Kinsey Lou (Grandma's name) Ward
Kinsey was not due until Tuesday, March 11, but of course she made her own arrival plans. On the evening of Sunday, March 2, I started feeling what I thought were contractions. I of course didn't have a clue what contractions felt like and I wasn't too uncomfortable so I didn't worry to much about it. About four hours later I realized that they were in fact real contractions and this was likely the start of active labor. Contractions were about 10-12 minutes apart a large part of the night and slowly started getting closer together. Of course this was the night the snow storm came through and so I called the hospital when contractions were 5-7 minutes apart because we live 45 minutes away AND we didn't know how bad the roads would be.
The hospital told us to come on in but there was a chance they could send us home. By the time we got around and left contractions were four minutes apart. It is good we went ahead and left because we had Kinsey later that afternoon. Below are some pictures that tell the story of the day our precious girl arrived.
Below: At around 4:30am I woke Ryan up and told him it was time to go to the hospital.
Below: Last belly picture before we left for the hospital.
Below: Ryan and I were in triage for 2 hours before we were admitted to make sure I was progressing. The picture below is after we had been admitted and both our parents had arrived.
Shortly after we were admitted they were able to give me an epidural. The epidural was one thing I was scared about getting...and to my surprise it was a breeze!!
Finally it was time to start pushing. After a few minutes Kinsey's heart rate started to drop so the doctor used suction to speed up the process. Once she was born the doctor quickly had Ryan cut the cord and the nurses whisked her away to the bassinet. I could tell something was wrong because three nurses and the doctor surrounded her bed. One of the nurses said to call her pediatrician and get him to the hospital now. That is when I really got scared. I looked over at Kinsey and they were lifting her arms and legs and they were just dropping. The nurses then took her to the nursery.
Apparently her heart rate was good after birth, but she did not breathe on her own for the first four minutes. She also was posturing her arms funny. They decided to do an x-ray to see if they could figure out why she wasn't breathing on her own in the beginning and it came back normal. They also did an ultrasound of her brain to make sure she did not have any neurological issues (posturing can indicate neurological problems). The ultrasound came back normal too. At that point they let Ryan go to the nursery to see Kinsey - this was approximately an hour after she was born.
Below: Ryan's first peak at Kinsey!! She had lots of monitors on and an IV.
Below: The brown band around her foot was a pulse/oxygen monitor. She had to have this on until midnight. The alarm on this monitor was LOUD and I swear it went off every three minutes. The blue thing wrapped around her foot is a heating pad. They were warming her foot up so it would be easier for them to draw blood. She had to have several tubes pulled for testing.
Below: The orange wrap around Kinsey's arm is where they put the IV in. She hated having that thing on her arm! I did too!
Below: Kinsey weighed in at 7 pounds 6.3 ounces.
Below: Hanging out getting warm.
Below: Kinsey was 20 inches long.
Back at the room I was impatiently waiting to meet Kinsey. I had to wait until they finished monitoring me after the birth before I could go to the nursery to meet and feed Kinsey. I had lots of good company while I was waiting.
Below: Great Grandparents Poppa and Gigi!
Below: Gigi made a beautiful afghan for Kinsey and we use it all the time!
Below: I FINALLY got to meet Kinsey! (3 hours after she was born - longest three hours ever)!
Below: She was not a fan of bath time.
Below: Family waiting patiently for Kinsey to come back to the room so they can meet her.
Below: More waiting.
Below: YAH!!! On her way back to the room!
Below: Sporting a warm hat and a bow.
Below: Grandma got first dibs on holding Kinsey!
Below: Poppa and Gigi meeting Kinsey.
Below: Second-Mother-In-Charge Lisa taking a turn.
Below: The kids wanted to hold Kinsey so bad but it was hard because she was still hooked up to an IV and had to stay real close to her bassinet.
Below: Aunt Ashley taking a turn.
Below: Uncle Ben and Aunt Angie
Below: Uncle Bryan
Below: Uncle Greg and Proud Poppa!
Below: Grandmama taking a peak.
Below: Addison was trying to help us decide on Kinsey's middle name. She thought Sue would be a good name. (Addison and her Momma's middle name is Sue).
Below: First family picture!
