Kennedy's Kitchen

Grammie and Pampie found this kitchen for Kennedy at a yard sale. They have had amazing luck getting gently used baby things for us - a crib, changing table, highchair, car, bike trailer... This latest find has been a huge hit! She wants to play with it all the time and is constantly asking, "Mama, you want to play with the kitchen?" It's a combination between a question and a demand. Then she says, "You can put Macy down on the floor on the fish mat." 

Sometimes Macy will go for this plan, other times it's hard to convince Kennedy that we can still make tea or cook hamburgers and hold the baby at the same time. When she puts anything in the microwave she always sets the timer for "999" and most everything she cooks has to have either cinnamon or salt on it. For some reason she also likes to wash her blankets in the dishwasher. Where does she come up with all these ideas?

Introducing Macy Suzette!

Pictures from the hospital and our first few days home. Macy and mama are both doing great. Daddy has been amazing. We think Kennedy is enjoying being a big sister...

To carry on our family names with a twist, Baby Macy is named after her great-great-grandmother on my dad's side, Macie, and Jake's mom, Sue. And, just in case you don't know, Kennedy Christine was named after my dad, Kenneth, and my mom, Kristina. Hope you enjoy the photos of our family!

She's Here!

Macy Suzette Nelson was born Thursday, April 23rd at 12:12 pm. She was 8.0 pounds and 19.5 inches. More details to come... (warning: might be more info than anyone wants, so read on with caution!)

Jake and I had both planned to take the day off of work Thursday, so we had a relaxing morning getting Kennedy ready for school. I felt my first "real" contraction around 8:30 am, but nothing that seemed to say I'm in labor! We dropped Kennedy off at school and told her teachers that Grandma Sue and Grandpa Brent would likely pick her up at the end of the day for her follow-up appointment after the ear tube surgery. I was feeling like this might finally be the day, or if not I knew we were close. We then went to Maternal Fetal Medicine at the hospital for our 9:30 non-stress test and ultrasound appointment. Everything looked great, and not at all like we'd be having a baby in less than three hours. The contractions were still strong, but not regular. Only two registered on the monitor in the 30 minutes of the test. The doctor estimated Macy's weight would be 8 pounds 8 ounces, and she suggested that we talk induction if we made it to the weekend. At this point, there wasn't a benefit for Macy to stay in any longer.   

We walked over to our midwife Kat's office on the other side of the hospital, slowing down or stopping a few times for contractions, and taking a few wrong turns with the construction going on at St. Mark's. We made it there by about 10:50 and were back meeting with Kat by 11:00. She checked me and I was dilated to 4 cm by this point (I was 3 at my appointment on Tuesday) so Kat suggested that we go get some lunch, but stay in the neighborhood of the hospital. She even joked that maybe we should try some other means of getting labor started - sex or a shot of whisky. Kat also put us on the induction list for Saturday, just in case we needed it. We left her office about 11:15 with plans to walk back to the car and go get lunch. 

It was a beautiful sunny day, so we walked outside. It took about 20 minutes for us to get back over to the women's pavilion. On the way the contractions were getting really strong and I had to stop with each one and lean on Jake or the fence. A man washing windows offered to let me sit down in his truck. A person driving a golf cart offered us a ride. We were offered two wheelchairs. We turned them all down, thinking that the walking was a good thing and was helping to move things along. As we were getting close to the front doors we finally made the decision that it was probably a good idea to just go right in. I remember saying to Jake that I wanted to make sure that I had time for an epidural. 

We walked up to the desk at 11:45, and they took one look at me and gave Jake the admit form to start on. We were taken to a room immediately, bypassing all the registration process. They gave me a gown to put on, and while I was in the bathroom my water broke. Jake and the nurse came running in and helped me get the gown on and into the bed. She did a check and I was 7 cm by this point. Kat was called to come as quickly as she could. They started to prep me for the epidural, but there was obviously no time. They gave me an iv with a pain med at 12:06 pm. Kat came in and I pushed for maybe 5 minutes. Macy was born at 12:12. It all happened so fast! This was so different from Kennedy's birth where it felt like I was in labor for two full days. Macy had to be monitored closely for a few minutes because of the iv medication, but her Apgar scores were 8 and 9. Getting to hold her for the first time was so amazing. Jake made a few announcement calls and all four grandparents were there to meet our new baby within an hour. I think they were all very surprised to hear that she'd been born - they were just waiting for news from our morning tests.    

In recovery I found out that they call this kind of birth a "stop and drop." Everything went so well for both of us the rest of the day and overnight. We got some rest and some food. Macy was looking healthy after her blood sugars stabilized. My parents brought Kennedy over to meet her new sister. She seemed excited, but just as interested in seeing mama. She brought us some beautiful tulips - one for each member of our family. Since there was no epidural I had the option to leave after 24 hours - we decided this sounded like the best idea for our family. It's so much more comfortable being at home without someone coming in to check on us every 2 hours. So we left the hospital Friday just before noon. It was an amazing experience and we are so glad that Macy is here! 

Due date statistics

Here are some interesting statistics from "The Mother of All Pregnancy Books"...to help keep us sane while waiting for the big day:

Only 5% of babies are born on their due date.
Of those that are not, only 3 out of 10 are born before the due date.
And finally, 9 out of 10 babies are born within 10 days of the due date.

At my last prenatal appointment we talked about inducing around 41 weeks. I feel crazy for admitting this, but I hope that Macy holds on until Thursday when my midwife will be back in the office and we get another chance to make sure everything looks ok for delivery with the non-stress test and ultrasound.

40 Weeks! And Still Counting...

Saturday was my due date, but we're still patiently waiting for Macy's arrival. Last week Jake and I went to work, Kennedy spent her spring break with Pampie. Friday I took the day off to play with Kennedy. We went to the Little Gym (amazing that I can still run, jump and crawl around on the mats a day before the due date) and ran some errands. We had a great workout that evening, but it didn't help to start labor. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to watch another Bears football game. After that we had take out from Bombay House with my family, but Indian food didn't help to start labor either. Kennedy had a sleepover with Grammie and Pampie so we could get a good nights sleep. She hasn't been sleeping through the night for the last few weeks, and it was a nice change not to wake up to "help me with my covers" or "I can't find my binkie" or "sing a song, mama" in the middle of the night. It's not that I can sleep through the night anyway right now, but at least I got a good six hour stretch. 

Sunday we picked up Kennedy and took her to the farm. There were lots of baby animals to see, and two years ago we went to the farm the day before Kennedy was born - maybe this will help things along. Family dinner and some ladder golf rounded out the weekend. Today it's back to work and school for everyone. No reason to sit at home and drive myself crazy with the anticipation. We know that Macy will be here soon enough! Although I don't feel like it's going to happen today...or tomorrow. Maybe she will wait until Thursday after our ultrasound and when our midwife, Kat, is back in the office. 

Happy Easter!

We tried to start out the morning with an egg hunt, but that got interrupted when Kennedy spilled her chocolate milk all over the rug. Luckily we had borrowed Sue's carpet cleaner, so it all came up, but after that she had lost interest. We made aebleskiver pancakes for breakfast and then went out to find a few geocaches. Kennedy had been promised time at the playground, so we also had to stop by the park for a few trips down the slide. Really we were trying to wear her out for a good nap. We wanted to make sure she was well rested for our 3:30 dinner seating at the Country Club. She's been so excited to go to "The Club!" since I told her that grammie called to get us a table. It seems to be one of her favorite places to go, and she's been talking about it all week. 

There were just seven of us this year (the Weilers were in Colorado for spring break), but we had a wonderful dinner buffet. Kennedy ate so much! She had strawberries, cheese and crackers, chicken salad, deviled eggs, macaroni salad, shrimp, crab, breadstick, fried chicken, mashed potato, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, squash, more strawberries, halibut, prime rib, crab cake, and chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. We are really spoiled by not having a picky eater. There isn't really anything that this girl doesn't like, or won't at least try. After dinner we got to see the Easter Bunny and get a treat bag. Then we took some pictures outside and blew bubbles from Kennedy's Easter basket. We ended the night with a visit to the Nelsons to show off Kennedy's Easter dress and relax for a bit before heading home. 

Ten Amazing Years!

Friday was our 10-year anniversary, and we celebrated by going out to dinner with my parents at Trio after our work-out. Thanks to everyone who has been a part of our lives during this decade (15-years if you count the time we were dating). Your love and support has meant so much to us. Mostly I want to thank Jake for being a wonderful husband and father! I love you so much! Most years we haven't exchanged gifts, but I felt inspired and got him a metal bucket with ten of his favorite drinks - tin is the traditional gift for ten years of marriage.

Other fun activities for the weekend: a visit to see the dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History - Kennedy has been begging to go for weeks now; watching our friend, Jake, play football in the rain with the Cache Valley Bears; geocaching and playground time; and Easter dinner at "The Club!", but that deserves its own post.

Easter Eggs

Here is Kennedy’s first egg dyeing experience. She liked choosing which color to put the eggs in, but her favorite part seemed to be putting on stickers once they were dry. These are just going to be for eating. We’ll stick to hiding the plastic ones. This is now one of her favorite games, thanks to the egg hunt experience she had with her cousins at Grandma Sue’s a few weeks ago. We’ve been hiding eggs all over the house for her to find and put in her basket. Sometimes she refuses to leave the room while they are being hidden, other times she wants to do the hiding, but it’s always exciting to see her face light up with each discovery.

Time with Grandma Sue

Kennedy spent Thursday and Friday with Grandma Sue. She kindly offered to watch her so that we didn't have to take time off from work. I'm saving all my sick and vacation time for maternity leave and Grammie and Pampy are visiting Andy and Meg in Washington. Kennedy did so well after the surgery that she probably could have gone to school on Thursday, but spending alone time with Grandma Sue is a special treat for her! Usually Grandma Sue's attention (and toys) have to be shared with Eliza and Huck. They went to Home Depot and to lunch with Aunt JoAnn at Paradise Bakery. They also put together puzzles, read books, had a tea party, and played with playdough...but no nap either day. Friday they also went to The Little Gym. There was just too much fun being had!

Grandma Sue bought Kennedy this cute tutu, which she calls her "fancy dress". She had to wear it on all of the errands they went on - it's a big hit! Thanks again Grandma Sue. We hope it was as much fun for you as it was for Kennedy!  

Ear Tubes for Kennedy

Yesterday Kennedy had surgery to put tubes in her ears. She has had problems with ear infections since starting school in January, so when we met with the specialist last week he said that she is a good candidate. We wasted no time in scheduling the procedure – it’s both better for her and for us not to delay this.

Daddy had an important project meeting at work, so Grammie met us at Primary Children’s for Kennedy’s 8:00 am check-in. The toys were a great distraction from not being able to eat or drink anything since the night before. There were a few issues with sharing things with the other kids, but overall Kennedy did really well. They got her checked in, took her stats, discussed the surgery and anesthesia with us, and before we knew it she was being wheeled away in a wagon by Dr. Long and Dr. Hill - both former colleagues and friends of Jake’s dad and I learned that Dr. Hill lived across the street from my parents when I was growing up. She was a great patient, very agreeable and not at all afraid. This is a girl who actually asks if she can go to the doctor!

The surgery took about 15-minutes total. We barely had time to get settled in the waiting room before they called us to come back to recovery. She was unhappy for a bit, but did so much better coming out of the anesthesia than last time. She got to snuggle in mama’s lap with two blankets and her friends from home, Elmo and Cookie, drink some juice, eat a popsicle, and watch Super Why on tv – what could be better? On the way home she cried because she didn’t get a sticker, but then she was asleep in the car seat before we made it to the freeway.

The nap didn’t last long because as soon as I tried to put her in bed at home, she was wide awake and wanted to sit in my lap. We watched the old favorite “Farm Movie” and then she was ready for something more exciting. Daddy came home and we all colored, had a tea party, read stories, ate lunch, and played ring around the rosies in the kitchen…but still no nap. Finally I took her on an errand to Babies R Us and she fell asleep in the shopping cart just as we were checking out. It’s amazing how well she is doing. We had a great night and she woke up today and seemed totally back to normal. Hopefully this will make all the difference for her!

I forgot to bring the camera, but Grammie took pictures with her phone. Stay tuned for photos.

Date Night

Jake and I went out to a wonderful dinner at Franck's to celebrate our upcoming anniversary (April 10th) and baby (April 18th?). We decided on a splurge night (diabetic diet out the window!) and had some amazing food. We shared a wild mushroom tart for an appetizer. For the next course I had a salad and Jake had cauliflower, green tea and white chocolate soup! What an unusual combination, but it really worked together. Our entrees were salmon for me and duck for him - both delicious and the sauces, which the restaurant is known for, were so good! Finally we ended the meal by sharing a butterscotch chocolate pudding. Yum! When we left, the valet was pulling up with our car before we even reached the parking lot. I’m definitely impressed with this place, and would recommend it as long as you know that the dining room is small and a bit noisy, and be prepared to spend some time and money on the experience.

Thanks to my parents for making this night possible - treating us to this gourmet meal and letting Kennedy spend the night!!! I'll get my dad to send me the pictures he took of us before we left and post them. It's certainly not every weekend that we get dressed up to go out.