Kamdyn's Birth Story

As everyone is well aware, we had a scheduled induction for 39 weeks 1 day - which was 4/14/14.  Our amazing doctor allowed us to go into the hospital at midnight on 4/14, so we were able to begin the induction medication and then try to get some sleep.  Here is the last pregnant bump picture I snapped of Julie once we got to the hospital.

After they got the medication started, we tried to get some sleep.  When I woke up the next morning, the doctor came in to check Julie to see if they could break her water.  She hadn't progressed at all.  In fact, Kamdyn was higher than she had been during the office visit the week before.  Little stinker was just comfy in there.  Sooooo, sweet Julie walked laps.  And laps.  And laps.  They changed positions. Anything the sweet nurses could think of to get that baby out.  Julie passed some time reading magazines.

Dan was such a trooper.  It was cold in the room.  He had planned to head home once she got checked in, but we weren't sure how quickly labor would progress, so we made him stay.  He's such an amazing guy.

As they came back in to check her, she had made progress - so they were able to break her water.  At that point, labor intensified so she got her epidural.  After that, we continued to pass the time on our phones, reading magazines, and cracking ourselves up.

At about 7:00 PM, they came in to check her and determined we were ready to have a baby.  I just had no possible idea the profound ways my life was about to change.  But look at how adorable Julie is...seriously, who looks like this 5 minutes before giving birth?!

Kevin was able to help deliver Kamdyn {which is why he was wearing gloves} and I was prepared to kangaroo with Kamdyn (skin to skin contact) immediately after she was born {which is why I'm wearing a gown}.

I quite frankly don't have words for the next 20 minutes of my life, so I will just take you on a little picture timeline through the most defining moments of my life so far.  Simply incredible.

Every dream come true

The incredible Dr. Aronson

Love at first sight.

Meeting Sissy for the first time

"Thank you for my sister"

My soul sister.  We are so blessed that she chose us.

Our first picture as a family of 4

She was pissed.  Like "someone chopped my arm off" screams.

What a little peanut :)
{7 lbs 12 oz, 19 inches long}

Meeting her Kanga face to face.  The most important person in her life up until this point.  I pray that the bond they share will be a lifelong one.  I know the bond we share certainly is.  I just don't even have words for how thankful I am for her.

I so badly wish I had a picture of Dan holding her on the day she was born, but he was the photographer and I was not in my right mind.  :)  I'm working on a whole entire post just for Dan.  He is a remarkable man - he is for sure the wind beneath Julie's wings and equally responsible for the miracle of Kamdyn.

Peeking :)

After a bath and with a bow in her hair.  So sweet.

The love I felt for her in the moment she was handed to me is something I both feared I would never experience and was terrified I wouldn't feel even if I did get to experience it.  We are head over heals in love with her and feel so very blessed that God chose us to be her parents.

I'll be back soon with her first two week updates and some other pictures from her first few weeks of life.  Before I go, I want to genuinely thank every single person who has ever read and prayed for our family.  This little blog that started as a way for me to keep family near and far updated on our little journey to a baby has turned into a place where people I've never met pray for our family, check in weekly to see how things are going, and have taken a genuine interest in Kamdyn's story.  To all of you - thank you.  

We love you -

38 Weeks - our last BUMPdate

Here is the 38 week BUMPdate: 4/9/14

Kamdyn next to her crib!!  :)

and the side-by-side from last week:

I really missed Dan this week.  The lighting in Kamdyn's room is terrible.  The angle of this picture isn't right.  And my phone camera is blurry because it's not bright enough in that room.  Dan - you're amazing.

Kamdyn has really plumped up this week - she weighs almost 7 lbs and is more than 19" long.  She has a firm grasp and her organs are mature and ready for life outside of her kangaroo.

She is the size of a leek this week:

As I'm sitting here blogging this, Julie & Kamdyn are sitting right here.  Kamdyn is wiggling all over the place and I have felt her move more in the last 4 days than I have the past 9 months.  Julie has been staying with us and I have SO enjoyed the ability to have uninterrupted time with her - not to mention being in the same place as my daughter for more than a few hours at a time.  Item #34,849 that most mothers take for granted when they carry their own children.

This is the last BUMPdate I'll be doing.  Next week at this time, I'll be able to blog pictures of my sweet baby girl.  Even as I type that, it's so surreal to me.  This entire process has felt like an eternity and a blink of an eye all at the same time.  I will be taking one more bump picture before she goes into the hospital and I'll be sure to share that next week sometime.

I promise I will blog pictures as soon as I can, but those of you who aren't following me on Instagram or Facebook might want to consider one of those two things because those images will be uploaded before I get a chance to sit down and blog.

Lastly, I'm getting a little teary-eyed as I'm typing this last part because I am so overwhelmed with thankfulness for each and every single one of you.  When we embarked on this journey and I decided to blog my way through it, I never in my wildest dreams imagined that so many people would take interest and fall in love with our story.  I am so honored that so many of you make our little blog a place you curl up on your couches and visit, or check on your phone each morning, or check quick between chores.  There are many of you that I see each and every day, and more of you that I have never met in my life.  Both are equally amazing to me.  Thank you for caring about our little family.  Thank you for praying with and for us.  Thank you for joining us on this crazy, wild, and incredible ride.  You each mean the world to us.

Love -

37 Weeks

Here is the 37 Week BUMPdate: 4/2/14

A HUGE shout out to Dan for doing such an exceptional job with these belly pics.  This is the last one he will be taking...next week I will take one because Julie will be at our house in preparation for delivery!  Dan is the absolute best - he knew about my little battle with OCD and the scrapbook, so he meticulously took each week's picture as close to the same as he could.  It didn't go unnoticed - and her scrapbook is perfectly aligned because of it.  It's the little things, people!

and the side-by-side from last week:

Kamdyn is the size of a swiss chard.  {a what?!}

She is about 6 1/2 lbs and 19 inches long.  She will spend the next two weeks putting the finishing touches on her lungs and brain so she is fully ready for delivery at 39 weeks.  We were fortunate to have one last ultrasound this week and that baby is so smushed in there, it is insane!  The ultrasound tech said she has a little bit of hair and is absolutely perfect!  These first two pictures make her nose look weird and her cheeks look extremely chubby because she kept putting her arm up and scrunching herself up...I am so anxious to compare the real thing in just a couple of weeks!!

This is her forehead, eyes (kind of looking down) and her nose

This is her face pretty scrunched up - I kinda think she's practicing her duck face.  :)

And this eased my fears from the above pictures where her nose was really terrifying...this picture is her perfect little nose with her eyes closed.  I have no idea what the other stuff is under her nose and frankly I'm not sure I want to know.  Ick.

Can you all believe we have ONE more BUMPdate until delivery day?!  As I blogged about earlier this week, a little tiny part of me is feeling a bit sad.  I am SUPER excited, over-the-moon, cannot-wait-to-hold-my-baby.  But I might never get to experience pregnancy again and this might end up being my only baby - so a small part of me just wants to soak up every moment of the next 2 weeks.  And the remaining 97% is just fine with pressing fast forward!  :)

Happy BUMPday, Friends!  :)

36 Weeks

It's BUMPDAAAAAY!

I cannot believe we didn't think of this until now!  Every Wednesday I get a new bump picture and today Julie said "Happy BUMPday" and we both cracked up.  

Here's the 36 Week BUMPdate: 3/26/14 -

and the side-by-side:

This week Kamdyn is packing on the weight - at the rate of about 1 ounce per day!!  She now weighs almost 6 lbs and is more than 18.5 inches long.  She's about the size of a head of romaine lettuce.

She is shedding her "fuzz" in preparation for birth and aside from her skull, the rest of her skeleton has hardened and it ready for her grand debut.  Her muscle tone improves each day and she is more and more ready to live outside her kangaroo's pouch each day!!

At this point, we have less than 3 weeks until she arrives.  Actually 18 days, but who's counting?!  Those of you who are following me on Instagram or Facebook know that we put the final touches on her room this last week - the one word that has gotten us to this point in this journey.  I love it so much!

2 more BUMPdates until go time!

Lots of Love -

35 Weeks

Here is the 35 {gasp} Week BUMPdate: 3/19/14

and the side-by-side:

That looks lots bigger and lots lower if you ask me.  Like L-O-T-S.  Poor Kanga.  :(  Just for kicks, I asked her if she would send me a front view.  It's so strange because I only see her from this one side all the time, so I was just curious.

She is one of those people who even at their most uncomfortable stages of pregnancy is still so adorable.  I just love it!

Kamdyn is tipping the scales at 5 1/4 lbs and over 18 inches long - or about the size of a honeydew melon this week.

She is running out of room in there - just so squished!  Because she doesn't have much room, she isn't likely to be doing complete flips anymore, which is just fine with us because as of her last appointment, she was head down!  ((huge sigh of relief!))  Her kidneys are fully developed now and her liver is able to process some waste product.  Her basic physical development is mostly complete as of now and she will spend the next 4 weeks putting on weight.

And as a special little treat today - we got some ultrasound pictures of little miss this week.

A little kiss for all my people.  :)

Her toes.

And a scrunched up profile.  She's running out of room fast!  But she's so adorable!!

We're on spring break here in Iowa - so I'm enjoying my time relaxing, catching up on some things around home, eating lunch at a leisurely pace, and doing some final preparations for this little diva to come home with us.  25 days to go.  CRAZINESS.

Lots of Love -