Our First Outing

Well, today was our first outing, just me and the girls. They've been out together before, just to the doctors, but I didn't take them by myself. I figured Jordyn was getting antsy and tired of being in the house, although the main reason was that our library books were do and I couldn't renew them any more times! So, we trekked off to the grocery store and the library. It actually was great. Of course, if I needed more than 5 things at the grocery store I wouldn't be able to take both of them. Landyn's seat takes up the entire basket and Jordyn sits in the front, but it worked out great since I was only running in for a few things. Then it was off to the library. We sat Landyn in a chair and Jordyn and I played and read. Thankfully, Landyn kept to her schedule and slept the whole time, not waking up until after we had gotten home and finished lunch! We are doing great, just the three of us, and while Jordyn does get fussy and want to sit in my lap every time I feed Landyn our days are going quite simple and well. I can't believe how easy it has been so far. Of course I know there will be rough and horrible days but so far we haven't really had those and I'm so thankful. Jordyn loves Landyn and Landyn tolerates Jordyn so they really do quite well together. I'm so thankful for both of them and the patience God has given me!

Landyn and Jordyn play!

I know we haven't posted any video of Landyn yet, it's a little busier with two, but here it is. This is a cute video of Jordyn taking care of Landyn, and some of just Landyn by herself, although that's hard to get. Hope you enjoy it and we'll try to get some more up soon.

Home Alone

Well, today was my first day home alone! I was so blessed to have my mom come and stay for a week and it was a lot of fun. She did tons of things with Jordyn and since I was feeling well most of the week we were able to do things together too. We made cookies, watched movies and did a puzzle. Mom watched the girls one night so Wayne and I could go out Christmas shopping and then watched them again the next day so we could pick out our tree. Thankfully my mom and I get along really well now (who would've thought it) and so the week was very enjoyable and I was able to get some much needed rest, although not as much as Wayne or my mom wanted me too! Sadly, she left on Saturday and Wayne was already back to work so today I was home alone. I thought it was going to be horrible and everything would fall apart, and while I'm sure I'll have those days, thankfully today wasn't one of them! Landyn was great and followed her eating and sleeping schedule, completely unfazed and unaware that anything was different from any other day. That made everything else go smoothly. Jordyn on the other hand had a rough day even though she pretty much had Mommy to herself. I think now she is going to have to adjust to now having Grandma or Gram to dote on her, it's just Mommy and life is going to start to get back to normal. We survived though and while she was whiny a lot we also had some fun moments.She really enjoys helping me with Landyn. She loves to tell me she's crying and give Landyn her pacifier. She likes to tuck her in with a blanket and help me change her diaper by pulling out the wipes. One of the things she really likes to do is share her toys with Landyn and pile them on top of her. Jordyn also got to have a pillow in her lap and hold Landyn today and she liked that a lot. We tried to get a picture when Daddy came home but it was unsuccessful. Since Landyn is such a great baby and sleeper Jordyn and I were also able to have a lot of time just the two of us, spent reading and singing and playing with her new kitchen set. She's also learning to treat her baby like Mommy treats Landyn. Her baby has a diaper we constantly put on and off. She also gets to ride in the swing and we swaddle her baby tightly when it's time to rest. It's been really fun seeing how Jordyn reacts to Landyn and how much she really enjoys her. So needless to say we survived the first day and I am looking forward to what the rest of the week might hold!

Our Christmas Party

Last Wednesday, December 10, we had my family over for a Christmas party. The last day of school was that Thursday and we figured we better have them over one more time before the end of the semester. Since we won't be seeing them over the holidays we decided to have a Christmas party and give them their gifts. We had a lot of fun decorating the tree, eating a good meal planned by me and made by mom, and watching Jordyn open her gifts. It was both of our girls first Christmas tree since we didn't have one last year and Jordyn enjoyed playing with all of the ornaments. She got a huge kitchen set from my brothers and tons of play food from Molly, Aaron's girlfriend. The box was huge and she could barely see over the top but she was able to open it and was very excited! We had a great night and are going to miss all the help and visits from my siblings over the next six weeks!

So Worth It

I thought I would quick post an update about how everything has been going. I get to go home today, Saturday, in just a few hours and I can't wait. It has been quite restful here at the hospital and I've enjoyed some time off from all the other mom duties to just enjoy Landyn but I'm definitely ready to get back home to my other beautiful girl and see how this new life is going to be.

My recovery after the delivery seemed really quite quick. I was up and walking around quite soon after having Landyn and the pain was quite bearable. I thought everything was going to be great from then on but it wasn't. Wayne spent the evening with Jordyn, taking her to dinner and playing with her until bedtime. As soon as he left the hospital after bringing her to visit I began to have profuse bleeding and passed quite a few blood clots. I was quickly surrounded by three nurses and a doctor and filled with medicine, 5 doses of 3 different things! The scariest part was not having Wayne for any of it. I did cry quite a bit in those 3 hours I was bleeding and he was gone but God gave me great nurses who stayed past their shifts just to sit with me. I wasn't allowed to be alone with Landyn or feed her because I was busy being attended to and really shaky from the medicine. I also wasn't allowed to be alone in the room and so the nurses took turns sitting with me until Wayne returned. I was told it's just a common thing for red heads to have a lot of excessive bleeding and blood clots. I guess I can thank mom for that!

Everything is great now and the next two days were wonderful and filled with visitors. I was back to my quick recovery despite the rough first day. The one thing I remember thinking through that whole ordeal and even now is that I was just so thankful I was the one going through it and that Landyn was as healthy as anything. She is worth all the pain and trauma and I hope I can remember that in the bustle and stress of the days to come!

Sisters

It feels so crazy to say that Jordyn has a little sister! She was very excited to meet her sister on Thursday night and also very unsure. Wayne brought her over before dinner on Thursday and right away she climbed into bed with me and wanted to touch the baby. She even got to hold her and she enjoyed that for quite a bit. She was very interested in Landyn but at the same time wasn't to sure about her. Last night when she was here she even got a little scared when Landyn went into a crying fit! While she she is still a little nervous she is still very thrilled about her new baby! We know that things will be crazy and Jordyn won't always be gentle but we are excited to see the bond grow between our two beautiful girls!

Landyn Aurielle Yates

Landyn Aurielle Yates

December 4,2008 6:42 am

Virginia Baptist Hospital

7 lbs 2 oz, 20.5 in

The Birth Story

Well, let me say that Landyn's birth was a whirlwind of activity and we weren't able to document it like Jordyn's, although there isn't much to document. While Jordyn's labor was about 16 hours, Landyn's was a total of 4, with only one hour spent in the hospital! Thankfully, we're alive to talk about it as I thought I wouldn't survive.

I woke up at 2:30 am in the middle of a contraction but since I had been having them for a couple of days I didn't think much of it. After laying in bed for an hour and experiencing contractions every 5-7 minutes I was pretty sure this was the real thing. There was only one problem, I was experiencing all the labor in my back and that had me so confused. I wasn't sure if it was real or just false because none of it seemed to be radiating to the front.

Around 4:15 I woke up Wayne and let him know I was pretty sure this was the real thing. After a shower and a call to the hospital I was now having contractions about every 3 minutes. Of course, both Cassandra and Aaron, who assured me they would answer their phones in the middle of the night, didn't. I called Cassandra almost 8 times before I got her on the phone to tell her "Come right away!"

We were checked into the hospital at 5:40 and by then my contractions were about every 90 seconds and I was already 7-8 centimeters dilated. All I could say the entire time was to beg the nurses to hurry up and give me the epidural before it was to late. They had three nurses working on me to get finished quickly, in time for an epidural, but I was to have no such relief. At about 6:20 I was ready to push and couldn't wait any more for the epidural to come. During the pushing Landyn's heart rate dropped dramatically and they ended up having to perform an episiotomy and use suction to help me push her out quickly. At 6:42 she was here and I was still medication free.

Come to find out Landyn was facing the wrong way and came out face up, instead of face down, which caused the back labor. She also had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck which caused the problems with her heart rate. She was very healthy though and started screaming almost immediatly. To add to the excitement, about 5 minutes before Landyn was born Wayne blacked out and almost fainted. He stopped helping me push even though I was yelling at him and had to be seated by nurses after not sitting on his own. It was pretty scary for me to see him like that but he got over it fast and is now back to normal!

So now we are just resting in our mother baby room and I'm actually feeling great. I've been up to walk around some and have fed Landyn twice already. She's a hungry girl! Hopefully we will have more pictures and info up soon. We love you all and thanks for your prayers and calls.