Jesse and Marissa

Well I guess each child you have the time goes by faster because you are busier with the other kids as well. To be honest I kinda laugh about things I worried so much with Corbin but I must say he was my hardest baby so far and the fact he was my first and just learning how to be a mom in general made it harder. I'm definitely more laid back and don't stress about the little things as much. I'm used to being home all day by myself with all three of them and sometimes I really do question how I kept busy with only one child but as we have heard before we always feel like we are maxed out but we can handle what Heavenly Fathers knows we can at the time. But I'm glad by the 3rd I feel like I have the hang of it better! ;)

On to update about Mikaela...or I should say just how things have been the first month of her life. She has been a good baby so far and I sure hope it continues! :) She pretty content for the most part and isn't too demanding-with her brothers needing me so much its a good thing! She feeds every 2 hours day and night and maybe a few times has gone longer but not more than 3 hours! She's pretty fast too so I am really glad I can feed her quickly when needed. It seemed like she would only half feed and fall asleep a lot of the time-and you really can't force her if she doesn't want to or if she's too tired-but she seemed to go the same length between feedings so she just did her own thing! I feel like anytime I did try to force more she just threw up (happened twice right before bed and had to change my sheets and clothes) Of course she's still in the newborn phase and sleeps a good amount. Some days she needs to be held more than others to actually sleep but the swing has been great and so have my wraps to carry her in. We stay busy doing things with the boys and she's been good about going out!
She spits up but I'm crossing my fingers that she doesn't start to more! It will be nice not to have a child with reflux! But I do have plenty of burp clothes stored up now...but I'll still just hope she doesn't spit up much!

Just about every morning between 5-6 she has a long (sometimes around an hour) episode wear she just grunts and grunts and seems a bit frustrated but most of the time her eyes aren't opened. Occasionally she will cry a bit but mostly just squirming and grunting. I'm half awake and get to the point I try to ignore it and go back to sleep but I believe once she either passes gas or poops she feels better and goes back to sleep or I feed her back to a deeper sleep cause it's just that time to feed again.

I'll have to admit that we basically co-sleep. She starts out in a rock n play on the side of our bed but sometimes I fall asleep when feeding her laying down and next thing I know she's awake for the next feeding but most the time I get her back in the rock n play for a little bit before the next feeding. I get the most sleep this way and keep my sanity! Oh I wish I could tell my new mom self this instead of torturing myself and making me wake up and walk to the other room feed in a chair and fall asleep with a kinked neck. This way I can stay half asleep and I'm not dying from being so tired! I am the worst at night! The first two weeks when she would poop multiple times at night it was so hard for me to get completely out of bed and change her diaper-I can hardly function at night...I've always been that way and definitely need my sleep!

We definitely love all her hair! It's a beautiful color and so thick! I hope it stays the color-it's a beautiful dark brown but you can definitely see red in it especially outside in the light! But it will probably change a little bit at least. Of course everyone comments on it! I've gotten asked so many times if my other children had that much hair-Corbin had quite a bit and Gavin was basically bald so she definitely wins! I still like her in a bow always because she can still look like a little baby boy with matted down greasy hair ha ha! It's definitely fun to have a baby girl with a lot of hair though! I hope it doesn't fall out or get a bald spot in the back! She has already pulled her own hair-sometimes when she reaches her arms above her head her little hand will grasp her hair!

The boys have been really good with her so far! No scares yet and I hope they continue to be careful! Gavin is usually the one to ask to hold her and loves to then Corbin wants a turn after! Gavin tends to call her baby and genuinely shows that he cares about her and worries if she's crying. Corbin has been a good helper and makes sure Gavin doesn't get too close to her at times. If I have moved her somewhere they tend to ask where she is but for the most part they still do their own thing.
We loved having visitors and I really think it helped with the transition. The boys needed a lot of attention (and still do) but I was sure glad to have help!

1 Month Old!

Well I guess I would start with how the whole pregnancy I really questioned how accurate my due date was-since they had to go off measurements! I asked my doctor a few times throughout just to get his opinion and he always said I was measuring on for the due date they gave me. Some days I felt huge and thought I will definitely go early and other days I questioned that I might go over my due date when I was feeling pretty comfortable. When it came down to the week of my due date I kinda assume that it would follow the pattern of my other two pregnancy and I would go a few days before. My Dad, Lezlee, Candace and Curtis and Vince all came down to visit for General Conference weekend since it was a good time to be able to get off work and not have other responsibilities. They knew there was a possibility that I wouldn't have her by the time they got here but then I just thought in my head--"well I can just put myself into labor once they are here if not..." and I really didn't worry about it. (since I was kinda able to have the other two when I wanted I assume I could if I really wanted to again...yes I know I needing some humbling done haha)

The week before they came Gavin got Hand foot and mouth--and I kinda freaked out! I was really stressing about who would watch the boys because I had already lined up some friends for when I went into labor but they all had kids and with it being so contagious there was no way I would want their kids to be around it and get it as well. Gavin broke out pretty bad-thankfully he only had a little fever for a few hours then the next day he was super clingy and just wanted to cuddle cause you could tell her wasn't feeling the best but besides that it wasn't that bad-just the stressing about not knowing what to do with the boys! Thankfully again I had my options as far I called my relief society president and she said they could figure stuff out if needed but still...

So then my feelings of wanting to have her before my family all came switched to hoping she stayed in till they got here! They came Thursday night and Friday I was officially in "get myself into labor" mode-even though I really didn't care for her birthday to be April 1st..for many reasons. So Friday passed and I wasn't super disappointed but now worried if I would go into labor while they were here. Saturday I even went running with the double stroller-I mean I didnt run further than like 400 yards at a time but we did go on a 4 mile round trip walk to the park! We went out and ran errands for a couple hours that night-and the only thing it did was make me feet hurt and make me tired! Sunday morning was my last tiny bit of hope but I was pretty defeated at that point knowing they had to leave early afternoon but I did try bouncing on an exercise ball...but nothing at all was happening. So we had to say goodbye but Candace reminded me Vince came the day after I left Utah even though we tried to put her into labor so I couldn't be there as well. I was probably most disappointed for their sake but they came to just visit with us as well and we definitely enjoyed them here!

I decided 4/4/16 4/5/16 and 4/6/16 were all good birthdays and I was going to be happy with those...or my mom was coming Friday and I secretly knew the whole time she was kinda hoping I didn't go into labor-she didn't want to miss out...and lets me honest I kinda knew she wanted to be the first one to meet her! ha! ;) She was disappointed that she couldn't come earlier but she had finals for school so that was the earliest she was able to come.

Monday morning my friend, Laurie James, invited me over to her house so she could do my nails! (which was super nice of her and I was happy to have them done before I had her) As I was getting ready to go over I definitely felt different and even text Jesse that I was getting closer because of how I was feeling-no contractions but something felt a little off I guess you can say. As I was getting my nails done I went down hill kinda quickly as far as my body started aching and I felt a little nauseous. My back and legs were aching and I kinda felt like I was getting the flu. Candace had told me Vince threw up in the car on the way home (which she thought he just got car sick) and my first thought was "shoot, I am getting the flu or something" I started to worry about being sick while in labor. She finished my nails and I apologize that I had to leave right after because I started getting the chills and just felt awful! I went home and was completely exhausted! I grabbed a blanket and went outside to sit in the sun-which is was about 80 degrees outside but I was freezing! I laid there not even being able to move much because my lower back and legs were just aching so bad! I felt bad because it was lunch time so the boys were hungry but I seriously felt like I couldn't move or do anything so I just let them eat whatever they could grab-which really we don't have much easy access food-they grabbed cheese and apples-Corbin was even worried that I didn't wash his apple but I told him its ok this time haha! (I looked at the time this snapchat was taken at it was 11:23)

I hadn't felt this awful in a long time and I was worried about going into labor because I was completely exhausted and felt like I could barely function! I got an awful headache-I don't get headaches very often but it was really bad. I knew it was partly from not sleeping very well the night before and clenching my teeth because of lack of sleep. I laid on the couch and Jesse said he could come home from work and help get the boys fed and down for a nap. Gavin sadly passed out on the ground and I just let Corbin play the iPad as I was in and out. Thankfully Jesse was able to help us and I was able to go lay down and rest a little. I told him to go back to work so that he could finish anything up just in case I would need him again. I was able to find a comfortable position laying down but if I moved or tried to stand up I was in a lot of pain. I kept having the feeling that maybe she was just coming down more and hitting a nerve or in the wrong place and causing my legs and back to hurt. I then realized I could be having back labor-I read up with how some people said they couldn't really feel contraction in the belly because the pain in the lower back was constant. I realized my belly was contracting but I wasn't feeling anything painful. I got on all 4 and rocked back and forth for a while. Thankfully after my little nap I was feeling a little better as far as not completely exhausted. Jesse came back home around 4:00 but what was bothering me the most at the point was the pounding headache. If I walked around too much then my legs and back would ache so then I would just lay down again and I would try to notice if anything was happening but it would just stop when I laid down. But then I kinda wanted to speed things along because at this point I knew I was in the beginning of labor since I was having contractions but since they weren't painful I knew it would be a while unless I tried walking around to get things going more.

Around 5:30 I decided to finally call labor and delivery to see what their thoughts were because I was actually contracting around 5 minutes but again nothing painful-my other two labors once they started the gradually got worse and I knew I was for sure in labor. But I mostly called to see what they suggested for the headache that was causing me to not be able to function and if I should worry about that (I knew a headache was a sign of high blood pressure but I also was pretty sure that wasn't my problem since my BP was normal the whole pregnancy and I usually get headaches when I clench my teeth) Of course they had to tell me to be safe to just come in and get checked--I didn't really like that answer because I didn't want to labor at the hospital and I knew since my contractions weren't painful that I didn't want to go in yet.

I was texting my friend Roxana who volunteered to watch the boys when I went into labor that I didn't know what to do! It was close to 7:00pm at this time and I did't know if I should assume that I would go into labor during the night and just bring the boys over to her house to sleep or just wait and call her and have her come over in the middle of the night. I decided to just put the boys to sleep at our house because the contractions weren't completely regular or painful. (even though I did have contractions around 3 minutes apart at one time--but I could walk and talk through them and no one would know I was really having a contraction)

By 8:30 I was in bed and knew if I laid down they probably would be inconsistent again or maybe even stop. (I know plenty of woman that have contractions consistently and then they just stop for weeks before they have the baby) At this point I thought it would be nice to get some sleep and go into labor in the morning. I was still trying to time the contractions but was dozing off. If they were strong enough to wake me up then I would time them (I had an app on my phone). I dozed off and around 9:35 I woke up to a pop down there and I said "uh oh" as I jumped out of bed! My water had broke! (I must say that is a weird feeling!) I hurried and went to the bathroom and before I know it Jesse was on the phone with Roxana and told her to come over right away! Jesse was a bit worried because with both Corbin and Gavin my water had broke as I was pushing them out so in his mind he freaked out thinking the baby was going to be here in the next 5-10 minutes! She was over at our house within just a few minutes and we left right to the hospital. In the car the contractions definitely got a lot more painful and I knew things were progressing along now for sure! ha! (I definitely couldn't talk through them and was in pain)

We had to go through the ER and Jesse pushed me in a wheel chair through the hospital and up to the labor and deliver floor. Between each contraction we were still being jovial-but Jesse admitted that was his way of getting though it because labor really makes him anxious and he really doesn't like it. We checked in at the nurses station around 10:10ish. I got undressed and they checked to see if my water really did break-which of course there was no denying that as far as it wasn't a little trickle of water that came out. They told me I was dilated to a 4. WHAT!? ONLY a 4! My first thought was well bummer I really didn't want to labor at the hospital long because I hate those stinking monitors on my belly! As they were getting my IV in and everything ready the contractions were getting really intense. They questioned if I wanted an epidural but Jesse assured them that I had the two previous babies natural with no epidural but I was a little nervous with how painful they were getting! I knew if I already did it two times before I could do it again--but it sure is hard to reassure myself of that in that moment. I was going to try to walk to my assigned room but then decided a wheel chair would be best when I hard painful contraction came on.

We got to the room and they were setting everything up. I am GPS positive (group B strep) and so they had to get antibiotics started--which honestly I really didn't want those as well and partly why I didn't want to labor at the hospital. I had two nurses because one was training. The one nurse left to go get the antibiotics I belief and so it was Jesse and the training nurse. She was trying to get me to answer some question and then sign some papers but the contractions were getting closer together and that was the last thing I wanted to do when I was trying to make it through them. A really painful contraction started and Jesse was trying to comfort me...and then it wasn't stopping it just kept going. Not going to lie, I started moaning pretty loud and then my body started bearing down. The nurse was like "uh no no don't bear down! breath!! blow out candles!" I tried to "blow out candles" but my body just kept bearing down. She then decides to check me and looks up and says "call the doctor!!" I was crowning at that point (Jesse later had to tell me that he could see the head--and he was not expecting or really wanting to be right there in the action...and I joked saying "yeah you don't have to tell me I could feel it!!" ) On the way to the hospital he even asks me kindly-"is it ok if I sit down in the corner if needed" I knew he has a hard time with this and that was totally fine with me. But at that point he didn't really have a choice.

I had about 4-5 nurses rush into my room and they told Jesse to grab my leg. The bed had not even been taken down (no stirrups in position or anything) and next thing you know through that next contraction she was out! (they did have to cut the cord real fast as she was coming out because it was wrapped around her head) As the nurse said "she came out swimming still" because she kinda came shooting out...but that doesn't mean it was necessary easy. I am not quite sure at what point the on-call hospital doctor came in since she was a women and was dressed the same as the nurses but she help me deliver my placenta and then my doctor arrived shortly after that to stitch me up. So just about an hour after arriving to the hospital she was born at 11:09pm that Monday night with a full head of hair!

Mikaela Kim
7 lbs 11 oz 20 inches

the next late morning the boys came with Jesse and met their sister. They both love to hold her and kiss her! They are really sweet to her! (but don't really need more than a minute of it ha!)

The day after she was born all she wanted to do was nurse all day long! If she wasn't nursing she was screaming and only would calm down if I nursed her--I was a bit worried about how it was all going to work with three kids now and if she was going to be a really hard baby! Thankfully I was at the hospital alone with her so it was possible to do that but thankfully the next day she wasn't like that!