First Three Weeks

What an amazing three weeks it has been...Kian is growing big and strong. At her two week check-up she weighed in at 9 lbs 12 oz which means she gained 1 lb 3 oz and a whole inch in just two weeks. Kian was also put on some medicine for stomach acid. The doctor thinks her stomach is creating too much acid for her system, so she is on baby Zantac to help out. The stomach problems have been causing Kian to cry a lot and cause her to sleep in only short intervals, keeping Mom and Dad from sleeping as well. With the help of the medicine, she is doing better and getting to sleep for 3 hours at a time, most of the time.

We always knew that Skyla would be a big help with the baby, but we have just discovered that big sister Skyla has a talent for putting the baby to sleep. Anytime she holds Kian and walks around, Kian falls right to sleep.

At three weeks and 1 day, Kian had her first real bath yesterday, and we discovered that she is not a fan of bath time. As you can see from the picture below, she screamed her head off the entire time.

The family is really enjoying getting to know Kian and we will keep everyone posted...

The Big Day

We are very proud to announce the birth of Kian Abbey Taylor on Friday, November 7, 2008 at 5:27 pm!!! She weighed 7 pounds and 9 ounces and measured 19 1/2" long. She has blue eyes and chesnut brown hair with blonde highlights.

Mom and baby did an awesome job and both are very happy and healthy! We were able to bring Kian home from the hospital on Sunday evening.

Mom went into labor early Friday morning at about 3 am. By 8:30 am, we were ready to make our way to the hospital, but the contractions started slowing down. We took a walk around the block and up and down the stairs a few times to see if that would move things along, with no success. We then called our doctor's office at about 10 am and they suggested that we go to the hospital anyway as Mom was still having 5-6 strong contractions an hour.

We got to the hospital and they monitored Mom's progress for an hour. Mom's contractions were still strong but irregular, so the hospital called Dr. Appel and the decision was made to go ahead and put Mom on some Pitocin to help advance the process along. We had not had a chance to update the blog yet, but Mom was scheduled to be induced Monday morning at 5 am if the baby did not come on her own before that. So, moving the labor along with Pitocin was a no-brainer at this point.

We were checked into the hospital and moved to a birthing suite at 1 pm. Right after receiving the Pitocin, Mom's contractions immediately picked up and became regular. Mom got her epidural at about 2:30 pm and was very appreciative. The Pitocin was advancing the labor faster than the epidural could keep up. Mom was in lots of pain and the baby was not handling the intensity of the contractions very well. So, Mom was given a booster to the epidural which made everything better. By about 4:45 pm, Kian was ready to be born; however, our doctor was at the other hospital delivering another baby. So, we waited until about 5 pm when Dr. Appel arrived and 27 short minutes later, we had our beautiful baby girl. Big sister Skyla decided to join us in the suite to experience the birth of her sister.

Here are some more pictures for you to enjoy...

Week 39

Week 39 has come and gone and still no baby. At our Wednesday doctor's appointment, we found out Mom was dilated to a 2 which is less progression than we were hoping for. The doctor made us an appointment for next Wednesday, but she was sure we would not need it as the baby would come before that...apparently Kian heard that and is aiming to prove her wrong. At our appointment on Wednesday, if we make it to Wednesday, the doctor says that we will discuss our options for inducing labor. The baby is still very healthy and her heartbeat is strong...she is just getting fatter and fatter as the days go by. Dad was hoping for a Halloween baby, but no luck...Mom doesn't care, she just wants to be done being pregnant...she has had enough of being big and being swollen. Mom is officially on maternity leave from work and will not go back until February 1st. Here is a couple of pictures of Mom from Halloween and the day after which mark the end of week 39...