Since I didn't have this when she was born I wanted to share her birthday. We went to the doctor on Monday November 27th in the morning for our stress test and ultrasound (she was two weeks late so we had to do it twice a week to make sure she was okay). Our OB wasn't there, she was going to be back the next day but we had gone to the hospital ready to have our baby. We decided to go ahead and be induced that day with Dr. Duncan. They started the meds at 11:00 in the morning (turns out I was having contractions I couldn't feel every 12 minutes), they broke my water at 12:45 but things didn't really start getting going until 1:30 when I actually started to feel the contractions. I got an epidural about an hour or so after that because I was only about 3 cm and didn't know how long it would take.
It was the day of the big ice storm so Grandma Peggy couldn't make it down to see us, Gradma G was there, Grandpa G and Uncle Justin came down to visit and left before the roads got too bad. Grandpa Mike had to park at the bottom of the hill and hiked across the overpass to the hospital to come visit (he brought McDonald's for Daddy, it fell in the snow but Daddy still ate it!). Grandpa Mike should have stayed a little longer than he did and he would've gotten to meet you, it would've been better than the 3 hour drive home!!! Grandma G was with us the whole time.
It was time for the nurses to change shifts right as I started pushing at 11:18pm. Since the nurses were in the middle of a shift change and first time moms usually push for a long time Daddy held one of my legs while Grandma G held the other so I could keep pushing while they changed nurses.
By now the epidural was starting to wear off to be that pins and needles numb feeling so I could kind of feel the contractions. By the time our nurse had gotten the other up to speed they came over to check me and she was crowning, we were ready to call the doctor. I could feel enough that when the nurse was tapping me saying "push down here" I was able to comply. Since people were stranded at the hospital and the nurse that had been there didn't think she could get home we had several sets of nurses in the room when she was born at 11:48pm. The nurse that had been with me all day had specifically asked if she could stay to see the baby.
Kayda weighed 8lbs 10oz and was 19.5 inches long. They set her on my stomach for Daddy to cut the umbilical cord. Then Daddy went over to video tape her being measured and weighed. By that time I was feeling really tired, I kind of felt like I was in a tunnel and all I wanted to do was go to sleep. It turns out I had a lot of small tears that needed to be stitched up. The tears made my blood pressure go down extremely low. Dr. Duncan had to stop stitching so they could lay me back and prop up my legs to get the blood up where it's needed most. It took a few minutes but I felt better. Though I was still very tired. This gave Daddy a scare for sure! We didn't name her right away, we waited until the next morning when I was a little more alert (Daddy was pretty tired by now too). Kayda spent her first night in her Grandma G's arms in the rocking chair, with the exception of when she needed to eat.
We left the next evening, she wasn't even 24 hours old. It was an adventure getting home with the ice still on the roads and with so many people not knowing how to drive in it. That night was when most people got to come see her! I came to find out later that her Grandpa Mike was also born in the middle of a winterstorm!
Kayda's Big Firsts:
Rolled tummy to back at 1 month 2 days
First Smile (on purpose) at 1 month 2 weeks
Laughed at 2 months 1.5 weeks
Rolled back to tummy at 5 months 1.5 weeks
Sat alone at 5 months and 2 weeks
Pulled to standing at 6 months 4 days
Craweld at 7 months
Learned to sign "milk" at 7 months 1 week
Climbed stairs at 7 months 3 weeks
First word at 8 months 1 week
First steps alone at 9 months 2 weeks
First Pool experiecne at 4 months 2 weeks
What Kayda can do now (I'll add more when I think of them):
Animals sounds: snake, horse, cow, owl, lion, bear, tiger, dog, chicken, bees
Words: Mom (mum), Dad (daddy), Grandma (ma mu), Grandpa (pa), bye, hi, hello, Elmo, bubble, apple, no, mine, baby, up, down, go, water (wa), whoa, more, pull, volleyball (ball-e-ball), word world, water, light, roll, fish
What she can do: Jump (both feet), walk up and down stairs, throw a ball hard and accurately, ride a trike (you have to help her start but she can keep it going a ways), she's a puzzle whiz, swim (with a noodle under her belly), blow bubbles, kick balls, climb fake rock walls among other things
We have very busy Christmas mornings so we had to wake the kids up early. We woke up Dillon and he just wanted to be snuggled until he got himself functioning, when we went in the wake up Kayda we said "It's Christmas, do you want to go open presents" and she sat straight up in the bed with a big smile on her face and said "aye" which is her version of "yes" it must come from her Irish roots.Santa came to visit us on Christmas morning, but the kids got it backwards. The Elmo was meant for Kayda and the sports set for Dillon but they traded and were very entertained with the other person's Santa gift! 
