Do they look alike?

I thought that Kadence looked a lot like Aden, and when I found Aden's birth pictures, I was just amazed at how much they resemble each other. Aden was just a little darker. You be the judge...

Party animals...

We couldn't resist and ended up going to the Carusos for a little impromptu get-together on Saturday. We surprised everyone by showing up especially since we just got home from the hospital the day before. At 4 days old, Kadence proved to be a good fit to our family...she'll be a little social butterfly also. The best part for me was seeing the excitement on Aden's face as he told his friends that Kadence is his baby sister. It was the sweetest thing, I wish I had it on video! My sister, home for the weekend, was able to join us at the party and it was nice to be able to hang with her, even for such a short while.

Precious

We're home and enjoying our time as a family. I'm treasuring each moment, I know that it will go by so fast. The days are flying by, you forget how busy you are with a newborn. Kadence has jaundice, which we knew would happen since Aden had it also. Luckily, the nurses and lactation consultant listened to us and ordered tests early so we were able to catch it and worked out a feeding plan until my milk came in. She's a good eater but was very frustrated when my milk wasn't in yet. She was a lot happier after we supplemented with formula and used a special feeding tube. It was a pain to set up since I needed Darin's help for each feeding, but it was worth all the work since we were able to control her billirubin level. We took her to our pediatrician yesterday and she gained a couple of ounces and doing very well.

Sleep is not something that I'm getting a lot of, which is not a big surprise. Kadence sleeps good, she's sleeping at least 3 hour stretches at night. We don't really want her going longer than that due to the jaundice, she needs to eat often and she is pretty much ready for a feeding at the 3 1/2 hour mark. I'm amazingly functioning very well for not getting much sleep...part of it is my fault since I can't seem to get myself to go to bed as soon as Kadence is asleep. I'm just on adrenaline high I think. Being so miserable while I was pregnant, lack of sleep is nothing for me.

I am truly enjoying having a newborn and she is such a joy to us. She's already showing some of her personality and it is amazing to see how much she responds to her brother. She looks a lot like her dad, but definitely resembles Aden also. I'm looking forward to seeing what her eye color would be, it definitely looks like it'll be a lot lighter than mine or Aden's. Her hair is amazing, black hair with brown highlights!!! All the nurses & my doctor were just commenting on the fact that she has highlights. I need to get a good shot of her hair since I'm sure it'll change as she gets older...I'll post it as soon as I get it done.

Special thanks

We are very lucky to have great friends and we are especially grateful to our good friends, Jenn & Craig. When we couldn't get a hold of my mom after my water broke, we called them at 2am and they were at our house 20 minutes later, ready and willing to stay with Aden until my mom got here. I don't know who else we would've called at that time if they weren't around. We have always felt so blessed to have them in our lives...they've adored Aden from day one, and I'm sure Kadence will have them wrapped around her little finger soon! You guys are the best and we look forward to many years of happy memories together!

Leaving the hospital...

Just like the last time (Aden's birth), I was sad to leave the hospital. Our room was our little cocoon, I felt sheltered from everything else going on in the world and everything revolves around me and my family in that room. I love all the nurses that helped us while we were there, they were all very helpful and took very good care of us. This time was even more special for me since my doctor was there every day to check on us and it just really meant a lot to me that she was able to deliver both my babies. I will miss seeing her, not enough though to get pregnant again. My delivery and recovery was the best I could ever hope for. I can't believe I was close to pain-free the day after my surgery. Of course it helps that we were on top of the meds to make sure that I'm comfortable, but I don't remember recovering so quickly the last time. I think what helped the most is having a great nurse who made me get out of bed at 5am; just being able to stand up that early helped me a lot a few hours later and I was walking with no pain! And although I was heavily drugged, I am just amazed at how much I remember. I willed myself to pay extra attention to everything that's going on, I just wanted to remember the entire experience. I was anxious before the surgery, just having a major surgery is not something that I take lightly. But my doctor and the anesthesiologist were just great at keeping me relaxed and telling me what to expect that towards the end, I was questioning myself what I was so nervous about. I just feel so lucky that everything went so smoothly, even though it happened 2 days earlier! I guess Kadence just wanted to be born the same day (on a Tuesday) as her brother.

We didn't get much sleep and rest at the hospital, it seemed like the 4 days went by so quickly and we were very busy. Aden was there every day, thanks to my mom who brought him in so that he can quickly bond with his sister. We were also thankful to all our friends and families who came and visited....we really appreciated how everyone were excited for us and spent time out of their busy schedules to see our little one. We love sharing this experience with everyone who means a lot to us and we feel so blessed to have such great families and friends.

The best big brother

Here's our boy loving his baby sister. He has been such an awesome big brother, it's unbelievable. We didn't expect much, and I was really wondering how he'd react the first time he sees her. He was great, wanted to hold her and see her. I can't wait to experience every day with the two of them and see them interact with each other.

Meet our girl...

She's finally here!!! Kadence Grace was born February 17th at 9:04 am. She weighed 7lbs 3oz and 19in long.

My water broke at 2am Tuesday morning and it was a big shock to me. Although I had an inkling that we might have her early, I was still hoping that everything goes according to plan and that I will have the c-section on the 19th (today). Well, she let me know that I cannot control when her birthday would be and gave me a big surprise. Luckily, I didn't really go into labor after my water broke and we were able to make it to the hospital with no real pains, except for the braxton hicks that I've been having for the past 2 months.

I was really worried that my doctor won't be delivering her since we were at the hospital at 3am. I'm so glad that my little girl wasn't in such a hurry to come out and cooperated with us and my surgery was done by my doctor a few hours later. I told myself to remember the entire experience since this is the last time I would go through this again and it was really surreal to go through it and make yourself pay attention to every detail especially being drugged up. I feel extremely lucky that everything went smoothly and that everything that I hoped for happened. I'm recovering wonderfully and should be heading home tomorrow.

Sickness

Aden has been sick for the past 6 days. For a child who doesn't go to daycare or preschool, he sure end up catching whatever bug his friends has. I guess there's no way around it. He got really bad over the weekend, fever and coughing and no energy. He slept most of Saturday which has never happened before. Luckily, Darin is home and was able to take care of him for the entire weekend. The worst thing about Aden being sick is that I'm too pregnant to take care of him. So it's been quite trying for me. Oh, and to add more to it, I started coming down with sore throat and congestion yesterday and feeling pretty crummy today. This is all we need. Hopefully we'll recover soon since I do not want any sickness when the little girl shows up...in ten days!

We're still hoping I'll make it to my scheduled c-section. I will just be screaming and kicking if I end up going into labor and my doctor is not there to do the surgery. During our last appointment, she was just amazed at how much my uterus can take and felt so bad for me that she gave me a big hug after my exam. I guess we'll see this week on our next appointment and see if we need to move it up or not.