Welcoming Our Little Princess {Kenna Jade}

Our baby girl, Kenna Jade, was welcomed into this world on July 23, 2016 at 2:21 PM. She weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces and was 20-3/4 inches long. She was exactly 41 weeks gestation.

Kenna's Birth Story

40 Weeks + 6 Days:

Kenna was so cozy that she just didn't want to come out and meet us. The 41st week was miserable for me though, especially since I worked until a couple days before she was born.

At my appointment on the 21st, I had a non-stress test and ended up getting another ultrasound, which revealed low amniotic fluid. Although I had already started slowly progressing, my doctor wanted to start an induction to move it along faster. We set it up for 2:00 PM on the 22nd.

I went back to work and finalized a few things before leaving for the day. As I stood up to leave work at 4:30, I had my first real contraction. They continued off and on over the next day as we got ready to go to the hospital.

We arrived at 2 PM, but didn't get started with the medication until 6:00 that night. We were told that it could take up to 4-6 doses of Cytotec (which thins the cervix, each dose administered every 3 hours) to see any results. It only took two doses to fully thin. Her head was slowly but steadily moving down.

hooked up to the heartbeat and contraction monitors

impatiently waiting to get started

It also made the contractions, which I mostly felt in my back, extremely intense and very close together. The hardest part was being stuck in bed for the first hour or two after each dose. After that, I was allowed to get up and use the exercise ball, bean bag, jacuzzi, and anything else I wanted to do. It helped at first, but at about 4 or 5 in the morning, the pain was really intense and I was still only dilated about 4 cm, which wasn't much more than when I'd arrived.

All the while, Dan did what he could to help, mainly by massaging my back, but there was a point when being touched was unbearable.

I couldn't imagine waiting hours, much less days, to progress further. At that point, I asked for pain meds. Since I wasn't at 5 cm yet, I wasn't allowed an epidural. Instead, I was given a shot of Stadol, which helped me relax between contractions so I could rest a bit, but didn't take the pain away. After this, it didn't take long before my water broke, after which the contractions were even more painful. At this point, they agreed to give me an epidural. After a couple tries, I finally couldn't feel the pain anymore.

Since I was able to relax, within a couple hours, I was almost fully dilated. Once I was ready, I was instructed to start pushing. About three hours later, Kenna's head emerged and the rest of her body very quickly followed. She started crying immediately. Her cord was pretty short, so she was placed on my stomach.

We were in awe at the first sight of this little being. Until this moment, it never really seemed like there could be a real, live tiny person growing inside me. She was even more beautiful than we could have imagined.

The cord stopped pulsing very quickly, and Dan got to cut it, then Kenna was moved to my chest while the nurses did their thing.

trying out her lungs...

first look at daddy

chunky little cheeks

so kissable!

Her First Visitors 

Kenna's first visitors -- Grandpa & Grandma Mickelson, Great-Grandpa, and Great-Aunt Debbie -- arrived when she was about three hours old. They had arrived in Huron the day we went to the hospital so they could help take care of Mila and the cats. Thank you guys! It was so nice not having to worry about feeding them and letting Mila outside.

Grandma, Grandpa & Kenna

Great-Grandpa & Kenna

Great-Aunt Debbie & Kenna

The next day, Grandpa & Grandma Hillukka came to visit, along with Auntie Karissa, Isabelle & Eloise. Isabelle was very excited to hold the new baby. They took care of the house while we were away, and they even made sure we had food waiting when we got home. Thanks, everyone!

Grandma, Grandpa & Kenna

Isabelle, Grandma & Kenna

Eloise and Kenna

Karissa & Kenna

When she was a week old, Dawn and Jake came to visit, with Jeremy, Sydney & Trisha. Trisha stayed for the entire following week to help us out. She helped with some cleaning and lent an extra pair of hands when needed. Thanks, Trisha and Pfeifers!

Sydney, Dawn & Kenna

Dan, Jeremy & Jake at Rocket Slide Park

Trisha & Kenna

And just this weekend, Caitlin made the trip to Huron with Vera and Maryelle. We had fun going on walks and playing at the park. Thanks for coming, and thanks for your help with the cooking and cleaning, Caitlin!

Caitlin, Vera, Trisha, Kenna & Maryelle

Caitlin & Kenna

Vera eating her popsicle in "baby Kenna's high chair"

Maryelle enjoying the play mat

Uncle Dan playing with Vera at the park

Kenna in her stroller

Now it has quieted down here for a bit, and I am just hanging out at home with Kenna and the critters for the week.

Her First Couple Weeks

ready to go home

not impressed with the car seat...at first

I won't pretend the first couple weeks have been easy, but it has been getting a little easier. Although it's getting better now, every night has been a struggle both to get Kenna to sleep, and to get her back to sleep when she wakes up during the night. We've been trying to get into an early bedtime routine, which makes it a lot easier to get her to sleep in the first place, which is really helpful.

The hardest part, though, was our first week home. Kenna had jaundice, and needed to be on a biliblanket for the first few days. We also had to go to the clinic every day for blood draws, which was pretty traumatic for all of us. By the end of the week, we were able to take her off the blanket and her levels were still going down on their own, so we were able to return the blanket to the supply store. Thankfully!

in the swing, on her biliblanket

our first walk

We did a few sponge baths before her cord stump finally fell off at exactly two weeks old. She didn't seem to mind them too much! We gave her the first real bath this past Sunday (the pictures are on Dan's phone :( ) and she was fine with it, other than getting a little chilly toward the end since we were kind of slow. We also started using cloth diapers, which has been going pretty well so far. It was pretty amazing to see how quickly we went through the disposable diapers, especially when she would immediately poop all over the clean one, and we'd have to change her again! Of course, that has happened with the cloth too, but at least we can wash and reuse them....

her first sponge bath

Loki is very curious

just chillin'

We've gotten out of the house quite a few times since we've come home. We went out for coffee with a mom from work, whose baby is just a few weeks older than Kenna; we went to our Centering reunion and saw the other babies in our group now that they've all been born; we've been out for a bunch of walks...luckily, she doesn't seem to mind being in the car seat, at least for short trips.

The time has been flying. I can hardly believe I'm already 2-1/2 weeks into my maternity leave! Even on the days when we haven't done much, the hours go by quickly. I'll try to post occasional updates, but considering this one has taken so long to finish, I have a feeling it will be a while before the next one!