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...