Day One!

These are my girl... MY GIRLS! :)

 

I can't believe I've been a mom of two for over two weeks. It's been quite the transition, but we are adjusting slowly. We've had family in (my parents, sisters and twin) until yesterday, so I've had lots and lots of help with MK... but today I was flying solo... just me and the girls. It was hard and easy all at the same time. I'm trying to learn the balance of splitting my time between the needs of a newborn and a two year old... and right now I'm not sure which one is more needy! I've never been more thankful for a husband who works from home than today... He was a text or call away if I needed an extra hand if I was breastfeeding Khloe and MK needed to use the potty. We survived the day, even though mommy and Maddie both needed mid-day showers (MK had a #2 accident and mommy was in the path of an epic down the shirt spit up) and Khloe had rough gassy morning.

 

All and all, the transition from one to two has been much easier than zero to one. It's like riding a bike... having a newborn is familiar instead of totally strange and intimidating. I was also able to prepare my heart and have realistic expectations. My heart is much more peaceful and less anxious this time around. I think a lot of that has to do with focusing on how short of a time period infancy is... If I start to get overwhelmed, I just look at pictures of MK and realize that her first year flew by. I wish I lived more in the moment when MK was a baby, instead of focusing on the next best milestone. This time I'm savoring every moment because I know at some point I'll miss the midnight cuddles.

 

One day down... many more to come! :) "I can do all things through Christ..."

 

Love,

The Vog girls!

MK vs. KM

I thought it would be fun to do a little comparisson between my pregnancies/deliveries with Khloe and MK!

Getting pregnant:
Maddie: Mike and I got pregnant our first month of "trying"... which really was just not using protection. I didn't use OPKs or anything, just knew my body from a yr of natural family planning.
Khloe: 9 months of actively trying, using OPKs and finally getting diagnosed and treated for a luteal phase defect. After three months on progesterone and increasing my dose we got pregnant! It was a hard time for me, but God used it to grow me in my faith and trust in Him. And now,I am so thankful for that time of waiting. I wouldn't have my sweet Khloe, MK would be a different age... I totally know and can trust that God knew what He was doing.

Weight gain:
Maddie: Gained 40lb- 7lb in the last few weeks (mostly swelling). Lost it all and 5lb by 6months post partum
Khloe: Gained 26lb. Not sure how long it will take to loose! :) As of a week post partum, I've lost 16lb.

Morning sickness:
Maddie: Terrible morning sickness from week 7-10, I was working nights and threw up every day on the way home from work. I didn't take the meds cause I was to stubborn!
Khloe: Starting feeling nauseaus at 6 weeks and started taking 4mg Zofran at least every morning. Also made an effort to eat more protein and I think that helped at ton. Took Zofran before I got out of bed every morning until 11ish weeks.

Movement:
Maddie: Didn't really feel her move until 18 weeks, she was a predictable mover- after meals and when I was sitting down. She gave me way more "no movement" scares than Khloe has... one time at a Rangers game when even a huge diet coke didn't get her moving! Then as we were about to call the dr, she started going crazy.
Khloe: Started feeling her little kicks at 13 weeks and she hasn't stopped since! She moves constantly, although her movements are slowing down now (at the end of pregnancy) and in more of a sleep/wake pattern. She is much more active than MK, especially at night!

Swelling:
Maddie: I swelled terribly with MK. I couldn't wear my engagement ring (the bigger of my two rings) from 8 months until delivery, my shoes didn't fit and after a day of work I had terrible pitting edema on my feet. My nose also swelled up and was super super wide at the end!
Khloe: My wedding ring has been off since 20 weeks (it's a size smaller than my wedding band), but my engagement ring slips on and off very easily still. No swelling in my feet and all of my shoes still fit- even my boots that are usually a little snug when I'm not preggo. My nose is a little wider, but not nearly as bad as with MK!

Last month:
Maddie: At my 40 weeks appointment I was 3cm and 50% and MK was very high. Even though I was huge, I wasn't super uncomfortable and never had false labor.
Khloe: K's always carried lower than MK, but the past few weeks she's gotten super low. I've had much more pain and pressure in my pelvis/pubic bone than with MK and I've had contractions on and off for the past week. At my 38 week appointment I was 3cm and 60%.

Birth:
Maddie: You can read about it here. She was 8lb 13oz and 21 3/4 inches long... my chunky long girl!  It was an easy labor and delivery, but due to post-partum hemorrhage that required two units of blood afterwards and a 3rd degree laceration, it was a rough recovery.
Khloe: You can read about it here. She was 7lb 11oz and 20 1/4 inches long... my tall and skinny girl! It was a very quick and not very painless labor and delivery, but no post partum hemorrhage and only a 2nd degree tear so it was a very quick and easy recovery.

Ok, that's the end of the MK and KM comparissons... Khloe is her own girl and I'm going to focus on her uniqueness as a baby! I'm going to try really hard not expect Khloe to reach her milestones when MK did.

Much love,
The Vogelaars

KM's birth, one week old update and big sister's reaction!

It all started at 8am on Friday December 28th when we arrived at BUMC for the induction. We'd been planning on inducing Khloe on the 28th for a couple weeks (although we were on the waiting list until the 26th so we didn't know for sure that the 28th was a go). We decided to induce for many reasons, the main ones were that my Dr. was only available to deliver K on the 28th or not until after her due date (and based on what happened last time, I really wanted her to be there) and Mike's PTO/time off conflict... our $3000 deductable and a tax credit also played a small part too!

Our nurse, Lori was super sweet and around 8:30am she started my IV and hooked me up to the pitocin (or so we thought... keep reading!). Dr. C came in a little after that to check my cervix and break my water. At that point I was 4cm dilated and 60% effaced. For the next two hours or so I was having contractions every 2 min apart, but not really painful at all. In fact (something I would regret later) I was telling Mike "these are nothing" and taunting them by saying "bring it on contractions!" Around 10am my nurse came to check on me and noticed that she had forgot to hook the pitocin to my IV... so for the past hr and a half my body was laboring on its own- triggered by Dr. C breaking my water. Stuff like that happens all the time, and as a nurse I totally understood and had grace with her!

Once the pitocin was actually running into my IV, my contractions immediately picked up in intensity and frequency. My goal was to make it to 5-6cm before getting my epidural because I didn't want it to slow down my labor. At around 11am, I was in a lot of pain with the contractions and asked Lori to check me. I was 5cm and 75% so I decided to get the epidural. The anesthesiologist came in 10 min later and started preping me for the epidural. This guy does all of his epidurals laying down, which I actually really liked cause it was alot easier to manage a contraction laying down verses sitting up hunched over. The epidural was in pretty painlessly in about 10 min and started taking the edge off of the contractions. Last time I had a spinal/epidural (that was just what that particular anethesiologist does) and it was immediate relief from the pain, this time with just an epidural the pain relief took about 30 minutes and I could still feel when I was having a contractions, they just weren't as painful. After I got my epidural, Lori said she thought we would be pushing around 1.

At around 12:15ish I started feeling intense pressure and it was unbearably painful. I called my nurse and she checked me and said it was baby time. She also told me that Dr. C was just going into a c-section and that we would have wait a little while to push. I told her I didn't think I could handle the pressure that long and she went out to talk to Dr. C. While she was gone Mike was eating lunch and I told him "you need to finish that up right now, we are having a baby now!!!" At 12:30 Lori and Dr. C came in and we started pushing. It felt so good to push through the intense pressure and I was very motivated to get Miss Khloe out of me! She came into the world after 3 rounds of pushing (we pushed 4 times with each contractions) at 12:43pm!

She was brought right to my chest and both Mike and I started crying! She was on my chest for several minutes and then they took her to the warmer. She had to be suctioned a couple times because she wasn't in the birth canal for very long and had some fluids and secretions in her lungs. She also got her vitamin K shot and eye antibiotics. She weighed in at 7lb 11oz and was 20 1/4inches long.

Dr. C and Lori were watching me closely to make sure my uterus contracted and my bleeding stayed under control. After the placenta came out, they gave me pitocin (normal after a vaginal deliver) and started massaging my belly to help my uterus contract (super painful by the way!). I also got sewed up from a 2nd degree tear... not nearly as bad as last time! As a precaution, I got a shot of Methergan and took a Methergan pill every 8 hours, 3 times to prevent any bleeding. Once Miss Khloe was all wrapped up and checked out, I got to feed her and she latched on right away.

After we were all cleaned up and checked out, Maddie, Larissa and Jay came in to meet Khloe. Maddie was very concerned about me and my IV and not that interested in Khloe. When Larissa showed MK a picture of Khloe on thier way down to the hospital, MK said "that's my Khloe!" She held Khloe for a little bit with me and wanted to point out all of her features- her eyes, nose and hair!

My recovery has been so much better this time! I was up and walking around an hour after Khloe was born, and took a shower shortly afterwards. We had some sweet visitors from our community group and church on friday afternoon and saturday and MK was with us for a couple hours each day too to hang out with her new sister.

We were discharged on Saturday at 3 and it was so nice to be at home in our own environment and in our own beds! Our sweet friends, the Combs brought us dinner and some groceries and it was such a blessing!

We had her two day post-discharge check up with Dr. Hayes on Monday and she weighed in at 7lb 6oz... which is totally normal to loose a little weight. My milk had just come in on Sunday night/Monday morning, so we weren't concerned about it. We go back next Friday for her two week check up and we'll see if she's gained any weight then. Mom and Dad both think she's gained weight, they think her little cheeks are filling out. She did have a little jaundice that we and her pediatrician have been watching closely, but it looks like that is resolving.

I can't believe sweet Khloe is a week old already! She has been a pretty easy baby- she's eating every two to three hours (sometimes 3.5/4 at night!) and sleeping in between. She has a few wakeful times during the day and she makes the cutest little faces during those times! She loves the swing and moby wrap and isn't a huge fan of having her arms swaddled. Big sister is taking to Khloe very well. She's had lots of fun playmates around (my dad and my two little sisters) to keep her occupied. But, whenever she sees me without Khloe she asks me "where's Khloe?" and she's already been nursing her baby dolls... from her belly button! :) She likes to hold Khloe, but only for a couples minutes. Khloe's umbilical cord fell off today, but before it did and MK was helping me with a diaper change, she would say "I can't see that" when I lifted up her shirt! She really wasn't a fan of the umbilical stump!

We've got my parents here for a few more days and then my twin sister will come stay with us for a about a week. And then we are on our own! I've tried to take it one day at a time and not get too overwhelmed with the thought of me taking care of my two girls on my own during the day.

Our hearts are full and we feel so blessed. We are truely feeling the joy decribed in Psalms 127: 4-5- "Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warriors hands. How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!"

Much love,
The Vogs
M,K,MK & KM

*My silly computer isn't letting me upload pics, but you can check them out on my facebook or follow me on instagram: katyvog

39 weeks!

This week we are 39 weeks pregnant!

This is officially our last belly picture... so bittersweet...

 

How big is baby? according to babycenter.com she is 20in and a little over 7lb... the size of a little watermelon! I can't wait to see how big she really is.

Weight gain/loss: Up 26lb.

Sleep: Not sleeping well at all if I don't take a Tylenol PM :( She is getting me prepared for sleepless nights in the very near future.

Movement: Miss K is still moving, mainly at night when I'm trying to sleep. I'm hoping she doesn't have her days and nights mixed up outside of the womb.

Symptoms: Feeling like a 9 month preggo! I feel like I'm going to cough this girl out she's so low and my back's killing me... I'm ready to hold her in my arms!
Food Cravings: Nothing this week, not had much of an appetite lately.

Gender: A girl- Khloe Margaret! I hope she's still a girl when we meet her on Friday!!
Belly Button: An outtie! Not for much longer though.

What I'm looking forward to? Having Miss Khloe!!! I can't wait to meet her, see what she looks like and snuggle her. I can't wait for Maddie to meet her and to see what she thinks of her.
What I miss? Being comfortable! But, I won't be 100% comfortable after she's here either!
Big sister: Had so much fun on Christmas, opening presents and playing in the snow (yep, we had a WHITE Christmas!!). On our last day as a family of 3, we're taking her to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science that opened up here recently and I think she will love it!
Dr. Appointment notes: We had our 39 week appointment this morning with one of Dr. C's partners. Weight, BP, Khloe's HB and fundal height checked in great. I'm 3.5cm and 60%, so not much progress since last week. We also confirmed our induction for 7:30am on Friday the 28th! Miss Khloe should be here be the afternoon/early evening if all goes well.

 

Our next blog post will be introducing you to our newest family member!!

Love,

The Vogs

 



38 weeks!

This week we are 38 weeks pregnant!

only two more weeks until her due date...

How big is baby? According to babycenter.com- Khloe is 6.8lb and 19.5in long... the length of a leek! Dr. C predicts that Khloe will be smaller than MK... and since she's coming at most a week earlier than MK she could be right... although she did say that MK was going to be no more than 7.5lb... and she was off by over a lb!

Weight gain/loss: I'm up 23/24lb depending on the day. Pretty happy with how my weight gain has turned out, especially since I've heard it's a lot harder to take off the baby weight with the second baby.

Sleep? I've been having a hard time getting to sleep and going back to sleep when I wake up. Several times this week I've woken up at 4am and haven't been able to go back to sleep. Miss Khloe's just preparing me for the next 3-6 month of very interrupted sleep!

Movement? She's still moving and shaking and hiccuping!

Symptoms: Still feeling Khloe really low- so feeling lots of pain and pressure in my pelvis, my heartburn and shortness of breath is gone! (yay!) Other than that I'm just generally feeling tired and ready for Miss Khloe to be here!

Food Cravings: This week I've been craving In and Out! :) There's just nothing like a cheeseburger with grilled onions on it! Oh and I've craved Mcdonalds french fries (very healthy cravings!!)... so MK and I made a trip to indulge!

Gender: A girl! Miss Khloe Margaret

Belly button: I'm rocking an outtie!

What I miss? Getting comfortable! I can't wait to sleep on my stomach in less than two weeks!

What I'm looking forward to? I'm so excited about meeting Khloe! I'm also excited about Christmas with Maddie this year... it's going to be so fun to watch her opening presents this year. I wish Khloe could be here to celebrate with us, but we are going to cherish this last Christmas as a family of three. I'm also super excited that after Friday, Mike has the next two weeks off!! :)

Mommy reflections: I've been writing some of my favorite verses in a little flip book that I can meditate on when I'm nursing, and I came across this one in Philippians that I've marked as my new prayer for my girls : I pray that your love will overflow more and more and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation- the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ- for this will bring much glory and praise to God. Phil 1:9-11

I know how hard it can be to keep in the Word and how important it is, so I'm hoping that having this flip book to meditate on will help me when I'm tired and feeling overwhelmed!

Big sister? Is getting excited about Khloe coming, but not because she's getting a little sister, because Gigi and Poppy are coming! She asks every day when Gigi and Poppy will be here or if she can go to "Fworda" to Gigi and Poppy's house! :)

Dr. Appointment notes: We had our 37 week appointment last Friday afternoon... it was a quick check up and my BP/weight/fundal height and K's heartbeat all checked out great! We see Dr. C again on Thursday morning, and then she's gone for Christmas until the 28th... so I'm telling Khloe she needs to come before Thursday or not until eviction day because I really really want Dr. C to be at her delivery. I'm praying hard for that now, although I know that the Lord is in control and whoever needs to deliver K will be there.

Today we went for our 38 week dr appointment with Dr. C. Everything checked out great- BP was perfect, weight gain on track and my belly measured 38 weeks. She checked me cause I've been getting crampy contractions on and off lately. I'm 3cm and 60%! She did let us know that we were on the waiting list for the 28th, so theres a chance that if no one goes into labor before hand, we wouldn't be able to induce then. I was totally ok with this- my prayer has been even after we decided to try and induce on the 28th that the Lord would pick her due date and make it incredibly clear if the 28th was it. Dr. C said she would keep us in the loop and would call L&D every day during her vacation to see if there was an opening. We go back on the 26th with Dr. Vu, since Dr. C is still on her Christmas vacation.

The end is so near!!! But it still seems so far...

 

Love,

The Vogs

 

37 weeks! Full Term! :)

This week we are 37 weeks!

3 weeks left until Jan 2nd, but only 2 weeks left until induction day!

Only (at most!) two  more belly pictures to take until I get to meet sweet Khloe!
How big is baby? about 6 1/3lb and 19inches according to babycenter.com- Khloe is apparently as long as a stalk of Swiss chard... strange!
Weight gain/loss? up 23lb... gained back what I lost last week with the stomach bug... looks like I'm right on track to gain about 25lb
Sleep? Sleeping ok, definitely waking up a couple times to pee in the middle of the night.
Movement? She's still moving in there and still having hiccups like crazy... usually at night while mommy is trying to go back to sleep.
Symptoms? Increased pelvic pain/pressure, frequent urination, fatigue
Food Cravings? Nothing really this week.
Gender? a girl! Khloe Margaret Vogelaar
Belly Button An outtie!!

What I miss? Being able to move around easily!
What I'm looking forward to? Khloe's going to be here in two weeks or less! Craziness! We've got our 37 week dr appointment on Friday at 2:45 with Dr. C. I've also got a long long "to-do" list to get done before Miss K arrives... and I love checking off "to-do" lists! The pic above is one of my crossed off "to-do" iteams- making "thank you" goody bags for the nurses and techs at the hospital.  Next up:  cleaning my car and installing K's car seat base.
Mommy reflections: Been really struggling with feeling sad about the limited time I have left with just MK. I'm sure this is normal for moms to go through, I just hate feeling this way. I'm also so excited about Khloe at the same time... it's such a strange feeling. Any other mamas of two plus kids go through this and have some words of wisdom?
Big sister? She and I had a fun Christmas date today- we went to the mall and went to Santa's story time and had lunch. She's such a sweet girl and I can't wait to see her take on the new role of big sister!
Labor signs? I had a couple of contractions today... but they went away within an hour... but I think my body's getting ready! I'm gonna ask Dr. C to check my cervix for changes and to do a membrane sweep at our 38 week appointment- which will be my last one before our induction on the 28th!

Love,
The Vogs

36 weeks!

We are 36 weeks this week! 9 months!!! :)
 only 4 more left (or less, but that's a tease so you read the rest for more details!)

Taken at 36 weeks 5 days due to the stinky stomach bug!

How big is baby? About 6lb and 18.5inches- the size of a crenshaw melon (whatever that is!)
Weight gain/loss? Well, at the start of this week I was up 23lb, but after the stomach bug I'm back to +20lb.
Sleep:Sleeping ok actually, only getting up a couple of times to pee and not having to take Tylenol PM as much!

Movement: K's still very active! She quited down when I was sick- prob cause she was starving! But once I was able to keep things down she reminded me just how active she could be!
Symptoms: Besides the nasty stomach bug- getting a lot more Braxton Hicks and they are getting stronger, I lost my mucous plus this week (tmi?!), feeling lots of pressure in my pelvis/pubic bone, leg cramps.
Food cravings: NONE... but that might be the remnants of the stomach bug talking

Gender: Girl! Khloe Margaret!
Belly button: Def an outtie!

What I miss? It's super hard to come down with a cold and then become violently ill while being 9 months pregnant... So I miss being healthy!
What I'm looking forward to? Christmas celebrations- we've got our community group dinner this week!
Mommy reflections: One minute I'm ready to have Khloe and the next minute I'm wishing for many many more weeks of just me and MK time... it's a confusing time in my head!

Big sister: Went to big sister class this week and had a blast! Most of it was over her head, but she had fun playing with the baby dolls and touring the hospital where mommy and Khloe are going to be. It's getting more real that MK isn't going to be our baby anymore!

MK's "swaddle"... lets just say she won't be doing that unsupervised with Khloe! :)

35 week Dr. Appointment notes: We had our 35 week Dr. appointment with Dr. Crochet last Friday. My weight and BP were great and my belly is measuring 34 weeks- Khloe has dropped quite a bit so that's totally expected. I also had my group B strep test done (lovely little test that is!) and Dr. C checked my cervix while she was at it to see where we were starting off from. I was telling her about how I was feeling a lot more pain and pressure in my pelvis/pubic bone, but I didn't think Khloe had dropped much cause I was still getting heartburn and feeling short of breath at times. As she was checking me she said "oh wow!" and that's never something you want to hear when someone has her hand up your woo-hoo! :) She said I was 2cm dilated, 50% effaced and that K's head was very low and pressing on my cervix (hence the dilation). I was totally shocked since when I was 35 weeks preggo with MK I was 0cm and 0% effaced... I wasn't 2cm until my 39 week appointment with her! So, all of that means nothing, since I could stay at 2cm and 50% for 5 weeks, but it was still kinda exciting to know that I only have 8cm and 50% until I meet Khloe! :) We also had a talk with Dr. Crochet about how we felt about inducing Khloe. Dr. C said she wouldn't even offer it to us if I wasn't dilated at this point. After talking about our complications last delivery, Mike's work PTO dilemma and the fact that Dr. C isn't on call the weekend of the 29th, NYE, NY or until after my due date we decided that Dr. C would schedule an induction for the 28th of December. She has to wait until Dec 14th to officially schedule it with BUMC, but unless something happens before hand or that date is full (not likely), we know Miss Khloe will be here no later than the 28th! :)

Now, I know induction is controversial, but I've done my due diligence and feel 100% comfortable with it. I know the risks, and after talking and praying about it with Mike we feel like this is the best option for our family. I would never induce if my cervix was not favorable. I actually loved being induced last time, even though I was post-dates with MK. It was so fun to anticipate the day and to prepare for it in the days before. All that to say, I'm still praying that Khloe comes on her own before the 28th... I'm secretly praying for the 21st (38 weeks)... so we shall see!

36 week hospital trip/Dr. appointment notes: On Tuesday of this week I came down with the worst stomach bug of my life. Anything I was eating/drinking was coming out violently from both ends. We called the doctor that night and she said to try and keep hydrated and call back in the morning. Well, after a night of not keeping anything down we called back and Dr. Crochet sent us to L&D to check out if I was dehydrated. Sure enough I was, and I had to get an IV to be rehydrated. Everytime I peed they checked my urine and if I still had ketones present (a sign of dehydration) I had to get another liter of IV fluid. I got a total of 5 liters and finally was hydrated! Thankfully the dehydration didn't cause early labor- Khloe needs to stay in there for atleast another week. They also gave me some anti-nausea meds and sent me on my way home. I felt so much better after getting fluids, but still battled the stomach bug thursday and half the day on friday.

So thankful for modern medicine and IV fluids! :)

My 36 week appointment was with the new doctor in the office- Dr. Vu. She is actually the wife of one of the vascular surgeons I used to work with in the ICU. She was very soft spoken and nice, but I wasn't a huge fan of her and really hope she's not on call when I have Khloe! Everything with K checked out great. Her HR was in the 120s, my BP was good, and weight was ok (even though I had lost 3lb since my last visit due to the stomach bug). Oh and I'm also group B strep negative- so no antibiotics in labor! Yay! :) 37 week appointment is with Dr. Crochet on Friday and we'll get to schedule the induction then! :)

 

 

Lots to share this week! Hopefully next week isn't nearly as eventful! :)

 

Love,

The Vogs