We are back in Utah!

I know it has been a while since I updated, but it is because we were in Oklahoma! We decided last Thursday evening to go back since everyone would be home over the Martin Luther King holiday and we flew out early Friday morning. Needless to say, we ran around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get packed and ready to go, but it was worth it! Hannah did great on the plane and she was able to meet a ton of people including her other grandparents (Michael's mom and dad- pictured below), great grandparents, aunts and uncles, honorary grandparents and lots of friends! Once I got home I realized that I didn't take as many pictures as I thought and hopefully I can contact those of you that did take pictures and get copies! I do have a picture of her in her "traveling bed"-aka laundry basket. Since the playpen that we had wasn't easily portable (and we wanted her to get some time not being held), my mom found a suitable alternative for her to sleep in! I thought it was creative and cute!

This will be the first week that Hannah and I will have all day together just the two of us! I am pretty excited to get back on a schedule and routine and give her a little break from the chaos! We took her to the pediatrician on Friday and she now weighs 7lbs 1oz. I can't believe how fast she is growing and how fast my maternity leave is dwindling. Luckily she gets to go to work with me, but it won't be the same as staying home!

January 15

We took Hannah for a one week checkup on Monday. She weighed 6 lbs 3 ozs, so she is slowly growing! Her little face is now filling out some, so surely her thighs are next on the list! She has done such a great job sleeping and eating. Last night we put her to bed and she slept quietly between each feeding. About the time I had her bottle ready she would start to stir and I would get her out of her bassinet and feed her, change her, and put her back in bed and I didn't hear anything out of her until the next feeding. I slept so well and so did she! I am really hoping that this is a sign of things to come! We have really enjoyed having Kathy here for the last couple of days. I can't believe her visit is almost over already! Hannah has been lifting her head some for a few days now, but is starting to get some control with it. Kathy got a pic of her lifting it while laying on Michael's stomach. We put a hairband on her today and she didn't seem to mind it and it looked so cute! Here are the pics from today!

1 Week

I can't believe that Hannah is already a week old! It is so great having her home with us! Also, it has been incredible having my parents here to help! I know this week would not have been near as smooth as it has been without them. Mom has cooked breakfast and dinner every day and even made up some food for us to eat later when they are gone! She and dad have kept the house clean and the laundry done! We have quite the system too where in the morning when mom is up at the crack of dawn, we pass Hannah off for her early feeding and go back to sleep! Since they leave tomorrow, I know that the good life is coming to a halt! Luckily, Kathy is coming in on Sunday, so we will have an extra set of hands again for a few more days!

Today we took quite a few pics of Hannah and some with Michael and I. I really wanted some black and white photos and I think we got some cute ones! I didn't want to have to pay for professional ones yet, so we tried to do our own knockoffs! We also bought her a few preemie outfits because everything we had swallowed her and the one we put her in today has little frogs on it and then the feet have frogs with raised eyes! It is so cute, so there are a few pics in it (0ne with a big yawn)!

Jaundice

Well, Hannah was a little high on her billirubin levels when we left the hospital, so we had to go back and have them checked again on Monday morning and they were still a little high so they decided to put her on a billibed. The home health guys brought it by last night and she has to lay on it all the time except during feedings and diaper changes. It has been hard to watch her lay there and not get to hold her, but her numbers came down alot today and so it looks like this will be her last night on there. We figured out that if we tie up the arm holes and put something on the end (boxes of golf balls) so it limits her movement, she is much happier!

New Pics 1/7/08

Here are some more pics of little miss Hannah. The first few are at the hospital. The flower hairband is from Cindi and it is way too big at this point, but hilarious to put on her anyways! Then these are her first pics with my parents (her GG-for grandma Garrrett and papa). These are pics of her in her going home outfit (my parents brought it with them, it is the outfit that my sisters and I all came home from the hospital in). It was too cold for just the dress since we were all Oklahoma summer babies, so she has on her long sleeves underneath and her hat. She is so tiny in her car seat!This was right when we came home, we look a little rough!This was us giving her a bath today! She doesn't like to be naked for sure! The last one in her towel should leave no doubt as to who her father is- she looks just like him in that one!Hannah and her sister, Lizzie! I have to say the dog has done really well with her and is starting to get protective of her. She will go and peek at her every time she makes a noise to make sure she is ok!

Birth Story

Ok, so now that we are a little more settled, I can type the events. I knew the most important thing was to get the pics out there as quick as possible, so now here is the rest of the info.

Went in for my non-stress test at 3 and she did fabulous and then went upstairs for my weekly appointment. Everything was looking good, except my bloodpressure. It was 151/102 and so they took it again a little later and it was still around that same point and so he decided rather than put me on bedrest and monitor my blood pressure, that we would just have her and not put either of our health at risk. Since she was at 37 weeks, she was full term, so there was no concern about her development. I had him guess her weight and he thought between 8-81/2 pounds.

So after a little (ok, a lot) of freaking out on our part, we headed downstairs to check in to labor and delivery. They put us in a room and hooked me up to an IV with pitocin, hooked me up to the heartbeat monitor to monitor Hannah's heartbeat and a monitor to monitor my contractions. We didn't have a bag or anything with us, so once Cindi and Yolonda showed up, he left to run home and feed the dog and finish packing my bag.

They came in as I was typing the post to you (which is why when emailing out the update, I didn't remember to put the link) and were ready to break my water. Dr. Kaelberer came in and saw me typing and couldn't believe it. I showed him her little website and he was really impressed! So at about 8:30, they broke my water and I was still just at 3 cm dialated. They kept slowly raising my pitocin level and it was making my contractions harder and closer together and we were just plugging along. Glenn and Elizabeth came to hang out and we were just sitting around chit-chatting. They both had to go to work the next morning so they couldn't stay all night.

Later when they came to check me again, I was still at a 3. Since I knew that if I didn't dialate, I would have to have a c-section, I decided around 3 AM to get the epidural. By 6:45 I was fully dialated and we started pushing. They had told me earlier on that she was turned the wrong way (face up) and so we had tried some things to get her to roll over. They checked again and she had made some progress, but wasn't all the way over yet, so during the next few pushes, they worked to get her rotated. They finally got her turned and ready and I pushed with each contraction. Cindi and Yolonda took turns holding a leg while I pushed and Michael helped hold my head to my chest and we just waited until they said it was time. They decided it was going to take a little more to get her out, so they called in another doctor, Dr. Larkin, that pushed down on the top of my stomach and Dr. Kaelberer used the suction to pull her out and she was delivered at 8:47.

Michael was having a hard time, like we expected, and so he was required to sit by my head during the whole process and still had to have some juice brought to him since he didn't have any color and couldn't stand up. He doesn't do well with seeing me in pain and since he was worried about both of us being ok, he just wasn't doing well physically. Once she came out, the nurse asked "who was going to cut the cord, dad" and even my doctor said "no, we will lose him if he does" so Yolonda got to cut the cord. It was great having extra help and support from Yolonda and Cindi, we couldn't have done it without them. Here is a pic of each of them with Hannah. Kim

Hannah Is Here!

Hannah Mae Wallace made her appearance into this world at 8:37 AM on January 4, 2008, weighing 5 pounds 10 ounces and 20 inches long. She has a little dimple in the bottom of her chin like her daddy! Here are some of her first pictures:
Me holding her little feet.Our first family picture! Once we got up to our room on the maternity floor.

Getting a little of a bottle when we checked her sugar and it was a little low.

Her size in comparison to Daddy's hand (and she is smiling)!

Daddy holding her right when she came out. She still hadn't had a bath before any of these pics, so she is still a little crusty, but hopefully we can post more tomorrow and she will be clean and cute! Thank you all for your prayers and love! Kim

We Are Having A Baby!

Well, I went in for my appointment today and my blood pressure is higher than what they wanted and so they decided to go ahead and induce me today! SO, I am typing this hooked up to the fetal monitors and my IV with pitocin! My doctor is on call until 7 AM, so his goal is to have her here before then. We will see how well she cooperates with that, but so far, so good. Based on my monitor my contractions are about 4 minutes apart and I am not feeling anything, so lets hope that we can still do this without medication. I figure they will be in to break my water in the next couple of hours, so we will keep you posted! Kim