Kennedy Week 4

Well we have been trying to get out of the house more this week but its a bit daunting going somewhere alone with a almost 3 year old and a 4 week old.  Kennedy still seems so fragile to me but I am sure I will get more confident as she gets a bit more sturdy.  Sophey seems to be settling in pretty well with now two little kids in the house.  She has had a barking issue lately but I know it's because there is a coyote that likes to come in the canyon behind our house and there is quite a bit more room for her to meander around.  Kennedy is starting to make more eye contact and watch things and she watches Soph quite often, I think she is still trying to figure out what Sophey is!

We have had a few nights this week where Kennedy has slept 6 hours then gone back to bed for another 4 or so.  She is still sleeping on me for that last feeding which is somewhere around 5 or 6 so pretty soon I have to find a way to get her back to sleep in her own bed.  I do love the snuggles in the morning though.  I am beginning to understand her cries and squeaks and we are working on the spitting up.  One step close to figuring out this little one.  She is finally fitting in her 0-3 clothes as well.  She seems to be skinny and long and much more petite than Avery was but still looking like a clone of Aves.

She is still a very good natured baby.  She rarely cries and when she does its because she has a bubble, is tired, or wants to sleep.  She is finally getting up for the day around 10 and then up for a couple hours then takes one long nap and a few other cat naps throughout the day.  As we speak I have both kids napping which is really nice, especially since I have lots to do to get ready for Christmas!  She is growing and changing before our eyes and is more awake and alert and can hold her head up much better.  She still has a ways to go but she is doing great.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Kennedy Week 3

Even though this is Week 3, I still feel like this is Week 2 since we were really in the hospital that first week of her life. Now that we are home we are finally settling into a routine. I am really trying to soak in every moment with Kennedy knowing that this will probably be our last baby. I try to remind myself those middle of the night feedings will only be for a short amount of time and to enjoy my time in the middle of the night because before long, I will want to go wake her up like I do at times with Avery. I also keep reminding myself of all those little babies in the NICU that don't get to go home and can't be held and when I think about things that way, it really puts things in perspective.

Kennedy is sleeping pretty well and going anywhere from 4-6 hours at a time at night. She is having a hard time not spitting up so I am finding that I have to feed her more often since she spits up quite a bit. I am trying to adjust my diet to see if that will help at all too. That seems to be the hardest part about getting her back to bed at night. There are many times when I feed her and put her down and then she spits up and wakes up. She is really good a burping after her feedings but sometimes that doesn't cut it. I am sure that we will figure this out but for now this has made the week a bit more challenging. I also got mastitis which was not fun but a little antibiotics and I am good as new!

Overall she continues to be a really good baby. She rarely cries and sleeps well and before long I know we will have a great schedule for her. I am still bringing her in bed on my chest for that last early morning feeding and we get some nice snuggle time although I don't sleep too well when she is on me, I worry I may sleep to heavy! She is finally getting up about 9 or 10 in the morning and then is up for about an hour or two before she takes another long nap. Ben gets up with Avery and I stay with Kennedy and get a couple more hours of sleep time which is really nice. Ben and Avery are getting some quality daddy and Avery time and she is turning into quite the daddy's girl. She is always asking when he will be home when he is gone at baseball. Kennedy is getting better at holding her head as well so before long she won't be quite the bobble head that she is! She is such a little snuggle bug and we sure are blessed once again!

Kennedy Week 2

Another week has flown by.  Kennedy is now two weeks old and she is doing great.  It is awesome to be home from the hospital and have everyone healthy. We had to take her to the pediatrician the day after we got back from the hospital and she was doing well enough that we didn't have to take her to get her heel pricked again.  Her poor heels had little red dots all over them from being pricked over and over so it was a relief to hear that we were done with those.  Dr. Krause did tell us we had to come back for a weight check within the week. When we went back on that following Friday, she was past her birth weight, 9.2!  Hooray!!

Once we got home and settled, we had some friends bring us dinner which was really nice.  Christy set us a meal thing for people to sign up to bring us food so that has really helped us out.  Getting the hang of this two kid thing while trying to recover from birthing a child and catching up on sleep has been a bit of a challenge but we are lucky that we have a lot of help and support to help us out.  I am also very lucky that Ben can be home in the mornings so that I can sleep in when I have had a night where I haven't slept as much as I would like. On average, Kennedy is going about 4-5 hours at a time.  We have even had 2 nights where she went 7 hours straight which was heaven!  I of course didn't sleep through the night on those night as I kept waking up to make sure she was OK.  As she gets a big bigger and does that, I am sure that I will enjoy those long stretches much more than I am now.

Overall, Kennedy is a great baby.  She isn't awake more than about an hour or hour and a half right now before she takes a nap.  She is taking a really long early afternoon nap just about everyday and is finally getting up for the morning about 9 or 10.  That last feeding in the morning I am bringing her in with me and snuggling a bit.  Ben gets up with Avery in the morning so we each have some solo time with the girls, Ben to entertain turbo Avery and me to catch a few extra ZZZZ's.  If Kennedy is fussy, we pretty much know she has a big burp.  Let me tell you the girl can fart and burp like 30 year old drinking pizza and beer!  She can let them rip.

I am also in awe at how similar Kennedy and Avery look.  There are many times that I look at her and think how much she is a clone to Avery.  She even has the same dimple on her right cheek.  The only difference is that Kennedy is a bit more petite than Avery ever was.

We had a few outings with the girls this week.  We took them to dinner and the Hotel Del for a family Christmas night and had some friends over as well.  She even had a nice big blow out as we were trying to get a nice family shot!  I am sure in time I will get the hang of the two kid thing but for now, I am still trying to figure it out.  Thank God our girls are pretty easy..

Here are some pics from the week.
First bath!

Kennedy Week 1

What a week. Where do I even begin. She was born on a Saturday morning. The weather over the weekend was kind of gloomy and cloudy so it was a perfect weekend to be cooped up snuggling with our little girl Once we had her that Saturday morning, the entire family came to visit us all. It was nice to have some visitors since we didn't really have any when we had Avery in Vegas but it was nice to get to our recovery room and get a little rest since I did not sleep at all the night before!

We stayed in the hospital until Monday morning mainly so that Ben’s parents could stay through the weekend at our house with Avery and get some good quality time with her. We were actually cleared to go home on Sunday but it was nice to get to stay an extra day and have warm meals brought to you and nurses double checking that everyone is ok. She had a bit of jaundice but her levels were not high enough for them to do anything about it. We left Monday around noon and got home to a nice welcoming with a sign and stork. We tried to get some family pics in front of them but Avery was not really into it.

Sophey of course was excited to meet the little one and the pics are just about the same as when we brought Avery home. It seems like there are more smells and things going on around our house here than in Vegas as Sophey is queen of barking here. I have to admit my patience with her has been a little low so I am hoping that she settles in before she starts waking up these napping kids.

Meeting Kennedy for the first time

Meeting Avery for the first time!

Monday and Tuesday were pretty uneventful. We were just getting settled seeing what life would be like with two kids. Everything takes double the time but I am sure that it is just a learning curve. Kennedy was sleeping wonderful that first night as long as it was on one of us and since that is a terrible habit to get into, we didn't want to continue it. So Tuesday night, we tried putting her in the bassinet and she was not having it. At one point she just lost it and cried for about 2 hours. I had no idea what was wrong with her other than I am sure she was overly tired and hungry since my milk had not come in.

Wednesday we got up to take her to the pediatrician for her check up. She had dropped in weight to 8.7 which is pretty normal but Dr. Krause thought she looked a bit jaundice so she sent us to get her blood drawn to see where her levels were. She gave us 4 scenarios that could happen based on her level that came back. The lowest being that we just keep an eye on her and worst case that we have to take her to the NICU to be put under the lights. She didn't seem to concerned so neither were we. We took her to get blood drawn and went home and Ben left for practice and I was about to take a nap since my mom was there and I got a call letting us know that we had to take her to the NICU as her level was at 19. To describe the feelings that I had at the exact moment are impossible. I was already having a ton of normal hormones dealing with being home and just birthing a baby and then this phone call hit me like a ton of bricks. The thought of my little girl having to go to the NICU was unthinkable. I was in total shock and I just lost it. In fact I think that I cried pretty much for 24 hours straight until I had no tears left to cry.

I called Ben right away and he came home and off we went to the NICU. As soon as we walked in I was utterly shocked at the babies in there. I had never been in a NICU and it absolutely broke my heart. Just writing this is stirring up all of those emotions again. Here was my 8 1/2 lb healthy, although a bit yellow/orange baby, next to these little 1-2 pound babies that can’t even be touched. Many of them had more wires and cords coming out of them than I could even count. It was hard to feel sad and scared for my
own child when all I could think about was how long these other babies were going to have to be in here for. Talk about a lesson in appreciation.  Once Kennedy got on the table and they got her hooked up, the reality set in that we were here too. Regardless of how healthy Kennedy looked, we were still here and were going to be here for at least 24-48 hours. Saying that I was emotional is understatement. Watching them get an IV in her arm and being pricked and prodded was unbearable. I could not stop the tears from coming. The sucrose water that they kept putting on her pacifier to sooth her was working and she was barely making a peep but seeing your child go through something like this and you not being able to do anything about it is heart wrenching.

By about 5pm that Wednesday, she was up on her table with her shades on and she was to stay there unless she was hungry which was about every 2-3 hours. My milk had just come in so I wanted her to eat as often and as much as she could since the milk would help lower the levels as well. They told us that we could go home and she was in great hands but the thought of leaving her was too much so for the next 48 hours, Ben and tag teamed and one of us was always there with her. She stayed hooked up on the table until about 11 the next morning and thank God her levels were dropping. Since they were dropping, we were able to get her off the table and into a belly light blanket that did the same thing but rather than have to lay on a table, she stayed wrapped in and we were able to hold her. Once her levels dropped a bit more, they took her off her IV and fluids so she had less cords that we had to deal with. By 4pm that day, her levels had dropped again so she got all monitors except a heart monitor off and her IV out and they moved us to a private room. We had to stay another night to have her levels checked again in the morning. By 2pm the next day, we were
on our way home. Thank God!

We were so grateful to be home and I think Ben and I both realized how lucky we are to have two healthy children. Seeing so many babies in the NICU was a lesson of appreciation. Being able to take her home was one of the best moments. I am thankful for such a great hospital and over cautious Drs but so glad that we are out of there and I pray I never have to see those walls again. I think it also taught me to slow down and
enjoy every moment with this little bundle of joy. While we were in the NICU, I couldn't worry about the mess in the kitchen or Avery’s toys everywhere or the clothes that needed to be put away. I could only focus on being present for Kennedy and praying that she would get to come home and we could be a family of 4 again (5 of course counting Sophey!)

Since we have been home, we are working on getting on a schedule. I am pretty sure we have another tummy sleeper on our hands as that is how she seems to sleep best unless she is laying on us. While I love her sleeping on me knowing she will only be this little once, I don’t want to get into a habit of her only sleeping on us. We shall see.

Avery is a great big sister and a huge help and we are so happy that she has taken the
last with strides. She is so gently and loving with her and she is going to truly be the
best big sister.

Here are some additional pics from the first week.

Can you tell who is who?

Kennedy Mavin Rosenthal

Kennedy has finally made her debut.  Her name was not a secret but we had not decided on our favorite name until we were able to see her but now that she is here, we have decided that Kennedy Mavin is her name.  Her middle name is after Ben's dad Marvin who is fighting cancer and a inspiration to us all.

My due date was November 19th so we decided that I would be induced on the 24th unless she came first on her own.  We as we know from Miss Aves, our kids like to hang out and be forced out.  So Friday night, we checked in to have this little one.  I was supposed to get a cervix softener but once I got there and got settled and hooked up, I was having contractions so they decided to start on the pitocin right away.  Needless to say it was a very long night that I didn't sleep a wink of.  Ben on the other hand was snoring about the whole time!  From about 9pm till 5 am, they had me on pitocin and for some reason I was not dilating but having contractions quite frequently.  My mid morning they were getting very uncomfortable but I couldn't get the epidural since I was not dilated yet.   Around 7 there was a shift change for the nurses and they infomed me that my Dr. would come check me soon to see what the plan was since I was not dilating  About this time I started having contractions almost every minute and the amount of pain I was in was unbearable!  I asked when the Dr. was come and the nurse said why don't I check you.  I hopped on that bed and when she checked, I was 8cm dilated   My plan was to get the epidural at about 3cm so I had labored for a very long time without the epidural!  The nurse ran to get the Dr to give me the epidural and she just caught him as he was headed into a c-section, thank God!  I got the epidural, the Dr showed up and I was 9 cm and just about ready to push.  Once I got the green light to push, it took about 10 minutes and out she came.  This time I was much more in tune to what was going on so I was able to see her come out and it was quite a different experience . I will say the labor was a million times worse but the actual pushing was so easy!  She came out so perfect and I fell in love right away.

The family came to see us pretty much right away and brought Avery to come see her new big sister.  She was so sweet and so excited to meet her.  Kennedy brought her some big sister gifts which Avery loved.  She was also very good for the two days that we stayed in the hospital.  I was a little worried about how she would do with all the change but she has been great!

We ending up staying for just about 48 hours from the time we had her.  It was great to get home and get settled and our families did a great job of taking care of things while we in the hospital.  It was nice to have people come visit and see us. I am so glad that we were able to move back before this baby came.

Dr. Cunningham

Here are her stats.
Weight 8 lb 14 oz
Length 21.5 inches
Head 14.6 inches
Born at 10:26 on November 24th

Here are some additional pics.  We are so blessed and can't wait for the many memories to come!