We're now a family of FOUR!

Kai has been with us for officially one month now. He’s such a cute, little peanut and we love how peaceful he is as a newborn. If you're only interested in pictures of him, scroll to the bottom of this post. We have a lot of pictures that need to be documented.

** Let it be noted that comments in blue are interjections or thoughts from Tony

Anticipation was running high when December began. There was no snow. Our insurance STILL wasn't approved (guys, this was our main source of stress for the past two and a half months. We JUST BARELY got approved this past week and I recieved my medicaid policy number YESTERDAY even though we had reapplied at the very beginning of November when I was 32 weeks pregnant... medicaid is seriously a joke). Anyway... My birthday would be on the 7th and Tony and I would be celebrating our SEVENTH year of marriage on the 11th. Tony would have two weeks off from the beginning of December until December 18th. And of course, Kai's due date was expected December 19th. I was trying everything to get baby here early so that we could get Daddy time and help before work began again. We took long road trips (to Maryland to visit my family), hiked, went bowling, ate spicy food (thanks Aubrey and Joel), and tried as many other old wives tales as I could find.

At Hershey Park, getting our free chocolate fix

Washington D.C. Temple Christmas lights

My birthday lunch at a very scrumptious Japanese restaurant. We also documented Bridget's first use of chopsticks without stabbing the food:

Bowling

Sledding on the first snowfall of the season

Birth Story:

I was supposed to get my membranes stripped the day I hit 39 weeks, at least that’s what the head MD said. My actual doctor however, said she wouldn’t/couldn’t do it because I wasn’t dialated enough. I left the OB office extremely frustrated. Tony had two weeks off from rotations and I knew I would need him more than anyone else. I couldn’t ensure that my mom would be here in time and there’s no one I trust more with Bridget. Baby had already wasted one of Tony’s off weeks. I couldn’t wait at least another whole week for baby to come. Tony would be back at the grind with no paternal time off.

39 weeks exactly (the night before Kai was born)- at the OB

So we took desperate measures. I drank castor oil. We had to go to three pharmacies to get it, but we finally found it. I drank a bit that evening. Nothing. I drank a bit more before bed. Nothing. The next morning I took double the amount I had the previously taken. At noon contractions started and they were coming in strong, being 3 minutes apart within an hour. We left for the hospital once the 3 minutes hit. Arriving at the hospital it took longer than I wanted to get checked in, evaluated, and approved that I was, in fact, in labor. *Apparently everyone and their dog decided to have their baby on the 13th because the delivery floor was a mad house when it had in previous weeks been so calm. I desperately wanted my dang epidural. It was the one thing I was looking forward to and I have earned my right to that drug. When I was FINALLY okayed to get the epidural I was 100% effaced and only 3 cm dilated. The anesthesiologist came in, they made Tony leave (apparently no family is allowed during the epidural???) and something happened where he missed after the initial numbing. *I did a mini-anesthesia rotation at the hospital we delivered at and I did not know the anesthesiologist who did the epidural. This should have been a warning sign for me. I don’t know if I moved or he missed but I got a flooding headache where I barely felt the contractions because of the awful headache. *The anesthesiologist punctured the dural causing Cher to get a postdural headache. They gave me a shot of something to take away the headache but it didn’t work so they gave me another shot of something stronger. The headache went away and the anesthesiologist tried again. *As I had been kicked out at this point, I do not know what Cher's blood pressure was, but prior to all of this her BPs were 90-100s/50-60s. I lost all feeling in my legs and feet AND my back. I couldn’t hold myself up. I puked at some point during this ordeal. * I naively came back into the room at this point and could immediately tell something bad had happened. Cher was pale as a ghost and the nurse and anesthesiologist looked like they wer gonna poop their pants.  The nurses laid me down, checked me and I was fully dilated. It had taken half an hour to go from 3 cm to 10 cm. My blood pressure dropped to 80 and the team was having a hard time distinguishing baby’s heartbeat from mine. They gave me yet another shot of something to increase my BP. It didn’t work, and baby’s heartbeat was still matching mine. Time for emergency C-section. *Now I understand everyone was busy assessing he situation and preparing for the worst, but no one bothered to inform Cher or I what was happening. If I did not have a medical background I would have been completely lost. I was the one who had to tell Cherish she was going back for a C-section. It was ridiculous. You should have seen her face. She looked so confused. Then the first words out of her mouth were "I'm sorry".  I was not scared at this time, I just thought, great, there was no point in getting the epidural and all I wanted was to not feel anything *whine whine selfish disappointment whine whine* Once we were in the operating room everything moved very quickly… so quickly that Tony wasn’t even there when I heard baby’s cries. I cried at this point because I was disappointed that Tony wasn't there for neither the baby nor me. *I was just outside the OR waiting to be let in. I heard the first cries, don't you worry. The baby had been crying for a few moments when Tony came in, all gowned up and said hi to me. My response was I felt like I was going to puke again. I did a few times. Then the team told Tony to go with baby. Everything was a blur at this point. I was looking at the lights, then I was going down a hallway, then I saw Tony sitting on a chair in said hallway holding a little bundle and smiling at me. I was wheeled into some cubicle across from Tony and that is when the shakes set in. I shook and shook for a good hour. Tony held baby the whole time- I was nervous to hold him- not afraid I was going to drop him, but afraid I would squeeze too tightly or shake him too hard.

Stats: 

Kai Dominick DeAngelo

December 13th, 2017

5:11 pm

7 lbs 9.3 oz

19.5 inches

Apgar score: 9 (1 min) and 9 (5 min)

A few hours were spent keeping herself entertained. She did great.

Yay for free water

*One thing I was so excited for was having good US care for Cher with this delivery. Unfortunately I was pretty disappointed with the overall experience. Hospitals aren't a great place to rest, especially after having a baby, I get that, but essentially Cher spent the first 48 hours after baby with a headache that wasn't relieved by medication and the nurses kept saying it was "normal". We were offered an addition 48 hrs at the hospital but were like "Ummm... hard pass." I left the hospital and came home Friday night at 10:30pm. Saturday I woke up with a good size headache. I figured it was lack of sleep. It decreased during the day and lingered all day Sunday. I woke up with a migraine Monday morning. It was pretty bad. I could feel a flood of fluid as I sat up. I took naps during the day and each time I sat up afterwards to feed I was blindingly dizzy. After waking up like that again on Tuesday I called my OB. She said to either wait it out or go to a hospital and get a blood patch done. For those like me who don’t know what that is, a blood patch is basically another epidural. They numb your back then stick the scary big needle in again but pump fresh blood from your arm into the space in an attempt to coagulate the rip that occurred in the initial epidural. It is that hole that has been allowing spinal fluid to leak out from around your brain. In summary, lots of needles with lots of stab wounds. It worked though. After a 7 hour ER visit that was a joke except for the 30 minute procedure, I had some new bruises on my arms, my back was sore yet again, but I could see without squinting, and sit up without almost puking. I'm so incredibly grateful for modern medicine.

Don't be startled by this picture. This is just a very well timed grumpy face.

It still comes as a shock to both Tony and I that we are parents to not only one, but TWO kids. It doesn’t seem real yet. Don’t get me wrong; there have been times where we definitely know there are two of them, but it is still hard to believe that we made them and they belong to us.

Bridget surprises us each and every day with her spunky personality and her ability to be such a loving sibling. She has yet to complain about his cries, toots, poops, or eating schedule. She bends everything to make him comfortable, and that includes being an incredible helper to whoever is taking care of Kai in the moment. She loves it when he’s awake and will just lie beside him telling him stories (most of the time made up or fish stories) and then concludes by telling him all the things she’s going to teach him how to do. Favorite activity thus far: bath time. She’ll run the warm towel over his body and his little head, being so tender to make sure he’s enjoying the experience. Favorite story: the poop-splosion. I was changing brother when he started farting and he ended up pooping a little. I caught it with the wet wipe and as I was putting that wipe into the dirtied diaper he shot a poop rocket that overshot the diaper that was under him, went straight up my arm and hit the curtains behind me. THE CURTAINS!! It was disgusting but still amazingly impressive to see such range from a little thing. Bridget gets such a kick out of knowing that I got dirty. Favorite time of day:  reading her storybooks at bedtime with Daddy and having Kai right between the two of them. She started Primary this year and couldn't be more excited. What's also exciting is that Daddy is her teacher! The dynamics of this branch are interesting to say the least, so I'm grateful he is there with our little precocious performer.

The kids were convinced that these eggs were going to hatch right then and there in the lesson.
Bridget managed to drop it and have it roll across the floor in sacrament meeting. Don't worry- they were hardboiled.

I am doing well. Like really well. If you were around/followed the difficult and taxing story of Bridget’s feeding story, you might guess the anxiety we both felt with possibly having to go through that again. The first three days were really hard. Then the beautiful thing of a nipple shield came along and life has been mostly flowers and rainbows. It’s been 4 weeks and I can say he’s not only surviving, but thriving from solely breast milk. We have three full bottles in the fridge ready for night time feedings (yup, Tony is still being an awesome dad and helping as much as his schedule will allow) AND there are FOUR frozen baggies in the freezer for a rainy day. Guys. EXTRA MILK. How?!?! I have not been this proud of myself for a long time. It’s such an empowering feeling knowing that I am keeping my baby alive.

The snow-pocolypse of 2017. We got 6 inches. A town in PA received 34 inches of snow in one day but total received 54 inches, so we really lucked out. Tony was also fortunate enough to get the day off from work so he didn't need to drive in the storm.

Staying indoors has provided opportunities for Bridget to explore and develop new hobbies.
She's becoming quite the baker. 

Da Belly

Just staring at her.

Blue Steel

Crazy eyes!!!

I have successfully made a few outings by myself and the kids. The first outing I tried was a two hour excursion to a structured bounce house place called Pump It Up. I wore Kai and he slept the whole time including the drive there and back. I cannot tell you how happy that outing made me. I felt so successful and like I can actually parent two kids on my own during the days. B had visited this play place before but it seemed extra special since it had been 3 weeks since I had left the house with her. We have also visited the park (it was a warmer day), the grocery store, the mall, the doctor, and a walk around the block.

Alright, let's get to the whole reason you're reading this blog entry. 

Mr. Kai Guy 

Let's talk about him. Kai can only be described as a chunk. He was born a little bigger than B, but has exceeded her weight gain by a month I believe. He’s already at 9 lbs. Bridget was always very petite, had a partial double chin for a little while, and spent most of her time crying. Little man on the other hand spends most of his time eating, watching and listening to Sissy, sleeping, and then eating again. This kid swears he’s never full. His barfs prove otherwise.

 There are two main points that really need to be highlighted. 

1. The rolls. THE ROLLS. He has gained a pound and a half within 4 weeks and not including the initial weight loss. He has leg rolls, a triple chin, cheeks and even arm rolls!!! This is going back to my pride about breast feeding. Those rolls are my doing. But seriously, with his favorite past time being eating, what can you expect.

And 2. That hair. It looks red! I have lots of red that comes through my hair, but it never looks "red." His hair, when looked at closely, is brown on top with blondes on the side. However, the blonde shows up as red. It's kind of unnerving especially since B came out with such dark hair. I knew having a blonde baby was a possibility, but red never really seemed probable.  We think it'll get darker with time. Maybe turn blonde with the sun. We'll see. Besides the color, he has a full head of hair with a very nice-sized cowlick in the back... it's so big that it looks like he's bald in that one spot, but it's just the blonde radiating outwards. I don't have a picture of it, but perhaps it will be on next month's updates. His hair is also the perfect length for fauxhawks.

Kai has a tendency to look like a Grumpy Gus; furrowed brow and downturned mouth. However, he is actually quite calm and peaceful. He can lay down and watch us for a while without being pacified or held. I don't remember B ever being able to do that. He also has the ability to put himself to sleep. Hallelujah.

He does not like his binky, but will take it when I am refusing to be used as a pacifier.

He loves sleeping with his arms up. Since day one he has been crazy-arms-mcgee, his arms and hands getting in the way of eating and using them to bat away Daddy's kisses.

His eyes are the non-distinct, blue/gray, but he is developing a yellow ring around the middle like Tony's eyes. 

His smiles remind me that he is, in fact, related to Bridget.

*We feel very lucky and blessed to have this little guy in our lives. He and B are the best things that ever happened to us. Until next month- Adios.