Wesley Grace Kautzman Has Arrived

Wesley Grace Kautzman was born on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 8:08am weighing 7.88ozs and 20 inches long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh where to begin...we have now been home for 4 days and I am finally making the time to blog about Wesley's birth. My scheduled c-section was set for 7:30am which required us to be to the hospital 2 hours before. At 5:00am we set off to the hospital. My heart was racing with anticipation, excitment, fear and glee. We got about 5 miles from the house when Luke announces,  "I think one of my contacts fell out"...I convince him to pull over and I continue the drive to the hospital. Once there I am exhausted and take the time to grab about a 45 minute catnap. I did the same thing with Austin's birth and I think it really helps me relax.

The anesthesiologist came in to introduce himself and I told him of my concerns from my last spinal. My blood pressure and body temperature dropped dangerously low and I was required to spend and extended time in recovery and not allowed to sit up. Shortly after that the doctor who will be subbing for my doctor comes in to introduce himself. Mind you, I have never met this man before and my original doctor that I have been seeing, delivered Austin, and I have been a patient of for over 6 years. He does inform us that my doctor did indeed have surgery the day before (good excuse!) He tells us we will be starting shortly. I am wheeled into the OR by the doctor's assistant who could not have made my experience more pleasant. He really knew how to calm me down and crack jokes at the right (and sometimes wrong time). They made Luke wait outside while I received the spinal and this was the part I was stressing the most about. Last time they had a difficult time getting the spinal in and actually had to have me lay on my side after several failed attempts. This time it was quick, easy and painless.

My whole surgery experience was different. I had the slight tightness in my chest, but again nothing like the pain of not being able to breath I had with Austin. I also felt tugging when they were actually delivery Wesley, but not as intense as with Austin. The doctor asked Luke if he wanted to see his daughter being born, I of course answered for him and said yes he does! Luke stood up and was able to capture the most amazing pictures of Wesley entering this world. They are not for the faint of hearts, so I did not include them on the blog.

Another complaint that I had with Austin's birth is they held her up over the curtain once she was born and I was only able to get a quick glimpse of her before they took her to clean her up. With Wesley a nurse walked Wesley around the curtain and held her directly next to me for a good 30 seconds (bloody and all). I know I have used this word before but...it was amazing.

After they completed my c-section they rolled me back to recovery and I was able to start breastfeeding Wesley immediately and after about almost an hour we were already heading to our room. Shortly after we got to our room Austin was able to join us and meet her new baby sister. Austin was so excited for this moment. Her little sister even bought her a nice bracelet with her name on it. The first thing out of Austin's mouth is how did she buy this...I said the Internet, of course!

I did make one stupid mistake and I ended up taking a pain pill on an empty stomach the first day. This made me throw up a few times before they were able to give me something for the nausea.

The rest of our hospital stay was pretty uneventful. Austin spent the majority of the first and second day at the hospital (thank you Nana) and we would have to tell her each day that visiting hours ended at 5pm so she could go home and eat dinner. I really pushed to get release after 48 hours and waiting around most of the day on Friday we were finally released about 3pm.

Wesley is such a peanut compared to Austin. At birth she was almost an entire lb less than what Austin weighed and like her sister she lost 10% of her birth weight the first few days and we were actually discharged at 6lbs 13ozs and having to supplement. I am happy to announce as of today her weight is back up to 7lbs 1oz and we are no longer supplementing.

Final Belly Comparsion (Wesley vs. Austin)

 

BK#2 - 38 Weeks The Final Countdown!

 

How Far Along: 38 Weeks (really 38 weeks 3 days)

Size of baby: According to the weekly e-mails I have been receiving Wesley should be weighing at about 7lbs and 20 inches long. Tomorrow we will find out!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: My final weight gain is 28lbs. I have been SO hungry these last two weeks, probably the most hungry I have been in my entire pregnancy and gained 4lbs to prove it. I am very happy that was I able to keep my weight gain under 30lbs. I literally gained 1/2 of what I gained with Austin.

Maternity Clothes: They still fit and that pretty much is all that matters. With Austin (because of my weight gain) I started growing out of things and I was having to buy new things the last couple of week. I am really looking forward to being able to wear non-maternity clothes.

Gender: Girl.

Movement: Wesley movement has decreased this last week and I am definitely trying to be more aware and make sure I feel her move at least two different times during the day (usually after meals). But when she does move it very uncomfortable and almost hurts. She continues to kick me right under the ribs.

Sleep: Not so good these last couple of nights. I woke up the other night to use the restroom and was wide awake after for over 2 hours. Finally around 4am I fell back asleep. This has become the norm the last few days and this has made me not a very happy camper during the day.

What I miss: Sleeping on my belly and a full nights sleep. I know that I will get the first one very soon. The second one...maybe in about 6 months if I am lucky.

Cravings: No cravings per say, just hungry all the time. Like waking up in the middle of the night and eating a bowl of cereal hungry. Not sure where this is coming from.

Symptoms: Swelling of my hand and feet (ick!) and heartburn.

Best moment this week: The best moment of the week actually had not occurred yet, but it will be tomorrow when our family of 3 becomes a family of 4. I cannot wait to meet Wesley, I cannot wait for Austin to meet Wesley.

So today has been a interesting day to say the least. I had my final doctor's appointment this morning and the nurse practitioner walks into the exam room and says we have a problem...this is definitely not what I was expecting to hear. She tells me that the doctor is sick and they are trying to figure out who is going to do my c-section tomorrow. My heart drops. She leaves the room and I try to stay calm. She comes back and explains that the doctor was admitted to the hospital last night for what they think is her gallbladder, but they are not really sure. She goes on to tell us that my doctor's office partner can do my c-section, but they are not sure when and what time. Immediately I tell her I want to postpone, all the while in my head I am freaking out. Everything is set for tomorrow. She tells us that we can speak with the hospital scheduler on staff and she will give us our options. The scheduler tells us that the doctor's office partner is booked tomorrow with 3 surgeries, but she can do it after those in the afternoon, IF the hospital has an opening or there is another doctor at the hospital that she partners with  that can do the c-section at my original scheduled time. Right now we have chosen the later. They said they needed to run this by my doctor just to make sure she is okay with it. I was really bummed at first, but now I am just happy that Wesley will still be making her entrance into this world tomorrow. All that matters is that she is healthy!

Ballet vs. Soccer

This past week Austin started two new activities. On Mondays she is doing ballet and on Saturdays she is playing soccer. Even though we think she is really good at soccer, I think that ballet is winning out in this competition. She told me last night after soccer that she thought it was boring. :-( I guess we will have to see how it goes next week.

Even though ballet is on Mondays, its around lunchtime and not too far from my work, so I was able to go. Parents are not allowed in the room during class so I took most of my pictures through a small window next to the door. At the end of the 6 week session parents are allowed in to see what they have been working on. I am really looking forward to this.

 

 

 

 

Soccer is on Saturday afternoons at a local park. I was a little worried about being out in the sun and heat and told Luke I might be sitting in the car with the AC on the entire time. Luckily there was a big shaded area for parents to sit in and it was not to warm (low 90's). While we were at soccer Austin seemed to be enjoying herself, so I was surprised that when I asked her if she liked soccer she said no and when I asked her why she said it was boring. She is the only girl on her team and does she seem to be one of the better listeners.

 

 

 

 

BK#2 - 36 Weeks

How Far Along: 36 Weeks

Size of baby: I had a ultrasound this morning at 36weeks 3days and Wesley was weighing in at 6lbs 3ozs and is in the 40th percentile. At this point in my pregnancy they were estimating Austin at 7lbs 12ozs and the 97th percentile. The first thing my doctor said after she saw me was, "See you can have normal size babies."

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I am up 24lbs total. WOOT WOOT! I am so happy with how well I have done with my weight gain.

Maternity Clothes: Yep still wearing them. I bought a lot more dresses this time around so pretty much that is what I wear every day.

Gender: Still a girl. A few weeks ago Austin started becoming upset and saying Wesley was a boy. I asked if someone had told her this, but she said No. We decided to include her today in our ultrasound appointment so she could see that Wesley was indeed a girl and also so she could feel more involved.

Movement: Wesley is definitely out of room in there. Her stretching distorts the shape of my belly and she had my dress dancing so much today that Luke could see it while we were waiting to have the ultrasound.

Sleep: I am sleeping pretty good. I am up 2 times a night and have the AC set at 70.

What I miss: Seeing my feet, although when I do catch a glimpse of them my toes look like sausages. I do definitely miss wearing my wedding ring.

Cravings: Orange Scones from Paradise Bakery. They have this glaze on top that is so yummy!

Symptoms: A little heartburn at night, swelling, my leg going numb is I stand for too long.

Best moment this week: 2 things actually. One, this past weekend we did a family "Staycation" at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge. It was nice to relax and hang out by the pool. Austin absolutely LOVED it. Two, sharing our ultrasound experience with Austin today.

I cannot believe in a little over 2 weeks our family of 3 will be a family of 4. I also cannot believe how good I feel. I mean I definitely have my moments, but I remember that at 35 weeks pregnant with Austin I cried and told Luke I didn't want to be pregnant anymore. At my appointment today they checked me and said my cervix was still closed (which is good) because Wesley has 2 more weeks to cooked in there.