1st days

This post will be slightly less verbose and a lot more picture-heavy than yesterday's post as I give you a glimpse of Hadley's first days.

Day 1:

When I taught Yearbook classes a few years ago, the students were told to capture pictures with emotion to help tell the story. I think the facial expressions in next few photos of Hadley's first bath say lot more than any captions I could write.


The warmer, on the other hand, seemed to make everything better again.


My mom was there for the delivery but went home a few hours after our little girl's arrival. She came back later that day with my dad so Hadley could meet "Pop Pop." Grandma Nora Ann and Granddaddy Eddie stopped by for a while too.


I wasn't allowed to get out of the bed for most of the first day, so Daddy had diaper duty and got some extra bonding time with our baby girl. Although we didn't have a refresher course, he seemed to remember the little tips we learned in the parenting classes we took before Caleb was born and swaddled her up like a pro.


Quite a bit of talk that first day was focused on trying to figure out who Hadley looks like exactly. While most people thought Caleb looked like me at birth, Hadley seems to have a mix of different features. Personally, I mostly see her daddy but I think she looks like her Grandma McKinstry around the eyes and something reminds me a little of her Aunt Amy. Her mouth looks similar to Caleb's and maybe her coloring. I didn't think they favored one another at first but the more I look I think they do have a lot of similarities. The one thing I believe she definitely took from the Vaught side is her long skinny toes and fingers which are the complete opposite of Caleb's plump little hands and feet.


Day 2:

We spent most of the morning catching up on sleep and admiring Hadley.


Caleb had a slight cold when we left for the hospital Friday evening so we were a bit unsure whether or not he should visit his sister or not. We held off the first day but decided the cold had cleared up enough on the second that we felt he could come meet his new sibling. He also brought NaNa, Aunt Courtney, and Great Aunt Susie. He was happy to see Mommy and Daddy, but for the most part was pretty indifferent about meeting Hadley. Instead, he mostly wanted to check out the hospital and ended up walking around with Dave exploring while everyone else chatted.


Day 3:

On our final day at the hospital, we quickly took care of the last details and packed up so we could head home. I originally intended for Hadley to wear the dress I came home from the hospital in as her coming home outfit. However, the weather was on the chilly side and we agreed a short sleeve dress may not be the best option. Instead, we had her hospital pics taken in my dress and then changed her into a warmer sleeper her Great Great Aunt Margaret bought her. We weren't pleased with the hospital's photography so here are a few of our own pics:


After snapping a ton of photos, Dave made sure she was snug in her carseat and we made our way back to our house.


Shortly after getting home Dave went and picked up the toddler we'd been missing for the past few days from Granny's. A little later, Granny came out to visit and meet Hadley for the first time.


The rest of the week was spent trying to keep up with both little ones and figuring out how to operate as a family of four. We've been blessed beyond measure! :)

The Birth

Every birth has a unique story to go with it. Here is Hadley's.

For weeks now, it seemed like every little pain in my stomach made me think I might be going into labor. Rather than voicing these thoughts and scaring Dave every time I felt a cramp, for the most part I just waited them out to see if they'd progress into more of a pattern. You'd think after having one child that I'd know exactly what it felt like when the labor pains began but I think I was caught more off guard this time than before.

Two Fridays ago my mom and I set off for Fair Oaks Mall with the intention of purchasing a few items still left on our Pottery Barn Kids registry that I wanted for Hadley's room. As we shopped, I began to feel a few pains here and there but assumed, like the others I'd felt in the preceding days, they were just something else. Later that evening, Dave noticed that I seemed to be having the pains awfully frequent and close together, but I still brushed it off. After he headed to bed, I realized I was getting a lot of them and decided to write them down to see how far apart they were and how long they lasted. They were three minutes apart! The doctor had suggested we head to the hospital when they were four minutes apart so I quickly woke Dave and called my sister to come take Caleb to Granny's. In the meantime, the two of us scurried to pack the bag we had talked about packing for weeks and never finished assembling.

After loading Caleb in the car, we headed to the hospital with my mom trailing close behind. We arrived to find the main entrance locked and had to figure out how to get to emergency room which was a bit confusing. Finally, we made it!

After I figured out how to get on the complicated hospital gown, the nurse checked me and estimated that I was only 2-3 cm dilated. Her suggestion was for me to walk the loop around the maternity ward for two hours and then be checked again. Disappointed that I wasn't farther along, I basically speed raced for the next forty minutes. At that point, the contractions were so painful I felt I could hardly stand it but felt embarrassed to wimp out and ask them recheck me before the two hours were up. When I started feeling the urge to push shortly after, I thought I'd better tell someone. Sure enough, this time I was 8 cm and they called for the doctor.

The doctor on call didn't seem to be in much of a hurry and took an hour to arrive. I requested an epidural but there was no anesthesiologist available so we had to wait on the doctor to get there to do that as well. Finally, he showed up, gave me a small dose of the epidural, and pretty much immediately had me start pushing. To my dismay, it took awhile for the epidural to begin working. To make matters worse, he gave me such a small amount, assuming I would deliver quickly, that for most of the pushing I felt a lot of the contractions. It wasn't until about the last couple rounds of pushing that he finally gave me enough to help me settle and have the energy to finish getting our little girl here at 4:15 a.m. on March 31st.

As she was coming out the doctor yelled for me to stop pushing because the cord was around her neck. It was definitely a scary thing for a mother to hear, especially when she can't see what's happening, but in the end everything turned out fine. She had an Apgar score of nine, passed her hearing test, and was jaundice free. On the other hand, I had to be the difficult one and ended up hemorrhaging which kept me in the bed for awhile and made our hospital stay longer than I'd hoped.

Since we've been home though, both of us have been healthy and happy. One of the nurses warned me that because of the hemorrhaging I may not have any milk come in and have to forfeit breastfeeding, but God has provided me with enough milk to probably feed three babies. Unlike our challenging breastfeeding days with Caleb, I know what I'm doing this time around and Hadley nurses very well. She is a great sleeper which has helped me get the rest I need to prevent Lupus/Fibromyalgia flare ups as well. We also had a great first visit at the pediatrician's office and go back next Monday for another check-up.

Now that you have the story of Hadley's birth, here are some of my favorite photos from the first few hours after her arrival:

Turning Two

If there was ever a time in my life that I wanted to slow down time, it's now! Yet, it seems that the days and weeks are just slipping away as my babies grow. Despite my best efforts to try to remember every sweet moment, each funny comment, how soft and small their features are, all their quirky habits, and every "first" in their lives, I know it's impossible. The thought of trying to capture it all in baby books, scrapbooking, or blogging is overwhelming. I can't hold on to everything but today I can stop and capture a few memories from my toddler's second birthday.

This morning started with a few gifts from Mommy and Daddy - a stuffed Clifford, Clifford's birthday book, and Clifford's birthday DVD. These all go along with the Clifford theme he is having for his birthday party this year. We immediately put all the gifts to good use, watching Clifford on TV, snuggling the stuffed Clifford, and reading the book all at the same time while Daddy made breakfast.

Dave looks just as excited as Caleb about this gift.

After breakfast we opened some cards that arrived from Grandma and Grandpa McKinstry and Aunt Lotella and Uncle Phil.

For the past few days, we thought about what we could do special for Caleb's birthday. While visiting somewhere like Chuckie Cheese or going to the library's story hour would be great fun, after Hadley's arrival we were afraid of the germs that might be mingled in with the fun. We considered going to local pet farms instead but couldn't find any that suited. It was kind of chilly for staying outside too long anyway so our other idea to go to a park to play got vetoed as well. Instead we opted to go to my granddad's farm to let Caleb check out the cows. NaNa came along for the adventure as well.

Since it was chilly, Hadley and I stayed in the car.
The cows gave us an up close view though,
pushing against and licking the vehicle.

He picked Mommy some buttercups.

Helping with the gates

Aunt Courtney, Pop, and NaNa came over with a few presents after dinner, including a tool set, Sesame Street floor puzzle, and Mickey Mouse birthday card. There was lots of silliness and cupcake eating which amounted to a wound up little boy right before bed time.

Pop let Caleb try out his new pliers.

This takes lots of concentration, you know?

Keep your thumb out of the way, Pop.

The card they brought played the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song when you opened it. Caleb danced around, opened and closed it, and hid inside it. It was definitely the biggest hit of the day. Squealing and running back and forth persisted for most of the rest of their visit. I think Pop was ready to hide the card after hearing the song played over and over again. In the end, Dada had tape it up to reinforce the spots that were beginning to tear from so much fun.

After presents came cupcakes! He even shared a couple with us. :)

Hadley got lots of loving too during their visit as you probably knew already, but big brother stole the show on his birthday entertaining us all with his enthusiasm. Mommy and Dada gave him one last gift before everyone left - a bean bag chair. I thought this would be a good gift since he loves pillows and Hadley will be needing to use his baby rocker soon.

Our big boy loved it!

Do you want to wrestle, Aunt Courtney?

I win!

Hadley Jayne McKinstry

Hadley Jayne McKinstry has arrived! While her official due date was today, we were blessed to have her arrive five days early on March 31st. We have been busy adjusting to life as a family of four and trying to enjoy every moment. As a result, blogging has fallen by the wayside even though I want to record every thing so I don't forget any of it. I will try to give more details and pictures of the past several days soon but for now here are a few stats. She weighed in at 7 lbs 4 oz and was 20.5" long. She passed all of the tests at the hospital and is a healthy, happy little girl.