Two Weeks & Well Checks

Reece was two weeks old this last Friday. These past two weeks have been filled with an overwhelming amount of new experiences, but they have been the best. The absolute best.

In her mere two weeks with us, outside of my stomach, she has already:

- Shot poop onto the quilt that covers our bed, and pooped on her changing pad. Twice.

- Flooded her changing pad with pee three times. And I'm not talking about a little puddle. I'm talking a LAKE.

- Peed through three outfits.

- Snored. She had a rather large bat in the cave, if you know what I mean.

- Slept for six straight hours one night and then five straight hours another. 

- Won over the heart of everyone who sees her.

Derek and I just love, love, LOVE her.

In a way it doesn't seem real that we have already had her for two weeks. But in so many others, it is as if Derek and I have never been without her. It feels as if she has always been a part of our family. 

She just fits.

At her two week well check today (she is actually 17 days old today), these were her measurements:

- 7 pounds 7 ounces, which puts her in the 20th percentile. At four days old, she was 6 pounds 10 ounces.

- 20.75 inches long, which puts her in the 63rd percentile. At four days old, she was 19.5 inches long.

Here are some pictures, of course!

Out shopping with me and my mom. I took her in the Moby... she loved it! 10 days old.

I was on the couch with Reece in my lap the other day, and I looked down to find her sleeping like this.

 

 All snuggled up with dad, about to pass out.

 

 Two weeks old!

 

 Cutest baby toes ever.

Court, Jay, & Their Darling Girls

I know. I've fallen behind on blogging the things that have been happening. You'd think I just had a baby or something.

Anyways! Courtney and Jay came to Rexburg! They brought themselves and my beautiful nieces, Riley and Piper, with them for Nate's wedding. I was so excited when I heard they were going to be in town! Since they live in Collierville, TN we don't get to see them very often. And since we don't get to see them very often, I hadn't really gotten a chance to get to know Riley very well. 

But when they came to Rexburg a few weeks ago, they stayed with us and so I got to spend some great time with Riley! She is a crack up and a half, and is full of the most bubbly, spontaneous, and crazy personality I have ever seen in a little girl. I just love her!

Even though Courtney and Jay had busy, long days each day it was too much fun to stay up and chat with them when they got back. So, needless to say, we were all pretty exhausted each day. But it was so much fun to get to spend time with them! It was a quick trip for them, but we still loved every minute of it.

We got to spend a lot of time with the Carsons and their darling children as well! I love seeing Jace and Riley play together, and Riley also played with Hallie! It was really sweet to see her bring Hallie along. I love getting to live just a few minutes away from the Carsons. I not only get to be close to one of my sisters, but I get to see her kids too! I'm one lucky aunt.

Here are some pictures. They were all taken by phone, so I apologize for the poor quality.

Enjoy.

Grandma reading to Jace and Hallie.

CHECK OUT HALLIE'S FACE!

Abbie reading to her kiddos.

My little brother, Adam. He later posted this as my facebook profile picture using my phone. What a sweetheart.

Riley and Piper. I got to watch them while Court and Jay were at the sealing.

They're so cute!!

Hallie. She's intrigued by phones.

Uncle Adam and Hallie reading a story.

Hallie loves to see herself on the screen of my phone. So we took some pictures.

The cuteness that is Piper.

And the craziness that is Riley.

Love seeing them together!

Jace and Riley held hands as we walked through the MC up on campus. We were heading to the bookstore. Everyone we passed whispered to each other, "Oh my gosh! Look how cute they are!"

Jace and Riley (still holding hands) in the University Bookstore.

Two of my favorite moments from that weekend:

Number 1: My mom had just taken a picture of Jace and Riley. Riley wanted to see it, so my mom showed her the picture. Riley smiled, started to back away and said, "Oh, I look fantastic!"

Number 2: Throughout the weekend that they were here, Riley left with her family to go to family events related to Nate's wedding. She would ask, just about each time, if I was going to come with them. Courtney would patiently reply that no, I was not going to go with them. However, the morning that we were getting ready to go up on campus, Riley saw me putting my shoes on and excitedly asked Courtney, "Is Taylor coming with us?!" When Courtney said yes, Riley smiled and said, "Oh, that is going to be so fun! " 

It was a great weekend!! Made us sad when they had to leave, but we are all looking forward to Christmas.  
I love my family!

Newborn Pictures

A big thank you and kudos to my brother in law, Adam Carson, for doing a beautiful job on these pictures! Reece was a trooper for the pictures, considering that she was hungry throughout most of the session. I love having these pictures of our baby girl.

I love how chubby my skinny little babe looks in this picture.

Reece's Birth Story

We were halfway through a regular appointment at the doctor on Monday, September 30th when he said, "So, we have you scheduled up at the hospital for Thursday?"

I guess the shocked look on both of our faces caused him to second-guess what was written on the paper and check with the nurses.

He came back and said that it must have been a mistake that we were scheduled for an induction on Thursday (I was due on Thursday), but that since she was measuring ahead and I was already dilated to a 4, that we could schedule an induction. So we decided on Friday, October 5th.

My alarm went off at 5:30am on Friday morning. I called labor and delivery up at the hospital, told them I was scheduled for an induction, and they told me that they were all full at the moment, but that they would call back at 9:30am. So I said thanks, hung up, and went back to sleep.

I woke up at 6:15am to my phone ringing. It was the hospital saying that they were ready for me and that I needed to get there as soon as I could. So I hurriedly woke up Derek, hopped in the bath, and then woke up my mom.

We left the house around 7:00am and got checked in at the hospital 15 minutes later. My nurse came in and hooked up the monitors to my stomach, gave me my lovely hospital gown, and told us that the doctor would be there to break my water when he was able. 

It was just before 9:00am when the doctor came in, checked me (still at a 4), and then broke my water. After he broke my water, the nurse got me started on pitocin. 

By 11:00am I was really feeling hard contractions lasting between 60 and 90 seconds with only a couple minutes in between. The nurse came in around 1:30pm to check me and see how I was doing, and I was between a 6 and a 7. So she called the anesthesiologist to get ready to give me my epidural.

The anesthesiologist got there around 2:00pm and twenty minutes later, I was all hooked up. An incredible feeling of warmth traveled down my legs. It was crazy. And amazing.

At 5:30pm the doctor came in to check on me and I was complete! So, the nurse told us how and when to push. With Derek right next to me, I only had to push for a little over an hour, and Reece was born at 6:41pm. 

She's perfect.

Reece and the Bili

First off, I just have to say that I love being a mom. It's only been six days with our sweet little Reece, but they have been the best days of my life.

Now, for those of you who are curious about the title of this post, I will get to that. 

Bili (pronounced "billy") is short for bilirubin. Bilirubin is produced during the breakdown of red blood cells. Sometimes when babies are born they have more red blood cells than they should. Thus, the body breaks them down. When doing this the liver would usually process all of the products of this process (like bilirubin) and excrete them from the body. However, with babies who have too many RBCs, the amount of bilirubin builds up faster than the liver can get rid of it. Thus, this yellowish breakdown product (bilirubin) builds up in the baby's body and produces a yellowish-tint to their skin. This is commonly known as jaundice. 

On Sunday, after Reece had her check up before they discharged us from the hospital, they told us that her bilirubin levels were high. When her blood work came back, we learned that they were at 10.7, which is high for a newborn. So the pediatrician told us to bring her back to the hospital the next morning and have her levels tested again. 

After the sad heel prick in the hospital's outpatient lab (she cried pretty good at it, and while Derek soothed her I hid behind his back because I was teary eyed and trying my best not to cry) the doctor's office called us and told us that the level had jumped up to 13.7. Because the level had gone up so much, they had put in an order for us to use a BiliBlanket. We went to the medical supply building and picked it up. It's basically a phototherapy machine that people can use at home. The machine plugs into the wall and then a hose attaches to the front of it. The hose has a paddle at the end that lights up bright blue, and this paddle has to be right on the baby's skin. 

The light emitted from the paddle is ultraviolet light, and these UV rays break down the bilirubin into molecules that the body can then get rid of on its own. 

So we took the BiliBlanket home and got Reece all set up with it. She slept with it all night. We took her to the hospital again the next morning before her appointment with the pediatrician. Her doctor appointment went really well. She was 6 pounds 14 ounces when she was born, and at her appointment she was 6 pounds 10.5 ounces.

After the appointment, we got a call from the doctor's office saying that her levels were up to 14.4. So, she stayed on the bili. 

We kept her on the BiliBlanket the rest of that day, and all day Wednesday. My mom and I took her in to the hospital again this morning to have her levels tested. The doctor's office called with the results, and her levels had dropped to 11.3, meaning that she no longer had to be on the bili! We just need to take her in to the hospital again tomorrow morning to have the bilirubin levels checked again to make sure Reece is able to keep the bilirubin down on her own.

I am SO happy that Reece is able to be off of her light. Even thought I know that her jaundice was not a serious case, it still made me worry for her. So now that she is off of the BiliBlanket, I feel much more at ease.

I just love my precious girl. She has been our little glow worm.

Her first night on the BiliBlanket.

Taking a nap with dad. You can see the glow from the paddle in Derek's glasses.

Derek talking to our little girl.