Welcome Mackinsey Rae O'Brien!

We welcomed our third daughter into the world on Monday December 29th at 9:57pm. She weighs in at 7lbs. 3oz. and is 19 inches long. She didn't get to come home with us today, she's taken a small vacation in the NKCH NICU to sunbathe her cares away. She has a bit of jaundice, so it is light therapy all the way for her. For those of you that are curious...here's our birth story.

I'd been having Braxton-Hicks contractions for several weeks. It was no different when we took Bill & Lynn (aka Papa & Granny) to the airport on Saturday night (Dec. 27th). However, that night I wasn't able to get a good night's sleep because I was up every 13 minutes with a contraction. Sunday morning I was EXHAUSTED but still couldn't rest because the contractions started coming 8 minutes apart. At that point in time I called the doctor's office and they advised me to come to the hospital to get it checked out. They watched me for a couple of hours and told me that I was having contractions 3 to 5 minutes apart, however there was no change in my cervix. They told me that I likely had a urinary tract infection and sent me home with an antibiotic and a prescription for vicodin to help me get some rest.

That night I took my antibiotic and vicodin and was able to get 2 hours of sleep before I was up having contractions for the next 2 hours before I could take any more vicodin. We did this for two rounds before I became nauseous and bowed my head to the porcelain throne. I called Labor & Delivery to let them know that I was having a new issue and they assured me that it was because I'd taken the vicodin on an empty stomach. I ate half of a bagel and tried again. I was still sick. I decided I would just lay around and "get over it".

Jay went to work and the kids and I had a pajama day on Monday Dec. 29th. I was very nauseated all day long and couldn't eat or drink. I called Jay for help at 3:00 because I was so tired and so sick. He came home at 4:00 and I told him that I was going to go lay down upstairs to try to get some rest. When I stood up I felt a trickle. I thought "that might be my water breaking" and I told Jay that I thought my water had broken. I went to the bathroom to tinkle to make sure I hadn't just had some bladder leakage. I was still conflicted...until I stood up and the fluid began to flow down my legs.

We began the protocol that had been designed weeks before. We couldn't get in touch with Jeanne to watch the kids so we took them to Kim-Marie. I called Kelli Craft (a dear sweet friend that agreed to help me scream my way through contractions) to meet us at the hospital. We finally got in touch with Jeanne and she picked up the kids from Kim-Marie and brought them home so that they could get a good night's rest. We were all set.

I went into the hospital at 4:30pm. I had dialated from 1.5cm & 50% effaced to 2cm. and 70% effaced. While we were waiting for pitocin I began to have contractions and I dialated from 2cm to 4cm. Once the pitocin kicked in I lost it and started yelling at the nurse to "please get me my friggin' epidural". They finally agreed to give it to me when I was so hysterical that it took everything in Jay and Kelli to get me to breathe. I got my epidural at 9:05pm (none too soon in my opinion) and was immediately checked and had advanced to 6cm. In the 15 minutes it takes for the epidural to be effective I went from 6cm to 9cm. They decided to get me up in the stirrups by then. After they'd gotten me situated I told them that I felt a ton of pressure and they checked again and I was already a 10 and was totally ready to push.

I pushed 4 times (10 seconds each) during 1 contraction for Kinsey to make her grand entrance. She was BEAUTIFUL! She had a little trouble with breathing smoothly and had to be observed for 2 hours in the nursery befor we were able to love her up.

We got to spend a day with her before she developed jaundice and had to be moved to the NICU. Her bilirubin count dropped from 9 to 8.5 over a 8 hour period so we are hopeful that we'll get to bring her home tomorrow.

WE ARE BLESSED!

Getting ready for Christmas!

Wow...time flies when you're having fun! We are preparing for Christmas and I think that we are almost done. Jay decorated the outside on the last pretty day that we had and I must say that he did a FABULOUS job. The outside looks like each light was intentionally and perfectly placed. He also put icicle lights around the living room, dining room, & kitchen. The kids love all of the lights!

The Missaoui family came to visit for Thanksgiving and helped us put up our two Christmas trees. The small tree in the foyer has our "family ornaments" on it. Each family member going back out our grandparents has an ornament on that tree. We need to make a new one for Kinsey this year! The tree in the living room has all of our fun ornaments and an ornament for every year of Jay and I's relationship.

Jay also hung up the stockings (the mantle is getting very full) and our various other knick knack decorations. Marian, Stephen, Angie, Tatum, Christine, & Connor went together and bought us a gorgeous painting of Santa Claus that is hanging in our living room.

Taylor's highlight is moving the mouse along our countdown calendar. I've had this calendar since I was a kid and looked forward to moving the mouse. She gets confused and REALLY wants to move the mouse after naptime too. So we move the mouse in the morning and in the evening we read our "Jesus cards". Ms. Jeanne at church gave us the gospel account of Jesus' birth divided up among 25 cards and you read a new card each day so that by the end the kids almost have the story memorized. They LOVE it!

All of the gifts have been bought/shipped and we lack only one gift per child. We're arranging for a "shopping date" so that the two of us can go out and agree on what we'd like to get each one.

Taylor asked Santa for:
1) A pink robot that talks and walks.
2) A big dinosaur that must be pink or green.
3) A teddy bear that she wishes to name "Faluka".

When I asked her what she wanted Mommy & Daddy to get her she said "I don't know." I guess we get the creative freedom that Santa only wishes he had!

Bella looked at Santa like he was from Mars and didn't say a single word.

When I asked her what she wanted for Christmas she just said "Winnie the Pooh". Simple kid.

So that is how Christmas is shaping up in our house. We've done A LOT of internet shopping since I'm about as big around and I am tall and walking is sort of difficult for a weeble. However, I think that things have shaped up nicely. After Christmas we'll be in the final preparations for Kinsey's arrival!

Kinsey's 3D ultrasound

We had a 3D ultrasound done today of Kinsey and I think she looks alot like Bella, but she has Jay's smile. His cheeks fold a certain way when he smiles and we saw hers do the same thing.Jay wanted to make EXTRA sure she was a girl since that is what we are totally prepared for and sure enough...there's no mistaking that she's a girl!

She likes to keep her feet up by her face. Here's a good shot of her cute little feet.

Apparently she was on a mission to see if she could explore her mouth with her toes.

She gave up on this mission and covered her eye with her hand. It looked like she was a little bothered that we had intruded upon her sacred time in the womb.
We got to see her cute, tiny little ears in the ultrasound and the lady said it looks like she has a little bit of hair on her head. (They said this about Bella too and she's STILL having trouble growing hair at any length!)
Right before we were done with the session she folded her hands like Taylor & now Bella will do from time to time.
I think we wore her out because she started to yawn right before the session ended. Good night Kinsey, sleep tight!

Taylor plans dinner

On the way home from school today Taylor asks me "Mama...what are we having for dinner?" I tell her that I don't really know and I ask her what she wants. She says "we will have mashed potatoes, corn, and NO GREEN BEANS!" She also tells me that "we will need macaroni and cheese too". So, just for kicks and giggles...that is what I'm fixing for dinner tonight. She said "I don't want chicken and I don't want steak, I JUST WANT MASHED POTATOES, CORN, AND MACARONI AND CHEESE." So that is what we are having for dinner tonight.

Bundled up

Bella and I accompanied Jay and Taylor to gymnastics this week. Winter has fallen on Liberty so we had to bundle up. Bella looked so cute in her winter dress that we had to take a picture.

Jay wanted to take this picture so he can show her one day that she was small enough for him to lift with one hand.

Of course Taylor had to get in on the picture session so she got on Jay's shoulders and I thought that this picture was funny because Jay's head looks huge compared to Taylor's.

Taylor's favorite thing to do right now is to make the "Granny face" so this is a picture of both Jay & Taylor making the "Granny face".

I had to get a good picture of Taylor's face for MOPPETS so here's how she posed.

Trick or Treat 2008

Taylor and Bella have been so excited about trick or treating this year. Taylor dressed up as a pirate and Bella was a bumble bee. We started trick or treating on our street and after walking door to door on Maple Woods Drive Bella got tired. Jay pulled out the wagon and Bella rode in style from door to door from then on out. Taylor had a great time being a pirate, unfortunately her sword could not handler her zeal and broke about 3/4 of the way through the night. Taylor taught Bella how to say something close to trick or treat. They were so cute!!!

Taylor told us that she was tired so we headed back home to sit on our porch and hand out candy. It was such a GORGEOUS evening and we just couldn't talk ourselves into going inside. I think that the kids had just as much fun handing out candy as they did going from door to door.

Aunt Jackie Takes a Peek at Kinsey

We visited Jackie at work so that she could try to get a picture of Kinsey's face. The first attempt was unsuccessful. She was VERY happy to show us that she is indeed a girl, but was a little more camera shy when it came to her face. Eventually Jackie got a pretty good shot of her face. I've labeled the picture to the best of my ability so that it will hopefully make sense to you. I'm a little partial, but I think she's pretty darn cute!