Kayley's Favorite Pastime

I know life isn't very exciting at 7 weeks but you would think this girl won the jackpot with the way she carries on!
She LOVES to talk to the teddy bears on the mobile above the pack n play changing table in the living room... She could lay there all day!!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great long weekend!

JJ had his first birthday party at Build-a-Bear, and we spent Monday w/ my dad and Cheryl and Steph and her family. JJ LOVES the pool--I can't wait till summer is truly here so we can swim everyday!

Hope you all had a great weekend :)

Pandora Music

Hey--great website for free music--

www.pandora.com

you can create your own stations by artist or song and Pandora will create a station with similar artists and genres. I really like it; nice "noise" while I'm working on the laptop--and did I mention it is free??

Here's my Pandora page:

www.pandora.com/people/lrivera98

you can see my stations, favorite songs, etc.

enjoy!

Six Weeks

Here is Kayley at six weeks old--all alert and social!

There is also an appearance made by Batman :)

Our Weekend Visitors

Julie and Tova (otherwise known in our house as "Jetplane"...don't ask...) came over to visit during their Rochester trip. The kids had such a good time playing together; they are one year apart and they got along really well! The popular game of the day was "let's shove each other down the slide 5 million times" :)

And most important, Julie got to eat Dibellas! YUM!

Our Final Pregnancy/New Baby Pictures

I am SO blessed!

Just an update from our end--

It's been 4 weeks since we became a family of four and we are all doing GREAT!

Jayson has gotten used to his new role as big brother; he had a bit of a tough go when we first came home--he didn't like how much attention I gave the baby w/ feedings and it didn't matter what I said to him, the answer was NO!

But now, we are all doing well w/ our new roles--JJ still goes to preschool 2 days a week and music class at Eastman on Saturdays. When he is not doing that, he is home w/ Mommy! I LOVE staying home! I will have to go back to work for two weeks (June 16th-27th) but it's Regents week so at least I won't have to do any formal teaching :) Then I'm staying home for the whole summer! We will be on a tight budget but I'm so glad that we were able to save some $$ to make this possible. 

I'm feeling great--I had to learn to "check myself" and listen to my body so when I feel like I'm doing too much, I just need to take it easy. But recovery has been great--so much better than my experience with the first c-section. 

Kayley is such a good baby--she really never cries; just fusses when she is hungry or uncomfortable. She is so alert and loves to look around all of the time. She is also on an awesome schedule! I think God said, "let's not give this girl more than she can handle..." so JJ is in bed by 7:30-8:00 every night and Kayley is asleep by 9ish. Then Kayley wakes up to eat at around 12:30am and 4:30am. Then, THE BEST PART, everyone sleeps until 8:30am! JJ, Kayley and I all get up together at 8:30 for breakfast :) It's awesome! I really don't feel that sleep deprived anymore and I'm sure that is helping w/ my more positive outlook! 

We have also been blessed w/ Mike having a lot of side jobs coming in for painting--he is pretty much booked for the rest of May and he has other people that need estimates so that means extra summer money for us :) He is very busy and gone more often but he is being a great provider for our family.

That's all from our end, hope all is well w/ you!! Happy soon-to-be Summer!

Our First Family Picture!

Are you kidding me?

So, only a true dumb ass can end up on bed rest after having a baby...

I over-did it when I got home and my doctor put me on bed rest--basically she told me to put my feet up and only take care of the baby. Which selfishly is nice, but it's pretty unrealistic. 

It's completely my fault because I was so excited to be home; wanted to spend time w/ JJ,  wanted to prove I could balance two kids' needs, wanted to be outside because it has been so gorgeous, and wanted to start losing the weight that I have left over. Well, at 2 weeks post-partum my body said, "You are on crack, right?" and put a halt to my ambitions. 

So, now I'm trying very hard to take it easy and pay attention to what my body is telling me. It's hard for me to slow down but I have to let some things go--like doing the laundry, going for walks outside and running errands. Thank goodness Mike has been so helpful. We had a very trying week b/c he had to work nights this week--so he would leave around 9:30pm, work all night, be home by 7:30am to get JJ ready for school and then attempt to sleep for a few hours until JJ had to be picked up at 11am. The lack of sleep was very tough on him and the lack of support through the night and part of the day was tough for me. Luckily, after I was put on bed rest, Ashley was able to come yesterday and today to take JJ to the park and the beach and help me clean up the house. I'm so glad that Mike's schedule will go back to normal next week!

Spring!

We are loving (oddly) warm weather here! JJ is all set for the summer w/ his gadgets--he loves his tractor and he just got a new bike. Such a big boy! 

Kayley is doing well; she is so strong and independent for only 2 weeks old--she picks her head up and likes to be awake a lot during the day--she doesn't want to miss a thing!

Pixs above:

JJ and his tractor

JJ and his new bike

Kayley

JJ reading to Kayley :)

Super Twin Powers...

I'm starting to see similarities between JJ and Kayley--can you see it too or am I crazy??

JJ is the top picture, Kayley is on the bottom. Maybe all newborns look similar but I feel like you can see some distinct features in both of them. 

And can you believe JJ used to have red hair?? 

My "Uh-buh" Moment

Ok. So now I get it.

Labor and delivery: It was great! It didn't hurt! The baby is healthy! Nurses take the baby at night for you! People come to visit and bring you stuff! You are on lots of drugs pumped right into your iv!

First week home: My incision is sore. OH MY GOD my boobs are sore. I pulled something in my neck and now I can't move my head, neck or shoulders. JJ has a cold--please don't touch the baby w/ your germs but I want you to love her and not end up in therapy b/c of me! The baby is throwing up--why is she throwing up?? JJ if you tell me "No", "No Way", or "Mmmm...No" one more time... Huh, I didn't lose all 40 pounds in the hospital? Now I actually have to do some work and get this weight off.

I'm so tired.

I'm sleep deprived.

I have no patience w/ anyone.

My realization?

It is NOT  the labor and delivery that deters people from having another child. It is the first few weeks home that could tie my tubes in an instant. 

It WILL get better. (It has to?) I WILL make it through this. (Or go down crying in a blur of Vicotin, cookie dough and baby poop.) We WILL all survive this! 

Feel free to save, print and mail this post to me when you see me discussing the potential for baby #3 in a couple of years! 

Jayson and Kayley

JJ is doing great with the baby! He acts like she has always been here :) Most of the time he is not really interested in her--but he likes to give her kisses and he tells everyone that she is "so cute!"

More Pictures of Kayley

Things are still going great! I'm sore (ofc) and I'm sick of doctors and nurses coming in my room at all hours but other than that, everything's good!

Kayley is more alert now and is starting to eat on more of a schedule.

Will continue to post more pictures, can't wait for JJ to meet his little sister tomorrow!

She's Here :)

Kayley Belle Kettle Rivera

April 7th, 2008

10:14am

7 pounds 9 ounces

21 inches long

She's doing great!! And so is Mommy--the c section was wonderful--can you believe it?? What a difference good drugs can make :) I was so nervous b/c the spinal didn't work when I had JJ and it was just a traumatic, unhappy and scary experience. But this birth was so different--I felt nothing, had a great team of doctors, we chatted through the whole procedure and after Kayley was born, she never had to leave our sides :) The environment was so happy and positive and peaceful.

I'm a bit sore now but I'm really doing great! Kayley is a great sleeper and that has been a blessing :) We had many visitors yesterday--My dad came to help out for the afternoon, my sister stayed from dinner time til  bed time so Mike could go home and spend time with JJ.  My mom, Steve and Courtney and Katie came up and brought cute clothes for Kayley and even cuter Adidas booties! And Lisa came up last night and hung out w/ Steph and I.  It was fun to laugh and bond about our various birthing stories :)

Overall, this has been such a great experience--we were even talking about baby #3 with my doctor while in surgery! Buuuuuuuuttt...I think we will wait on that for a while!

Will post more pictures soon!! Thanks so much to all for your support and advice and prayers--Erin, I kept repeating while I was getting my spinal "curl in a ball and push against the needle..." It  really helped!! Thanks!!

Monday is "it"!

Just got back from the doctor's...

She said my cervix is not progressing and is "unfavorable" so we will be having a c-section on Monday am!

I'm pretty freaked out b/c of Jayson's birth when the spinal didn't work but I'm hopeful that this will be a completely different experience and I will do my best to make it as positive as possible:)

So, between now and Monday I will be getting the house ready, freezing dinners, spending as much time as possible with JJ, scheduling people to watch JJ for the week while I'm in the hospital etc etc!

Feel free to send pain-free, drug-induced, happy, calming vibes my way on Monday! We will post pictures and news as soon as we are able :)

9 Month Pregnancy Pictures

Here are a couple of pictures from our recent photo shoot--I never thought I would make it this far!! Enjoy :)

Updates Again...

Still no baby!
I'll be 39 weeks tomorrow and at my last doctor's appt on Thursday, I was still 1 cm dilated but now I am 50% effaced. The doctor said my cervix was a lot softer so I guess that's a good sign that we will be going soon!
My doctor also said if I am still pregnant at my appointment this Thursday then we will schedule a c-section. She said she will give me one week past my due date to try to have the baby naturally but after that, it's a c-section. I guess VBACs can't be induced so it's either do it natural w/ no help or have another c-section.
Not great options but I'm just excited to meet this little girl so however she has to come out, is fine with me :)

Mike and JJ have been great helpers--yesterday I thought was "it"--my back was killing me all day and my contractions were about 13 minutes apart at the closest. Mike and JJ let me lay down all day and rest. It was great (if you ignored the contractions and pain!) But then the contractions peetered out around 11pm so I guess the baby didn't think it was time yet!

We will keep you posted on when the big day happens!

Mendon Ponds

Mike took JJ on a hike in Mendon Ponds Park. Mike said that he loved wandering all over and didn't want to leave :)

More Easter Pics

JJ loved dying eggs and really liked having his first Easter egg hunt. His new obsession is 'Cars' so in his Easter basket, he was blessed w/ tons of Cars merchandise!