5 Months old

"I'M FIVE MONTHS OLD!"

I love that smile!

It is hard to believe that another month has already gone by. I know I say that every month, but I am truly shocked by how quickly the time has gone. Kinsley is growing fast. Last week I tried to hold her in church so she would fall asleep and she barely fit on my lap. It's so sad! My baby girl is growing up ;(
Here are some of my favorite pictures from Kinsley's 4 month "photo shoot". Kelsey did such a great job, I love them!

Kinsley has been working on perfecting her new tricks. She rolls over to go to sleep almost every night, we laugh so hard we cry, and she is almost sitting by herself.  I am sure by 6 months she will be sitting up and who knows, maybe even crawling. Oh man, I hope not! I am not ready for that!
Kinsley still sleeps really well. We try not to tell to many people that or they think we are just bragging. Daylight savings time didn't seem to mess her schedule up too bad. She did wake up an hour sooner than normal on that Sunday but was fine Monday morning.
Kinsley was an adorable KU cheerleader for Halloween. Even the K-State fans thought she was so cute.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk

Chris and I helped with the teen retreat at the end of October. It was a Friday night, all day Saturday, and most of Sunday retreat. Kinsley stayed with my parents both nights. She did really well (or that's what they tell me) and slept through the night like she does at home. My mom brought Kinsley to see us on Saturday, but we still missed her!
So, technically Thanksgiving was the day after her actual 5 month birthday but I am slow at getting this out so we will just include it in this month. Kinsley enjoyed all the good food and had a great time snuggling with all the family. Jessica and Chad drove through the weekend before and Kim and Chris's Grandma were here for the whole weekend. We also stopped by my parent's house to see the Jolley side of the family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Age: 5 months
Weight/percentile: I will try to get these soon. Sorry, I'm a slacker
Height/percentile:
Head circumference:
Eye color: Still blue. Sometimes they are a bright blue, sometimes they are a gray blue.
Hair color: light brown/blonde. She is getting more hair on top, it doesn't like to lay down.
Teeth: She is still working on those bottom teeth. One day she is just going to wake up with teeth
Diaper size: Size 1
Clothing size: Anywhere from newborn to 6-9 months. All of her footy pajamas are at least 6 months just for the length.
Favorite food: I haven't started her on cereal yet. Kinsley is definitely showing some interest in our food. She loves to watch us eat and especially watch us drink from a cup. I have let her "drink" from the come a few times. Don't worry, the cup was empty and she just sucks on it. Oh, she did eat the pumpkin I put her in.
Favorite activity: Snuggling with Mommy and Daddy! :)  We got her a jumper thing for the shop that she seems to like pretty well. She is getting very good at grabbing toys that are dangled in front of her.
Movement: Kinsley moves all the time in her bed! She is sitting up with very little assistance and is figuring out how her hands work.
Sounds/talking: Kinsley is still talking up a storm. Sometimes you can hear sounds like a hard G or C come through.

Inspiration picture

2 months postpartum

5 months postpartum. Almost there!

So the 6 week weight loss challenge is over and.... I won! I was so surprised! The 5th week, one other girl and I were tied for first place so the last week I really watched what I ate and worked out several times. The best part was the prize! I won $94 cash! I was so excited! I lost a total of 11.8 pounds in the 6 weeks. That puts me pretty much back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. Except, I am typing this after Thanksgiving and probably gained 5 pounds back. Now I just need to tone up a bit.

4 Months old

Chunky girl (9/22-oops)
 

It has been another busy month with lots of milestones! I bought these stickers that say how old Kinsley is off Etsy before she was born. They are great, until the kid starts drooling. As soon as I put it on Kinsley got a big drop of drool on it! Oh well. Kinsley was dedicated at church on 9/30. It was great to have some of my family there.  Kinsley wore the same dress I and both my sisters wore for our baby dedication. It was more like a shirt on Kinsley but she still looked cute!


Great Grandpa Jolley getting some much needed cuddle time (9/30)

Kinsley is getting stronger every day. She rolled over for the first time (back to front) on 9/27. Of course, we were all in the other room when it happened. She was nice enough to do it again so I could get it on video. Now she rolls over all the time, both ways. Lately, she has been turning to her tummy in her sleep. Kinsley is also getting better at her laugh. It cracks me up, which make her laugh more.

I am back to work full time. It has been so busy that I had to work all of my call this last month. 4, 12 hour shifts a week does not leave much time for anything but sleep. So, if you know of a job that pays really well but very few hours a week let me know! Kinsley is becoming such a Daddy's girl and loves going to the shop with him.
The morning of Kinsley's 4 month appointment, we went to the pumpkin patch. It was such a nice day. She loved being outside with all kinds of new things to look at. I loved the apple cider slush and apple cider donut! Poor thing was so happy until she got her shots at her appointment. Be proud of me, I didn't laugh!

Pumpkin patch with Daddy (10/24)

Pumpkin patch with Mommy

Kelsey from church took some family pictures and some 4 month pictures of Kinsley. I am excited to get them back! Don't worry, I will share them next month.

Age: 4 months
Weight/percentile: 13 lbs 2 oz/ 37th percentile (she gained two pounds last month! She had just eaten so the results are slightly scewed)
Height/percentile: 25.8 inches/ 93rd percentile
Head circumference: 39.4cm/ 10th percentile (poor thing has my little head)
Eye color: Blue.
Hair color: Her hair color hasn't changed much, but you can tell she is getting more in on top
Teeth: The Pediatrician said she could feel a couple coming through on the bottom. She is growing too fast!
Diaper size: Size 1
Clothing size: I have found that sizing on baby clothes is about as accurate as it is on my clothes. She still has a few newborn clothes she can wear, especially jackets/sweaters. Mostly she is wearing 3 month clothes. I bought a pair of leggings that are 6-9 months and they fit pretty good, a little loose but not bad.
Favorite food: The Pediatrician said we can start Kinsley on rice cereal. I don't know if I am ready for that.
Favorite activity: Kinsley loves to be outside. Soon it is going to be too cold out. She also enjoys playing with toys. She is getting better at grabbing for things.
Movement: It amazes me how much has changed in a month. She is rolling over all the time and will push herself up while on her tummy. So maybe she will crawl after all.  I'm not ready for that either! She is also getting more flexible.

hahaha  I love it!

Sounds/talking: This girl "talks" all the time! I can see the notes coming home from school now. Some of her "talking" sounds more like singing. And the laughing, the laughing will never get old!

4 months postpartum

Since I have been back to work full time and working a lot, I have not had much time to work out. Once in a while I will go to the hospital gym right after I get off work. Most of the time I go straight home to bed. JanMarie and I are doing a weight loss challenge at the gym. This is the second week out of six. The first week I lost 3 pounds! I am down a total of 37 pounds with about 10 to go. I would actually love to lose about 15 pounds and then gain 5 back in muscle. I am starting to feel better about my progress. Mostly, I have been trying to eat healthier. Less sweets and breads, more protein and veggies. I weigh in again tonight, hoping to see another 3 pounds down! By the way, this is the outfit I wore for family pictures. And those might be maternity leggings. :)

3 Months old

I really need to move that head rest up!



I forgot the headband!

Another month flew by. It was packed full of all kinds of emotion. Chris's brother and sister-in-law visited from Tenessee and his grandma visited also. Kinsley was a good girl all weekend and cooperated for the family photos. Kinsley sleeps so well! She sleeps 10-12 hours a night. We are so lucky! I'd like to think it is my awesome parenting skills, but I really think it is just luck. It makes me scared to have another one.

It's crazy how much she has changed in 3 months. She is way cuter now!



Chris raced a formula one car at heartland park one weekend. It was a hot mess, but Kinsley did really good. She loves to be outside!

"Go Daddy!"

She's not drugged, she just woke up. (9/8)

I headed back to work on 9/17, I was really dreading it. My grandma must have known I wasn't ready to go back to work. She passed away that night so I took the rest of the week off. I am sad to see her go but so happy that she isn't suffering anymore. It was great to see my extended family and spend some time with my immediate family.

Shaaaarp! (9/22)

Age: 3 months
Weight/percentile: 11 lbs 2 oz (I weighed her myself so there is no percentile)
Height/percentile: 24.5 inches  Not much change.
Eye color: Blue. Sometimes they have a green tint.
Hair color: Her "soul patch" as people call it, is dark brown and the top is lighter brown. She has a few (as in 2 or 3) really long random hairs and one little hair that is curly
Diaper size: Size 1
Clothing size: Newborn pants fit but are too short. 0-3 and 3 month tops. I (my mom) made the leggings in the pic above. If anyone finds leggings for newborns let me know!
Favorite food: milk! I have been trying to make it chocolate for her by eating a lot of it.
Favorite activity: Taking walks, watching anything that moves (TV, Iphone, fireworks)
Movement: Standing (not on her own, of course) and holding head up so well. Still hates tummy time, she may never crawl.
Sounds/talking: Talking so much and getting louder. This may be a problem in the future. She laughed on Thursday (9/20)! My dad and Chad were playing with the dogs in the back yard and she must have thought it was funny. It was a great sound!


I made it through 2 weeks of insanity. It took me 3 weeks to do it but I made it through! I really hate it, but I definitely saw results. I am down another 5 pounds (29 total down, at least 17 to go) which isn't terrible but definitely still not "falling off". I read something that said when breastfeeding you lose the most weight 3-6 months postpartum. Bring it on! This last week wasn't a good week to try to stick to any kind of diet or exercise routine. Now I just have to get back into it. I bought some new shoes that will hopefully help my knees when I'm running. I did buy a pair of jeans that are the next size down. woohoo!

2 Months old

Kinsley does not enjoy the flash.

Kinsley is growing so fast! She had her 2 month appointment yesterday (8/20) she weighed 10lbs 2oz and was 24 inches long. She is still a long and skinny little thing. She is in the 96^th percentile for length, Chris was proud of her! Kinsley had to get three shots yesterday. I’m sure the nurses thought I was the meanest mom ever. I was holding Kinsley’s arms and talking to her when they stuck the needles in each leg. Her eyes got so big before she let out a huge scream. I found it funny and might have laughed a little. I felt bad for her later in the day, you could tell her legs were really hurting. We gave her a little Tylenol and she slept the rest of the afternoon.

Poor girl

Smile!

Over the last month Kinsley has started “talking” and smiling a lot more. You wonder what babies are thinking! She loves to stare at fans and play with her friends on the play mat. She sleeps about 8 hours a night as long as she is swaddled. Chris and I enjoy our sleep so this works out well for us!  She has outgrown a couple of her newborn outfits and has only 3 newborn diapers left. I guess this means I don’t have a newborn anymore L.  On the cooler mornings Kinsley and I go for a walk on the Shunga trail. One day we even walked to see Chris at the shop. She is pretty content most of the time. District assembly (for the church) was the first part of August. I had to be there for three days so we stayed in a hotel for two nights. Kinsley slept in her Pack n’ Play and did just fine. Both nights she woke up turned completely the opposite direction. She is a wild sleeper already!  

Chris’s brother and Grandma are coming this weekend. Kinsley is so excited to meet them. The plan is to have family pictures on Sunday, I hope Kinsley cooperates!

2 months postpartum

Inspiration picture. Same shirt.

Seriously disappointed that this weight isn’t falling off like I had hoped. I am down 24 pounds and have about that much to go. I know it has only been 2 months but my weight seems to have plateaued the last couple of weeks. I have started watching what I eat a little more and trying to exercise every day.  This past week I noticed my knees and wrists were really sore. I’m not sure if it’s from exercising or hormones or nursing or what. I am going to get some new shoes and see if that will help. Chris has the insanity DVDs so I might try those out. I might die trying to get through it!

I go back to work September 17, so the next monthly blog might be a little sad. Or maybe I will just quit my job! HAHA.

**Update:
I decided to add a little section like I had when I was pregnant. Some of this info will be duplicated from above but it will be easier to read and compare to the following months.

Age: 2 months
Weight/percentile: 10lbs 2oz/ 34th percentile
Height/percentile: 24in/ 96th percentile
Eye color: dark grayish blue
Hair color: brown. She still has a mullet; long in the back, not too much on top
Diaper size: newborn
Clothing size: mostly newborn (especially pants), some 0-3 month. This is the outfit she wore home from the hospital, it still fits it's just short in the arms and legs.

Favorite food: milk! :)
Favorite activity: Staring at fans and the tv, smiling
Movement: kicks feet a lot, turns around in bed, hates tummy time.
Sounds/talking: mimics mouth movements, makes gurgling sound when "talking"

1 Month Old

Kinsley can't believe she is one month old either (7/21)

This is a cuter picture! (7/21)

Time is going by way too fast! I can't believe Kinsley is already one month old. Before I know it she will be getting married! We have had a busy month, but overall it has gone well. She has had a lot of
"firsts". Her first 4th of July, first time to the mall, first time to the shop, and many others, first purse party, and many others. We are starting to get somewhat of a routine and she is sleeping pretty well at night. A couple of nights ago she slept from 11pm until 6:15am! Chris woke up around 4 and asked if I had fed her yet. I panicked and ran into her room to check on her. She was fine, and slept 2 more hours! Kinsley loves to smile and giggle, especially at her daddy and at 3am. She produces a ton of laundry! If you remember, I got an amazing deal on huggies diapers and stocked up like crazy. Come to find out, Kinsley pees and poops out of them! Luckily, I was able to exchange some of them for pampers. I'm hoping the bigger sizes won't leak as bad.
We went to Kinsley's 1 month check up today. She is growing quite a bit! She weighed 8lb 13oz and was 22.5 inches long. Still long and skinny!

Here are some pictures from the last month:

4th of July (13 days old)

I love all of her silly expressions! I have been told she gets that from me :)

(7/5)

(7/5)

This one cracks me up (7/12)

(7/12)

nap time with Daddy. Love it!

With the Dominator

Kinsley and I in the Dominator. We spotted a tornado!

 Well, I've only lost 3 more pounds since my 1 week postpartum picture (20 lbs total) but I feel skinnier. Maybe things are starting to tone up on their own. I have started exercising a little and cutting back on the sweets. By cutting back I mean only having one sweet a day instead of 5 :). I went shopping last week for some shorts (I am so over this 100 degree weather!) and was quite depressed when I had to buy a size double what I used to wear. Luckily Kinsley loves to exercise! Every time I start my exercise video (Jillian 30 day shred) she cries. I guess she is sad she is missing it! I have exercised several times with her on my left arm and a weight in my right hand.

For those of you waiting to see weekly updates, forget it! You are lucky to get monthly updates!

1 Week Old

1 week old (6/28)

Well, Kinsley is one week old(almost two by the time I actually post this, oops)! Time is flying by too fast already. She has been a pretty good baby so far. The first couple of nights were a little rough, but after that she has only gotten up once through the night. I can handle that!
It has been a busy week. We have had a lot of visitors and several appointments. Monday was her first Dr. appointment. She lost more weight so we had to start supplementing with formula. I, on the other hand, only lost 7 pounds! She got her first bath at home on Monday and her cord fell off. We found it in her diaper, gross! I threw it away! Wednesday, Chris had a softball game and I was ready to get out of the house. It was too hot for Kinsley to be outside even at 9:15pm so my mom came to the house and watched her. My dad was more nervous about leaving her than I was. Jessica and Chad came in town late that night and stopped by to see Kinsley. Thursday, we had newborn pictures taken. She did not cooperate too well for them but I think we will still have plenty of good ones to choose from. We also went to see Great Grandma Jolley. By the end of the day we were both wiped out and took a nice long nap on the couch. Friday, she had another appointment and was almost back up to birth weight. I was much happier with my weight too. Down 17 pounds! Woohoo! Only 29 more pounds to go! As soon as people stop bringing us all this delicious food, I am going to start watching what I eat more and slowly start back in on exercising. Let's hope Kinsley likes to exercise!

Girl cousins visiting Grandma Jolley

First bath at home. She loves her hair being washed but that's about it.

1 week postpartum

Inspiration picture. One day I will look like this again, hopefully!

Kinsley Michele

Kinsley,  5 Seconds old
Born on 6/21 at 7:04 pm
7 lbs 3 oz, 20 3/4 inches

That's not the best picture, but I love that Chris caught my first look at her.
So a lot has happened since my last post! I am warning you now, this is going to be long with all the details!
First of all, it was a bad idea to try to get things done around the house last Wednesday after my appointment. I should have taken a nap! Here's the story:
No, I did not go to the hospital at 7 pm Thursday night for an induction and have her 4 minutes later. That would have been awesome though. The contractions continued all day Wednesday. They were pretty regular and pretty frequent. They were getting hard enough that some of them I had to stop what I was doing.  By the way, contractions did not feel like I thought they would. They burned! I felt most of the pain and burning in my legs, hips and low back. Chris had a softball game that night at 9:15, I wasn't sure how I was going to sit through it without letting anyone else know I was having them. Our last meal as just a married couple was Mac and Cheese and chicken nuggets, how sad is that.
We got home from the game around 10:30 and I was starting to have to breathe through some of the contractions. I could still talk through them but it felt better to breathe through them. Chris headed to bed around midnight. I told him I was going to take a bath to see if the contractions would go away and I would wake him up if I needed anything. I decided to call work to see what was going on and who would be there that night and Thursday to take care of me. They told me there were 3 other inductions scheduled for Thursday night plus 2 Friday morning and 2 c-sections Friday morning. That meant they would have 8 babies on Friday! That is a ton for us! I'd say 4 is pretty average. I was not excited about the news and was hoping more than ever that things would get going so I could deliver before everyone else!
The bath helped a little... until I got out. The pain was intense, the contractions were harder and stronger. I contracted all night with no sleep. Just as soon as I'd think I'd wake Chris up to go to the hospital, the contractions would space out a bit. Finally at 5 am I woke Chris up. His first question was "are they hard enough that you can't walk or talk through them?"  He knows too much! I told him I hadn't slept all night, let's go!
I called the girls at work at let them know we were on our way. We got there around 5:45, just in time to see the night shift girls.

In the parking garage at 5 am looking a little tired!

last bump pic 40 weeks, 3 days

I got changed and checked in and was hoping the pain I had felt all night actually did something to my cervix.  Tammy (one of the night shift nurses) checked me and said I was still 1cm dilated but maybe only 1cm thick and her head was still low. I was disappointed and hoping they wouldn't send me home, especially since I was supposed to be induced that night along with 3 other people. Brianne (one of the day shift nurses) called and talked to Kim. She said to watch me for two hours and recheck my cervix. Ugh. I really just wanted her to get things going. Chris and I walked the halls for a while, then Brianne suggested the whirlpool tub. I was willing to do anything to get my cervix to change so that I could stay. Chris went ran home to take care of Titus while I was in the tub. I stayed in the tub for about 20 min. The contractions were strong and one right after another. After a good two hours Brianne checked me again and said I was a 1+ and maybe a little thinner. Kim was satisfied with that and said I could stay! Woohoo! 2 hours later Brianne checked me again and I had made basically no change so we started pitocin.  The contractions were getting harder and closer together. I spent a lot of time on the birthing ball with Chris putting pressure and rubbing on my back. He did such a great job and didn't complain once. Eventually I tried some fentanyl to take the edge off of the pain. It helped a little and I was able to really relax between contractions. After the fentanyl wore off I was ready for the epidural but knew Kim had said I needed to wait until I was 3-4 cm dilated first. Brianne told her how much pain I was in with the pitocin and suggested that the epidural may help me relax enough to change my cervix. They decided that as long as I made some change I could have an epidural. Brianne checked me again and said I was almost a 2 and almost completely thinned out. She was definitely taking care of me!
About 1pm they came in to place the epidural. For some reason I started to get really nervous. Chris was standing in front of me with a hoodie on and I was squeezing his hands like crazy before we even got anything started. I think maybe it hit me at that time that I was going to have a baby that day, one way or another I was finally going to meet this little girl. I thought I was doing a good job of hiding my nerves but I guess Chris could tell. Half way through he said "I need to take this hoodie off". I knew what that meant and told him he needed to sit down. The whole time I am hunched over and can't see him. When they finished the epidural I looked up and Chris is still white as a ghost. I made Brianne get him his powerade and some peanut butter crackers. He didn't like that I was making a big deal out of it but I did't care, he looked terrible! The epidural started working pretty quickly. Chris went and got some lunch and I took a much needed nap!
Around 3:30pm Brianne checked me again and said I was a good 2 and still not quite all the way thinned out. Basically, no change. So frustrating! All of this pain and contractions and pitocin and nothing to show for it! Working on that unit I knew if I didn't start making change soon I would end up in the corner room (c-section). Chris and I called our parents and told them we were going to take a nap and they could come up around 6 to see us because it looked like it was going to be a long night.
At 5pm Kim came in and said she wanted to break my water and put in an internal monitor to measure contractions to make sure the 18 of pitocin I was on was doing something. She said I was 4cm dilated and almost 100% effaced (thin). Sigh of relief! Things were looking better! Almost immediately I started feeling pressure with each contraction and began to shake uncontrollably. Again, working on this unit I knew I was progressing (at least I hoped) pretty fast. I asked Brianne to check me again before she got off at 6, especially since our parent were supposed to be there at that time too. At 5:45 I was 8cm dilated, 100% effaced and her head was getting really low. I told Brianne she needed to call Kim and get her here right away because this girl was coming fast! Chris called our parents and told them to come to the hospital now but things were happening quickly so they would need to wait in the waiting room. They show up around 6 and of course wanted to check on me and make sure everything was ok. By this time I was feeling almost constant pressure and shaking so bad I did not want anyone in the room and definitely wasn't feeling like talking to anyone. Chris talked to them in the hall for a minute or two so they knew I was ok.
It seemed like forever before Kim got there. I asked Brianne to call her again because I was tired of waiting and ready to push! At some point Brie got there for the night shift. Finally, around 6:20 Kim showed up and we started pushing. Since Chris's episode with the epidural, we decided it would be best for him to sit in a tall chair by my head. Thankfully Brianne was willing to stay to hold one leg while Brie held the other and Chris got to be my head support and ice boy. I pushed like crazy and it relieved a lot of pressure until we got toward the end. When they talk about the "ring of fire" they aren't kidding. It feels like you are on fire and you are supposed to push through that. Kim said she wanted to give me a small episiotomy, I begged her not to. We pushed for several more contractions with no progress (the nurses said I was making progress but Chris told me later her head wasn't moving much and was out pretty far). Kim said it would be best if she did the episiotomy and just have a baby. She made a small cut  (I couldn't feel it but could I could hear it which is almost worse). I pushed a couple of times and saw her reach for the scissors again. As I'm telling her not to cut anymore, she does and at 7:04 pm Kinsley's head comes flying out. I didn't even have to push! Poor thing was just stuck. I felt such relief that it was all over and I got to see this beautiful baby girl. Chris cut the cord and started taking tons of pictures. We knew the new grandparents would be pacing in the waiting room so I sent Chris out right away to share the news.
So I thought I was out of the woods and everything was smooth sailing from here. Not so much! I started bleeding quite a bit. Once again, I could tell by the amount of clots coming out and the fact that they wouldn't let me eat or drink anything, a D&C (surgery where they scrap the inside of the uterus to stop the bleeding) was a good possibility. After 3 bags of pitocin, 2 shots of methergine in my leg, 800mcg of cytotec up my rear, lots of pushing on my uterus and Kim reaching her hand into my uterus to remove some clots, the bleeding finally slowed down. Because of all of this going on with me, our parents had to wait a while to meet Kinsley. They said they were "patiently" waiting. I don't believe it! haha.

official weight 7lbs 3oz

Thanks ladies!
(sorry it's blurry, I was still shaking a little)

Proud Daddy

Proud (and tired) Mommy 

First family picture

I ended up having to stay two nights to get antibiotics and make sure the bleeding was ok. Total blood loss was over 1200 mL. Yikes! I definitely felt pale and light headed the next couple of days.