Come on.....brand new bike (baby)

I promise that I won't always post about our new baby.  I just want to get everything down that happened or I thought.  So bear with me.

About two months before I had Kielle, Cruz asked one night at family prayer if he could be the first to hold her.  Since I hadn't even thought about it and none of the other kids had "called" it, I said yes.  He was in seventh heaven.  While the baby was in my belly, every night he would give he a kiss.  No every night he still has to give Kielle a kiss on the forehead.  He's a great big brother.

Many of you remember the Macky (McKay's new nickname) begged for another baby back in 2009 and many times since.  When I helped Betsy as she had her jaw surgery that summer she asked me one day how taking care of eight kids was.  I answered by saying "easy."  She followed back by saying, "does that mean you will have one more?"  So when I had told her early on that I was expecting and that I would need extra help because I get extremely sick and dad would be traveling she (first) thought I was playing a mean joke, and then (second) she was ecstatic.  She has been a great big sister.  Every morning she comes in and takes Kielle, changes her, dresses her, and has her own one on one time while everyone else is sleeping (we are on an awful summer sleeping schedule.)  It's been great to have the extra "big" help.

Katanya is such a big helper before the baby.  She loves to surprise me with jobs that she has done in secret.  She loves to hold Kielle as much as she can too.  Her famous line is, "But I haven't held / loved her today."  With also being the youngest in the family giving up her spot, it hasn't been hard at  all (as it shouldn't be at seven years old.)  I secretly think that she can't wait to be able to play with her as in more than just holding a baby.

Kirsten my peacemaker.  She is only okay if Kielle isn't crying or pouting and only if she is happy.  She doesn't like it when she is sad in anyway and her feelings have always been very tender.  She also is a great big sister.  Her sweetness and care shows.  She has always been a great friend to ANYBODY and she will be a great friend to her sister without a doubt.

I guess this just means, I'm a proud momma, and 

I LOVE MY KIDS!

How five became the new Four

 Some of you might wonder why there is such a big gap in age or wonder if this was one of the common "oops" that you sometimes hear about. Here's our story.....

A little over three and years ago, I wanted another child.  I had talked to Jacob several times and our situation just wasn't right.  He was still in school, or I was working, or we didn't have the financial means....you get the jest of it.  It was just the wrong timing.  So as time went on, all of our kids got in school, I started exercising a lot, I was called to be the YW's President and things were going smoothly, Jacob came home from priesthood meeting in October with a big surprise.

He told me that night that he wanted another baby.  I thought he was kidding.  I tried to talk him out of it.  I had a lot of selfish reasons on why I didn't want a baby.  I had also remembered someone telling me a reason about odd vs. even and I strongly agreed with it.  But.....after a lot of talking and praying, I agreed to give it a set amount of time and if it happened, it happened.  Three weeks later, I found out I was pregnant.  It was truly meant to be.  To skip a long story, one of the things Jacob called for was giving the baby a bath every night.  He loved that moment, and loved wrapping them up in the towel and cuddling with them after.

 

Kielle has been no exception.  Although bath time puts her right to sleep.  She thoroughly enjoys it.  Maybe cause it reminds the most of what her home was for nine months.  Jacob has also been on cloud nine since she was born.  I've had several friends comment about the glow and the smile on his face and he picked up the kids or as they have stopped by the house.

In fact, Kielle has put a smiles on all of our faces.  The kids love holding her and have been a big help.  I know they have sacrificed having their summer be rather dull and slow but as I'm learning my lesson of patience, I think they are seeing the rewards of them being patient too.  I think we are all very ecstatic that she was chosen to be part of this family.
P.S.  It is still crazy to think that we now have five kids and not four.  As we walked out of the hospital I realized that my random head count of four has been interrupted and I will have to train my mind that five is now the lucky number.

Always happy to come home from the hospital

(With the convenience of Instagram and Facebook, I've been slower at posting on my blog.  I'm sorry for the repeat of some pictures.)

 

Kielle and I came home on Sunday.  

We have taken it easy the past week and the kids have rotated through each other numerous times a day for their turns in holding her.  After getting her through the first three days, she has finally figured out (a little more) that night time is for sleeping.  I was only able to get eight hours of sleep the first three days.  Somehow, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I think adrenaline always kicks in and you make it through it. 

With this baby, it has been a really easy and fast recovery.  Probably my easiest.  I have gotten through several projects that I needed to organize and do.  Its also weird having someone their that watches her.  I know there is a huge age gap but its actually been really nice!

Kielle's debut

The picture below reveals all the details, but not the story.

Kielle (key-ell) definitely resembles our other kids, but my pregnancy with her was nothing like my past pregnancies. Which is why I was not surprised that her labor and delivery was anything but routine.

My water broke at 6:25 AM.  I've never had my water break before.  I woke up in bed and remember thinking something felt weird.  I got up to go to the bathroom and realized that I was about to "splash".  My water hadn't broken yet but I knew it was coming.   As I ran into the bathroom, it broke, luckily inside my bathroom (on the tile.)  My labors are normally less than four hours so Jacob and I hurried to get to the hospital thinking we wouldn't have much time.

 

Jacob loves the super bright overhead lights in the delivery rooms (he calls them the "action" lights). In 2006, I had an emergency C-Section when Katanya was born. I really wanted a VBAC  so long as it was safe. The doctor said that as long as my delivery was progressing she would let it go for 24 hours before we would have to go the C-Section route. My labor was slow and for the most part fairly mild. I progressed so slowly. My labor ended up being 15 minutes shy of 15 hours. 

For the first time since McKay, my epidural worked.  The anesthesiologist was amazing.  He said he had a hand full of techniques he would try if it didn't work and he seemed to know what he was doing.  It worked right away.  Because we weren't sure if it was going to work, they put the epidural in around 10 AM.  I was comfortable and not in pain for most of the labor.

Finally at 9 pm, I was fully dilated and ready to deliver.  The delivery was my easiest yet.  It is true when they say "good things come to those who wait."  I truly believe that a slow and patient labor probably helped with my chance of a successful VBAC. 

Kielle honestly came out wanting to eat and smacking her lips.  I wonder sometimes if she is going to grow as fast as Kirsten did.

Our friends that were staying with the kids that night brought the kids over to meet their sister. 

We had picked her first name a few weeks ago were no where near being able to agree on middle names. The long labor gave us time to talk about names.  Kielle came from a list of names I came across 3 weeks ago.  Its origin is Hawaiian.  Athena came from the goddess.  Kirsten had been reading Percy Jackson the night before so at the hospital I went over a list of complete (Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Celtic) goddesses and really liked Athena.  After all she is the goddess of wisdom so how could Jacob not like it?  Magdalena came from Jacob.  He had heard the shortened name Magda and looked up the long name - Magdalena.  He also liked the fact that it was an Eastern European name.  I wasn't ever worried about not having a name nor agreeing on anything beforehand.  Life always works itself out.  We are so blessed to have little Kielle join our family.  I already can't imagine life without her.