Today Kaylee's birthday, and I can't believe that seven years has already gone by! We actually started to celebrate the night before with my mom and nephews.
As usual we decorated her door to surprise her in the morning. Then we were off to our favorite local bakery, Munster Donut, to have a sugary breakfast before school. Kaylee had a strawberry glazed donut with apple juice and Cameron devoured a massive blueberry muffin. Kaylee told the customer at the donut shop all about the new sports table she recieved from her Nana and Papa Zoerhof the night before.
A lot of surprises were waiting at school when we arrived. The Jr. high chapel group sang happy birthday to herin the gym. Mrs. Acterhof had given her a new pencil, candy, and a card. Mrs. Moore had given her a new matchbox car, which the boys in her class were coveting. I surprise her with Jimmy John's and a strawberry smoothie for lunch. Kaylee was relishing the attention, as well as, enjoying passing out birthday treats of airheads and kit-kats (Kaylee's favorites).
When I was waiting to pick Kaylee up after school, I saw her passing out her goodie bags. Then the kids were dismissed to get their boots from the hall and put on their snow gear. One of Kaylee's excited classmates ran up to me and said, "Mrs. Evers! Did you know that it's your daughter Kaylee's birthday today?!?!" I just replied with a big smile and a yes.
As a mom I enjoy telling the kids some of the details of their first birthday, and Kaylee's was very memorable since she was our first and everything was new to us. I was one day past my due date, but I had prepared myself for going beyond that date. In my experience and what the lamaze teacher had warned us about was that a lot firstborns were delivered well after due date. I woke up around 6 in the morning, and thought I had a case of the flu. We had Mexican food the night before, and I thought the spice had gotten to me. Mexican food was a constant craving I had while I was pregnant with Kaylee. Some friends would joke that I was going to pop out a jalapeno instead of a baby. Anyways, I had taken a shower using up all the hot water and started to get ready for the day. Looking back on it now, I believe that the hot shower masked my labor contractions.
A little while later, Eric started to get ready for work but during his shower, my contractions started to come really fast and painful. I told him to finish getting ready because I might be in labor. Throughout my pregnancy I had a heightened sense of smell, and for whatever reason, I was repulsed by Eric's cologne in the car on the way to the hospital. Luckily, the hospital is two blocks away from my house but regardless, I had my window down with my head sticking out to relieve my over-heighten sense of smell.
Also during Lamaze class they had warned us that we might think we are in labor only to be told that they were Braxton Hicks contractions. So I was prepared to go to the hospital only to be told to go home and wait. However, they knew that his wasn't false labor, and checked me in immediately. When they checked me, I was already 5 centimeters dilated and over 75% effaced. (For those who don't know about the birthing procedures, that means I was over half-way done with labor!)
The nurse told me that I was progressing really fast and that I should plan on having the baby before noon. By the time we were settled into our room it was around 9 in the morning. Eric was so excited, he called all his family and friends and said that we would have a baby girl by noon. Kaylee took a little longer than the original nurse expected and was born at 3:14 on a Tuesday. Since Eric had called everyone, we had visitors waiting for us even before she was born which included his brother Matt who skipped all of his college classes and drove a couple hours to meet his new niece.
There was some commotion when Kaylee was born because she had swallowed some fluid during the delivery. A group of specialist attended to her right away to make sure her lungs were clear. They needed to bring her down to the nursery right away to make sure all of her vitals were okay. One of my favorite memories of that day was watching Kaylee being wheeled down the hall with her little hands gripping Eric's pointer finger the whole way. It just proves that she was destined to be a daddy's girl from the day she was born.
My stay in the hospital was not pleasant. The maternity ward was overflowing with new moms and I needed to share a room with another mom and her baby. Not only was it hard to sleep with twice the number of visitors and nurse checks, the woman next to me snored at night. In addition, the hospital ran out of sleeping pills for nursing moms, so I was left to suffer through the long nights listening to this women's harsh breathing from 10 feet away. Needless to say, I was very sleep deprived when I left that hospital.
The night before I was released, however, I did have the room to myself. Thank Goodness! I was able to hold my new baby and watch her sleep peacefully. During the quietness of the night, I invisioned dreams I had for my child and I made promises to her while she laid there in my arms. She was such a good baby and infant. Kaylee never cried unless she was hungry. She would allow anyone to hold her and she was easy to fall in love with.
She was released from the hospital on Jan. 24, 2002. Eric's mom picked me up and took us home. While Teri wheeled us to the door to get in the car, a hospital visitor didn't belive me when I told him that Teri was the grandmother. "She's way to young looking to be a grandmother!" the man said. This January day was unusual because it was warm and sunny with temperatures in the 60's. I was ill prepared for this and still put Kaylee in a snowsuit to go home. Boy, did I have a lot to learn about being a mom!
Kaylee is an amazing blessing given to Eric and I, and quite often I call her my little angel. Being a mom had taught me a lot about life, love, and grace. I look forward to seeing the plans that God has for our firstborn in the future. We love you Kaylee, our little Tigerlily!
As usual we decorated her door to surprise her in the morning. Then we were off to our favorite local bakery, Munster Donut, to have a sugary breakfast before school. Kaylee had a strawberry glazed donut with apple juice and Cameron devoured a massive blueberry muffin. Kaylee told the customer at the donut shop all about the new sports table she recieved from her Nana and Papa Zoerhof the night before.
A lot of surprises were waiting at school when we arrived. The Jr. high chapel group sang happy birthday to herin the gym. Mrs. Acterhof had given her a new pencil, candy, and a card. Mrs. Moore had given her a new matchbox car, which the boys in her class were coveting. I surprise her with Jimmy John's and a strawberry smoothie for lunch. Kaylee was relishing the attention, as well as, enjoying passing out birthday treats of airheads and kit-kats (Kaylee's favorites).
When I was waiting to pick Kaylee up after school, I saw her passing out her goodie bags. Then the kids were dismissed to get their boots from the hall and put on their snow gear. One of Kaylee's excited classmates ran up to me and said, "Mrs. Evers! Did you know that it's your daughter Kaylee's birthday today?!?!" I just replied with a big smile and a yes.
After leaving school we went to Nana and Papa Evers house to pick up Cameron. Nana had a bunch of presents waiting for Kaylee to open once we arrived. She loved the presents, especially the new basketball.
Eric and I took Kaylee and Cameron out to Pizza Hut to have dinner. Eric and I don't enjoy Pizza Hut, however, Kaylee receives personal pan pizzas whenever she reaches a reading goal in school. The girls both loves these pizzas and look forward to going. During dinner Eric and I retold the story of the day that Kaylee was born.
As a mom I enjoy telling the kids some of the details of their first birthday, and Kaylee's was very memorable since she was our first and everything was new to us. I was one day past my due date, but I had prepared myself for going beyond that date. In my experience and what the lamaze teacher had warned us about was that a lot firstborns were delivered well after due date. I woke up around 6 in the morning, and thought I had a case of the flu. We had Mexican food the night before, and I thought the spice had gotten to me. Mexican food was a constant craving I had while I was pregnant with Kaylee. Some friends would joke that I was going to pop out a jalapeno instead of a baby. Anyways, I had taken a shower using up all the hot water and started to get ready for the day. Looking back on it now, I believe that the hot shower masked my labor contractions.
A little while later, Eric started to get ready for work but during his shower, my contractions started to come really fast and painful. I told him to finish getting ready because I might be in labor. Throughout my pregnancy I had a heightened sense of smell, and for whatever reason, I was repulsed by Eric's cologne in the car on the way to the hospital. Luckily, the hospital is two blocks away from my house but regardless, I had my window down with my head sticking out to relieve my over-heighten sense of smell.
Also during Lamaze class they had warned us that we might think we are in labor only to be told that they were Braxton Hicks contractions. So I was prepared to go to the hospital only to be told to go home and wait. However, they knew that his wasn't false labor, and checked me in immediately. When they checked me, I was already 5 centimeters dilated and over 75% effaced. (For those who don't know about the birthing procedures, that means I was over half-way done with labor!)
The nurse told me that I was progressing really fast and that I should plan on having the baby before noon. By the time we were settled into our room it was around 9 in the morning. Eric was so excited, he called all his family and friends and said that we would have a baby girl by noon. Kaylee took a little longer than the original nurse expected and was born at 3:14 on a Tuesday. Since Eric had called everyone, we had visitors waiting for us even before she was born which included his brother Matt who skipped all of his college classes and drove a couple hours to meet his new niece.
There was some commotion when Kaylee was born because she had swallowed some fluid during the delivery. A group of specialist attended to her right away to make sure her lungs were clear. They needed to bring her down to the nursery right away to make sure all of her vitals were okay. One of my favorite memories of that day was watching Kaylee being wheeled down the hall with her little hands gripping Eric's pointer finger the whole way. It just proves that she was destined to be a daddy's girl from the day she was born.
My stay in the hospital was not pleasant. The maternity ward was overflowing with new moms and I needed to share a room with another mom and her baby. Not only was it hard to sleep with twice the number of visitors and nurse checks, the woman next to me snored at night. In addition, the hospital ran out of sleeping pills for nursing moms, so I was left to suffer through the long nights listening to this women's harsh breathing from 10 feet away. Needless to say, I was very sleep deprived when I left that hospital.
The night before I was released, however, I did have the room to myself. Thank Goodness! I was able to hold my new baby and watch her sleep peacefully. During the quietness of the night, I invisioned dreams I had for my child and I made promises to her while she laid there in my arms. She was such a good baby and infant. Kaylee never cried unless she was hungry. She would allow anyone to hold her and she was easy to fall in love with.
She was released from the hospital on Jan. 24, 2002. Eric's mom picked me up and took us home. While Teri wheeled us to the door to get in the car, a hospital visitor didn't belive me when I told him that Teri was the grandmother. "She's way to young looking to be a grandmother!" the man said. This January day was unusual because it was warm and sunny with temperatures in the 60's. I was ill prepared for this and still put Kaylee in a snowsuit to go home. Boy, did I have a lot to learn about being a mom!
Kaylee is an amazing blessing given to Eric and I, and quite often I call her my little angel. Being a mom had taught me a lot about life, love, and grace. I look forward to seeing the plans that God has for our firstborn in the future. We love you Kaylee, our little Tigerlily!
2 comments:
I love that story about Kaylee's birth! I was so mad at Matt for leaving me at Purdue. LOL
You are such a sweet mom. I cried when I read this. What a joy it is to read about you and your experience as a mom. You're beautiful!
Jori
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