Month 1: The month of "Firsts"

Our sweet baby girl is a month old! How can it be? 

 The beautiful blanket was made for her by her Great Aunt Nancy Wilkerson.

All too soon she will take up the whole chair! 

Dr Appointment: 

We went to the doctor two weeks ago for her two week check up and it was quite the ordeal. Mommy thought everything was going great and that Miss Blakely would be back up to birth weight. However, when the nurse put her on the scale, she was still 6 lbs 13 oz, which is what she was when we left the hospital. Mommy was quite distraught, but Dr. Hilary assured us this happens frequently and offered some solutions. She is doing much better, and continues to gain weight appropriately now. We are anxious to see the progress we have made when we go to her two month appointment! 

Stats as of Two Week Appointment

Height: 20 inches, 58th percentile...surprisingly low considering mommy and daddy are tall! 

Weight: 6lbs 13 oz, 12th percentile....little peanut, but we are working hard to chunk her out! 

Head: 99th percentile...HUGE, This is why momma had to push for 1.5 hours during delivery!

Sizes:

At 4 weeks, she is still in newborn clothes and diapers. We tried some 0-3 months clothes on this week, but her skinny little body just swims in it. However, newborn sleepers are getting a little short on her long legs! 

Social:

She lets anyone hold her. However,just be prepared to let her suck on your finger or have a pacifier ready. I think she recognizes mommy's voice because when someone else is holding her she will lean towards her momma's voice. She also, only in the past few days, has began to purposefully smile. We are excited for the interactive days ahead!

On The Move:

Well, the only way she moves is if the person holding her moves. However, she seems like she is trying to roll over when laying on her back, especially on the changing table. We need to be better about more tummy time...goal for month two! 

Food:

Ever since her two week appointment, this has been an area of stress for momma. After the two week appointment when we discovered she was only getting a half ounce each feeding, instead of 2-3 ounces we began supplementing after each feeding with formula (after a couple days I had pumped enough that we were able to supplement with breast milk). We spent 10 days doing 30 minutes nursing, 15 minutes supplement feeding with a tube and syringe, and 15 minutes pumping...wait 2 hours and repeat. Talk about extremely draining and tiring. However, after 10 days she had gained enough to get back to birth weight and we were able to begin tapering off the supplements. 

Now at 4 weeks we are breastfeeding with supplement only a few times a week (only when she is still fussy after feedings). I am still trying to pump 3 times a day, but it is hard when I am home alone to pump while taking care of her. She now weighs, as of today....7 lbs 15.5 oz! 

Sleep:
This is the most asked question, are you getting any sleep? Our response...are we supposed to, we have a newborn? I am handling the sleep deprivation relatively well. I am actually relatively enjoying my nights up with little miss. I keep reminding myself that our time at this stage is so short, it won't be long before she doesn't want to cuddle at night. I am glad we invested in a big comfy rocking chair for the nursery. We spend many a night hours rocking in the chair, staying busy by praying for others, singing songs, reading books, and yes....browsing facebook and pinterest.  Noah is a wonderful daddy and will get up with her often on the weekends and even during the week occasionally.  I usually don't let him get up with her more than once a night during the week since he has to work.

However, now that we have our feeding/weight gain issues under control she is able to make longer stretches between feedings at night. In fact, one night this week she slept from 10:30pm- 3am when I woke her up to feed her and then she slept from 4am- 7am. I am reading a book that Dr. Hilary recommended called Baby Wise and it gives great practical steps to sleep train infants from an early age, on the premises that babies that sleep consistently are happy babies and mommas that have babies that sleep consistently are happy mommas. The first step they recommend is to make the first feed of the day at the same time everyday. So I am trying to feed her everyday at 7 am knowing that is what time I want her to wake up and eat during the school year so that I have time to get up and get ready and then get her up to feed and change and head out the door! I highly recommend this book to new moms :)

Likes:
She loves to cuddle! She also really likes it when you sing to her. She loves to suck on mom and dad's finger to soothe herself. She also finds it soothing to be rocked, bounced, and patted on the booty. She likes car rides as long as the car is moving (heaven help us when we hit traffic!) and will fall asleep quickly. 

Dislikes:
She does not like to have her diaper changed! Overall, she is a pretty content baby.

It seems like just yesterday we were in the hospital meeting her first the very FIRST time. Speaking of first, it has be a month filled with "Firsts"

Here are some "Firsts" we captured on camera....

Blakely's FIRST bible. Given to her by her Great Grandparents: Bill and Bertie Evans

FIRST Sunday at church. So many people were so excited to meet her! 

This is Olivia, she was the very FIRST preschooler from mommy's class that she met. Olivia's mommy teaches with Blakely's mommy and they are good friends. And, Olivia and her family live right down the street. Olivia adores Blakely and I know that Blakely will adore Olivia as well! So glad Blakely has such a great girl like Olivia to be a role model! 

This is her very FIRST bath (at home). Obviously, not a fan but luckily baths following went much better :)

This is our very FIRST picture as a family! 

This is Blakely's very FIRST time meeting her soon to be best friend Claire Mae Pickens. Claire's mommy is good friends with Blakely's mommy. Claire is 2 months older than Blakely.

Newborn Pictures

Here is a preview of the wonderful newborn pictures that Kim Johnson of Kim Joyce Photography captured of our little girl. Kim is such a talented photographer and we are so blessed to have her to take pictures of our little girl.

A Girl and Her Daddy

This has by far been the best part of being a mommy. Watching the man I love, love our little daughter. I love how he constantly wants to love and cuddle her, refuses to let me hold her in the evening (because I get her all summer) and isn't afraid to change a dirty diaper or hold her when she is fussy. He is an amazing man and I am so blessed to have him not only as my husband but the father of my child.

Home Coming!

We are so blessed to have friends and family who were just as excited as us about Blakely's arrival and homecoming! On Monday afternoon we came home to a decorated driveway thanks to the O'Toole's and a yummy lunch thanks to Noah's parents. We were even able to sneak in a nap that afternoon while Noah's parents watched Little Miss.

Ready to come home, wearing the same outfit home from the hosptal as her momma did.

First time in carseat. She is so little!

wonderful traveler.

she is already loved by so many!

Mommy and Daddy are super tired but even more excited!

NICU

Due to my fever and her jumpy her rate during labor, Miss Blakely's first 36 hours in this world were spent in the NICU (it was suppose to be 48 hours, but since she is such a rockstar, Dr. Hilary let her out early!). It wasn't how we imagined the start of our time as a family of 3, but we are thankful for a doctor who is very precautionary and puts Blakely's health as priority.

Noah and I were so glad that we made the decision to deliver at Overland Park Regional Hospital. Otherwise, Beemer would have been transferred to a hospital that had a NICU while I was left at the hospital were we delivered. Praise God, we got to stay together.We could have delivered at Olathe. Their huge rooms with family beds and the fact that we have a friend that is a nurse there made it very tempting. However, in the end we choose OPR because they not only have a NICU, but they have one of the best in the region. OPR's NICU takes up the entire 4th floor of the hospital and has enough beds for 80 babies! 

We are so thankful for the wonderful nurses who took care of us and our sweet little girl while we were there, they were top notch. While we in the NICU we were surrounded by babies who were sick, premature, and struggling to survive.... it was there we realized just how blessed beyond measure we were to have a baby that was full term, thriving and above all else, ALIVE. To God be the glory. Sometimes at night when little girl and I are awake in her room, rocking in the chair, we pray for the babies and the families that are in the NICU and thank God for the abundant blessing of life that is Miss Blakely Mae Wells.

During her stay she had an IV in her left hand that she received antibiotics through, a monitor on her foot that measured her pulse rate, and two monitors on her chest, one for her heart rate, and one for respiratory. We learned real quick which one corresponded with which monitor screen and how to make sure they are in the right spot so the alarms will stop sounding :)

Mama found a way to dress her cute, even with all the cords.

Special time with Daddy in the NICU.

Special time with Mommy in the NICU

Blakely had lots of visitors while she was in the NICU. The picture is of her cousins Melissa and Kristi Miller, they were the very first visitors to visit while she was in the NICU. Other visitors included Nana and Papa Perrigo, Grandma and Grandpa Wells, Tia Whitney, Uncle Nathan and Aunt Angie, Uncle Eric and Kaitlyn,  Grandma Carole (and Jebbo but he had to stay in the waiting area because of flu season rules) and Pastor Jason came and prayed over our sweet baby. 

Blakely Mae Wells is here!

Saturday April 20th, 2013 at 4:58 am our world changed! Blakely Mae made her grand entrance and I can honestly say it was the coolest, most miraculous experience of my life! 

And here is her BIRTH STORY....

The Long Version, because I want to be able to Blakely every little detail someday :)

Well I must start by saying that although she might have made the past 39 weeks and 5 days difficult on her mama...she made her BIRTH-day amazingly wonderful!

The story actually started Thursday April 18th at 4:00 when I officially finished my master's degree by defending my master's project in front a board of my professors. Through out the entire pregnancy I had been praying that she would wait until after this day to arrive because I knew that once she was here that I would have ZERO motivation to finish my degree. Looking back on it, and how I was dilated to 3 for the 2 whole weeks prior and had her in my arms just a mere 37 hours after finishing, I know that it was only because of those prayers that my master's was finished!

After completing my master's degree, my mind was on one thing, and one thing only...getting little Miss Blakely into my arms! At my 38 week appointment the previous Friday we scheduled an induction for Monday April 22nd, which was her actual due date. However, with the master's being done and everything else on the To-Do List done I did not want to wait the whole weekend to meet her. I mean, what was I suppose to do, just relax...what is that?

I was really hoping I would just instantly go into labor on Thursday and go straight to the hospital after finishing my presentation. No Such Luck. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper about going to school the next day, but I did anyways. To make the day better I decided I was going to go to McDonald's for breakfast because I was craving orange juice and McDonald's has the largest large orange juice of all fast food restaurants. So, I called my fellow pregnant friend, Amber (because we always made sure to call each other if we were on a food run during the school hours) and got us both breakfast. However, when I ordered my orange juice they told me they were out of orange juice. Say What? That was the one thing I wanted, hoping it would turn my bitter attitude around. I took a deep breath, paid for the food and headed over to Burger King where I got a much smaller large orange juice. Yes, I went to both McDonald's and Burger King within minutes of each other, but I had an excuse...39 weeks pregnant, enough said. I made it to work and managed to be unproductive all morning, just hanging out in Amber's room, complaining about how much I hate being pregnant. Deciding I needed motivation to be more productive that afternoon, I went to Blazer burger for lunch and got a big pork tenderloin sandwich and milkshake (I definitely wouldn't have eaten all that greasy food if I knew I would be going into labor that night). It worked, and I managed to get the rest of my school To-Do List done before heading to our sonogram.

At our 39 week appointment on the prior Wednesday, Dr. Hilary set us up to get a sonogram on Friday afternoon just to make sure the baby was doing well and all my fluid levels were appropriate and good to wait until Monday to induce. 

As I was leaving school at the end of the day to head to the sonogram I thought I was leaking fluid, which I knew was something I needed to immediately call the doctor about. On the way to the sonogram I called Dr. Hilary's office and told them I was on the way to the sonogram but I thought I was leaking fluid. They told me to go to the sonogram and then to head right over to the hospital so they could check and see if my water had broke and was slowly leaking.

I called Noah and told him the plan and he was really calm. Way calmer than me :) At the sonogram the sonographer said the baby looked great and so did my fluid levels. Afterwards we drove to the hospital. We called our parents to let them know and tell them not to freak out yet.  I was pretty sure my water wasn't broken and had a feeling we would be going home. Once we got there they hooked me up to the monitor, which showed I was not having any contractions, and checked me out...still dilated to a 3 and my water was in-tack. They sent us on our way and at that point I set my mind on Monday, not thinking I would be back there any earlier.

You see, this really wasn't the best weekend for little girl to come anyways. Aunt Jillian was out of town til Monday night, visiting her mom in Forida and Aunt Karissa was in St. Louis for a bachelorette party. Not to mention, Dr. Hilary was technically out of town, seeing how she took the weekend off to attend our church's women's retreat.

We went home from the hospital that evening and my mom came over and we went on a long walk. Noah and I just hung out, deciding to make the best of our last weekend as just the two of us. We went to bed at normal time, to which Noah said "I really hope she doesn't come in the middle of the night."

Famous last words.

I had barely fallen asleep when I was literally knocked out of bed at 11:30 with a crazy intense pain in my back and lower stomach area.  I began to time the contractions, and they were happening every 2 minutes. I dealt with the pain by telling Noah to stay away from me ( I don't do well with touching or talking when in pain) and walking up down the hallway. Finally at midnight I told Noah that if he wanted to shower before we left for the hospital that now was the time because I was calling the doctor at 12:30. At this point I was out of my mind in pain and had decided that a natural birth was for the birds and all I wanted was an epidural. Noah showered, loaded stuff in the car and at 12:30 on the dot I had shoes on and I called the doctor. I talked to to the on-call doctor, who told me that typically they have first time moms wait until they have had consistent contractions at home for two hours before heading to the hospital (side note...my doctor told me an hour). I think he could tell by my voice that I was going to the hospital whether he told me to or not.

The car ride to the hospital was miserable, sitting made the contractions worse. As we came up to I-435 we realized the ramp from I-35 to I-435 was closed, meaning we had to go to 95th street and then head back toward to the hospital, I nearly lost it. Mind you, it didn't really add that much time to the trip but by this point mentally I was done.

We got to the hospital and entered through ER, which took us awhile to find because there was a ton of construction and we had entered through a different area when we had our hospital tour. The security guard could tell that I was obviously in labor and asked if I needed a wheel chair. I said "nope, I can walk faster." When we got to the maternity floor I frantically looked at the nurses in the nurse station and said, "I think my doctor called me in, my name is Katy Wells and I am in serious labor." One of the nurses walked me (rather slowly I might add) back to triage, where they check you in before getting you in a delivery room. On the way I told the nurse, "All my pre-registration paper work will say I don't want an epidural, but it lies. I want one...now...please."

Once in triage the nurse hooked me up to the monitors and confirmed that I was indeed having steady contractions (my thoughts...well thank you captain obvious) and said I was dilated to a 5. At this point we called our parents to tell them we were officially being omitted to the hospital and little girl was on her way! 

Once I was changed into my gown, it was time for my IV. I told the nurse that I had never had an IV an that I do well with IVs. Whenever I would visit people in the hospital I would have to make sure not to look at their IVs or I would pass out. She calmly told me not to look and it would all be ok. I told her I thought I was going to throw up so she gave me a throw up bag. She put the IV in and left to call the doctor and inform her of my progress. She left the room and I looked straight at Noah and said "here it comes" and I lost it. My biggest fear, throwing up during labor. I told everyone that the one thing I didn't want to do during labor and delivery was throw up, I spent too much time doing that the first 27 weeks. But honestly, it wasn't that bad...I got it all out of my system at the beginning. However, I won't be eating canned fruit cocktail ever again, it was the last thing I ate.

We were settled into the delivery room by 2 am. The nurse checked me again and said I was now dilated to a 7. Side Note: if we would have listened to the on call doctor and waited another hour at home before coming in, we would have just been arriving to the hospital and I would not have been able to get an epidural because there wouldn't have been enough time to get adequate amount of IV fluid in me that getting an epidural requires.  We only had to wait about 30 minutes for the anesthesiologist to come give me my epidural and boy, it was a long 30 minutes. My contractions were still 2 minutes apart and very intense. I would just lean over the bed while Noah would apply pressure with his hand to my lower back, it was the only thing that would help. 

Right before the anesthesiologist got there my parents arrived. When the walked in my first response was "Dad, you can't be in here, leave. NOW!" They both kind of looked at me shocked, like they didn't know what I was saying. So I repeated it again,  more forceful. I love my dad dearly, but this was not an event I wanted him at. My mom said that she was going to take help him get situated in the waiting room and asked if I wanted her to come back. To which I apparently responded "Yes. You stay, but he goes." 

When my mom came back the anesthesiologist had just gotten there and was getting ready to give me my epidural. I said a prayer that I would not have a contraction during the process and death gripped Noah's arm. Thanks be to God....once he started, I never had another contraction. I told the guy he was my hero and when he left I told Noah we needed to send him a thank you card. However, after getting his 935.00 bill this week, I am not so sure about thank you card :)

After getting the epidural I felt 100% better. In fact I was kind of loopy. I told Noah that if this is what it feels like to be stoned, I could totally understand why people do drugs. However, the epidural made my blood pressure drop, which in turn made the baby's heart rate increase.

Luckily by this time our amazing Dr. Hilary Nash was had arrived. We love Dr. Nash and are so thankful that she is our doctor. She left our church's women's retreat, which she was partially in-charge of, to come and deliver Miss Blakely. Dr. Nash spent the next hour watching Blakely's heart rate on the monitor. Over the next hour I progressed from a 7 to a 10 and at 3:30 am it was time to start pushing. Dr. Nash said Blakely was doing OK but if I hadn't progressed as fast as I did that we would have more than likely ended up with a c-section because of her increased heart rate. 

I spent the next hour and a half pushing that girl's head out....which all makes sense now that we know her heard is in the 99th percentile. I am so glad that I had both Noah and my mom there as support. At one point I complained that I was really hot and I felt like I was going to pass out. They immediately put the oxygen mask on me and checked my temperature. Dr. Nash told me us that I had a temperature and that both me having a temperature and Blakely's heart rate being so jumpy were signs of an infection. They immediately began to give me an antibiotic, hoping it would be transferred to her as well. A few minutes later Dr. Hilary told us that after delivery that she would be sending the baby to the NICU so she could continue to get antibiotics just in case I had an infection and had passed it on to her. She said that this was all very precautionary and that more than likely the baby doesn't have an infection, but it is better to be safe than sorry.  As it turns out, we later found out that my placenta tested positive for a serious infection, and it is such a blessing that all of Blakely's blood test came back negative. 

Blakely was born at 4:58 am. It was the most amazing moment, having her placed on my chest, hearing her cry, seeing the emotion on Noah's face and realizing we were now a family. 

We were able to spend a good hour with our little girl before the whisked her away to the NICU to begin receiving her precautionary antibiotics.

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalms 139:14

First Picture. Love her.

Sweet Baby Girl

I know I don't look happy but I really am :)

She already has him wrapped around her finger.