McKayle made it home...

Tonight McKayle is already 6 days old. She is amazing, strong, laid back, and just plain adorable...if we do say so ourselves. :) We have been adjusting to parenthood and trying to get to know her. We had an appointment yesterday and she had jaundice pretty bad, so we were sent to the lab for labwork. Her billirubin levels came back not too bad considering her weight and days old. So she is not going to have to be under lights or receive treatment for it. But her weight dropped from when we left the hospital again. So we are being closely monitored for her weight. We had a doctor appointment today and she was able to gain a half an ounce in 24 hours. We are waking her up to feed every 2-3 hours.
Kayle has had a busy first few days home. All of her grandparents have been out to see her, along with other family and friends. So she is completely exhausted. She and I both took several naps this afternoon to try to catch up on sleep. My parents have been here for the last couple of weeks waiting for her arrival. They left this afternoon and headed back towards Kentucky. They were a huge help with giving us breaks and extra time to rest by picking up, taking feeding shifts, cooking. etc. Now that they are gone, Brett and I are working on falling into a routine.
Brett and I often can be caught just looking at Kayle with tears in our eyes because we are so proud of her and so happy to be blessed with our little miracle.
As far as the details of her arrival...let's just say it was a long day with lots of unexpected turns...and after the delivery we were so happy. It all felt surreal. Lots of happy tears were shed. The delivery day had its difficult moments, but overall was the easiest part of the pregnancy. Kayle was so WELL WORTH THE STRUGGLE AND WAIT!!!
We'll attach more pictures for you all to see and will update the blog when we can. Thanks to all of the congratulatory e-mails, cards, flowers, gifts, and prayers. We truly appreciate all of your caring and support.
Much love,
Brett and Shawna

McKayle is here

McKayle was born on Wed. March 25 at 9:16 p.m. McKayle weighed 6.1 lbs and 19.25 inches long. McKayle will now be celebrating her cousin Bren in Iawa. Shawna is doing good, just tired. McKayle spent about 10hrs in nicu. She did so well she is now under our care in womans care.
Enough talking time to put picts.

Thank You for all of your support
Brett & Shawna and McKayle Deanna Gilbert

will today be D day?

i'm up early this morning, excited that we finally made it to today. i will head over to birthing center in just over an hour. amniocentesis is scheduled for 9am. should have those results by 11am todetermine if we will be inducing. my gut tells me she is ready to join us. thanks to all the good luck calls and messages. it will be an exciting day.
if kayle does come today she will have the same birthday as my cousin, bryn. :)
we will keep you posted of our progress/plans as the day progresses. we've got afew contact people thatwill spread the word to family an friends.
thanks for all the prayers and thoughts today!
love,
shawna

Kayle cried wolf...

last night contractions picked up in intensity and frequency...so we went back to labor and delivery. thought she might join us, but doc checked us out, gave some extra meds and we calmed down again. brett stayed up here with me just in case, but once again i'm back in "my" room on women's care unit this morning. just tired and fighting a headache and "normal" contractions for me. 63 days here...and hopefully kayle will join us in just 2 more days!? doctor's response was "if you make it that far."
we'll have to wait and see what the next couple dys and nights bring us. we'll keep you posted.
shawna

day 60 in hospital

who would have hought we would have made it this far? but we have. now our countdown starts in the other direction. five more days til we induce or i get out of here. same plan in place. nothing new going on this week. in fact, the nurses report last night said...same crap, different day. i would agree. visitoors and calls keep it changing, but i can honestly say that i'm bored now and very ready to get out of here. probably b/c i can see the light at the end of the tunnel. but i wll endure for another 5 days til some change happens. it's all mental like my brother says. :)
we'll update more later.

happy st. patty's day!

we are at 35 weeks today!! yea! who would have thought we would have made it ths far...but we hav surprised everyone. now i think she is quite comfortable where he is.
today we had another ultrasoud and my parents were able to be there to see her. she is changing so much. she already seems to have chunky cheeks, mass to her arms, wisps of hair, fat roll on back of her neck, and al her organs seem to be functioning well. kayle is definitely growing. her weight was estimated at 5 lbs, 15 ozs and 35 weeks, 5 days...so still developing well. she seems to have the hiccups all the time now. so hopefully she is doing lots of practice breathing. one more week til some change for us for sure.
until next update...

Has it been "Ground Hogs Day"??

Today was another day to mark off the calendar. My nurse today asked if it was starting to feel like "Ground Hogs Day" the movie. Yep!! That would explain it. Feels like I can't get out of here some days. But today was a little better.
My medicine made me sick this morning, so that woke me up. :/ Then Brett brought Gus, our dog, up to visit today which was nice. It was good to snuggle with my bud, Gus. We all had lunch together (not hospital food) which was also nice. Then my brother and sister-in-laws and nephews came to visit with flowers and a St. Patrick's day collosal cookie. We watched the movie Dreamer together and I laughed at the boys.
My nurse took me on a wheelchair ride...on a new route so it changed the scenery a little. And I soaked up some sun rays for some Vitamin D. On the way back in past the nurses desk I talked to the head or charge nurse about organizing an "anti-partum patient" support group for us. I guess there are 4 of us "anti-partums" on the floor now...and it would be good to vent, talk, support and laugh with others that are going through it I think. She said she would work on that. I think it would be a good thing...so we'll see if anything comes of it. I also tell them that they need a massage therapist here for us. Boy, do I seem to have all the "suggestions" for them. You get a different perspective on things when you've been here this long. For the most part, they do a great job though. And the nurses continue to be saviors for my mental health. Tomorrow they are even having a potluck lunch for me because I'm sick of the hospital food. Sweet! :)
Mom and Dad left Iowa and are enroute to Colorado now. Still excited about Kayle coming. I just have to keep reminding all the grandparents that I don't have control over when she decides to come. She has a mind of her own. :) I was glad that mom and dad stopped in Iowa to see Grandma and the family first. Sounds like they are all doing well. I hear my cousin even got mom and dad signed up on Facebook. How hilarious is that!?! Mom always makes fun of us for doing it. Hee! Hee! Enough for now...
We will keep you posted if anything changes...but at this point I think Kayle is "going the distance." (Isn't that saying from "Field of Dreams"? Sometimes I crack myself up.)
Hugs to everyone!

Weekly update

Sorry I haven't posted much this week. Just putting my days in incubating and marking them off the calendar. All is fine. No new news on Kayle and I. We are both doing fine. My primary doctor confirmed the plan for March 25th today, but reiterated that if her lungs are NOT developed he will NOT induce. So it is not a for sure thing that she will be born then. I may have to wait longer. How crazy would that be for her to go full term after all of this hospital stay stuff. ?? It wouldn't surprise me at this point. So I need to (mentally) not count down til March 25th because it could be longer.
My mom and dad drove to Iowa yesterday to visit my aunt, cousins, and grandma. Mom called a couple times in route asking if I was in labor or if they needed to change directions and head this way. I have to laugh at how excited and anxious the grandmothers are becoming. Brett's mom is getting excited too. Mom and Dad will probably arrive Sunday night or Monday though.
Brett has gone to work with a friend a few days this week to help out. I think he really likes it. Tomorrow he is bringing Gus, one of our dogs, up to visit me again. It will be good to see them both.
That's about it from this end. Hope you all are doing well.
Love,
Shawna

quick note

don't panic or get too excited yet. haven't updated b/c internet has been down. all okay here. just waiting for these next couple weeks to go by. will write more later. kayle is doing fine.

weekend happenings...

saturday was a little dramatic...one dr. tried to discharge me but my primary dr. got involved d vetod that idea quickly. then a plan was established to do an amniocentesis on march 25th to check lung development. if kayle's lungs are good, thet will pull stitches and induce. so if kayle decides to let dr. be in control her birthday may be the 25th...my cousin, bryn's birthday. but for some reason i cn see kayle having a mind of her own and come earlier. then sat. afternoon/evening i started to have more painful contractions...but they calmed down.
brett, eric, jen, and nephews came up and we watched a movie and had popcorn. nice distraction.
sunday i had a quiet morning. then had lunch with the nurses in their break room. i'm just one of the crew. took a nap from losing an hour of sleep and the excitement. then the nurses came a danced and sang at the end of my bed again. they were so loud we got a complaint about the noise...oops. they are too funny.
brett stayed home and worked on cleaning the house for me...doing my "nesting" for me. i have statred reading the twilight series due to it continually coming highly recommended by friends, nurses, and doctors.
today was my nieces birthday so talked to her to wish her a happy birthday. i didn't get a card even off to her but told her i'm working on bringing her a cousin. she said that was more than enough. what a grown-up at only 9.
nurses trying to play tricks on me tonight again. never a dull moment.
thanks to all of you for the e-mails and phone calls. it's nice to hear from you.
we are definitely in the home strerch now. most likely on a couple more weeks...til kayle arrives.

sleepy Kayle...ultrasound check

the nst monitoring this morning showed kayle really flat w/ no accellertions. so dr. ordered an ultrasound to check her. she woke up and did fine passing her tests. good fine/gross motor movement, good strong heartbeat, good breathing practice, good fluid levels. so they chalked it up to her being in a deep sleep. they'll monitor her again this afternoon. if she continued to not accellerate, dr. would consider taking her. but we are okay for now i think. she measured 34 weeks, 2 days (almost a week ahead) and 4 lbs. 15 ozs. (almost 5 lbs.). so she continues to grow.
i'm doing ok today. going for a ride outside later to soak up some sun.
brett is hanging with his brother, jen and the boys today. update more later...

good day...

today has been a good day. monday they ran ekg and ct scan due to chest pains, but all came back fine. had nausea yesterday morning due to meds, but recovered by afternoon. brett came up last night and we ordered dinner out. i'm getting tired of hospital food. but i'm a survivor and this too shall pass.
brett went to work with a friend today and seemed excited about that. another co-worker of his got the official lay off call today, so brett is worried about gtting his own call. it will all work out though.
kayle is oing fin and passing all her tests. dr. scheduled to take my stitches out on march 24th and take me off meds. another growth estimate ultraound is scheduled for march 17th. starting to have some break through contractions but some of it is normal. so kayle is not coming today...not sure when she will decide to join us. she seems pretty comfortable where she is righ now. she is making it hard for mom and dad to "plan" when they will come out to see her. ?? kayle is in control on this one.
i hear it is 75 degrees out today, so i'm heading out for a ride in a while to get some sun rays. update more later...

made it to march...

well, it is march 2n and we are still here...day 42 in the hospital. i had a good couple of days, but today has been another adventure. they are running tests to check my heart and lungs for bloodclots or other problems due to me having chest pains since last night. i think it is more to rule the bad stuff out b/c of my high risks . also, feeling like crap today. so will rest/nap today. but kayle is doing fine. she is a trooper. just hanging out doing her cartwheels and running from the nurses.
well, based on my brother's aalogy of this adventure being a mental game, like a triathalon...i have tansitioned from the bike to the run now. we are on our last leg of this race...and i'm definitely wearing down. so i am looking for a theme song to motivate me. if you have any ideas let me know. during out triathalon training last summer my sister in law and i use to sing...just move it, move it...from madagascar. since i can't move...? my mom thinks it should be the litle engine that could...i think i can, i think i can, i know i can!! letme know if you have any other ideas.
more updates to come...