First Couple of weeks

The first few weeks home with Kate FLEW by.  I can't believe she's already over a month old.  Of course we took way too many pictures to share, but here's a few of her first couple of weeks.

We had a lot of visitors; my parents, Kevin's parents, my sister, Kevin's sister and lots of ortho family friends.  Kate spent her first few weeks meeting and visiting lots of people ...

Snuggling with mommy and studying with daddy ...

Playing with the dogs...

Taking lots of walks

Smiling ..

Crying ..

Trying out tummy time .. (which she does not like!)

Sleeping...

And just generally being a cute and good baby!  We are so thrilled with our little girl .. many more updates to come.

Welcome Baby Kate!

Katherine Eleanor arrived on her due date, September 30, 2013, weighing in at 8 lbs, 14 oz and was 21 inches long.

We started out the labor process not knowing what to expect because I went in for a scheduled induction on Sunday 9/29.  I had heard all of the usual horror stories about inductions, and really tried to keep an open mind about what it would mean for me.  I wanted an epidural free, least intervention possible birth, but knew that an induction might be a game changer.  Well thankfully, Baby Kate was willing to cooperate and I had a quick and natural delivery. 

I began the induction process with several doses of a prostaglandin (to ripen the cervix) overnight.  The plan was to "prepare" the cervix with prostaglandins and then have my water broken and be given pitocin to start labor the next morning.  However, the prostaglandin treatment gave me regular contractions starting with the first dose.  I was given a total of 3 (out of 4) doses when my water broke on its own at 3:30 am.  At that point, my contractions were less than 5 minutes apart and very painful!  My support during labor was unbelievable though, and I was able to get through it in large part due to everyone who was there.  The chief resident caring for me happened to be a good friend of ours (her husband works with Kevin), my nurse was incredible and Kevin was very calm and attentive.  I was able to get out of bed and walk around to alleviate some pain, I also spent a lot of time on the exercise ball, which was a lot more comfortable for me.  I received a half dose of morphine, which took the edge off enough to allow me to relax.  Once I relaxed and could focus on other things besides the contractions, I was able to handle to pain.  At around 5:30 am I was still only 2 cm dilated, so Kevin decided it was safe for him to go round on his patients and attend morning conference.  He called my mom and his mom (who were at our house with the dogs) to come in and take over for him for a little while.  I was probably the most uncomfortable during the next hour, but the moms were very helpful and supportive .. taking turns massaging my back and talking me through the contractions.  I received another half dose of morphine at this point, but was still feeling like I wouldn't be able to handle much more without something stronger.  Thankfully the resident checked me at this point and I was 5 cm dilated! Finding out I was progressing (and quickly!) gave me a boost of confidence and I decided to forgo any further pain intervention.  Kevin's mom had called him to tell me how quickly things were going so he hurried back (after stopping at Dunkin Donuts though!).  I was checked again about an hour later and was 6 cm.  I was beginning to wear down again and asked for something else for the pain.  My nurse and resident convinced me to try out the jacuzzi tub before doing anything else and I agreed.  The tub felt amazing to me, it relieved all the pressure on my back and I could fully relax.  The contractions felt a whole lot less intense and I was so comfortable I didn't even realize how much time was going by.  Kevin played music and talked to me, while my nurse applied cold wash cloths to my face and neck and massaged my shoulders.  When I started feeling a lot of pressure, she decided it was time to (quickly) get me back to my room, where we discovered I was 10 cm dilated!  The resident advised me to continue on the exercise ball to allow gravity to bring the baby down into position before I started pushing.  When I couldn't ignore the feeling to push any longer, they allowed me to get back into bad and go for it.  After about 15 minutes baby Kate was here, and it all felt completely worth it!

All hooked up and ready to go

Not very happy

First family picture

Mimi checking out her granddaughter

Bushia's turn

Proud Grandmothers

Happy Daddy!

1st Bath

heading home

So far Kate is very laid back, and excellent eater and is sleeping as much as we can expect.  I think we got very lucky!  We don't know where her hair came from!  She doesn't look a whole lot like any single person, but has a mix of features from us.  We're excited to watch her change and grow.

Last Minute Maternity Pictures

I really wanted to have maternity pictures of this pregnancy, but didn't want to spend the money to have them professionally done.  It should be easy to have your husband just take some pictures of you right??  Not mine .. he wasn't interested and felt awkward, but eventually agreed that he would do it for me.  Well, between his schedule, rainy weather and just a lack of oomph to get it done, the weeks went by and we never got anywhere to take pictures.  Then finally, the day before I was scheduled for an induction, we decided to go on a short walk because I was antsy and also wanted to see some of the fall foliage.  My awesome husband suggested we take our new DSLR along to get some pictures, and I am soo happy we did.  I love the way they turned out, and I also love that they were a final documentation of the pregnancy.  We had a lovely walk and enjoyed our last little outing as a family of 2 plus the dogs.  (This walk also started getting some contractions going, so it was a double bonus!

One very loong update

Since the arrival of this baby is imminent, I thought it might be a good idea to write an update about the last few months before we start posting baby pictures!  Long story short, we've had a very busy end of the summer, hence the complete lack of blog posts.  We traveled, visited friends, had friends and family visit, celebrated two wedding showers, had two baby showers for us and even squeezed in a labor day trip to the beach.  Although slightly exhausting for this pregnant mama, it was a wonderful way to wrap up our last summer before kids.  As far as pregnancy news, things have been pretty smooth sailing.  I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes around 28 weeks, which was originally very worrisome for me.  However, it has been very manageable, I test my blood sugar 3-4 times a day and have been able to control my levels with a strict diet.  Although I would probably do just about anything to be able to have a bowl of ice cream right now, I think the diet has been a good thing for me.  I haven't gained all that much weight in the third trimester (the baby has been growing well), and I have a new appreciation for how much sugar I originally had in my diet.  I definitely miss some things a lot (pasta and ice cream!), but have also found that I can do without a lot .. which I think will be a benefit in life after pregnancy. 

So instead of trying to talk about everything that has happened since my last post, I'll let all these pictures do the talking.

Kathy, me and Kristin at my baby shower

Grammie and me

My mom, me and Becca

crab feast for Uncle Sean's bday

bump snuggles with Baxter

Britta and I at our BabyQ here in Syracuse!

family and friends at the baby-Q

Emily and cousin Gwen

Labor Day Beach weekend! 36 weeks

Kevin has been doing some Salmon fishing in Pulaski

Juliana came to help stock our freezer! (Baxter helped)

at the end of our cooking frenzy - 38 weeks

Weekly Progress:

29 weeks

30 weeks

31 weeks

32 weeks

33 weeks

34 weeks

35 weeks

36 weeks

37 weeks

38 weeks

39 weeks

So here we are at 39 weeks, 4 days just waiting for Baby McCoy to make her debut.  We don't really have all that long to wait, because of the gestational diabetes I won't be allowed to go past my due date.  So unless she comes on her own in the next few days, I will be induced on Sunday evening and will hopefully have a baby in my arms on Monday (but possibly not until Tuesday).  The next time I post there will be baby pictures!