Kyla's 2 Year Update

Kyla Rose is TWO years old!

Up to this point in her life, Kyla has been a rather cautious, calm girl.  But recently, she has started acting, well, like a two year old.  She likes to run around and scream and play.  All. Day. Long!  It keeps mama very busy, especially while trying to take care of the new baby as well.  The only time she is not running around destroying the house is when she is glued to the TV or iPad watching her favorite shows, Peppa Pig and Bubble Guppies.

Everything is a battle with a toddler, especially when it comes to eating.  Kyla's favorite foods include peanut butter, carrots, cookies, smoothies, applesauce, pretzels, and fruit snacks.  She is obsessed with her "milky" and drinks a sippy cup full when she gets up in the morning, one when she gets up from her nap, and a bit right before bed.  The rest of the day, her cup is filled with watered down juice or just water.  For breakfast, we usually have scrambled eggs, pop tarts, cereal, or waffles.  Lunch includes chicken nuggets, pb&j, quessadilla, etc. and then we always put a little of whatever we are eating for dinner on her plate (most of the time she won't even touch it)

This is our typical schedule when we are home.
9:30 - Get up for the day, get dressed, change diaper, go to kitchen to get milk
10:00 - Eat breakfast
10:30 - 12:30 - Play time.  Most days we go out in the sunroom and play with the blocks or do puzzles in the living room or play with the little kitchen and read books in Kyla's room.
12:45 - Lunch time
1:30 - Nap time!
4:00 - Up from nap, more milk and a snack while we watch Peppa Pig.
5:00 - Mom starts getting dinner ready while Kyla plays
6:00 - Dinner
6:30-8:00 - Play time with Daddy.  They usually go run around in the yard, read books, and finish the evening by watching an episode of Bubble Guppies together.
8-8:30 - Get ready for bed.  Dad gets her diaper changed and jammies on, brushes teeth, and reads books in Kyla's room, then puts her to bed.

One major change we had recently was switching to Kyla to a big bed.  I was very hesitant to change up our routine because Kyla was sleeping so well in her crib.  She rarely wakes up at night, and if she does, she talks to herself or turns on her seahorse and falls back asleep.  But when Kaiden wouldn't nap that well unless he was in a quiet, dark room, I decided it was time to give him the crib.  The first week of the transition, I put the guest bed's queen mattress on Kyla's floor.  She only tried to get out of it one time and I saw it on the monitor and told her to lay back down.  Ever since then, she doesn't venture off the bed.  After a week on the floor, we moved the bed frame into her room and she was good to go!  I have a large body pillow along the edges of the bed that don't touch the wall so it gives her a barrier so she won't fall off as easily.  I have been very happy with the transition!  Sometimes, she even asks if she can go back to bed!

Kyla can count to 20, with a little help, 10 by herself. 
Can recognize about half of the letters and most of the numbers.
Sings ABC's like this.  A B C D E F G. H I WX Y and Z!
Sings "Crinkle crinkle little star"
Says "Kay-nen" for Kaiden
Helps the baby by ripping his blanket off and saying "Why you cryin baby?"
Can easily navigate her games and shows on the iPad.
Recognizes TONS of different animal pictures. (Thanks to playing with Nana)
Knows most colors and all the basic shapes, square, circle, oval, rectangle, triangle, heart, star.
Asks for "mystic" for music and likes to dance.
Loves to play ring around the rosie.
Swinging at the park is her favorite.
Loves seeing pictures and videos of herself and other kids.
Reads books to herself in her own language.

Kaiden's Birth Story

Kaiden was due on June 22, 2015.  Unfortunately, he did not get the memo that we were expecting him that day, so he decided to wait for us to take matters into our own hands on June 26.

Leading up to my due date, I was progressing nicely upon getting a cervical check at 39 weeks.  I was already about 3 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced.  Considering I was about 3 cm when I was in active labor with Kyla, I got my hopes up that baby Kaiden would be arriving sooner than expected.  At 38 weeks, I began to get extreme discomfort in my hips and groin area, making simple tasks incredibly difficult.  I was ready to have that baby!

When my due date came along, the doctor said I was 5 centimeters dilated and 60% effaced and the water sack was bulging.  He truly did not understand how I wasn't in labor right then!  He suggested because I was already 4 days past my due date, I could go to the hospital and have my water broken.  We talked about it on the way home and we decided that's what we would do because my parents were here to help with Kyla, and I was beyond ready to have my baby.

So on the afternoon of June 26, we drove to Miami Valley Hospital in downtown Dayton and checked in effortlessly.  (This was quite a different experience that having to go to triage with Kyla while leaking fluid all over and having contractions every few minutes!)  The nurse walked us to our labor room and there we waited for Kat, the midwife on call, to come in and break my water.  While they were getting me ready, the IV was administered.  I have to say THAT was the most painful part of this entire story!  The nurse said she was "really good" at putting in an IV, however, she blew the vein she chose and it hurt SOOO bad!!! Tears burst forth from my eyes and I could not control my weeping.  Ouch!  I did not expect that and Matt didn't either because he was sitting across the room looking at his phone when it happened.  When he looked up and saw tears streaming down my face, he ran to my side to hold my hand.

After about an hour of fetal monitoring, Kat came in and broke my water.  At first, she tried to use a hook type instrument but she couldn't quite puncture the water sack that way so she ended up using a different tool to put a little hole in the water sack.  I was expecting a big gush of water, but I didn't feel anything!  I was even afraid that she didn't really even break the sack, but that wasn't the case.

Contractions did not start for 15 minutes.  Then contractions were coming about every 7 minutes.  I felt a gush of water and then more water with each contraction.  I labored naturally and moved around the room, bounced on the ball, and watched tv for about 3 hours before having the epidural administered.  The contractions were becoming quite painful by the time the epidural was in.  Once in, I was still able to feel pain in my lower right abdominal area for quite a while, but it was tolerable.  Eventually after turning over on my other side, the medicine kicked in more.

I laid in bed and rested until 9:15 (2 hours after getting the epidural) and Missy came in to check me and she said I was ready to have my baby!  I pushed for 20 minutes (about 3-4 rounds of 3 pushes each) and then Kaiden Matthew Focht was born at 9:34 pm.  Missy said he "felt solid" when she laid him on my chest.  And solid he was at 9 lbs 4 oz!  He was 20 3/4 inches long.  He had a little mohawk and a funny little cry that was much louder than our first baby.

I could not have asked for a more perfect labor and delivery!  (Well, I could have been pregnant for a few less days, but hey, I in fact was not pregnant forever!)  The whole experience (besides the IV) at the hospital was so relaxing and enjoyable.  I even liked getting to experience some hard contractions before getting the epidural.  The nurses were great and Missy delivered my first child as well so it was wonderful getting to have her again.

The pregnancy was not fun.  Yes, I loved feeling him move and I loved my cute little belly for a while, but actually holding my sweet baby boy for the first time was AMAZING.  Every birth story is different and I would not trade mine for the world.  Love you, Kaiden!

Kyla Update - 17-20 months

My little baby is turning into such a cute little toddler!

Sleep:

Sleeping great since about 17 months.

She wakes up around 9:00 am, naps from 1:00-4:00 and goes to bed at 8:00.  When she wakes up, she turns on her seahorse toy and lays in her crib until someone comes to get her.  Putting her to bed is quite easy now.  We make her leave her paci in her bed and that's where it stays. 

Food:

Here are her favorites!

Milk!

Waffles

Peanut butter sandwiches

Strawberries

Pretzels

Dokies (donuts)

Cereal

Crackers

Cookies

Talk:

What a talker! She says way too many words to even count now.  I really noticed her speech taking off around 17-18 months.  Her first words were Mama, Dada, Cookie, milk, more, up peese, pig.  She says a lot of funny things!  Now she is starting to put her own little sentences together.  "Thank you mama", "more pretzels please", etc.  She says names - Sadie, Lily, Nanny, Gpa, etc.

Likes:

Bath time, Peppa Pig, necklaces, electronics

Dislikes:

Live animals, diaper changes, getting messy, loud noises, sharing her necklaces and seahorse

Third Trimester Update - Baby #2

Time for another baby update!

 

How far along?
  30 weeks

Total weight gain: 

  25 lbs.

Maternity clothes? 

Of course! Its finally get warm enough to ditch the hoodie I have worn all winter.

 

Sleep:  

Sleep is getting more difficult now.  I wake up probably 5 times a night to roll over and re-situate.  Sometimes I have to get up once to pee.  I wake up a lot because my hips start to hurt if I lay in the same position for too long.

Best moment this week:

Feeling lots of kicks!

Miss Anything?

Feeling like my normal self.

Movement: 

He is getting pretty big now so I feel lots of movement all day long.

I'm starting to notice when he is sleeps because the rest of the time he is moving like crazy.

Food cravings: 

Fruit! Lots of strawberries. 

My go-to breakfast as of late has been vanilla yogurt, granola and strawberries.  Yum!

Anything making you queasy or sick: 

No throwing up here!

Gender: 

Boy!

 

Name:

Kaiden Matthew Focht

 

Symptoms:  

Heartburn

Back pain

Hip/pelvic bone pain

Feeling huge/stretching stomach

Hot all the time

Easily full after a small meal

 Tired

 Ring is starting to get tight

Belly button is starting to pertrude

Approximate countdown:

10 more weeks!

 

23 Weeks - Baby #2

Time for another baby update!

 

 

How far along?
  23 weeks

Total weight gain: 

11 lbs.

Maternity clothes? 

Love my maternity jeans I got last pregnancy from Old Navy. I still wear my jeggings but they are starting to fit weird because they don't cover my bump.  If I'm leaving the house, I usually wear those with one of my long sleeve pre-pregnancy shirts or a hoodie. If I'm just chilling at home, I am most definitely in yoga or sweat pants and a hoodie.

 

Sleep:  

Sleep is pretty good these days.  I usually have to get up once at night to pee but other than that I am sleeping pretty comfortably.  I only groan slightly when I have to tuck myself into my little cocoon of a pillow.

Best moment this week:

Not having heartburn for a few days.

Miss Anything?

Nothing!

Movement: 

Feeling LOTS of movement now!  Most of the kicks are pretty low, but I have, on occasion, felt some about an inch above my belly button.  He is really active at bed time.  It's kind of fun now because I can tell if he's awake or not by the amount of movement I feel.  Definitely the coolest part of being pregnant.

 

Food cravings: 

I've had a major sweet tooth lately.

 
Anything making you queasy or sick: 

I had a rough week around week 19, but since then, I have felt great in this area.

 
Gender: 

We had our anatomy ultrasound on February 2.  It did, in fact, determine that we are having a BOY!!!  We are so excited.  I can't believe that we will have one boy and one girl in our family.  Couldn't ask for anything more!

 

 

Name:

We also decided on a name, but we are still unsure of the spelling.

Kaiden Matthew Focht

 

 

Symptoms:  

OOOOhhh...the HEARTBURN!  Why oh why must it be so horrible?  It has been ridiculous on some days.  In the past, my triggers have been spicy food and lemonade.  Now, it doesn't even matter what I eat, how much I eat, etc.  The heartburn will. not. die.

I have also been experiencing some pretty severe pelvic bone/groin area pain.  It hurts so bad to stand up and start moving.  It hurts to put my pants on.  Forget about the socks.  Ouch!  I ordered a maternity support belt to see if that will help at all.  I know everything is just stretching out down there, but doesn't it know that we still have 17 weeks to go for that to happen??

Approximate countdown:
  17 more weeks!

This pregnancy is flying by.  One thing that is DRAGGING on though is this winter we are having.  I am seriously running out of fun things to do with Kyla inside this house.  Some days, I put her in the bathtub just for FUN because we have played with every toy, read every book multiple times, watched every episode of Daniel Tiger and Peppa Pig, etc. We are so ready to go play out in the sun room and back yard.  I long for the days when I can take her down to the park again or just hang out in the pool!  Come on spring.  We need you!

 

 

 

 

 

17 Weeks - Baby #2

Time for a baby update!

 

How far along?
  17 weeks

Total weight gain: 

About 3 I think.

Maternity clothes? 

Yes! I am wearing leggings or maternity jeans (still too big, but better than tight jeans!) when I leave the house, yoga pants at home.

I can still fit into most of my normal shirts.

Sleep:  

Ahhh...wonderful sleep! Kyla is sleeping great at night most of the time, so I get to "sleep in" til 9 or so.  I like that!  Matt bought me a huge pregnancy pillow so that has made sleep so comfy.  I am getting up once a night to pee usually.

Best moment this week:

On Sunday, one of the elders announced to the congregation that we have 4 expecting moms.  One of the best parts of pregnancy, in my opinion, is having friends that are going through it with you. 

Miss Anything?

Nothing!

Movement: 

I have felt a few bubbles, but at this stage, it could very well be gas.

 
Food cravings: 

I love fruit.  And Coke.

 
Anything making you queasy or sick: 

Not really anymore.

 
Gender: 

On December 29, we had a check up with the doctor.  He did a quick ultrasound to check on the health of my ovary. Of course I couldn't not ask if he was able to spot the gender even though I was only 15 weeks along at that point.  He said it was pretty clear that it was a BOY!  We will re-verify that on February 2 at the anatomy scan.  We are so excited though!! Can't believe we are lucky enough to get our girl and our boy.

Symptoms:  

Currently, I have virtually no symptoms.  It's really weird to me because I felt so horrible the first trimester.  Now, I rarely feel nauseous and I have plenty of energy most of the time.  I am really enjoying this in-between stage before my belly gets out of control.

Approximate countdown:
23 more weeks!

I am so bad about updating and taking pictures this pregnancy!  Here is a pic from 15 weeks!  I feel like I've popped out a bit more since then so hopefully I can get a new picture soon.