Allens in the ATX: June 2010

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

1st Doctor Appointment

Today was Kyla's 1st doctor appointment. Dr. Cardwell was out of town this week so we saw Dr. Hutchins. This was our first outing as a family and we were very excited to make sure she was healthy considering all of the feeding issues we had just been through. She was discharged from the hospital weighing 7 lbs 7 oz. At the Dr. when they took her measurements she was 21.5 inches long, 7 lbs 8 oz and her head circumference was 36 cm. It was very encouraging that she had put on 1 oz since she left the hospital! The Dr. looked her over and said she looked very healthy so that put our minds at ease. Being a new parent is definitely hard; we are constantly second guessing things like is she getting enough food, is she happy, is she sleeping enough, etc. so it was definitely nice to hear from the Dr. that she looked very good. Kyla was so well behaved and basically just wanted to sleep through her visit, but then the Dr. had to make her mad so she would open her eyes, Kyla finally opened her eyes and she was screaming then the Dr. was done with her checkup and it was time for us to dress her all while she was having a mini meltdown. We got her dressed and in the car and played American Honey and she was perfectly content!

All dressed up for the Dr.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Kane Comes Home

Tim went and picked up some flyers that Jessica had made so we could find Kane. Tim hung them up all over the neighborhood in hopes that someone would return him. That night there was a HUGE thunderstorm coming through because of Tropical Storm Alex. We were all worried about Kane knowing that he was an indoor cat, how on earth would he survive out there with all of that rain? Was he scared?

About 7:30 pm there was a loud thunder roll, I was in the room feeding Kyla and then the doorbell rang. Tim and my Grandmommy answered the door and apparently our neighbor, Robin (who hadn't even seen the flyers but talked to Tim), was standing there at the door with Kane. Robin and his wife Tonya were outside eating Cheetos (Kane's favorite food) when the thunder rolled and it must have scared Kane so he ran up on their patio and they picked him up and asked if that was our missing cat!

Tim and Grandmommy then came into Kyla's room with big smiles on their faces and told me that Kane had been returned home! My goodness there were lots of tears of joy! It seemed like at that moment I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and actually was able to relax just a little more. Our family was finally complete, we were all home together and it was one of the best feelings ever. It was even better because that night we didn't have to give Kyla any formula, she was satisfied on what I was producing which was a huge relief and great sign that things were finally starting to come together.

Kyla staring at her Daddy after Kane was returned home

Tim & Kyla on the couch with Kane and Taylor on the coffee table, happy family

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Homecoming

We were finally discharged from the hospital and we got to bring our baby girl home! We got her all loaded up in the car seat (which she loved) and started our journey home. Tim drove, my Grandmommy was in the passenger seat and I was in the backseat with Kyla. Tim had her song, American Honey by Lady Antebellum, all cued up and ready to go as soon as we drove off. Hearing this song and having our baby in the car with us made me cry so hard, she is our American Honey and we were getting to bring her home for good. It was so exciting and we couldn't wait to introduce her to the rest of the family (our kitty cats).

Kyla did so well in the car; she just chilled and listened to the music. After about a 10 minute car ride we were home! When we got home, Taylor (our youngest cat) was at the front door greeting us but nowhere to be found was our oldest cat, Kane (Tim's cat for the last 13 years). My family had stayed at the house while we were at the hospital so somehow in the shuffle of people he must have bolted outside. What was supposed to have been the greatest day ever ended up being a very stressful and depressing day. Tim spent the majority of his time outside looking for Kane while I was working on pumping and trying to make sure Kyla was getting enough food. Luckily my Grandmommy was here, I honestly don't think I could have made it through the day without her. She is so rock solid and was exactly what we needed. The amount of stress and sadness about Kane missing, along with other things did not help my milk production, so I basically just put on a face and got through it because it was what was best for Kyla. Later that night Mark, Jessica, Brody and Connor brought us dinner (green chili chicken enchiladas!) and hung out for a bit. It was really nice having their company and Jessica worked with me on pumping and also on finding the perfect place to feed Kyla.

After they left we hung out here with my Grandmommy and then got ready for bedtime. This night was tougher than most because Kane normally crawls into bed with us, but he was gone, so there was no cuddling with him before shutting our eyes. This killed Tim, so he got up and went outside for a breather and saw a cat on my car, but then the cat took off and he ran two houses down. Tim came inside to get me and I went outside and held the flashlight while we tried to see if this cat was Kane. Unfortunately he took off when Tim got closer so we weren't 100% positive that it was Kane, but there was a glimmer of hope. We were up and down through the night with Kyla and mostly because she still wasn't getting enough to eat. We gave her some more formula and she slept peacefully for a few hours. I continued pumping and started my milk supply in the fridge. There were a few times where she would just cry and cry so Grandmommy would take her and rock her while I rested for a couple of hours. The next day was pretty low key and we just continued figuring each other out and started to establish a little bit more of a routine.

Kyla sleeping tight in her Moses basket

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Kyla Grace Allen

Kyla Grace Allen was born on Friday, June 25, 2010 at 9:48 am. She weighed 8 lbs 1 oz and was 20.5 inches long. She is such a precious addition to our family; it is so cool to think that we are now a "Party of 3"!

Labor was definitely interesting, we were set to induce on Friday, but were admitted Thursday night June 24th to get things started. My Grandmommy & Granddaddy came in and we went to dinner at Texas Land & Cattle so I could have a baked potato before going to the hospital because at that point I would not be able to eat anymore. We showed up at the hospital at 7 pm, around 8:30 pm they checked me and I was 1.5 cm dilated and 75% effaced. They then gave me a pill to thin my cervix. By 11 pm I started getting a little uncomfortable so I wanted a sleeping pill so I could get some rest. She wanted me to wait until 1 am to take the sleeping pill but I didn't make it that long, I started contracting so she checked me again and I was fully effaced (thinned) so the on call Dr. said to give me a narcotic to help me sleep instead of the sleeping pill. I was dreaming all through the night that I was sitting around a table with dinosaurs (cartoon like dinos like on the Flintstones) and they were walking me through my contractions. I found out from Tim the next day that I was breathing through my contractions, but I had no idea because I was sleeping. So around 5:30 am, the nurse came and checked me again and I was 7.5 cm dilated and it was time for the epidural. Tim called my parents and his parents so they could start getting ready and make the trip to Austin! Then at 7:30 am they checked me again and I was 9-9.5 cm dilated and we called my grandparents who were already in town, my mom, and Jessica so they could come up to the hospital as well. I got to see everyone before I started pushing and then it was time to clear out and get down to business. In the room I had Tim, my Grandmommy, Jessica, and Tim's mom, Vicki. I started pushing around 8:30 am, we made it through a couple of contractions but then the nurse got called away so I had a break. Around 9 am we started pushing again and voila at 9:48 am I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. I am so thankful for everyone that was there to help me through the whole delivery process. I was really proud of Tim; he was so great and was even pushing right along with me!

While in the womb Kyla had swallowed the Meconium so I didn't get to hold her right away. They took her over to the little station and the nursery nurses worked on sucking all of the stuff out of her lungs. I didn't like hearing that she had swallowed the meconium, but I trusted everyone and that they would do what was best for Kyla. They sure did, I then heard her screams and it was such a sweet, sweet sound. Once they got us all cleaned up I got to hold her for the first time and it was so very special. Then everyone got to come and visit and I finally got to eat again! A few hours later they moved us to the postpartum room and they didn't want us to have any visitors for a while because we all needed to rest. Later that evening everyone came back to visit, while they were holding Kyla, I took a shower and it was one of the best showers of my life! Kat and Greg also came by for a visit on their way back home from Schlitterbahn. Mark, Jessica, Brody and Connor also came and hung out for a while. The rest of the evening was pretty relaxed and the first night Kyla slept quite a bit but of course woke up for her feedings! It seemed like she was almost already on some sort of a routine.

The next morning Tim's Aunt Leslie came by for a visit, and then my grandparents came back along with my parents and my mom. Then we had a surprise visit from Leslie Birch and her mom, Peggy, and later that evening Tim's parents and our friends Kris & Justin came by and hung out for a little bit. Tim went to dinner with his parents and I tried to get a little more rest. At this point Kyla was showing a lot of signs of hunger, but I had been feeding her and let her feed for a while, so I was struggling on figuring out why she was still hungry. That night the nursery came and got her so we could get a few hours of sleep. When they brought her back the nurse said she made a judgment call and gave her some formula because she was still so hungry and the nurse witnessed me nursing so she wasn't sure either why she was still hungry. I continued trying to feed and on Sunday before we were discharged the lactation consultant came by to visit. She checked me out and basically told me most of my milk ducts were clogged so she wasn't getting enough to eat. She gave me tons of tips on how to unclog them; one of the tips was to pump after every feeding. This ended up being a lot of work and I began feeling like a slave to my pump, but slowly my milk ducts were unclogging and my milk started coming in that night!