that the further I got from delivery, the better I'd feel. Sure enough, six weeks to the day that I lost feeling in my hand~it returned to almost normal. Praise the Lord! That was such a relief, a help, and answer to prayer! (FYI~It's really difficult to snap sleepers when you can't stand to touch anything with your index finger and thumb!!!)




Weeks 5-6- The girls and I spent two weeks at my parents house in Ohio. We missed 'daddy', but it was such a blessing to spend time with family. I loved seeing Gracie interact with her cousins, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. She had a blast! She got to go swimming in the "big" pool, play in the tree house, and eat what seemed to be an endless supply of cupcakes! It was nice to always have an extra set of arms to help with Karis so that I could more easily care for Gracie's needs. We had a great time.




Week 7- We had some doubt as to whether or not we'd ever make it back home. Our usual 8 1/2 hour trip turned into 12! Between stopping to nurse Karis and stopping everytime Gracie said, "I have to go potty!" We had a few delays, but eventually made it! On my first day home, flying solo, I felt like I had regressed back to week 4. I called one of my friends late that afternoon for moral support. I told her that I felt like, "One ADAM 12." I NEEDED BACK UP! But, the next day was better, the following even easier. We (the girls and I) actually made it to the swimming pool mid week for a play date with friends. Woo-hoo!




Week 8- That takes us up to the present. The latest development is that Karis is now wanting to nurse every one and a half to two hours. This started last week. She used to nurse every three hours like clockwork, and would go 4-5 hours between feedings at night. Last night, I was up with her 4 times! I don't think this a growth spurt issue. Do you? I'm thinking I may need to supplement. I'm open to suggestions! She's kind of a lazy nurser. She starts off strong and then falls asleep about 7-10 minutes in. After that, she's sort of just nuzzling, not sucking and swallowing....She is growing, however. At her 4 week appt., she was in the 50th percentile for weight and height. I've already had to purge her wardrobe because she's too long for 0-3 month sleepers.




Gracie still loves, loves, loves her baby sister. She makes up songs about her, wants to hold her, and is really quite helpful. She is expert on telling me what she thinks Karis needs. "Karis needs mommy's milk." "Karis needs to burp." etc. Last week, Karis was having a particularly tough time, and I really couldn't figure out what was going on with her. I asked Gracie to pray for her and this is what she said...First she started to sing her little meal time prayer, then she switched gears and said, "Dear Jesus, Thank you for my baby Karis. And Jesus, her tummy hurts. Please heal her and make her tummy feel better, in Jesus' name Amen!" It was such a precious moment!

Today is our 26th Wedding anniversary! Gracie just recently recognized me in our wedding pictures. She couldn't wait to show her daddy what a beautiful princess bride that mommy was. Last night the pictures grabbed her attention again. She asked, "Are Karis and I in your tummy in this picture?" To which I replied, "No Baby, you were in my heart!"

Pictures

Me on delivery day. It was quite surreal to be at the hospital, with no contractions, and realizing that I'd have a baby in a just a few hours!

Karis becoming "official" at the hospital.

My mom, Karis and me.

Gracie and her baby sister. She adores her!

Our first family photo. Karis was a little over 24 hours old. We all happened to be wearing pink and/or green so we took a picture. I was feeling pretty good on that day. I was so completely in awe of the difference from my first c-section to the second.

This is Karis just cuddling on my chest. It doesn't get any better than this!

My beautiful girls and me! This was us right before I was discharged from the hospital. I was glad to go home yesterday because it was my big girl's third birthday! I was pretty exhausted by the time all the presents had been opened and "happy birthday" had been sung, but we made it! Karis had a pretty good night her first night home. She nursed really well and even slept for one stretch of 3 1/2 hours.

I am praying for all of you that are still waiting for your little ones to arrive. God is faithful!

Karis

Well, I didn't do a good job of keeping you updated. My husband has posted a lot of pictures on FB, but I haven't really had a chance to blog!
Karis Joy was born on Tuesday, May 31st, at 1:38 PM. She weighed 8 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 20 1/2 inches long. I had a c-section, and everything went very well. It was so amazing to see Karis' face for the first time. She is beautiful and precious and delicate and lovely!!!
Compared to Gracie, she seems so tiny to me. (Gracie weighed 10 pounds, 5 ounces at birth.) She has long toes and fingers, like her big sister though. Yesterday was her first- sort of alert day. She did a great job nursing! Hooray!!
Speaking of which- she's telling me she's hungry right now. I'll post more later!! xoxoxo Krisa

We're Here

We arrived at the hospital an hour or so ago. I'm hooked up to an IV and ready to go. Another girl was in labor and had to have an emergency c-section, so that means that my time got bumped back a little. They think that my surgery will be around 1:15 EST. Please keep us in prayer. We'll keep you posted! We are so excited to meet our Karis Joy!

39 Weeks Today

What a week! I started my maternity leave on Monday, mainly due to the fact that I had sooooo many things yet to do at home. I'm too embarrassed to post the video that I shot on Monday. I wanted to remember just what was going on around here, 8 days before Karis was scheduled to enter the world. Suffice it to say that it was rather difficult to navigate throughout the house without stepping on something! And the nursery....well, it was the worst room of all. We had exactly one onesie for Karis to wear. All of her other clothes were still under beds or in closets. The crib still had the same sheet on it, from several months ago, plus it was piled high with space saver bags. Next to the door was a huge pile of clothes that no longer fit Gracie. The rocker had a variety of items stacked on it. You get the picture!

Before any of that could be dealt with, we had to make room. So, Monday I cleaned out closets and made a large collection of things to take to Salvation Army. Then- that night- my parents arrived from Ohio!!!! Hooray! The cavalry came to rescue us!!! We have worked hard. Yesterday I got my suitcase packed, and even got to get my hair and nails done. We are now ready for baby girl to make her entrance.

I'd love for her to come today so that my doctor could deliver her, and so that my husband could have even more time to love on Karis before returning to work. But, so far, nothing is really stirring. I have had several braxton hicks contractions, and I'm pretty uncomfortable, but nothing consistent or FOR REAL! We'll let you all know if anything changes. We're so excited to meet our newest member of the family!!!!