In the crib!

Last night Kirk thought Kirsten was ready to sleep in her crib. Up until last night she has been sleeping in her bouncer next to our bed. Personally I didn't think she was ready to make the big move to her crib, but it turns out only mom wasn't ready. She did great and slept better in the crib than she does in the bouncer. Since it was Kirk who put her in the crib it was Kirk who got to get up multiple times through the night to make sure she was ok (thanks to gentle probing by me).

We absolutely love some of the looks Kirsten gives us. The other morning Kirsten started grunting so Kirk peers over the side of the bed at her and discovers she has hidden her head in the blankets. So he moves the blankets and she looks up at him with her innocent raised eyebrows, wrinkled forehead look. He starts laughing and she breaks into a huge smile. We love her personality!!!
We are officially real parents because we have been peed on multiple times. Kirsten got Kirk the best though. While getting ready for her second bath we changed her diaper and Kirk held her while I filled the bathtub. He was a little nervous that she would "go" on him, so he held her over the toilet. I thought he was being a little too dramatic about it all, but sure enough 2 seconds later our little girl exploded peeing and pooping all over the toilet, wall, and her sweet daddy. Times like these are reasons I wanted kids so bad!

One week old!

The day Kirsten turned one week old her umbilical cord fell off. I was expecting to see a cute little belly button but instead saw oozy gunk. I was so glad my mom was here to again let me know it was completely normal.

With the umbilical cord gone Kirsten got her first bath. To say this girl loves baths is an understatement! She kicks back, relaxes and only screams when we finally pull her out.

Day 6 Monday March 10

Kirsten slept a solid 6 hours last night! Kirk and I can't stop grinning at each other all day. This parenting thing is so much easier than we thought it would be. Who knew we would have such a well behaved child?

We take Kirsten into the pediatrician for her first weight check. She weighs in at a whopping 7 pounds 15.5 ounces. She is gaining! I am so happy to hear that she is so healthy.

When we get home from the pediatrician Kirk was waiting for us with a huge grin on his face. He had brought home flowers for Kirsten. He claims he has to be the first guy to buy her flowers so she knew he loved her more than any other man would. He is such a cute dad!

We are so happy to have my mom here. She is so good to make yummy food and keep our house clean so that I can heal completely. I'm so grateful she is here so that I can hold Kirsten all day and stare into her beautiful big blue eyes.

Day 5 Sunday March 9

Our second night is just as good as the first. We are so proud of our daughter for knowing when to eat and sleep.
Sunday is filled with LOTS of visitors. My mom finally is able to come out and meet her new granddaughter. It about killed her to wait so long but she is planning to stay for a whole week so it will all be worth it. Another one of my best friends, Chalice Anderberg, and her family come by. Tom and Karen were able to come so Tom could meet his newest granddaughter. They also brought Derik with them to meet up with Liz and their family. Everyone happened to be here at the same time and Kirsten slept through it all.
We went up to the hospital to have her jaundice checked and she is down to a 10.9, wahoo! The last thing I wanted to do was put her back in the hospital for jaundice.

Day 4 Saturday March 8

Our first night home went a lot better than we thought it would. She woke up every 3 hours like clockwork. Kirk was great and would get up and rub my feet while I nursed (he's the best!).

We had lots of visitors that day. One of best friends Camille Hunting came to meet Kirsten. Aunt Kristy, Camille, Amanda and Chelsey came and took turns holding Kirsten while the others made dinner for me and Kirk. It's so awesome to have people help us so much. Aunt Liz also drove out from Vernal to visit too.

While I was nursing her Saturday milk started squirting out Kirsten's nose. At least I was hoping it was milk. I started freaking out to say the least. Luckily Liz showed up before I drug the family to the ER and let me know it was completely normal. And now Kirsten has milk for food!

Day 3 Friday March 7

Kirsten and I came home from the hospital on Friday. My doctor said I was healing great and was in the clear to go home and try the motherhood thing on my own. Kirsten's new pediatrician, after commenting on how beautiful she was, said she was healthy but we would need to have her jaundice checked Sunday and a weight check Monday since she was down to 7 pounds 13 ounces. We were thrilled both of us were healthy and put Kirsten in her prettiest dress to go home. She wasn't so sure about the car ride home, but as soon as we were home she was very happy. Karen and Joriel had our house decorated really cute with "It's a girl" every where. The drive home wore mom and baby out and we immediately went down for a nap. Riley and Crystal left a delicious dinner for us. Everyone has been so great to help us.
Kristy, Camille, and Chelsey drove out from Vernal to meet Kirsten. They agree she definitely looks like her mom.

Day 2 Thursday March 6

Kirsten was in the special care nursery until 1:30 pm. We were so thrilled to have her back in our room with us. We fired pediatrician that day and now have one that doesn't order unnecessary tests on our healthy baby. Kirk changed his first diaper ever, unfortunately it happened in the nursery and I missed the big event of Kirk's life. Kirsten had her first professional pictures taken, by the hospital.
Kirsten met her first cousins, Isaac and Jack. The first thing Isaac said to me was "Dynelle your belly is empty" It is so nice to not be pregnant. I'd rather have a baby than be pregnant any day.

Day 1 Wednesday March 5

Kirsten's first day turned out to be really eventful. The pediatrician took her at 9:00 am to do the usual well baby check. Since Kirsten's right ear is abnormal the doctor decided it would be a good idea to run a few test on her. Within 24 hours of being alive our daughter had a feeding tube, x-ray, ultrasound, echo on her heart, and a couple blood tests. Good thing I was there watching out for her or she would have had an IV too. Kirk spent the whole day with her in the special care nursery. We weren't very impressed with our nurses or doctors, which made a hard day even more difficult. But in the end she is completely healthy. Luckily I was able to make it down to the nursery a couple times a day to feed her.

Kirsten was able to meet Grandpa Brinkerhoff, Aunt Amanda, Nanna (Grandma Howcroft), and Uncle Riley that day. Karen was able to be with Kirk most the day which was so nice. Anytime Kirsten would cry Kirk was able to calm her down immediately. Can we say daddy's girl?

Kirsten is Here!

Kirsten Sue Howcroft finally made her debut on March 4.

Monday March 3
Kirk and I went to my final doctor's appointment. He was surprised we didn't have a baby over the weekend and immediately started talking about an induce date. I told him we were ready to induce the minute he said we could. After making a quick call to the hospital we were set to be induced the next morning. We spent the day making final preparations excited to finally bring our baby home.

Tuesday March 4, 2008. The big day!

8:15 AM
We show up at the hospital and get checked in. We are so excited to finally be at the hospital to have our baby and can't stop smiling.

9:00 AM
The pitocin drip is started. Contractions start registering on the monitor and now knowing what they felt like I realized I had been feeling contractions for the past couple weeks. The pain wasn't bad so we played cards (I always won, something about being in labor with his baby).

12:00 PM
Receiving a full dose of pitocin. Contractions feel about the same.

12:30 PM
Doctor breaks my water. I was surprised how warm it was and really felt like I had peed the bed. Dilated to a 4.

1:00 PM
Baby's heart rate drops really low. They turn off pitocin and make me lay on my side for an hour. (FYI laying on your side during an hour of contractions is not a pretty thing). I also am now receiving oxygen to help the baby.

2:00 PM
Baby has a healthy heartbeat and they turn pitocin up. Things feel great and we play cards again.

2:30 PM
Baby's heart rate drops again, they make me lay on my side, again I get to wear the oxygen mask, and the pitocin is turned down.

3:00 PM
They decide it would be a good idea to replace the amniotic fluid to help out our baby.

4:30 PM
Nurse lets us know doctor will be here in an hour. No progress is being made and I'm still a 4. She recommends trying different positions to encourage dilation. Kirk and the our labor coach help me turn onto my hands and knees (during a contraction!). Keep reminding myself the pain will all be worth it.

5:30 PM
Doctor comes and checks me. I still have not made any progress. He tells me that even though my contractions are intense they are doing nothing to get the baby out. He says he will check back with us in an hour and then we can talk about other possibilities. We try everything from squatting, to rocking chairs, birthing balls etc. and hope for the best.

6:30 PM
Doctor lets us know we have not made progress although he can tell the baby is trying to move down. Kirk and I are given the ultimatum. After realizing we had done everything we could do we decided a c-section would be best. Immediately the nurses start preparing me for surgery. We were both nervous but so anxious to meet our baby girl.

7:33 PM
Kirsten Sue Howcroft was born!
8 pounds 7 ounces 20.5 inches of beautiful baby girl.

Despite the cord being wrapped around her neck and ankle, being blue, and the fluid in her lungs she was healthy and happy to meet us. She was moving right away but it took her a good 5 minutes before she decided to cry. After watching Kirsten pulled out of me, Kirk made sure I'm ok before rushing over to be with our daughter. After seeing her he looked over at me with the proudest look I've ever seen on his face. Standing there in his surgical outfit, beaming like only a new dad can, I fell in love with him all over again.

While the doctors stitched me up I had my head turned to catch a glimpse of our baby. Kirk took pictures and every time he stopped I told him to take more, I didn't want to miss anything. After about 20 minutes they brought her over to meet her mom. Feeling her cheek against mine I was instantly in love.

Every moment of our life since has been centered around our precious daughter. We are so thrilled to have her a part of us. We want her to stay this size forever but can't wait for her to grow up. We have always known we would love being parents, but until we held Kirsten in our arms we never knew how much joy parenthood would bring into our lives. We hate putting her down and think she should be held all the time. We can't believe how lucky we are to have such a beautiful daughter.

Kirk is the most amazing father. Every chance he has he is holding her and playing with her. Kirsten knows her dad too, she always seems to have her eyes open because she knows dad loves the faces she pulls. I always knew Kirk would be a good father, but seeing him with Kirsten makes me love him even more.