She's here!!!

Leighton Reese Kacal is here! She arrived on Monday, May 18th at 6:41pm via c-section. She was 7lbs 12oz and 20 1/2 inches long. She has a LOT of blonde wavy hair and looks otherwise a lot like big brother, Garrett!

Monday, I went to the dr. for my 37 week appt. I was 37 weeks 4 days. I had been having some back pain the night before and just didn't feel good. Kaci happened to be at the dr. as well that morning. I went in and was 3cms dialated and 70% effaced. They sent me over to the specialist to get monitored to see if I was contracting, if the back pain was labor or not. Kaci went with me (THANK GOODNESS because I was really scared). They didn't show many contractions but Kaci who had been through that informed the nurse that my breathing changed when I got one and she could tell it was happening more than the machine was showing. They sent me home but told me my OB would be calling me shortly to let me know what they wanted me to do. After about 45minutes my OB called and wanted me to come in to be checked again. I got there and was a 4, 85% effaced...so they sent Michael and I across the street to the hospital to be admitted for my c-section!

Michael and I were both so excited but so not ready for that. He paced nervously and I just kept thinking it was not real.

They got me prepped for surgery and we filled out some paperwork and before we got everyone called and even adjusted to the idea ourselves we were in surgery having our baby girl!

Leighton Reese Kacal was born at 6:41pm on May 18th, 2009. She weighed 7lbs 12oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. She came out with a head of blonde hair and deep blue eyes. SHe scored an 8 and 9 on her apgar and then a 9 and 10 on the second. She had to go to the nursery for some oxygen but got to our room about midnight. She fed like she knew exactly what to do and amazingly I did too!

We had great hospital care, lots of friends, and family came to see us. Garrett and Caden love their baby sister but Garrett was a little concerned about his Mommy! My mom came down and stayed with us for the week and has been so much help! The boys have enjoyed having her around!

Here are some pictures!!!! We've been so busy but hope to hear from you all soon!!!

Count down....16 more days AT MOST

So yesterday I got an email that some how made reality set in. It was from Melisse asking about payment for the next weeks. I have known for a while that Cayden and Cole's last day with me would be next Friday 5-22 to get ready for Leighton's arrival. Somehow the question she asked hit me that HEY thats next Friday. For some reason that sent me into a little panic yesterday. I'm not sure what it was exactly I was cramping, I was having a little braxton hicks, my stomach was really upset. I laid in bed last night...after my breakdown just trying to figure out what I was going to do with Caden and Garrett if I were to go into labor before the 29th. I got up washed the dishes from dinner, repacked my bag for the hospital, checked my camera to be sure it was charged, laughed at myself...got back in bed, tried to think more about what to do with the boys. All the while my back is cramping up and my stomach is hurting. I convinced myself to go to sleep...if it were labor it would wake me up or keep me up. Last I looked at the clock it was 3am. Needless to say getting up this morning was not fun.

I went to the dr. for my 37 week appt. Now according to my last menstrual period I am 37 weeks today but according to my first ultrasound at 6 weeks I am 36 weeks 4 days which is what my dr. office is going by...either way it doesn't matter. SO I go in and the nurse---who is the best EVER!!! measured me and she looked at me funny and said 37 weeks right and I explained and she laughed and measured me again and looking a little puzzled or amused told me my belly is measuring 39 1/2 weeks and I dropped. LOL. I can't quite guess if she's going to be big or not. Some days I just don't feel like she is as big as Garrett then I hear she's measuring 4 weeks ahead and think ok yes she is!

Rhonda said my contractions are likely the result of what they call uterine irritability...best way I can explain is that as my uterus is measuring 39 1/2 weeks and as it stretches to its capacity it gets a little irritable and contracts...these contractions don't really help things happen though...but they are not quite Braxton hicks. She told me that if I were to come in at a 3 or more it was straight to Labor and Delivery but if I came in at a 2 but not in any pain or discomfort they'd let me go home and wait to see how much longer I could go at this point. She gave me the option of getting checked but I opted not to. I don't think I am in labor, I hadn't been contracting this morning and I think I can make it AT LEAST another week to my next appt when they will check me regardless. The last thing I want to do is make things happen faster. LOL! She said Leighton's heartrate is still in the 150s she was moving around a lot...everything looked great. Blood pressure was low but good. Sometimes having such an easy pregnancy makes me worry about the delivery OR the baby HAHA!

I definitely dropped last Friday...not only can I tell by how I feel but everyone has commented. Cole even asked me why I was walking like a duck...the girl at the Science Spectrum commented, random people and people close to me. Its definitely that time in my pregnancy.

So from today I have 16 days left at most but it could be any day now which is both super exciting and terrifying for some reason! So keep us in your prayers. We can't wait to meet our little girl! I go back to the dr. next Monday so we'll know a little more maybe then but I am confident I will make it...I believe it the power of positive thinking...I told Kaci this as she errupted in laughter...to some extent I guess!

One more month

I cannot believe we're already to this point. I am 35 weeks 3 days, Leighton will be born in 4 weeks and a day! Its crazy to think that, this pregnancy has gone by so fast but we are so ready to welcome our daughter into our family. I went to the dr. last on Tuesday. She said everything was perfect with me and little Miss Leighton. She is measuring only a week ahead now so we're thinking maybe she won't be as big as her brother. Nothing really to report because everything is going so well. Leighton is doing a lot of nudging and adjusting, and has the hiccups a lot. I am feeling pretty good. I am getting to that stage where sleeping is hard, being comfortable is hard, my feet swell like balloons especially with this heat...but that is all I can complain about and that is good with me! We have mostly everything finished for her. All I need to do is wash clothes and pack our bags but I think I will wait a few weeks for that. I've been nesting like a crazy woman and Michael is loving it...Caden is hating it. I can't seem to get the house clean enough and with 6 kids in and out its a never ending project...one I can't seem to get good enough. I didn't do this with Garrett so its kind of fun. I hope it lasts for the next 4 weeks though and I don't get so worn out!
We're staying busy trying to focus on the day to days and weeks at hand and I think thats where the time has gone. The boys generally have games about 3-4 days between them and practices several times a week as well. They defnitely keep us busy.
Last weekend, Caden competed in the Little League Pitch, hit, and Run competition. He actually tied for 1st place and will advance to Sectional finals in Midland over Memorial day. Unfortunately I won't be allowed to go watch him....since that is the weekend before Leighton's arrival. If he were to win that he would then go to Ranger's stadium for the state competition from there he would go to the All Star MLB game in St.Louis! Its a huge deal and we're really proud of him. He's been doing so well with baseball this year! I can't believe there are 21 days of elementary school left for Caden. It seems like yesterday that I was leaving him at Kindergarten bawling my eyes out...he's growing up pretty fast! We're pretty proud of the kid he has become! It occurred to me this week that when Leighton goes to Kindergarten Caden will be driving!!! SCARY!
Garrett is doing well...he is REALLY excited for his sister to be here. He asks me a lot how many days do we have left. This week I had told him 30 and he said OH I can even count to that! Even he realized its coming quick! He loves to kiss my belly and talk to his sister--via my belly button which apparently not only is a microphone but he is convinced if he sticks his finger in there he can touch her ;) He's doing well with Tball, enjoying every minute of it and looking forward to starting swimming lessons this summer. He's really REALLY looking forward to Caden being out of school and home with him! Daddy has told him he'd take them fishing and to the golf course and he's pretty excited. He's growing up too fast too!!!
28 more days and our little family will be complete! We can't wait!

Leighton's best friends

An amazing thing happened this week. My best friends, Kaci and Kodi Scott had their twin babies. Laney Kayte and Mason William were born on 4-6-09 at 4:54 and 4:56 respectively. Of course I went up to see them as soon as I could on Monday evening. I got to hold Mason first, all 6lbs 2oz of him. He is absolutely adorable, he has the sweetest little face and makes the funniest expressions. He also makes all kind of funny sounds. Even as early as Monday he would look around and smile...sure they say its gas but he sure does it at the right time! Next, I got to hold Laney, all 6lbs 3oz of her! She is a beautiful baby girl! Something about her reminds me of her big sister.She has slept every time I have held her. Last night I even got to feed Laney!!! It was so wonderful. Holding them has made me realize just how much fun the 4 of us are going to have soon...and how blessed I am to be able to watch the 3 of them grow up together.
Last night I was holding Mason and Leighton got to really moving and kicking. I thought it was so funny. Mason just laid there sleeping like ya ya I've been through this before. Later I held Laney and Leighton just starting kicking like wild again. She would kick so hard Laney would kind of bounce a little. Then Laney would stretch her little legs out as though to kick back. Haha! It was really quite amusing to me...We just had to have a little conversation with Leighton last night about her staying put for at least 6 more weeks...just because her friends are born doesn't mean its time for her to come just yet!
We are all so happy for Kodi and Kaci and SO glad to have Laney and Mason here. They weren't born on my birthday but they sure got to go home healthy, happy and perfect on my birthday which is pretty special!

Baseball

Well Garrett had his very first REAL tball game Saturday. Its quite precious. They don't keep score, everyone gets to bat until they hit the ball, no one gets out, they go through each team's entire line up and switch twice. Garrett says he won the game 80-70! He is VERY proud. He hit on the first try every time. He played 1st base and 2nd base and he did WONDERFULLY! Its fun to watch him being such a big boy now...but kind of sad at the same time!!!! Caden is doing phenomenal on his new team. He's pretty regularly the pitcher unless he gets "burned" which means he goes over his max pitch count. He's been batting well and playing the best he has ever! We couldn't be more proud of our boys!!!

30 week ultrasound

Well this morning Michael, Garrett, and I got to get another glimpse at our precious baby girl. She looked great. They looked at her brain and head, her heart, her abdomen,her kidneys and other organs, her legs, arms...and everything. They said everything was text book perfect and they saw no potential problems or concerns. They showed me again that she is in fact a girl...this time not even I can doubt it...it was pretty plain as day. So its official OFFICIAL, we're having a girl! They did the measurments of the different parts to get an idea of her weight. They said she was 4lbs 9oz. The doctor said that was pretty big...but he wasn't surprised. In fact, it puts her ahead in growth by about 3 weeks. Of course that doesn't change anything but just means she is following in her brother's footsteps as he measure consistently 4 weeks ahead from this point on. We got to see her in 3D which was cool but quick. Garrett asked if she was a baby pig because her nose was pushed up against the uterine wall and she did have a little pig nose but she quickly moved and we could see her cute little round nose and chubby cheeks.
Its hard to believe there are only 8 weeks left. I got some great pictures but I will have to put them up in a few days when I get them scanned. We'll keep you updated but so far everything is going very well. My blood pressure is good, I haven't had any complications, weight gain is good. Seems everything is on track for a precious new addition to our family in 2 months!!!

28 weeks!

Just another uneventful dr. appt today. Nothing too exciting to report. Leighton is measuring right at 28 weeks, which scared me at first since Garrett averaged 4-6 weeks ahead the whole pregnancy....but she just might not be as big as he was. Her heart rate was a steady 140, a little lower than it had been but she was sleeping. Everything looked good. My anemia is only slight now. Just another 10 1/2 weeks! Everything looks good with both of us!