Christmas Week

Kason's updates: Kason will be 18 months old in just a few days. With his sister coming early, the two of them are 17 months and 10 days apart. He has been a good big brother already. He is very aware of when "baby" is crying and loves to find her eyes and ears. I'm very glad her eyes and ears are still attached! Kason got over the Hand Foot Mouth virus pretty quickly considering the stories we have heard about the virus. We are glad he didn't get any sores on his hands and feet and only in his mouth. Just as he got back to a good eating and sleeping routine, he started fevering and throwing up on Saturday night. He is quite the trooper for not feeling good for so long, although he does have periods where he seems to feel better. Kason loves to play with trucks and trailers that hook together. He also loves playing with horses. The other day Kolt found him on his rocking horse trying to balance 3 toy horses he has in his hand while trying to rock. It was pretty cute! He says tons of words! He repeats most words you say pretty clearly. Some of his new words are clean up, snack, candy, treat, Apple, why (for Super Why), book, beep (for anytime the microwave or oven beeps), drink, juice, need help, stuck,  dressed, socks, and boots. He loves to go shopping in town with Grandpa Lindley any time he will take him. He has started a new trick called screaming--we are working on learning how to say "help" or "stuck" instead of screaming when he wants something. He got pretty used to the Christmas countdown calendar that Grandpa Piquet gave him. On Christmas night after we read scriptures, he remembered the routine and said "Candy, candy!" Unfortunately the candy was all gone! Kason is a sweet boy and loves to go, go, go!

Kolay's updates: Kolay is a great baby! She makes it easy on her parents. She loves to sleep, and I usually have to wake her up about every 3 hours to eat. Sometimes she does stir on her own, but she rarely cries when she is hungry. She hardly cries at all! At night, she sleeps 6-8 hours, eats, and then sleeps another 3-4. She likes to lie on the floor or in her bouncer and kick and kick for the small amount of time she is ever awake! I forgot how much newborns sleep! She has beautiful Piquet skin and a Lindley nose.  She is changing every day and looking more and more like her mother.  At her doctor appointment last week, she weighed 7 lbs 10 oz already, gaining back her birth weight and another oz in one week instead of the expected 2 weeks. During her first week, she choked at least once a feeding, enough to really scare her momma. She has done lots better this second week, although this week she started getting a little mucus in her throat. It sounds like she just needs to clear her throat. The doctor listened to her lungs and said everything is good, so not much to worry about until then. We also noticed it is usually only bad in the evenings and nights and in the day she doesn't seem to have a problem with it. She is still very pleasant and had somehow avoided all the sicknesses!

We haven't been up to much this week besides staying out of the cold and trying to get feeling better! Here's a few of the highlights of the week:

On Monday the 22nd, we had Kolay's 1-week appointment. Thanks Grandpa Lindley for watching Kason! Today was the day I was scheduled to be induced. It is crazy to think Kolay has already been with us for 9 days. We already can't imagine life without our little girl.

On Tuesday the 23rd, Kolt and Kason enjoyed being outside while the weather was still nice, playing lots of basketball and going to see the horses. In the afternoon, Kason and I went with Grandpa Lindley, Nathan and Brooke to the zoo to see the animals and sit on Santa’s lap. Kason wasn’t too sure about it this year, but we had a good time at the zoo!

On Christmas Eve, we had a busy day! Kolt and Kason went with Grandpa Lindley and cousins to McDonald's to give all the parents time to do some last minute Christmas things. Kolay and I stayed home and got ready for the day.  Kason had a great time. Kolt said he watched and watched the cousins play on the toys for a while before he ventured to play too. He went down the slide all by himself before the morning was over. After the boys got home, we took and kids and decided to deliver some Christmas cards to friends and family. Fortunately for us, the kids both slept almost the entire time in the car. We made several stops but it went quickly as many weren't home. It was great to visit with my Grandma Dalling, Kolt's Aunt Karla and Uncle Scott, and my friend Jocelyn. We decided to stop at Bambino's, one of my favorite places to eat, on the way home. We did a little Christmas wrapping at Shauna's house before we made it home. We were home for just a minute before we headed over to Natalie's house. She and Brady invited us over for a little FHE, nativity reenactment, and dinner. It was great! We watched a short nativity movie and then she gave us a small paper to write what our gift to Christ would be this year. We brought them home to hang on the tree and they are on the bulletin board now for us to be reminded of all year. After the activity, we dressed up for the nativity. All of us were a part of the scene and my dad was the narrator. I was Mary, Kolt was a wise man, Kason was a Shepard, and Kolay was baby Jesus. Kason wasn't quite so interested in playing the part, but he was a part of it! Dinner was delicious as well. Thanks, Natalie and Brady, for letting us be a part of your night!

After leaving Natalie's, we stopped by the house and picked up our gifts and bags to go stay out at Grandpa and Grandma Piquet's house for Christmas Eve night. We opened Kolay and Kason’s Christmas pajamas and last book, ate stew for dinner, and watched The Hobbit. Kolt ran back home late at night because we realized we forgot some gifts and needed a play pen for Kason to sleep in. Kason must've been excited for Christmas because he did not want to go to sleep!

We had a very special Christmas this year. We opened gifts at about 8:30 on Christmas morning. Thank goodness the kids slept in! We enjoyed watching Kason open his gifts very carefully, one piece at a time. We learned that opening gifts with an 18-month old wasn't quite what we had expected. He was pretty overwhelmed and was only interested in one or two of the toys! We had yummy breakfast burritos afterwards. At 11, we came back to our house to Skype with Elder Lindley.  It was great to see him! He reminded us that we could still write him even though he comes home in 5 months! After the Skype we had Brisket for dinner and did our gift exchange. We enjoyed the afternoon with the Lindley cousins.  In the evening, we had Prime rib for dinner with Piquet's. Kason liked playing with cousin Paisley. When we got home, both kids were baked and went to bed early! We enjoyed spending quality time with family, time that we will always remember. We are so thankful for the many thoughtful and generous gifts that our family received. Our hearts are very full. We also are so happy to have Kolay be with us this Christmas. It was definitely the sweetest gift! We are very grateful for our Savior, for his birth and his life. We will always remember the ultimate gift!

 
On Friday, we spent most of the cleaning the house and finding room in the house for new things. Kason and Kolt went with Bryant, Kylen, Kamrie, and Grandpa to the zoo but found out it was closed. Kason had a good time playing with Kamrie and Kylen for the day while they were visiting. He liked to follow Kamrie around and do whatever she was doing, including doing somersaults.

On Saturday the 27th, Kolt went to church basketball in the morning and then over to shoot skeet at his parents with the Howard family. When he got home, I went to play volleyball at Bonneville. Several of the alumni came to play so it was fun to play. I wasn't so sure I could play 2-weeks postpartum but I did pretty well considering that! I was sure tired quick and I'm still sore today! Kolt worked an evening shift. Makayla came over that night too just in time for Kason to throw up! I'm so glad she was there! She was a huge help! I love when she visits from Wyoming!

Sunday we decided not to take Kason who was throwing up in the night or Kolay to church. We were thankful for the Priesthood for bringing us the Sacrament. We spent the day resting and trying to get Kason healthy. In the evening, I got a call from the Stake Presidency asking if I would play the organ for the ward boundary meeting. The stake split our ward and another large ward and made a 12th ward. We are now a part of the new 10th ward and are moving to the Virlow building which is now quite a good drive. We are going to the 1-4 time which is not super exciting for us! Anyways, change is hard, but good!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Kolay's 1st Week & Kason's Sickness

We have had an exciting week! Kolay Piquet was born on 12-13-14 at 2:30 PM. She weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and measured 20 inches long.  At Susan’s 37-week doctor’s appointment, she was dilated to a 4 and the baby’s head was low. Our doctor offered to strip Susan’s membranes because everything looked good.  Early Saturday morning she started having contractions 15 minutes apart. I unfortunately had a cross country ski trip planned for one of my classes and about seven minutes after I had left for the trip Susan called me and told me that she thought the contractions were legitimate. I was going to take my little brother Rope on the skiing trip, but with the ski trip canceled I decided I would pick him up and take him back to shoot hoops instead of going on the ski trip. We went back to the house and played ball at the church while Susan walked laps around the gym until the contractions were 3 minutes apart.

We left Rope with Kason at our house and headed to the hospital. At the hospital they quickly admitted us at around 8:50 am and gave Susan an epidural. At around 1:00 pm the nurse checked Susan and she was dilated to a 9! I then predicted that we’d have a baby before 2:30 pm. Later at around 2:00 the Dr. Allphin came in and broke Susan’s water and checked her again and she was dilated to a 10. The doctor said that with a couple more contractions the baby would come down a little more and that he’d be back in 20 minutes. Just like the doctor said twenty minutes later Susan was pushing and the baby was in sight! The doctor then asked me if I wanted to deliver the baby. I was a little hesitant, but then Dr. Allphin gave me medical school in a minute and I was ready. As I was pulling the baby out, I can remember Allphin’s firm words “Just don’t drop her”. Luckily I took heed to his words even though Kolay was quite slippery and laid her up on Susan’s chest. We then had around 10 minutes to just sit and look at Kolay which was pretty awesome.

The next couple days went great in the hospital. Kolay passed all of her examinations with flying colors, and on Monday around 2:00 pm we were ready to take her home. Shauna had taken Kason for the day, and once we were home she brought him back to us. Kason unfortunately had come down with a fever over the weekend, and we had to try to keep him away from his new baby sister for the next couple of days. Also while we were in the hospital, Rebecca came down with pneumonia which added to our worries of keeping Kolay healthy.

Unfortunately for me, I still had to worry about finals. The time in the hospital to some might have seemed like great time to study for my finals, but somehow having a new baby daughter kept me more than occupied. I had finals on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. So I spent a large amount of time on Monday studying for Tuesday and after the final on Tuesday studying for Wednesday and so on. Luckily I had done a good job of studying throughout the semester and with a little luck I was able to get the ever elusive “A” on all of them.

During this same stretch of time, Kason’s condition continued to worsen. At first we thought it may just be teeth because Kason was drooling excessively, but he soon developed a little cough and sinus congestion. Susan had quite the battle trying to keep Kason away from Kolay. We were very grateful to have Kristi come up on Tuesday to help Susan with Kason and Kolay as well as cook some meals. We also enjoyed visits from my parents a couple of nights.  Susan was also supposed to accompany the RMMS Choir for their final performance on Tuesday, and she was grateful they found a substitute.  She has really enjoyed playing this semester and will miss having music to practice.  Kason continued to be sick on Tuesday, and it seemed like he was practically drinking from the Tylenol and Motrin bottles to keep his fever in check. On Wednesday after my final I took him in to Family First to get a professional opinion. After a quick examination by Shelley (the new PA at Family First), she found that Kason had multiple sores in his mouth and diagnosed with the hand foot mouth virus. Shelley told us that the hand foot mouth virus takes about 7 to 10 days to run its course and that there was really no medication that would help us. We figured that Kason had probably been battling the virus for a number of days and took hope in the fact that maybe we were almost over it. Kason was very miserable for the next couple of days hardly sleeping during the nights of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. On Saturday Kason’s condition began to improve and today he has been back to his mischievous self, finding plenty of ways to get into trouble (which somehow I was actually happy for the old self).

On Friday, we received some very exciting news. A large packet from ISU’s PA program arrived for me. I was very surprised because after missing the early offer cut off line by 0.05 points they informed me that I wouldn’t be hearing anything until March. I opened up the packet with little enthusiasm and lo and behold it was a formal offer for a seat at the Pocatello campus. We are ecstatic for the good news, but are going to wait a few days to make our decision.

On Saturday my old mission companion, Christopher Ransom, was sealed in the Logan Temple. Lance decided to drive down with me and take the time to see his mother. Kason spent the day with my parents, going to Brand’s basketball game and other activities.  Susan spent the day with Kolay and her mom, taking Kolay’s newborn pictures.  She is learning lots about her camera.  The sealing was beautiful and Chris and Melanie looked very happy. After the sealing, I went to the dinner for the couple and was quite entertained as the siblings of the newlyweds took turns roasting and giving advice to each of the newlyweds. On the way home we facetimed with Susan and she held the camera up to the TV so we could watch the BYU vs Penn St national championship match. We were pretty bummed that BYU lost, but it was a great season.

Today, we decided that Kolay was probably still a little too young to take to church so we stayed home. I did go during Sunday School and teach my class. We spent the rest of today taking some family pictures and working on family crafts. I also took advantage of the down time to start some holiday reading. I am taking an organic evolution class this upcoming semester so I bought a book called Mormonism and Evolution that contains all of the official statements from the First Presidency. It has been interesting reading and hopefully during the upcoming semester will come in handy if the church’s position is ever questioned.

Overall this week has been a busy one, but an amazing one. Kolay has just been a little angel which has been much appreciated by her parents with Kason being so sick. We feel such a great amount of love for Kolay and Kason and are so happy to see our little family grow.

Although this week is definitely the highlight of the letter, I wanted to mention a couple of things from the previous week as we didn’t get a family letter written last week.  I had my last week of official class for the semester.  Susan spent the week accompanying the choir, working at the Post Register, getting things ready for the time she would be home with the baby, and attending Brand’s basketball games.  Tuesday he played West Jefferson.  It was neat to see him guard Susan’s cousin’s son Clay Roundy. We also went down to Blackfoot on Thursday and watched an intense game.  Afterwards, we enjoyed dinner with my family.

Kolay Piquet

Kolay Piquet was born at 2:30 PM on December 13, 2014 weighing 7 lbs.9 oz. and measuring 20 inches long.  I finally got it finished! I love writing birth stories because I love re-reading them to help me remember the details of the special day, and I feel like I’m already forgetting things at age 22. Just like Kason’s birth story, this is really long, so feel free to skip through to the pictures! Here is Kolay’s birth story:

On Wednesday, December 10th, I had my 37-week doctor’s appointment with Dr. Allphin at the Rigby Monarch Healthcare office.  Kason and I met Kolt there.  I had gained 23 pounds so far this pregnancy. I had also been a little dehydrated and holding protein in my urine, but at this appointment, everything was right where it needed to be.  This pregnancy had already been much better than Kason’s as far as nausea,but this pregnancy really drained me physically.  Keeping up with Kason really adds to the pregnancy fatigue.  I also worried that this baby was going to be as big as Kason, and the doctor assured me that we wouldn't let that happen.  Kason’s delivery was really hard on me, and it took a lot longer than normal to recover. At this appointment, I was dilated to 4 cm. The baby’s head was down low, and my body was ready to have a baby. My doctor offered to strip membranes which Kolt and I felt good about, so we gave the doctor the okay.  It didn’t hurt as bad as I expected, but I had Kolt hold my hand just in case. Dr. Allphin explained that there was a 50/50 chance I would go into labor in the next 24 hours, but that he wasn’t very aggressive and would be more aggressive next week if I hadn’t had her.  At that point, we were excited!

I had to go into work that afternoon to print checks and decided I had better finish a few other things in case I had a baby.  We spent lots of time with Kason in the evening, still thinking we could go be going to the hospital that night.  I had contractions for the rest of the day, but nothing very painful or timeable.  Well, we didn’t go in that night, or Thursday night! We started to think maybe we wouldn’t be having a baby, but I continued to have mild contractions. On Friday evening, I started getting tired of the anticipation, so Kolt said it was time to walk. Kolt pushed Kason in the stroller, and I tried to keep up.  We “briskly” walked 1.44 miles around Iona.  It was a workout! Kason loved the walk, since he had started a slight fever earlier in the day and had been quite fussy.  We finished packing the hospital bag that I had started on Tuesday.  Once again, we went to bed thinking that we might go to the hospital that night.

Kason was up for 2 hours in the night with a fever.  I was exhausted! I spent an hour trying to rock him and then decided to bring him into our room and let him watch his favorite channel Sprout.  He sat at the end of our bed and watched Sprout for an hour and then came back up and fell asleep between us.  At 5:45 AM, regular contractions started. I had been stressing about what “real” contractions were. I asked for lots of advice from my sisters, my mom and my favorite OB nurse, Makayla.  At about 6:30 AM, I decided they were real contractions.  On Saturday, of course, Kolt was supposed to go cross country skiing with his class in Teton.  He needed to leave at 6:30 and wouldn’t be home until 1.  I debated the whole hour trying to decide if I should make him stay home or not. I decided to let him go, but then called about 7 minutes later saying he’d better come back home because I thought we were going to have a baby today.  He decided to pick up Rope who was going to go skiing with him and bring him home.

While Kolt was gone, my mom helped me breathe through contractions. She and my dad were going to the temple, so she left just before Kolt and Rope got home.  When they got home, my contractions were 10 minutes apart.  Kolt decided we had better find out if this was real labor or not, so Kolt, Kason, Rope & I went to the church.  Rope & Kolt played basketball, and I pushed Kason in the stroller about 50 times around the church gym.  Makayla had told me that when contractions were bad enough that I couldn’t walk through them, then I was in real labor.  Well, I figured out what that meant! By the time I finished, I was having contractions every 3 minutes apart that I literally could not walk through! I kept shouting out times to Kolt, and we knew it was time at about 8:30.  We rushed home, left instructions for Rope to dress and feed Kason, grabbed our bags, and headed out the door.  On the way, we called Grandma Piquet to let her know we were going to the hospital and asked her to pick up Rope and Kason.

On the way to the hospital, I had my first contraction that was painful enough to bring on the tears.  I realized with Kason that I never felt those early contractions, so this was a whole new experience for me.  At 8:50 AM, we checked into the hospital. The contractions were starting to slow down, and we started worrying about this being a false alarm. The room we checked into was right next door to the room we had Kason in.  Room 119.  Kolt and I talked for a while about how similar the two births had seemed so far.  Kolt gave me a Priesthood blessing in our room.  I instantly felt peace and comfort that things were going to be okay that day.  Our nurse was even the same nurse we had first with Kason.  We really like Nurse Karen! When she came in, I was right in the middle of a hard contraction and she commented that she thought I was laboring pretty good. Yes, I was! She checked my cervix right away, and I was dilated to a 5 almost 6.  At that point, Kolt and I were still not sure if we were having a baby today or not! Another nurse came and hooked up my IV and contraction monitor as well as the heartbeat monitor. Baby’s heartbeat sounded great, as usual.  I requested the epidural and answered a lot of questions from the nurse while we waited. 

The anesthesiologist was a great guy, and the epidural was a breeze.  Kolt got to watch, and Karen was awesome to take Kolt’s place by my side because I was nervous.  Just before the epidural went in, I asked Karen if we were really having a baby today.  She sweetly said, “Oh yes! You’re having a baby today.” Kolt and I both laughed because we were relieved that our worst fear of being sent home wouldn’t happen.  When the anesthesiologist came back to check on how I felt, I was still feeling a lot of pain on my right side.   I tried lying on that side, but it didn’t help, so I got a second dose of the medicine in my epidural.  That seemed to knock it out.  After that, the nurse told us that Dr. Allphin would be delivering our baby, since Dr. Huggins was out of town.  We had hoped for Dr. Huggins who had delivered Kason, but Dr. Allphin was a close second, so we didn’t have any problem with that.   She also talked to us about “laboring down” meaning that Dr. Allphin wanted things to progress naturally as much as possible during the delivery.  At that time, my mom came over for a little while to visit.  Things were pretty slow, so we had a nice visit and watched a basketball game on TV.  It was a good chance for Kolt and I to take a deep breath and enjoy being together before this baby came. 

At 12:30 pm, the nurse checked my cervix, and I was dilated to a 9.  Kolt guessed that the baby would be born at 2:30.  How’d he know that?! At that time, I also started feeling pain in my right side again.  It felt similar to when I had Kason which made me nervous.  The anesthesiologist came back and gave me another dose of the medicine in my epidural which helped, but not enough to make me feel good.  We waited it out another hour and a half with regular, hard contractions.

At 2:00 PM, Dr. Allphin came in! We were happy to see him! I will always remember that he came in with a BYU shirt and ball cap.  It actually reminded me of my dad and gave me some peace and comfort.   Dr. Allphin broke my water and checked my cervix.  I was dilated to a 10! He said I just needed a couple more contractions to bring the baby’s head down so he’d be back in 20 minutes to have a baby.  Kolt and I both kind of thought that was a joke because Kason’s delivery took so long. I had to push longer than that, so we were skeptical that it would be so quick.  Since I was still feeling lots of pain in my right side and moving to my back, they gave me more medicine in my epidural, but this time a different kind that they hoped would help.  They said it may not kick in until after the baby was born, but I told them I wanted it anyways. In the next 20 minutes, contractions got pretty intense, and I could feel them much more than I wanted.  I had Kolt and my mom on either side helping me through.  I remember giving Kolt a hard time about not being a very good birthing coach. He sure tried hard, but at the time, his effort was not cutting it! I asked Kolt, “Why did I think I could have another baby again?” I was so worried this delivery was going to be like Kason’s.

At 2:20 PM, I started to feel like it was time to push, and so the doctor came back in and said, “Let’s have a baby!”  It was amazing how as soon as he said that, I was ready to go. My medicine must’ve kicked in right at that minute.  My mom went outside and met my dad in the hallway to wait.  I did my first round of 3 10-second pushes. I was so surprised how easy it was.  I felt like I was making progress already, and the doctor confirmed that.  Right then, Dr. Allphin asked Kolt if he wanted to help.  Kolt looked like he didn’t think I would let him, but I was feeling so great, I told him to go ahead! Plus, Karen was great to stay by me. Kolt got on his gloves and got instructions from Dr. Allphin.  Kolt said he felt like he got medical school in a minute.  The doctor said once the head starts to come out to hold it and push it down slightly until the shoulder came up and to then pull up.  He was ready! I did 2 more rounds of pushes just like I had already done.  Kolt, the doctor and the nurse kept saying how much progress I was making, and I just couldn’t believe it. I expected so much more pushing.  After the second round, I remember looking at Kolt’s face and just feeling like I could do anything.  His face just lit up as he saw Kolay come out.  It was the most rewarding moment of the whole delivery.  I was also so happy when Kolt said she had hair! After the 3^rd round of pushes, Kolt did as the doctor said.  He grabbed her head and slowly pushed it down and slightly pulled until the shoulder came out and then lifted the baby straight up and out. I remember the doctor saying quite firmly, “Don’t drop her.” Kolt said Kolay was really slippery, so it was actually harder than it looked! We have laughed about that a lot since.

At 2:30 PM, Kolay was born.  I was 37 weeks and 5 days pregnant.  Kolt put Kolay up on my chest to warm her up.   It was so neat to have Kolt be the one to hand me our baby.  Kolay was quite purple and dark in color with quite a bit of dark hair on her head.  Kolt got to clean up and come up with us for about 10 minutes while we just got to look at her.  It was so different from Kason’s birth because he had to be rushed over to the nurses to clean out his lungs.  I kept asking if they needed to take her, but they kept assuring me that it was okay to keep her.  Kolt got to cut the umbilical cord.  I only had to have one stitch for what Dr. Allphin called “a minor scrape on the knee” type tear.  Kolay just cried and cried which was a good sign.  Another nurse came to take Kolay’s measurements.  Kolt went with her to the other side of the room.  It always makes me feel better to keep Kolt with her while they do that.  She weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz., just like her mom was when she was born!  She measured 20 inches long which is shorter than both Kolt and I when we were born. 

Kolt went out to talk to Grandma & Grandpa Lindley in the hallway.  They wanted to know if she had hair and if she was dark like Kason was.  Kolt told him that she was still kind of purple at the moment.  Once the doctor and nurses were all done cleaning up, they gave us about 45 minutes to spend some time with Kolay and decide what her name was supposed to be.  Grandpa Lindley held the baby before they left.  Grandma Lindley was feeling sick, so she didn’t hold her at the hospital.  We fed Kolay right away, and she latched great which was a relief to her mom.  Kolt and I then spent a lot of time talking to our sweet baby girl and trying to figure out what her name should be.  She had such a sweet Spirit already. We had a few names that we liked, so we tried a few of those, but only one really fit her and felt right.  We kept deciding on one and then using it for 5 minutes until we decided it wasn’t right.  Finally, we felt like her name should be Kolay Piquet.  

After we chose her name, they moved us to a new room.  Right after we moved in, Kolt’s family came and brought Kason to meet his little sister.  They brought Kolay a blanket/burp cloth, afghan, outfit, pink boots, and beautiful flowers! I was already so excited to dress up this sweetie! Kolt and I thought it would be best if Kolt held Kolay, so that Kason could have some time with his Mommy while everyone else got a chance to hold Kolay.  Kason hadn’t been feeling very well, so he wasn’t very chipper.  Grandpa got him a new outfit! He came dressed in a CUTE hat, western shirt, light blue jacket, Wranglers, and new boots! He was adorable and looked like he had grown up 4 years in 1 day! It was hard to say good bye to Kason, but it was good to know he was taken care of, and I also knew if he was sick he shouldn’t be around the baby much.  We tried to have Kason give Kolay a kiss like we had practiced, but he didn’t want to. He just tried to push her away the 2 times we tried.  We were able to get a family picture at the hospital though. I sure love my babies!

Natalie and Nathan came to visit next, and Kristi and her family came afterwards.  Natalie and Nathan were on a Mommy-Son date and stopped by before their ice cream stop.   It is always good to visit with sisters.  My 2 sisters and I all each have a boy and a girl which is fun! Kristi brought us some diapers and wipes and treats for mom.  After their visit, Landon came down when he finished his shift in the ICU.  We are so grateful for all the support we have.  We feel very loved and grateful for our family. That evening, Kolt gave Kolay her first bath.  Kolay did really good although she didn’t love it.  Unlike Kason where they bathed him right away, they now wait 6 hours after birth to bathe the babies to help them keep their temperature stable.  It was nice to get her cleaned up and feel her soft beautiful skin.  They put the cutest pink and white bows in her hair and combed her hair in a cute little Mohawk.  It was a great evening with our new little sweetie.  She hardly fussed and loved snuggling with her daddy.  That evening our nurse was Brandi who was great with Kolay and took her for a few hours between feedings at night, so Kolt and I could rest.

The next day was Sunday. I was amazed at how well I felt.  I was able to get up and felt great with not a lot of pain medication. I felt like that was a huge accomplishment, and Kolt was relieved.  Kolay continued to nurse well.  On Sunday, we had a visit from Kolt’s family and Kason after they got out of church.  This time Brand was able to come. He had a game the night before, so he didn’t get to come to the hospital.  Kason was still fevering and had a slight cough, so he was pretty sad.  He snuggled and snuggled with me on this visit.  I had gotten dressed before he came, so I didn’t scare him.  He also liked that I didn’t have the IV in anymore, since he wanted to pull that out last time.  Kolay passed her hearing test with flying colors on Sunday.  She also got her pictures taken by the photographer. They turned out so cute, and I’m anxious to make another hospital board like Kason’s for Kolay.  Jeanna and Tatelyn Hill came to visit on Sunday as well and brought a darling outfit for Kolay as well as treats for mommy! Kolt used the time to study for his finals the next week.  He was starting to stress about being prepared.  Tiffany was our nurse that day, and she was great to talk with us.  Kolt worked with her husband at the BHC, and Tiffany also helped train Kolt on one of her first days at the BHC.  My dad came to visit and hold Kolay in the evening again before he left for meeting in Boise on Monday morning.  We also found out that Grandma Lindley had pneumonia and was going to be down for a while.  We had the Stork Dinner on Sunday evening.  It is a special dinner for new parents that the hospital provides.  Kolt got the London Broil, and I got the Club Salad with a side salad.  Kolt thought I was a little funny for that, but that’s what sounded good to me! It is fun for us to sit and enjoy some time together.  Kolt went to visit Kason for a couple hours and see how he was doing.  He played really well while he was there and seemed to be feeling better.  In the evening, Kolt and I also took Kolay for a walk around the nursery and women’s center.  I was still amazed at how well I was feeling! Rose was our nurse that evening, and she also helped with Kolay through the night between feedings.  We are grateful for good nurses.

Monday morning Kolay kept doing well on her assessments with Nurse Molly, although she scratched herself really good during them.  Dr. Southwick also thought she was doing well, so we decided it was time to take her home.  She doesn’t have a heart murmur which is a relief, since Kason and I had one when we was born.  She tested average for her jaundice test, but she is getting better.  She also has a sacral dimple which the doctor said is okay! During the day, we worked on discharge paperwork.  Kolt went to Wal-Mart to pick up prescriptions, diapers, and a few other things.  Once he got back, we packed up and got ready to leave.  Kolt pulled the car around to the front and came back to help us move things out. Kolay passed her final oxygen test with a 96% which was a relief because that was the test that Kason did not pass that put him in the NICU.  The CNA walked us out.  Kolt carried Kolay in the car seat.  We got home around 5 and had an hour to unpack and get settled before Shauna & Landon brought Kason home.  It was perfect timing! We were so happy to spend the evening as a family together finally. 

We are very thankful for all the love and support we feel from family and friends.  We feel very blessed. It was so nice to know that Kason was taken care of while we were in the hospital.   I’m also very thankful for my sweet husband.  He is a great daddy and husband.  Having Kolt help deliver Kolay made this special experience even more memorable.  We are also grateful to add Kolay to our forever family.  We feel so blessed that Heavenly Father sent this sweet little girl to us.  Kolt and I talked several times about the reality of having two kids.  We wondered how we were going to do it.  We felt like Heavenly Father wanted us to have her, but we just had a hard time imagining life with two babies.  It felt really overwhelming, but at the hospital, we realized that Heavenly Father really did want Kolay to come to our family at this time.  He helped me have a great pregnancy and delivery.  He also knew that having two kids would be hard, so he sent a sweet baby like Kolay to make the adjustment easier.  Kolt and I have been calling Kolay an “angel baby” because she is so sweet. She hardly fusses, sleeps great, and loves to eat.  We feel so blessed to have her in our family and love her very much. Welcome to the word, Miss Kolay!

I decided to take her newborn pictures by myself. Thank you, Grandma Lindley, for helping me! Considering I don't have much experience, I was pretty happy with how they turned out. Good thing Kolay is beautiful! Here are her newborn pictures: