Reward: Happy Feet!

As a reward for being so good since Kade has arrived, Reagan got to join mom, Aunt Heidi, and Grandma Judy for a pedicure. (Don't remember if you can recall my post from Mother's Day 2 years ago when I took her with us and she screamed the entire time???...different scenerio round 2). She was so excited and you can tell by her face she felt like such a big girl. Pedicure a success and we all have happy feet.

Lucky

I'm a little behind...in a lot of things. I have unfinished projects that were supposed to get worked on the week I had Kade. I have unfinished Thank You cards and unfinished rooms. I feel disheveled and unorganized, and that's really hard for me. However, I am so grateful for the help that we have had the past few weeks. Of course, first was my parents. Dropping everything in their life to drive in the middle of the night to be with us. My dad said "you know, I've never driven in the middle of the night before". Hey, glad I could give you a "first" daddy-o! They stayed a few days, went home to rest, then came back down. I'm so grateful that my parents are close and were able to be here for my little family. My mom cooked, cleaned, brought frozen meals, delivered many diapers, and even braved staying up with Kade so I could get some sleep. My brother and sister also dropped everything to be here that day and of course continue to offer great moral support. Heidi has helped with Reagan a ton. Mike's mom was able to come down and help for a few days and his sister cooked us yummy dinners. We had wonderful meals brought in by the ward and friends and family who have done as much. Thank you Thank you Thank you to all of you for being so supportive, giving, and caring at this time. Family is wonderful and so are friends!! How lucky we are!

Of note, the most rewarding thing in all of this is watching big sister with little brother. She has been absolutely awesome with him. The day she walked into the hospital room was so fulfilling for me. Her eyes just wide with wondering as she stared at her baby brother. She had waited for that day for so many months. The night we brought him home she was sitting next to my dad on the couch and was holding him and she said "I'm so proud of my baby brother". She's so caring and gentle with him. Her eyes continue to light up and she wants to see him first thing in the morning. She holds him well and has been such a big helper in retrieving things and helping care for him. She's definately trying to be a great big sister. Bringing him home was surreal thinking "wow, someone entrusted us with TWO of these munchins, please don't let us screw up!". However, now it feels like our little family is so complete and I love every day of watching the two of them together :)

Pics

Numerous pictures :) It's been almost 2 weeks of fog! You forget how a newborn takes away most degrees of sanity at first! Kade is definately following in Reagan's sleep pattern...which is nothing at all! I would call him a night owl but I'm not sure that's exactly the reason. At first it was the jaundice thing and now it's just a matter or trying to get him into a sleep pattern. Can you really do that when your baby is 2 weeks old? Many say it can be done. Not sure what's going to happen when Mike returns to work this week and I can't get my 4 hours of sleep from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. in!! I have taken more naps in the past 2 weeks than I have my entire life. Which is not a bad thing by any means! I cringe when people tell me their babies sleep all night long. Not fair :( But then again...he's only 2 weeks old.... we did successfully get him to take a bottle so that will eventually help. (And in case you are wondering about one of the pics of Rea and Kade...yes, it is pretty much still winter, yes, still 30 degrees outside, and yes, she pretty much is in heaven being home so much and having zero clothes on. My family is rolling their eyes thinking like mother like daughter. She, however, it hot-blooded like her father and can tolerate running around. Grandpa Dick is saying "no socks = getting sick!". I do what I can and I try to pick battles I can win.)

First Bottle

Sweet!

Kade & Papa

Proud Big sister - she loves to lay on the ground and have him lay across her


Kade meets some cousins

Really??

Yes, really...the #1 choice of hospitals is the following baby straight jacket!! We had taken Kade into the dr the Saturday after he was born and he was in the high-risk level for jaundice. So follows the below contraption. It was awful. The first night I just sat there all night soothing him. It was 2 hours on then 1 hour off. Insane. You put a "blanket" on his belly then he layed on the baby tanning bed. After a few days of this, and daily checks with the doctor, he was healthy enough to come off. Thank goodness!!!

A pleasant (and unexpected) visitor

I say it like we weren't exactly expecting this little guy....HOWEVER, it was definately unexpected!! A story for the books which most of you already know...however, let me refresh you with our exciting week!

Tuesday, February 9th turned out to be the beginning of an eventful 24 hours. I had an awesome shower thrown by my friends at work. We ate, laughed and opened gifts. All the while I'm telling everyone "I'm done being pregnant but he can't come until this weekend". (I technically had just under 3 weeks left) I picked up Reagan from daycare and met a friend for dinner (Mimi's cafe, steak and garlic mashed potatos in case anyone is pregnant and wants to be thrown into labor) After dinner and arriving home I wasn't feeling that great so with the house a disaster, and the usual suspects checking on me for the night (OH YES....did I mention Mike would be working in California????) I went to bed. Only to be awoken an hour later with a "UH, I'm pretty sure that was my water breaking". This threw us into the adventure that we call baby. I called my sister Heidi who heading over to stay w/Reagan, text Mike and told him of course not to panic but I think my water broke. He immediately called me and then called Delta checking on flights out, my sister arrived, my contractions began, and I headed to the hospital (yes, I drove myself...but literally it takes a minute to drive there so THANKFULLY that was uneventful), call my parents on the way (who happened to still be awake at this time visiting with friends, and found out Mike couldn't get a flight home until 8:45 a.m. the next day. I cried, he worried, and my wonderful family kicked it into gear. Heidi stayed w/Reagan while my brother Matt who lives in Spanish Fork drove up. Heidi then came to the hospital to be with my while my parents dropped everything and left in the MIDDLE of the night to come be w/me. It was all so surreal as I walked into the women's center. Here I am, slippers on, bag in hand, a tear streaked face, and I could just FEEL the empathy from these nurses radiating in the waiting area.

So to make a long story short, they tried to pump me full of fluid to see if that would stop any of the contractions and everyone hoped it would be long enough for the daddy to arrive. I won't lie, that was one of the hardest things to endure. I was laying in that bed just anxious as can be...not for myself but for Mike who had to do all his worrying from miles away. My parents arrived and my dad gave me a blessing and it definately helped calm me some. Although I was unable to actually sleep during any of this, my time to push came way too fast. Mike was in the air and there was no way this little man was waiting any longer!! I am so grateful for my mom for being there with me. I know she felt like she was "making up" for being on their mission in the Ukraine while Reagan was born but it was so comforting having her there and I think helped Mike feel a little better about it as well.

So after 10 minutes of pushing, the little guy was out, healthy, beautiful and screaming. Mike arrived a few hours later and the family was reunited!!

So here he is....Kade Alexander Young. Born February 10th at 7:21 a.m. weighing in at 7 pounds 5 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. He's beautiful and big sister Reagan is as proud as they come.