First Doctors Appointment and Mommy's Helper

Kenzie's first doctors appointment was on Saturday (a stipulation of getting out of the hospital early). Ryan refused to let her go in without him. He is VERY protective of her so far, apparently he is taking his role as big brother very seriously.  He sat super close to her the whole time and wouldn't even let me push her stroller. I had to explain to him what the doctor was doing the whole time because if Kenzie cried he started getting panicked. I hope he continues to love and care about her this much! It's nice to have a mommy's helper! 

Kenzie checked out well- she was at 6 pounds 12 ounces which means she hardly lost any weight at the hospital. Next check up will be at the two week mark. 

Out of the Hospital

Our experience at the hospital was a LONG one, at least it seemed that way. The labor was so fast that I wasn't able to get a full round of antibiotics for Group B strep so they wanted to keep Kenzie in the hospital for at least 48 hours which would have put us there until Saturday morning. It would have been okay except our room was possessed- Everything electronic kept breaking. Our first bed had an air mattress which sounded like Darth Vader vacuuming. It had a loud background air blowing noise and then what sounded like a respirator. So after like 12 hours they found a bed to replace it with- this self adjusted EVERY 15 seconds or so- so it was really loud- we eventually had to unplug it and it turned into 2 boards that couldn't be adjusted. Then all the outlets in the room died (which they were able to fix).  All that on top of the general uncomfortableness of hospitals (nurses coming in all the time, weird food etc) we were ready to go and convinced them to let us out Friday afternoon as long as we promised to see the pediatrician Saturday. So we complied and got out of dodge. Our house has never felt so comfortable!

Meeting the Siblings!

Welcome to the World Mackenzie Quinn!

Mackenzie Quinn Mason was born February 27th 2014 at 12:59am

She was 7 Pounds, 2 Ounces

20.5 Inches Long

Doctor Deibel and Nurse Elizabeth (who strangely enough were second cousins)

I was only in active labor for 3 hours, the last hour I was 9.5cm dilated. We got to the hospital and were told I was 3 cm dilated and not in "active labor" so they made me walk around the hospital hallways to get things going, after about 20 minutes I couldn't walk anymore and the contractions had gone from 8 minutes apart to 3 minutes. They checked me and said I was ready to call the epidural man, he came in about 25 minutes later (after all the blood work had come back and I had been given enough fluid so that my pressure wouldn't bottom out when given the epidural. My first check after the epidural (a few minutes later) I had gone from 3 cm to 9.5cm. It took a little bit of time to get to 10 because my water hadn't broken. They ended up breaking my water because her heart rate was fluctuating and after the doctor warned me if I had to push too long he would have to use the vacuum I ended up pushing her out in half a push. Except for a few bad moments the labor was short and sweet and at the end of the day we have a healthy baby girl! 

A Day at the Circus

It's a day past my due date and.... we spent the day at the circus! The theme this year was construction/ sports (at least that's what we decided). Ryan really liked it, Audrey was not a huge fan- she asked to go home half way through the first half and by the end was playing a game on dads phone- oh well, it's not for everyone. She did like the animals (tigers, poodles, elephants), Ryan of course liked the action the best- though the things way up high like the tightrope walkers made him nervous- he made sure we knew he NEVER wanted to do anything like those things. It was a fun day out- now we wait some more for the arrival of baby! 

No School for Snow Day!

Ice Storm and Due Dates

I am 10 days out from my due date! And of course North Carolina is under a State of Emergency for ice... it hasn't started yet, but it is coming in a few hours. Hopefully I don't end up giving birth in the car on the way to the Hospital! My last labor was short so they don't think this one will give me a lot of prep time- I guess it's wait and see at this point. Luckily Don learned to drive in Massachusetts so hopefully we can get to the hospital if need be.
UPDATE: Luckily I was not out to take this picture- but as you can see... the storm was BAD. Kids are out of school, ice has covered everything and we are expecting a few more inches of snow this afternoon. Baby has held out this long, let's hope she holds on for another day!

100 Days of School

Monday will be Ryan's 100th day in kindergarten! His class is doing all sort of projects and special snacks to celebrate. His homework for the weekend was to do a project of his choosing with 100 objects. This is what we came up with. I can't believe how much Ryan has learned in the last 100 days of school, including counting to 100! 

Snow Day #2... this one actually stuck to the ground!

36 weeks

I am now 36.5 weeks pregnant... as of Saturday (37 weeks) I will be considered full term. We had our appointment today and I am 1cm dilated, halfway thinned out and at a -2 station. All my vitals look good and they said if I start going into labor they won't stop me. They can't tell me when I will go into labor or if it will be early (the other two were not) but that my body is making progress.

Snow Day

"Snowdays" in the south have a completely different meaning :) Last night we got our first snow, it was maybe a centemeter worth... but we got a 2 hour delay for school this morning! Audrey was too cold to be outside for more then 5 minutes... even with her layers... Ryan was disappointed he couldn't throw snowballs... but they were both excited that we actually got to see snow this year!

Happy Birthday to Me

Happy Birthday to me! Don took me out for a weekend away last weekend- we went to the movies and out to a nice dinner. Then on my actual birthday we went out to dinner with the kids. Ryan was all about going out until they sang happy birthday to me... he looked at us and said "I am not coming here for my birthday, that was terrifying!." Though I think the chocolate lava cake might have made up for it. 

It was a great birthday week- and a nice time going out before the baby! 

Belly Picture

I am 34 weeks today. I am much more uncomfortable then this picture properly portrays :) I figured I should take at least one shot of the body after the first trimester of this pregnancy. 3 weeks until she will not be considered premature, 6 weeks until her due date.

Happy New Year 2014

Happy New Year, I hope that 2014 brings us peace and love and most of all health. 2013 was a hard one for our family, but it ended on a high note and in just a little over 7 weeks our little girl is due to be born.

In 2013 I learned to let go of what I cannot control (easier said than done for a control freak like me). I learned to appreciate the down time, I'm not in a competition with anyone and everyone in our family is happier when we give each other time to rest. Relationships can make or break mental health, I have amazing friends and an amazing husband that have supported me in sane times and not so sane times. I hope that these life lessons will help me in 2014, with a newborn and two other kids and a husband that will need my time and attention.