One Week

Our little Kinsley turned one week today and what a week it has been! Louie and I wanted to thank everyone for their support and love as we welcomed our daughter into the world. My mom was able to come up the day I delivered. Louie called her around three once we confirmed I was in labor and Mom was on the 5:30 flight up to MN. My mom became a grandma in flight!

Overall, labor went really well and quickly. I'm a big proponent of the epidural. :) Around 10:45 Wed. evening, I started having contractions that were about 7-8 min. apart and were a little more uncomfortable then what I had been having for the past week. I woke up Louie around 12:30 because the contractions were around 5 min. apart and pretty darn uncomfortable. I took a shower and Louie got things ready to go to the hospital. I was really concerned about getting there and being sent back home, especially because I had heard first-time moms are usually in labor for quite some time. By the time we got to the hospital the contractions were about 1-2 minutes apart and I was almost 4 cm. They decided to watch me for an hour and then check me again. They offered me some morphine which I gladly accepted, although they couldn't administer it until Kinsley woke up and showed some varying heart rates. I'm not sure how she was sleeping through the contractions. Around 3:30, they finally administered my epidural(s). I was 5 cm around 5am, my doctor broke my water, and was fully dilated and ready to push by 7:30. I pushed for a little under an hour and Kinsley arrived at 8:29am. Unfortunately, the first epidural did not go smoothly and the resident tapped into a little spinal fluid. This causes a splitting headache anytime you sit/stand up. Friday morning I had a procedure done called a blood patch, to patch the hole in my spinal cord. This gave me instant relief. A couple days later my headache has returned and we are still not sure what this is caused by. We contemplated a second blood patch but decided against it. Despite the headaches, my second epidural was perfect and I am thankful for drugs!

Since returning home, Kinsley has done really well. Our biggest issue as first time parents is that she has her days and nights confused. This really doesn't work well for Louie given he used his two paternity days while I was in the hospital and is back at work full time. He is on call tomorrow night so Kinsley and I will be on our own... sure to be an adventure. Luckily, we have had help this entire week. As I said before, my mom showed up on Thursday afternoon and then my dad showed up Friday evening. It was so wonderful having my mom and dad here to help us.

My dad headed home Monday and my mom headed to Austin on Wednesday to help my youngest sister, Sarah settle in at UT. My brother and his wife, Sarah showed up on Tuesday and are leaving early tomorrow morning to go back to Germany. This constant help has been such a blessing. Laundry has been completely taken care of, dishes are done, house is clean, dogs are fed, the list goes on and on! Louie and I will be tackling the weekend just the two of us and then my step-mom, Leigh Ann will be up on Tuesday for about a week. Yay! Another huge blessing has been the help we have received from our Rochester friends. They are supplying dinner for us every other day! The first meal arrived on Monday and will continue well into September. We are so thankful!

We have had two newborn doctor visits so far. Each one went really well. Kinsley is measuring around the 50th percentile in almost all areas. She is also gaining weight just perfectly. She was 7lbs. 13.6oz at our visit today.

The only other issue we had occurred yesterday, when I went to visit my doctor because of pain in my right side. We had some blood work done and my doctor called me around 4:30 yesterday evening with the news that he thought I might have appendicitis and he wanted me to head to the ER. Fun! After some various tests and a CAT scan it was determined that I did not need to have my appendix removed (thank God) and that the cause of the pain was undetermined. Hmmm... I am feeling better today, apart from my headaches so, I'm just going to be thankful I didn't need surgery.

Overall, life in the Stryker household is good. Louie and I are very much in love with this new little person and can't wait for her to meet all of you!

Enjoy pictures below of Kinsley's first week at home.

Love, Catherine and Louie