A week at home

As most of you have already probably noticed, I've been a bit slack on updating the blog. I haven't been getting on the computer too much while on vacation so I apologize. I'm trying to make an update before I get back into the swing of things at work and hopefully will have a video for everyone to check out tomorrow.

In the absence of a video, here's an update on how things have been going for our new little family.

Kara made it home safely from the hospital but before we were allowed to leave, we had to bring in her car seat and demonstrate that we could put her in it correctly. We got her in there and thought it was correct, but the nurse came back and inspected the job and told us that it wasn't tight enough. Apparently they have to be pretty pinned down for it to be considered safe, but we finally got her in there. So here we are getting ready to leave the room!

It was a bit nerve racking to have her in the car to be honest. I mean, she was always in the car in Kathy's belly, but this was different.....it was much scarier and I'm pretty sure I drove the speed limit the whole way home (which is pretty good for anybody that knows my driving style).









Adjusting to being new parents hasn't been too hard on Kathy and I....it helps that we've got a great baby girl! It's definitely a change of pace, but I think we're adapting well. There are only a few times Kara really cries:

1) When we're changing her diaper. It's not that she cries when she needs her diaper changed, just when we take the diaper off which is kind of funny....and a good trait for her to keep when she grows up!!

2) When she's hungry which is pretty much every 2 to 3 hours. The first few nights at home, Kara did pretty good sleeping. She had one rough night where she was waking up quite frequently, but for the most part, we're able to get in 2.5 to 3.5 hour sleep blocks at night, which is manageable. I try to help when I can at night, but for the most part it's feeding time and I'm at a disadvantage there since I lack the milk truck pumping capabilities. Kathy has been doing good with it though and fortunately for us, Kara likes to eat and is staying healthy (which also leads to lots of poop!).

She'll get fussy when she gets tired in the evenings but for the most part, she hasn't participated in any lung testing, marathon cry sessions....praise God for that! Most of the time, when she does get fussy, you can lay her on your chest and she'll just zonk out. This has worked for me several times and tends to put me to sleep as well :-)....until she wakes up and is ready to eat.

And I can't help but laugh at some of her sleeping poses such as this one....her first real nap in her crib since she's been sleeping in the pack'n play in our room for the time being. Enjoy and hopefully I'll have a new update for you with video tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Kara!

At 10:06 am on May 12th, 2008, Kathy and my life changed forever! A beautiful baby girl was entrusted to us by God and we were so excited and so happy to see her!! Kathy did amazing! The doctors and the nurses were amazed at how well she pushed. Awesome job Mom!! Awesome job to you too Kara!

Her full name is Kara Nicole McKinney and she was 7lbs 12oz and 21 inches long. She has huge hands and feet and will likely be a dominating athlete one day :-)

It wasn't all fun and games for Mom though. Laboring started on Sunday night around 9:30pm. Kathy started having contractions and it didn't take long before they were 4 to 5 minutes apart. At about 11:00pm, we called the doctor to see what we should do.....she didn't call back. We called her again at about 11:45pm and just before midnight, we finally got a call back. She told us to come in and they would check to see how things were going.

We arrived at the hospital and went to a holding room where the nurses could watch Kathy's contractions and check her dilation. To our disappointment, Kathy's cervix effacement (60%) and dilation (1.5cm) were the same as when we went to the doctor on Friday. They told us that we could walk around the floor for 45 minutes and they would check her again, but if there was no progress, they would have to send us home. Kathy did not want to go home, so she did as much walking as she could and sat on the birthing ball some also trying to get the baby to move down. After our 45 minutes of exercise, Kathy was at 2.5cm and about 75% effacement, so they said that was enough to admit us.

It was about 1:30am by the time they officially admitted us and moved us into the room that we're now staying in (this is also the same room where Kathy gave birth. It's a nice size room, has a cot for me to sleep on, a little bed for Kara, and apparently a leaky sink that we *just* found out about). Kathy laid in bed and had contractions with no meds till about 2:30am to 3:00am. This wasn't a fun time and if it would have went much longer, Kathy probably would have been cussing me :-). The nurses had a hard time putting an IV in her, which took a total of 4 times and 30 minutes of digging before they got one to take. Finally, Kathy was able to get some drugs to help with the contractions and almost instantly, her cervix dilated to 4cm and was 90% effaced and Kathy was much happier. She had to deal with these contractions for a little while till she was 100% effaced, but once she got there, she got the green light for the epidural which was around 4:30am. The anesthesiologist came in around 5:00am and hooked her up and life was much better from then on.

At around 5:30am, I went out to the lobby and told the grandparents to go home and get some rest for awhile because it would be a few hours before there would be a baby but of course that wasn't going to happen. They went out to their cars and slept in the cars instead of the lobby which was an icebox with uncomfortable chairs. I went back to the room and managed to get an hour of sleep since I knew Kathy would be OK for a little while. She didn't sleep but was able to rest and wasn't really bothered by the contractions. When I woke up at around 7:00, the contractions had pretty much stopped. The epidural slowed down the labor and pretty much stopped everything, so the doctor gave Kathy some pitocin to get things moving again. At this point, Kathy was able to fall asleep for about 45 minutes which was much needed rest. I sat there with her and the contractions began again and this time they more rhythmic and consistent. At about 8:30am, the doctor checked her and things were moving along pretty well. She was at 9cm now so it didn't take much pitocin to get her going.

By 9:30, Kathy was feeling pressure and starting to push Kara out! Kathy only had to push for about 20 minutes, and out popped Kara!! Kathy did awesome and it was just an amazing experience to be a part of the whole process. God blessed me with a strong and beautiful wife that gave us a strong and beautiful baby girl! Happy Birthday Kara!

Thanks be to God for giving us such a beautiful and healthy baby and for letting everything go so smoothly! We are one little happy family. Kathy and I are excited to see what Kara has in store for us as she grows up.

It's getting late and I haven't really slept much so I'm going to catch some zzz's but I'll post some videos tomorrow for everyone to check out.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts, prayers, gifts, and friendship. We truely appreciate you being a part of this with us.

Love,

Steve, Kathy, and Kara

Kara's "birth" day

For those of you that didn't know, today is *supposed* to be Kara's birthday, but leave it up to a girl and of course she's going to be late...doesn't matter if it's dinner or her birth :-). Since this is the official due date, I've been pestering Kathy all morning asking here if that baby is coming. "Any contractions?" "You having that baby yet?" "Why don't you just start pushing and see if anything happens?" "Any baby yet?" I think she's starting to get irritated, so I can ask a few more times before I get the real evil eye (which is what I'm shooting for). :-)

We went to the doctor yesterday and things were pretty much the same as last time we went. A little more dilation and a little more effacement, but nothing to get worked up about. Kathy says that she thinks the doctor did a little extra "poking around" to maybe get things worked up a bit and help this process along, but so far it hasn't had any effect. If Kara doesn't decide to come on her own, we do have an induction scheduled for Thursday (the doctor doesn't want Kathy going past 41 weeks to avoid any potential stress). So worst case, we have to wait till Thursday to finally get to see her and hold her!

We're gonna go for a walk right now. If things start to happen after the walk, I'll throw a quick post up to let everyone know....Hopefully you'll be hearing from me soon!

A new housewife

Today is a historical day for Kathy - it is the first day Kathy had off for her maternity leave and her first crack at being a housewife. She did a little cleaning and some laundry, hit up Costco like a good housewife would and spent $200+ (you never get out of one of those places for less than $100), she took herself a well deserved nap, and watched some garbage (aka Dr. Phil) on TV. Right now, she's in the kitchen cooking dinner as I type...I have to say, this is small miracle....I think this is the first time Kathy has cooked since she's been pregnant. This will all be short lived, I know, because Kara is due in 5 days and after that, the real fun/work begins, but until then, I'm enjoying it! :-)

In a related but unrelated topic, it's kind of funny because recently everybody keeps asking "Are you excited about the baby?". Seriously!? Who wouldn't be!? Maybe Karl Childers' (played by Billy Bob Thorton in Slingblade....I just saw that this weekend for the first time) dad wouldn't be, but I think pretty much anybody in their right mind would be excited. But just to set the record straight, Yes, Kathy and I are both very excited and we're both pretty anxious about seeing her for the first time! We can't wait!

There's progress

Kathy and I went to the doctor again this morning for her weekly check-up which is nothing new. But this time, instead of being barely dilated, she was "a loose centimeter" dilated! Plus she was about 60% effaced, so that means we have progress and things are moving along! The doctor said that she would expect Kathy to deliver by her due date and it could be any time before....you never know.

If Kathy doesn't deliver by her due date, then most likely she'll be induced the following week. The doctor left it up to Kathy on how she wanted to proceed on that front, just as long as we waited till the due date. Hopefully Kara decides to come out on her own though.