She's here!!!!

She's finally here! Kendall Faith was born Thursday, July 19th around 5pm.

I've sat down at the computer to write this post about 20 times but between a crying baby, a big sister (aka as Claudia!!) trying to "help" a little too much, to...you name it...I haven't had time. Sooo...here's my attempt. For now, because of time (or lack of!), I'm going to just give details and tell as much as I can with pictures and continue it later when I have more time.

My actual due date was July 29th, but because Claudia was so big and caused quite a bit of "damage" my Dr. decided to induce me early. He set the date for the 18th mainly because this would be his first day back from vacation. Knowing when I was going in was nice but also kind of "nerve wracking" so we tried to have as much fun before and spend some special time with Claudia before the big "day" (or should I say changing-experience-for-a-lifetime!).

Typical (pre-baby!) summer day...swimming with the cousins. Of course, whenever we hear the icecream truck we all sprint to the front yard (even though we could easily buy a whole gallon of icecream for what they charge for a popsickle!)

"Nobody in the pool until ALL your icecream has been eaten!" (We've had too many chunks of chocolate and sticks mysteriously floating in the pool!)We swam almost every day...before the baby that is. (We'll stick to a picture of Christian and Claudia - I wouldn't want you to mistake me for a beached whale!!!)

The day before my induction, we got a group of people together and went to Tokens-N-Tickets for dinner and games.

Our last family picture as 3!

We then went over to my parents (who have a neighborhood full of kids) and Christian-the-pyro set off the rest of the fireworks we had left over from the 4th of July. But before the show, we just HAD to go frog hunting! My parents have a big pond across the street and the kids LOVE hunting for frogs. When the fireworks show was over, Grandma had icecream cones waiting for everyone inside. It was a fun night...and even despite the excitement and anticipation of meeting Kendall, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread on the ride home!

The day before, we got everything out and ready to go...I came around the corner and found Claudia trying out Kendall's carseat! She had it buckled and all! I laughed so hard!

I was scheduled to be at the hospital around 8pm the 18th. The plan was for them to give me a drug overnight, not necessarily to start labor, but to get my body "ready" to make induction easier the next morning around 7am. Here I am, all hooked up and signing all the paperwork. Christian and Claudia stayed with me until her bedtime and then went home so we could ALL get a good night's sleep...YEAH RIGHT...my labor started around 1am that night. It was bearable, but I was definitely ready for the Dr. (and epidural!) that next morning!

I really am happy here! I promise! Ok...long story short...Dr. came around 7:30 to start Pitocen, but because of various reasons (like having an intern nurse that didn't know what she was doing and the Dr. being in multiple c-sections), they didn't get it started until 9:30ish. They didn't get my epidural started until this time either - which was another ordeal in itself. The first epidural didn't work, so they tried it again about a half hour later. Ouch!! And even that one didn't work...my legs were so numb and heavy that they actually hurt and yet I could feel every thing from waist up! They tried all sorts of things but there were 7 births happening the same time as me and she was constantly in surgery (c-sections) so they never did get it right. So during the absolute hardest part of labor, I felt everything, but couldn't move because of my legs. It was pretty rough. By around 3:30pm, it was getting pretty unbearable and I wasn't dilating past 5 cm, the nurse said I would most likely be in labor for at least 3+ hours, Dr. wasn't available, anaesthesiologist wasn't available so I gave in and took this one drug that made me so loopy, I barely remember anything else. The worst part is, moments after they gave me this drug, the Dr. came in and said I was ready to push....30 minutes later we had Kendall Faith!!! The delivery couldn't have gone better! Praise the Lord! Unfortunately, like I said, I was in and out of it and don't remember much more of the day. People came to see me that night and I don't remember it. I'm so sad to have missed these first special moments...BUT the great delivery and healthy arrival of our little girl far outweighs it all! I don't remember a lot, but Kendall cried for at least her first 2 hours of life. We were all a little worried, but after she finally nursed, she calmed down and hasn't (barely!) cried since! She was a 7 lbs. 12.5 oz., 20.5 inches

This is the first time Claudia met Kendall. I could NOT wait to see her face and how she would react...we had waited and talked about this for so long and Claudia was SOOOOO excited. I don't remember a lot...just that Claudia was a little upset because she wouldn't quit crying!

Yep, she looks exactly like Christian...exactly. (When I get time, I'll scan one of his baby pictures for you to compare...they look so much alike, its kinda scary!)

She's getting ready to cry so she's really making a sour face but I love this picture because it shows her little legs and arms still all curled up. I read that if you take a picture soon enough after they're born, you can see how they were most likely curled up in the womb before they came out.

Claudia is soooo proud of her! She's ALWAYS touching, kissing, hugging, poking....just IN HER FACE! If allowed, she would probably hold her all day. This has actually been the most difficult part. And if told to leave her alone, she starts crying and says, "But she's my sister!" She's also quite possessive of her. She cries if everyone else gets to hold her. She definitely loves her little sister!

Her first bath. I'm not sure she necessarily liked it, but she didn't cry one bit.

One of the rare moments she has her eyes open. And yep, she's got the crazy hair! Everyone always asks if Claudia's was like this...believe it or not, her's was longer, thicker and even more crazy!!!!

Christian has done a really good job of giving Claudia some special attention throughout this transition time. (In fact, I've FINALLY talked him into doing a post...he's agreed to do the next one and tell about his and Claudia's trip to Disney World last week! So stay tuned...) Here they are at my parent's after catching a big bass! Claudia loves touching and holding the fish. However, the day wasn't without drama...

...Christian got a hook caught in his finger. All the woman begged him to go to the Dr. but, no, he decided to soak it in cold water (to numb it up) and my dad yanked it out. OUCH!!!

The two sisters! I love these girls!

A few more of Kendall...

There's so much more to tell, and so many more pictures. (Next time, I'll have to explain how we chose her name and the crazy story around that!) In fact, these are from last week and she's already changed so much (she gained over a pound in less than 2 weeks!). But for now, Kendall is "calling" me as Claudia begs me to hold her, so, I'll have to continue this later when I get some more time...until then, I'll leave you with one of my favorites...