Here are some more pictures of Kenzie. We sure do love our baby girl!
Kenzie sleeping with her Daddy
Kenzie and her cousins on the Conrad side, Kaleigh and Miles
Kenzie and Uncle Kevy
Kenzie and Aunt Heidi
Kenzie and Grandma Conrad
Kenzie and Grandpa Conrad
Kenzie and Aunt Terrah
Kenzie and her cousin Paige... they are exactly 4 weeks apart from each other.... of my life have been great! I love my daughter very much and I can't imagine life without her. With that said, here's what we've been up to the last 7 weeks. My mom came and stayed with us for about 5 days after we got home from the hospital. It is a hard transition with bringing a baby home... and not to mention, getting over surgery at the same time. Plus, James was so incredibly stressed out with trying to finish everything up with finals and school for that semester. It was the craziest week of our lives. My Mom was a great help and we were lucky to have her come stay with us. We love you Mom! Thanks for all of your help!
Then, we were in Rexburg for about 3 weeks around Christmas time. We weren't planning on being there that long, but some family things happened and it was easier to just stay in Rexburg instead of traveling back and forth. We spent Christmas Eve with The Ringel's and Christmas Day with The Conrad's. Kenzie had to make her debut and meet all the great Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. Here are some pictures from around Christmas time.
Kenzie with Great Grandma and Grandpa Bell
Kenzie with Great Grandpa Ringel (This is a four generation picture)
Uncle David, James, and Aunt Heather
Grandma and Grandpa Ringel
Kaleigh and Kenzie
Kaleigh, Miles, and Kenzie - the three granbabies on the Conrad side
Kenzie in her Christmas jammies on Christmas morning
Kaleigh's ready to open some presents!
Kenzie and Great Grandma Conrad
Kenzie and Grandma Conrad Christmas morning
My cute little family!
James and I got Photoshop so that he could use it for his Architecture projects. I've been learning how to use it... it's going to take a while since there is so much to do on it! Here's what I've done so far. I'm excited to keep learning more about the program.
Recently, Kenzie has started smiling and giggling. The other day, James was playing with her and she started giggling. It was so cute.... I love my baby girl! I couldn't imagine life without her. Here's the video!
She's here! Makenzie Lyn Ringel has finally made it to join our family. I'm just grateful it's all finally over. I didn't have the best experience. For those of you who want to hear the story, here it is. If not... just skip over the next section.
My due date was 12/02/09. Well my doctor scheduled me for an induction on Monday, 12/07/09. Sunday night I go to bed, and I tried to sleep. Yeah right! Sleep? My mind was going crazy and wouldn't shut off. Not to mention, I had started having contractions around 3 am. I got up around 8 the next morning so I could get ready to go to the doctor. I had an appointment at 10 am. At this point, my contractions were about 8 minutes apart. At the office, they checked me and I was dialated to a 2-2.5 and 80% effaced. And my contractions were now about 3-4 minutes apart. So they sent me up to labor and delivery to get things going. After they got me all set up in my room, my doctor came and broke my water. Let me just say... not a very pleasant feeling. After that, my contractions got a lot worse and closer together. They also had me hooked up to pitocin. Finally when I got to the point where I couldn't take the contractions anymore (yes, I am a wuss) I asked for an epidural. They gave me some Nubain to help with the pain until they were able to come give me an epidural. Let me just say... wow! Nubain rocked my world. It helped relax me. Which was good because I was super nervous about the epidural. Once they gave me Nubain, I didn't even care about the epidural.... I just wanted the pain GONE! After they gave me the epidural, I started having the shakes really bad. The nurses said it was from the epidural, but it was awful! I couldn't control anything. I just shook uncontrollably... then I'd get really cold and then really hot. It sucked. To make a long story short, I labored for about 10 hours and then my doctor came in and said that I needed to have a c-section. WHAT?! You've got to be kidding me. Well... the baby had dropped down to a -1 station since about 3 pm in the afternoon and she just stayed there. She didn't drop anymore and every time I pushed (I did a few practice pushes) she didn't even budge. And I was feeling an overwhelming urge to push. The doctor said that my pelvic bone was shaped funny and that there was some bone sticking out causing her to not be able to drop or move down anymore. So he said he was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to push her out.... therefore, I needed a c-section. At this point in time, I think I started to have a mini freak out. I started hyperventilating and just freaking out. I was so worried that I was going to be able to feel the surgery. My dad came to the hospital and he and James gave me a blessing. It really helped me calm down. Then they gave me more medicine to make the epidural raise up to my chest. I was still shaking uncontrollably also. Then they gave me this alka-seltzer stuff to help calm my tummy before surgery.... yeah that just made me throw up. YUCK! By this time the surgery crew had arrived to take me back to the OR. The whole experience back there was kind of scary. I'm glad James was there to help keep me calm and help remind me to breathe. Once we got back there, Kenzie's heart rate started to go up high and become tacky... so it was good we were going to be getting her out soon. I couldn't feel anything... just pressure and lots of tugging. It really sucked because she had her head was down in my pelvic area so they had to pull her back out. That was a lot of pressure and I hated feeling all the tugging. I was also still shaking uncontrollably during the whole surgery. Then all the sudden I heard a little cry and then they pulled her out and she was crying even harder. And then they told me she was a girl! Thank heavens! I was so worried she was going to come out a boy. They took her over to the warmer and started doing the assessment on her.... I could see everything from where I was. I started crying because I couldn't believe she was actually my baby. I remember commenting to James that she had hair. I was excited about that. When they took Kenzie to the nursery, James went with them. From that point on, I don't remember much because I think I fell asleep as they stitched me up. Then I went to recovery for about 2 hours. Down there I just pretty much slept. I also started fevering. It was after midnight before I even got to see Kenzie. I was so out of it when I got back to my room. When I first saw Kenzie after the surgery, she didn't even feel like my baby. It took me a few minutes to warm up to her. I was so drugged though... and I remember being so thirsty. All I wanted was a huge mug of water. But anyways... that is the labor and delivery story. I'm just grateful it's all over and that Kenzie got here safely and that she is healthy.
Makenzie Lyn Ringel - Born 12/07/09 at 10:37 p.m. 8 lbs. 0 oz. 21 inches long.
Mom, Baby, and Dad
