My 2 Favorite Answered Prayers

In just 3 short months, I've come to realize my 2 girls couldn't be any different.

During pregnancy, Kenley caused me to gain 40+ pounds, many Non-stress tests late in pregnancy b/c she didn't move much (we found out later this was probably b/c of her cord being wrapped around her neck a few times), but was overall a wonderful 1st time pregnancy experience with no morning sickness.

Kadey, on the other hand, caused me bouts of nausea at approximately 4PM each day. I only gained 25 pounds with her, and she moved ALL the time.

Before Kenley was born, I was super nervous & scared. Would it hurt? Could I do it? What if something went wrong? Since Kenley was not moving much the last few weeks, I was scheduled to be induced 5 days before my due date. I remember being really excited to know MY doctor would be delivering. TJ and I had our "last supper" at Logan's, then headed to the hospital on Thursday night. I was given cervidil twice to begin labor (didn't work), and the next morning I started on pitocin. At 2 cm (I arrived the night before at 0cm/0%) I was given my epidural and my dr. broke my water. This was all around lunch time. Around 6 PM I was 10cm and 100% and ready to push, right?? Well...not until they found my doctor. They had me "wait" about an hour until she was done with another patient. I started pushing around 6:45. After many (MANY) attempts, the crazy "trapeze bar", and my epidural wearing off...the nurses decided maybe they should call the doctor in again. I had been pushing for over 2 hours. The dr. walked in, felt that Kenley was "hung up" on my pelvic bone and face up, fixed her, and I pushed again. And again. And again. Around this time, Kenley's heart rate dropped to around 40, the dr. got out the vacuum (which was never used), Kenley's HR jumped back up and I was told to PUSH....even though I wasn't contracting. My little baby was put on my chest at 9:05 PM, blue and not breathing. Being my first time ever giving birth, I just thought this was all kind of normal. Maybe a little crazy, but normal....right? Wrong. The next hour or two was a blur. They took her away from me, pumped air into her right there in front of me in the delivery room (which my mom told me later looked like a war zone), rushed her out (still not breathing and causing a "Code Pink" to be called throughout the entire hospital and police escorts and guards by the doors), all while I was hemorrhaging pretty bad and my doctor was trying to save ME! One of the nurses came in later to tell me Kenley was now breathing on her own, but needed to stay in the NICU in the oxygen tent for a while. I was told that once I could keep food down and got into my new room, I could go see her. Around midnight I got to see her, at 2am I got to hold her, and around 7 the next morning my precious little answered prayer was moved into my room.

Don't worry. Kadey's story is MUCH shorter! I told my dr. early on that I was not going to be induced since I felt that was the cause of many of my problems during Kenley's birth. At 39 weeks I was 4cm and 75%, and after much reassuring by my dr. that everything would go smoothly this time, I agreed to an induction...my way! No pitocin, no nubane, and no epidural until 7 or 8 cm. And that's pretty much how it went! Cervidil was placed at 8 and 11 AM, I was dialated to 6cm when my water was broken, and my epidural was given (through many HARD contractions) at 8cm...almost too late!! I started pushing about 30 minutes later, and 2-3 pushes later, at 1:57 PM, Kadey Maria was born! No rushing any babies to guarded NICU doors, no hemorrhaging on my part, and no concerned moms wondering if they should worry about their daughter surviving or their granddaughter. Kenley was introduced to her little sister about 20 minutes later, and I honestly felt I could have walked from my bed to my new room (if it wasn't for my rubber legs).

After Kenley was born, life was good. She did have a bout with colic for a few weeks, where it only comforted her when I carried her around in a sling. She was sleeping through the night around 6 weeks, and ate pretty well.

Kadey...well Kadey's been "fun". At 3 weeks, Kadey was diagnosed with acid reflux. It took her 4 weeks to get back to her birth weight. She would scream ALL THE TIME unless she was eating. I couldn't keep up with her demanding feeding schedule, so I began formula earlier than I did with Kenley. I had to try 2 different brands before I found one that didn't cause her tummy to hurt more. Kadey never spits up (another difference from Kenley), but you can just tell her tummy hurts. She would only sleep for a couple hours a time, sometimes up every hour in the middle of the night demanding feedings. At 3 months, she is getting much better. She now sleeps 6-7 hours each night, and as long as she has her medicine three times a day, she's a pretty content baby. But if she's hungry or without her medicine...watch out!

I am excited to see how Kadey will change as the year goes on. TJ seems to think she will be a super sweet little girl, while Kenley is our sassy one (she IS 2, though!). I think both my girls will have an equal dose of "sass". They are MY girls, after all. :)