Miles' Birth Story

January 2014- A quick “practice a new photoshop technique” turns into a surprise of a lifetime for Matt! We are expecting our third little blessing.

End of August- 9 Months pregnant… ready to know if we’re having a boy or a girl!



August 28th, 2014

38 weeks-

10:30am- We had our weekly checkup with our midwife Kim. Everything with the baby looked great! I was measuring 3cm, and 80% effaced (I had been 1-2 centimeters for two weeks prior). I was hoping to make it until September to have this baby, but after several nights of sleeping terrible and having a hard time catching my breath I asked Kim what she thought about stripping my membranes. Kim was on board and asked me to call her cell when contractions started (knowing our history of progressing quickly she wanted a heads up as soon as we got going), but jokingly said to avoid 3-4pm as her daughter would be in piano lessons.

2:00pm- Contractions began and were sporadic about every 30-60 minutes and were super mild. I could tell I was having a contraction but they certainly didn’t hinder my ability to take care of Kinley and Laykin. I called Matt and in a bit of a doubtful mindset I asked if we should go walking when he got off of work at 3:30 to see if we could make the contractions pickup. I called my mom and asked her to come over at 3:45 to watch the kids while we walked down the road.

3:15 – I called Matt and said contractions were getting closer together lasting 30 seconds every 2-4 minutes, and asked him to come home. Little did I know… Matt was already at Kmart buying “gifts from the baby” for Kinley and Laykin.

3:45- Matt arrives home from work, my mom arrives at our house to watch the kids, and Matt and I head to the road to begin walking around 4:30.

4:30- We start walking down Jepsen Road, the contractions are 30 seconds long every 2-4 minutes. I am still able to walk and talk as go. We turned around to head back down the road the other way to my dad’s house and as we arrived contractions started to become much more painful, having to stop on the road to breathe through the pain. While at my dad’s house we walked around looking at his remodeling work and I sat down to get through the contractions. We took off to walk back home.

5:30- We started the walk back home from my dad’s… contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and lasting 45 seconds. As the contractions would hit I would brace myself on Matt and concentrate on relaxing, as much as I could with cars driving by.

6:00- We got back home and I beelined for our bed to lie down and relax through contractions. I started needing to “vocalize” the pain as contractions were now hitting every 2-3 minutes, and were quite painful. I asked Matt to call our midwife and tell her that we were having a baby sometime tonight, but that we hadn’t gone thru transition yet so we weren’t ready to head into the hospital. Matt helped during contractions by offering encouragement, rubbing my lower back, and diffusing essential oils for calming and concentration.

6:25pm- Looking back it’s obvious that this was transition, but it seemed so far off in my mind that I couldn’t see it for what it was. Contractions were coming every 4-5 minutes and were 1 minute long and crazy intense. My body began shaking and I remember thinking that I was never going to make it through another natural labor if I was already shaking and in this much pain…. (duh- hello transition?!?)
Matt started to talk to me about preparing to leave for the hospital; I tried to convince him that it wasn’t time for the hospital yet… I didn’t want to get there and be stuck for hours with nurses bothering and checking me and telling me what I had to do. Apparently he didn’t want to deliver this baby on our floor, and told me that I had two contractions to get in the car, because he was leaving. I told him I needed to use the bathroom first… I waiting for a contraction to end, and sprinted (a 9 month pregnant lady sprint that is) to our master bathroom, where my body “prepared” for delivery. I felt incredibly nauseous… I can remember this exact moment, it hit me… I’m having a baby, and I’m having him/her soon! I fel ta sense of panic as I realized that delivery was imminent, and I would need to be ready for the pain that came with delivery. After using the bathroom I headed for the back door where the kids ran up to ask where we were going, and my mother asked if she should plan on being off of work tomorrow, to which I gave a snotty response that I was leaning over the couch to brace myself from a contraction, and yes she would need to watch the kids because the baby was coming soon.

6:50pm We loaded up the car and headed for the hospital. Matt called the midwife and asked if she could meet us at the hospital, as we had just transitioned and were on our way. I was worried about avoiding the dreaded triage room, as the first delivery I got left in that godforsaken room, and the second delivery they demanded I have a fetal heart rate monitor when I was already ready to push. She said that she’d have a room ready for us. ;) My contractions spaced out a bit on the drive, but were incredibly hard to deal with in a sitting position.

7:10pm- We arrived at Covenant hospital, walked to the elevators and were joined by a dad and his young son. (Great- just what I want, to moan and look like a crazy lady in front of a young kid). I did my best to keep moving towards the delivery unit, but had to stop often for contractions. I knew this baby was coming soon and I needed to get to our room and be done with this pain!

7:15pm- We finally make it to the delivery unit! We met Kim in the hallway and she took us straight to our room. I headed to the bathroom to change into my delivery gown, Kim followed me in to ask some questions (secretly I think she was gauging my progress). I overheard her tell the nurses to hurry and prepare for a delivery, and that I was delivering naturally. (oh shit, I am. I need this to be over).

7:20- I make it to the bed and Kim checks me, 9 cm. (dear god, we really are close). Matt continues to rub my back, the nurse is offering sweet words of encouragement, and all I can do is moan, breathe, attempt to relax my body, and start to wonder if we were having a boy or a girl.

7:25 Kim asks if I want my water broken to drop the head down so that the baby would come faster. I agreed, and within seconds I tell her that I need to push.

7:35- Everything is set, I ask for the stirrups to hold my legs, at which point I said I couldn’t get my legs up because of the pain and someone must have helped that happen. ;) I give one or two good pushes…..

7:38pm- Our sweet babe is born. 7pounds 11 ounces, 20 ¼” long. The incredible relief of having the baby out once again surprises me. The baby is lifted up towards me… as Matt announces “it’s a boy!”. I am shocked, even though I was certain we were having a boy I still can’t believe we are blessed with another boy. He is placed on my chest, and is oddly quiet. A few suctions later and a sweet cry immerges. I am once again struck by the strangeness of holding our own slimy, cheesy, amazing child in my arms. It is surreal. The years and fears that we had been through with infertility have shaped my head to believe that I would never be “this girl”. And here I am, holding a baby as he takes his first breath, our baby. I quickly think of the chaos we shall endure some day with having two boys 21 months apart, the wrestling that will be coming, and the scraps that are sure to follow, and have a quick laugh.

The placenta is delivered, and my bleeding slows down without the need for Pitocin. Baby boy king nurses and cuddles and I stare at him in awe as the nurses patiently wait for the ok to check him over. A while later we call the grandmas to let them know that the baby has been born and that we will share the gender once the kids arrive.

8:30- A quick, quiet snuggle before the kids arrive.

8:40pm- Kinley and Laykin arrive at the hospital with nana and papa. They come in the room to learn that they have a brother… Kinley cries, saying that she really wants a sister, then minutes later declares that she loves him and wants to hold him. Laykin gives him a good looking over and then moves onto begging papa to open is new truck from “broder”.

The name list goes on the white board and we begin working our way through our options…trying to continue the tradition of using the letters from Leymaster and King, and for sure using Matt’s middle name Thomas as the baby’s middle name also.

The baby has some severe bruising on his face from such a quick delivery, so we are told that he may have some jaundice issues as the bruises break down and cause bilirubin levels to rise (5-6 days later he would be hospitalized for his bili levels).
Hospital snuggles with daddy.

At 22 hours old we make a decision, this precious boy would be named Miles Thomas King. We were in love with his name when we were just a few months along in the pregnancy, but we just weren’t sure we would sustain the love… apparently we did. Miles it was.
At exactly 24 hours old we left the hospital to take our newest bundle home and begin life as a family of 5. Such a tiny peanut in such a big car seat… how could he really be ours?! God had blessed us beyond measure, again.

Laykin's Birth Story

Laykin’s Birth Story:
Friday November 30th, 2012 (37 weeks 4 days):

I was getting groceries at walmart and began having some contractions, nothing too painful, but noticeable. I had been checked on Monday and was 3cm and 70% effaced, so I was excited to get things going. I got home and told Matt to start timing the contractions, they were about every 5 minutes lasting 30 seconds.

I had dinner and noticed that they slowed down and were getting weaker. After supper they picked back up. We called our midwife around 8:00 and let her know that the contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and were picking up their intensity. She said to let her know how things were progressing as the night went on and when they became unbearable. I took a bath and they mostly disappeared. After everyone went to bed I began walking and they picked right back up, but again weren’t too painful. I walked for two hours and around midnight I decided to go to bed and the contractions stopped.

Saturday, December 1st, 2012:

I had a restless night with mild contractions coming when I would wake up. I woke up at 4:00am and couldn’t sleep, I was exhausted but had to get ready for Kinley’s 2nd birthday party. The midwife called Matt around 8am to see how I was doing, and said she was surprised we hadn’t had a baby yet. She wanted to check me to make sure I wasn’t sitting at 8-9cm without knowing it. We decided that we would meet her at the office after Kinley’s party around noon to get checked, because I wasn’t having any steady contractions.

We met Kim at the office and was still at 3-4 cm, where I had been earlier in the week. I was disappointed that the contractions that I had been having had clearly not done anything to dilate me further. Kim wanted us to be aware that I could continue having early labor and contractions at night, when I became tired, for many nights without going into labor. This was not the news that I wanted to hear. I decided that as soon as Kinley got up from nap we were all going to the mall to walk and get these contractions going.

We got to the mall around 4:30 and began walking laps. Contractions started to get more frequent and stronger the longer we walked. I began having to slow down or stop completely as the contractions hit, but at this point I was still thinking that these were just going to be my “nightly, early labor contractions” so I wasn’t getting too hopeful that this was labor.

We stopped to eat supper around 6:00, and the contractions once again stopped, and I became frustrated that as soon as I had stopped moving the contractions stopped coming, just like the night before. I decided we would do a few more laps before leaving, “just in case” we could get things really going. As we started the first lap I noticed that I had to completely stop moving and take some breaths to get me through the contractions. This continued for a few laps, as the intensity of the contractions gradually picked up. We got in the car to head home and I still doubted that these contractions were doing anything.

After we got home the contractions continued, Matt kept timing them, and we realized that labor may be underway. We put Kinley to bed around 8:00, and anxiously waited to see what happened. Matt went to bed around 9:00 (he had worked a super long day the day before and needed some rest if labor was coming). I laid down around 10:00 and had to begin really relaxing and concentrating to get through the pain of each contraction.

I headed to the bathroom to try to sway, sit on the toilet, anything that I could to help with the pain, as I was having a very hard time dealing with the pain on my own, and was beginning to doubt my strength and ability to have a natural delivery again. I woke Matt up at 11:00 and said I needed help with the pain, and I didn’t think I could continue on with a natural labor any longer. He began massaging my back as I laid and relaxed through the contractions, which were coming every 3-4 minutes at this point. Around 11:30, about 15-30 minutes after waking Matt up I told him to call Kim, I couldn’t deal with the pain anymore and I knew we needed to head to the hospital.

We called papa (my dad) to come down to be with Kinley at 11:45. After 5 panicked calls he finally answered and came down so we could leave. We left for the hospital at midnight and made the drive in dense fog (at least that’s what Matt said, my eyes were shut for the drive). Halfway to the hospital I told Matt to call Kim and have her meet us at the hospital, because I thought we were pretty far along (and secretly I was having the need to push already). Matt blew through the hospital parking lot stop signs, unlike last pregnancy, apparently he got the memo that I wasn’t pleased last time.

We arrived at the hospital at 12:26pm, and were taken to triage. I changed into my gown and got on the bed. When the nurse arrived back to check me (Kelsie- who was AMAZING) I told her that I didn’t think I could do a 20 minute strip because I was having pressure. She quickly did a check and said I was complete, at which point I remember Kim, our midwife, coming in and grabbing our bags for us. They said they were going to wheel me straight across the hall and wouldn’t let me walk because they didn’t want the baby to “drop out”. ;)

I moved over to the hospital room bed and nurses began fluttering around me with tables and equipment to get ready for the delivery. I would tell Matt when a contraction hit to come help me (as he was trying to get some of our things ready, music, etc). He massaged my back and gave ice chips as the contractions were giving me a lot of pain due to the pressure. Kim asked if she could break my water, which she said would relieve a lot of pressure. Once the bag of waters broke (apparently it was quite the tidal wave) I felt a few minutes of great relief. I finally spoke up around 1:00 that I needed to push… I’m not really sure what I was waiting for, maybe someone to say they were ready?

I asked for the foot pedestals to rest my feet on, and then began pushing. It was such a different emotion this time, knowing that the pain would be over quickly if I pushed through it, instead of holding it in in fear. A few pushes later the baby’s head was crowning, and on the next push the baby arrived, with a cute whimper. The relief was instantaneous and the joy was immense as I realized we had just made it through another amazing, and natural birth.

They put the baby on my chest, and began cleaning the vernix off while we spent some time staring at our new miracle. A minute or two went by and then one of the techs asked what gender the baby was supposed to be, we replied “a girl!”… a few seconds of time went by and she responded with “well it’s a boy!”.

We laughed, and smiled, and giggled in disbelief. Sure enough the ultrasound tech had been wrong (which apparently happens about once a year), we had a perfect and healthy little boy, born 12/2/12 at 1:04 am, 7lbs 13.2 oz, 20 inches long. We quickly became the talk of the staff as the “surprise” baby family.

We spent some time snuggling and then called our moms to tell them they had a new grandSON, and ask them to do some quick shopping for boy things. =)

We decided on a name later that day, Laykin Lynn. We used the same thinking as we did for Kinley, Ley (which we switched to A so people would pronounce it correctly) for Leymaster, my maiden name, and KIN for King. It was a huge relief to have a name for our little man, as we had been debating (and arguing ;) on a girl’s name for almost 5 months.

Where do I begin?!

I admit, I am the worst blogger ever. But for some reason everyone is the house is still asleep but me, and I felt compelled to blog. So here goes, lots of incredible news to share, so we'll do this in bullets today. =)


- We moved into our new house about 10 months ago and have been super busy trying to grow grass, plant some trees, build a garden, decorate, organize, etc. We are loving life in the "country" and are sure we will be here for quite some time.



-Our "baby" girl is about to be 20 months old!!! Holy cow, how did that even happen. Here are her 18 month photos. She absolutely melts our hearts. She is funny, like seriously funny. I couldn't imagine not being at home with her every day. She is all character and so sweet.

- We are expecting baby #2!!! I can't even begin to explain to you how surprised we were that our very first round of infertility medication (and pills only this time!) was successful. I seriously just started believing this is all real, and we're already half way through this pregnancy. After being absolutely convinced that we were having a boy, I was proven wrong on Friday. We will be welcoming another baby girl and are SO thrilled that our two girls will have a sister just two years apart. At our ultrasound on Friday we asked the tech to put the gender in an envelope and seal it. We took that to our local cupcake shop and had them fill cupcakes with the appropriate color, and then took the cupcakes home for Kinley to devour and reveal this baby's gender. I'm so glad we involved Kinley, it was so fun to find out together.

- Our photography business is booming. It has been quite a challenge to shoot weddings this summer while being pregnant and having a drought along with 100+ degree temps, but with extra water and a few change of shirts we're managing. All of our 2012 sessions have been booked and we couldn't be happier with how things are going. I absolutely love the adrenaline of photography and love doing it all with Matt by my side.


I'd like to say that I see myself blogging regularly again, but really, who am I kidding? I'll only promise to attempt when I can.

Happy 1st Birthday Kinley!

Happy 1st birthday to our sweet baby girl!

A year ago...





To our magnificent 1 year old,

Where do I even begin?! This has been the most amazing year of my life. You have inspired me to be a better person. You have truly filled a gap in my heart that I never knew could be filled. You have given me passion to live every day to the fullest. You have truly given me the opportunity to fill a calling that only God could have placed on my heart, to be your mother.

I thank God every day for you and the happiness that you have brought to your daddy and me. You won’t understand for a long time what I mean, but just know that you have changed our lives in an undreamed of way.

Thank you for the bottom of your belly giggles that you let me hear every day, for your Popeye face that brings tears to my eyes, for letting me hear “momma” at just the right times, for snuggling on my chest when I’ve lost my patience and need a rest, for the biggest most sincere smiles when I walk in to get you out of your crib, and for the sweetest little kisses, and occasional lick, that make me know that I will forever be a changed person because of you.

Even though I find myself weepy and sad that this day has come, I know that it’s happy tears that fall on my cheeks. Happy tears that symbolize all of the love and joy that you have given us during the last 12 months. Thankful tears for having the opportunity to watch you grow and learn and love… something that we prayed for for so long. It is so clear that God had a plan all along for us, and unmistakably that plan was you. How could we have ever doubted His plan, you are more than we could have ever hoped for.

Happy first birthday our sweet Looney... may this second year be just as amazing as the first. May you continue to learn, laugh and love each and every day. Thank you for being an incredible gift to us.

We love you sweet girl.
Love,
Mommy & Daddy

Kinley's 1 year photos to come this week, for now I'm off to enjoy our sweet girl on her birthday!

It's been a while... ha!

Ok, so I'll be the first to admit that it's been a while, can five months even be categorized as "a while"?! Anyway, we are alive, doing amazingly well, and as would be expected, we have a lot to get caught up on.

I'll attempt to back log a few blogs as the weeks pass on, but today's post is going to be short and sweet, because I have other big things to say in tomorrow's blog. What's so big about tomorrow's blog you might be wondering... only the FIRST BIRTHDAY OF OUR BABY GIRL!!! Can you even believe that it's been an entire year since Kinley was born?! I can't. So before I get all sappy on you (because I will, and I plan to tomorrow) I'll just say that it's nice to be back. I've missed the blogging world and the support that it offers, but darnit I had ZERO time for it... which is a good thing because it meant that we were living it up with our baby girl, and swamped with our blooming photography business.

See you tomorrow for the big "1 year old" blog (and lots of updated pictures of our cutie pie!)

cloth switcheroo??

I've had this crazy thought in my head for the last few weeks... I'm not sure why I suddenly have this nagging feeling/interest to switch over, but I definitely do!! So, any suggestions or things to consider if we do switch? I don't know much about cloth diapers, but I do have several friends that use cloth and I think it may be worth it, especially if we are able to have more kids.

I know that we certainly can't handle switching until we move in 6'ish weeks. So we have time to research and would love some advice!

6 Months Old!

Dear Kin-
You are becoming quite the little lady these days! Your laugh is contagious! Daddy can make you laugh so hard, which then makes me laugh... there is nothing better in the world than all three of us laughing. You are starting to know what you want and don't want, it makes for some interesting situations, especially when you have decided that you don't want in your car seat. =) Your daddy and I still can't believe that your ours, and that we love you SO much! Thank you for being such an amazing little girl.

Love,
Mommy & Daddy


And now for your latest stats:

Weight: 16 lbs 9 oz : 50tht percentile

Length: 24 1/4 inches : 10th Percentile (Not sure how she LOST an inch, I swear the measure SO different each time... oh well)

Diaper size: Size 3

Clothes size: You are wearing 6-9 month clothes.

Sleep: You are still consistently sleeping 10 hours each night.

Favorite activities/things: Playing with the cats and grandpa's dog, Wilson. You also love it when we hold your hands so that you can "walk".

Eating: You are nursing every 3-4 hours during the day and are now eating homemade baby food twice a day, breakfast and supper. You usually eat 2 veggies, a fruit, and some baby cereal each day.

Nicknames: LooLoo

Talking: I LOVE hearing you babble and "talk", you make a lot of little sounds. You can hold quite the conversation with us now. =)

New adventures: You got to go to Chicago with mommy and daddy for a weekend. You had your very first full day with just daddy while mommy was at a photography conference, and you guys did awesome together! You were a trooper in the car and slept nearly the entire 6 hours that it took us! While you were at the hotel in Chicago you also got to take your first swim in an indoor pool, you loved sitting in the baby float that we got for you!

New Skills You can now sit up completely on your own, although we still keep a watchful eye on you since you occasionally tip over if you get really excited about something, like the cat coming close enough to you to grab (not pet- just grab). =)

Still alive...

We are still alive, I promise. We are in the middle of moving (to somewhere with dialup internet), finishing our new house plans, and trying to update some photography stuff. To say I've been swamped is an understatement.

I promise to get Kinley's 6 month post up soon!

5 Months Old

Dear Kinley-
You are such a happy, fun little girl. You are such a blessing to your daddy and I. You have the sweetest laugh EVER! There are nights that we can tickle and play with you and get you to laugh for 10 minutes straight, your laugh makes me smile so much that my cheeks hurt. Thank you for making my first first Mother's day amazing, it is truly amazing to be your mommy.
Love,
Mommy & Daddy


And now for your latest stats:

Weight: 15 lbs 6 oz : 51st percentile

Length: 25 3/4 inches : 65th Percentile

Diaper size: Size 2 (you are on the last box and will be in size 3's next week!)

Clothes size: You are mostly wearing 3-6 month clothes, and just a few 6 month outfits.

Sleep: You are still consistently sleeping 10 hours each night.

Favorite activities/things: Playing on the floor, holding your toys and chewing on them, jumping in your excersaucer, smiling and laughing at daddy, reading "touch and feel" books, and "talking" with mommy.

Eating: You are eating every 3-4 hours during the day.

Nicknames: Sweet Pea

Talking: I LOVE hearing your happy little squeal, it went missing for a few weeks and is back, louder than ever. =)

New adventures: You got to go on your first vacation, and first flight! You were a champ! You slept almost the entire flight, both ways. You had a blast with Aunt Keri in Florida and enjoyed the warm weather.

New Skills You just started to sit up all on your own!! I love watching you sit and learn about your new surroundigns and view. A few weeks ago you began to roll from your back to tummy, you've only done it a few times and only when it's been just you and daddy. It's ok... I KNOW it will be my turn to see something first next, and that means I'll see the first crawl. =)

Your photoshoot this month was painful. You wanted nothing to do with pictuers. I'm not sure if you are afraid of my new camera, just hated the wind outside, or were not a fan of the fluffy blanket I tried to put you on, but no matter what it was you were not into pictures this month.

Here are a few of the pictures that are decent, although to be honest, as a photographer these really frustrate me to look at because the focus is off, the exposure was off, but it was all we could do just to snap a few between the crying- we did it without really even checking settings. Oh well, it will make us laugh someday. =)

Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goodbye

See ya later Cherrywood Dr!

That's right, we're moving!! We (finally) sold our house today! We close on June 16th, so now we begin the race to get everything moved, find a place to live, and get our new house plans finalized. We are super excited and thankful that everything is coming together. I CAN NOT WAIT to be sitting in our new living room, looking out the windows at an amazing sunset over the fields in about 5 months!