Favorite Story from Kiley's Bday

Our close family friend Mona, who was at the hospital bearing lots of wonderful gifts (including food, a beautiful and very special hand-made baby blanket, her camera to borrow, support and encouragement, and her help with entertaining Jake & Sydney), emailed me this...

When we were at the nursery looking at Kiley, Jake had a moment:) He walked up and down in front of the nursery windows and then sat down on the opposite side of the hall against the door... and in a very soft voice and to no one in particular said "wow.... I just can't believe it happened. I can't believe she's really here." It was like he just had to sit down and absorb it. I thought it was beautiful, and showed such a sweet side of Jake.
We all continue to be in love with our baby. Sydney wants to hold her every chance she gets and Jake still seems just amazed at her presence and how tiny & precious she is!
We're excited about Halloween - had doughnuts for breakfast (Jake had three - my apologies to his teachers :) and can't wait to trick or treat. Jake is going with his Dad and Bryce and other friends from that neighborhood. Sydney is going as Hannah Montana with her friend Bria and we're planning to take Kiley along as Tigger. We will definitely have some pictures to post. The kids had a blast decorating the yard a couple of days ago, and Martin & Sydney carved a pumpkin last night - so we'll get pictures of all of that to share.

In the meantime, here are a few more photos from the hospital.

Baby Kiley Photos

Baby Kiley - 10/21/08

I realized I never let people know we are home from the hospital. We came home yesterday around 3:30. Our first night was great - Kiley slept for one stretch of about four hours and then was up while we got the kids ready & off to school and then she slept again for about five hours. I got in a little bit of work and a nap, then we picked up kids from school (early release day) and took Kiley to the Dr. for her first appointment (a condition of getting out of the hospital when she was just over 24 hours old). We went to Delaware Subs for lunch after the appointment - her first restaurant experience :). Sydney was a huge help and the Dr. says Kiley is perfect, which is just what we think. Jake arranged a playdate after school so was gone much of the afternoon and then when we got home Sydney invited a friend to play so she had some fun time as well. We found out that some of the neighbors arranged to bring us dinner every other night for a week or two. We feel very fortunate to have such great support. I'll write more about that later - we have received many wonderful gifts and have many people to thank.

here's the proud papa

and Mom getting a first good look at her sweet new baby our first family photo

I'm going to sleep now while Kiley's sleeping. She slept a lot today so I'm worried she'll be up tonight and I didn't sleep much during the day today. I'll write again tomorrow and post more photos - we have plenty! There are some really cute ones of the kids holding the baby for the first time.

Our little angel is finally here

On 10/21/2008 morning Courtney woke me up about 4 a.m. She told me that today was the day. I knew exactly what that meant. :) We called Jake and Sydney's dad while they slept, grabbed the carefully pre-packed bags (baby bag, computers and other knickknacks , Courtney's overnight, etc. I would have packed a bag for myself if I would have been thinking about it. Pretty smart, huh?), and made sure a few other things were done so that when the kid's got up they would have very little to do before coming to the hospital. I did however pull the camera out with the intention of putting it in our bag and forgot it anyway. Not such a great thing to forget on such a momentus occasion. But God provides and fortunately there were plenty of cameras around when we needed them and our wonderful friend Mona left her's so that we could continue even after everyone was gone.

Along the way knowing this could be a long morning, we stopped for a nutritious breakfast at Whataburger, that's right taquitos. I am mexican after all. After the short detour we were on our way. We made easy time so early in the morning and check in was a piece of cake. Once we got to our room it wasn't long before the IV was in place and the epidural was underway (about 1.5 hours). I didn't watch the IV because I've seen that so much on ER and House it just didn't hold any interest for me, that, and I hate the site of needles. However the epidural, I was very curious about. Courtney told me they stick a needle in your spine and I wondered how they went about that and allowed you to lay down at the same time. So I watched 'em do that. For those of you that watch the many medical dramas on television you probably have seen them do a spinal tap. I was a little afraid it would be something similar but Courtney didn't seem to be in that kind of pain. She sat kris-kros apple sauce while they put in the needle that was connected to a long micro tubular thing-a-ma-jig (you can say that in Texas) that connected to the medication. You can see it in this picture....IV in usual spot, micro tubular thing running along the Court's right side, over the bed to that thing by my head.



So Courtney is all ready to go. Now all we need is a little petocin to go with those fluids to get labor really moving. I almost forgot....just before the petocin and the epidural Dr. McIntyre manually broke Courtney's water. It looked like it hurt. OUCH.

So then we waited....I had this call I needed to be on and at the time thought that I left the camera in the car, because there is no way I would have forgotten it, right? So while I took the work related call I went out to the parking garage. The call was a really big deal and it seemed safe enough to spend time on the call. Right before I left to the garage Courtney's Mom arrived and we had already talked to Mona. She was on her way. I left Court with her Mom and headed to the garage for the camera and to make get on the call. When I got back to the room the kids had arrived. We were now ready to welcome baby Kiley into the world.

The next few hours were filled with "how much longer" and "why can't we stay in the room the whole time" and "when is baby Kiley coming", but never "this is boring". We reassured the kiddos as much as possible that it would not be long and that it would be so exciting when she was here. Overall the kids were fantastic....and their Gran was fantastic. Gran stayed and entertained them the whole time we were in the delivery room which amounted to a few hours. She feed them, took them to the gift shop to buy stuff for their new baby sister (and themselves) and when they didn't have anything left to do they worked on homework or read. She was dynamite! The kids as anxious as they were, occupied themselves and were pretty awesome. I wasn't out in the halls but every time Jake stepped into our room he was out of breath. I'm sure it was from the excitement and not the running in the hallways. Imagine a 9 year old kiddo full of joy running to see his momma who was about to have a little baby girl, his sister. Every time he came into the room he was smiling. I don't think he could have helped it if he tried. The kids are not suppose to be in the delivery room at any time unless they are at least 12. But Jake and Syd didn't seem to mind that rule was in place and often stopped by, possibly by eluding the nurses in the halls, to stay until they were kicked out by the checkup visits by our nurse (her name was Tina). Tina was a pretty good sport about it but shoo-ed them off each time.

After being in the room for almost 8 hours it was time. Dr. McIntyre and Tina both agreed and when it was time they let Courtney know that she should not push until they were ready. They wheeled in a cart that had everything they needed for after Kiley arrived. Stuff to wipe her up with and stuff to get mom ready for delivery.

When it was time they pulled half the bed apart and set it aside and put Courtney's legs up in stirrups. Probably very comfortable but it's just one of those things. Once she began pushing it was the most incredible thing. Kiley appeared almost instantly and with two more pushes she was out. She was beautiful, she was amazing, the most adorable little girl you could imagine. Dr. Mac held her for a just a few seconds and in that time she began to cry. The first thing I noticed was all the black hair on her little head. It was just about the first thing everyone has noticed. She had 10 fingers, 10 toes (okay the toes were especially cute.)

Little Fingers

Little Funky Toes

I was so excited to have our little girl all grown up (in baby terms) and ready to enjoy. It difficult to describe what I was feeling but I think excited is an understatement. Courtney was fine, the baby was fine, and I was just so happy. She was wrapped in a blanket immediately after I cut the umbilical cord and handed to her lovely mother. The moment was very real and she looked gorgeous. I kissed Courtney and I kissed Kiley.

We remained in the room for about an hour with visitors and staff coming in and out. The staff was really wonderful. They were very conscientious about making sure we had all the time we wanted with our little girl before doing all the usual measurements, foot printing, and weighing. Ruth handled all of that and she was outstanding, explaining everything to Jake and Sydney as she did them and even allowing them to help out. Very sweet.

After all the excitement of the new sister Jake was famished and proceeded to make sure he was ready for the day ahead by eating up mom's lunch (it was meatloaf and mom's mostly vegetarian anyway. HA!!)

Jake having a bite to eat after delivery

Kiley had quite a crowd on her first day on the outside. :) She had her parents, Jake, Sydney, Gran, Wanda, Mona, Pam (who happened to be passing through around the time Kiley was born). And Afterwards, when we were in our permanent room Jeff stopped by, then my parents from San Antonio, Joan came in about the time we were putting Kiley to bed but we didn't mind too much 'cause she had the most awesome cookies and milk :), then the following morning, Gran, Nancy and Wade made an appearance.

10/21/08, 12:56 p.m., 8 lbs., 3 oz. and 20 1/2 inches

She's here! Baby Kiley was born yesterday with a full head of black hair, a big appetite, long fingers and toes, and a little 'angel's kiss' birthmark on the bridge of her nose. It's amazing to think that she was growing on the inside yesterday and now here she sits in my lap so complete and perfect. The delivery was very easy and we had no issues with the baby or with me. We are hoping to go home today but apparently since I had Sydney they changed the standard stay from one night to two. My Dr. has released me to go home whenever I'm ready, but we haven't seen the pediatrician so it will hinge on what he says. Kiley has been with us in the room for all but about an hour yesterday when they bathed her and checked her out. We had a pretty good night. She slept for one stretch of about 2 1/2 hours and I awoke feeling rested... HA! It's amazing how quickly you can become grateful for what little sleep would have seemed pathetic just two nights before. I've slept about 7 or 8 very interrupted hours in the last two nights, but I feel good all things considered. I'm a little bit sore but have only taken a couple of motrin for pain. My back aches probably from some combo of contractions and the epidural, but it already feels better than it did yesterday and I'm starting to feel like I can move around again after feeling so sluggish and awkward at the end of the pregnancy.
I talked to my Mom this morning and she said that Jake couldn't sleep last night he was so excited about the baby. He was angling to stay home from school again today so he could see her. They both really want to be there when the baby goes home for the first time - to see her in the house, in her bed, and see the dog's reactions :). If it works out perfectly today, maybe we'll get out of here in time to pick them up from school and then all go home together. That would be ideal. We have pictures that we will post later - so check back for updates!

Slow going

We are here at the hospital and Courtney is resting comfortably. The kids are here with Court's mom and Wanda (a close friend of the family). They are having a tough time trying to keep busy while waiting for the arrival of their little sister. But I know they will be happy with the result of their patience and mamma's labors. :)

I'm playing the same waiting game as the kiddos but I get to be here with Courtney which is really nice. I'm doing my part too. Because of the epidural she can't feel or move her legs. It's kinda funny. I had to move her leg for her. We laughed about that. :)

Kiley Elizabeth Ortiz will be born on 10/21/08!

We are at the hospital now - got here about an hour ago. I was having some contractions and some (normal) bleeding during the night. I am only 1-2 centimeters dilated, so they are going to start Petocin in a few minutes and get things moving. She will be born today - hopefully by lunchtime, and we'll keep everyone posted.

Almost Time

This week may be the week. In fact, Courtney told me just a few hours ago that it may be today. Her contractions are coming fairly consistently right now. I'm very excited!!

Over the last couple of weeks we've been really getting ready. Putting final touches on our little baby girl's room. Setting out all the wonderful gifts that we were given to make that room special and so that our latest angel will be comfortable and cozy and have some really fun things to play with when she's old enough to care.

We recently got some pictures back and I absolutely love them. You can see them in a previous post. Heather generously had them put into a slide show. She really captured the beauty I see in our family. The laughter and fun side of that beauty. One of my favorites is where were all laying down on the grass surrounding Courtney and especially the one where are feet are all together. I wasn't sure about that one but it came out great.

I know our little girl will enjoy the photos of when she was still in her mommy's tummy. That will be a few years down the road, I think. :)

In the mean time we are about to become parents again and this is the first time that I'll be a daddy for a tiny little one. It's good that I have Jake and Sydney around to break me in for the later years but this is all new territory for me and even though I know I'll do fine caring for our new little girl, it's still a little scary. I'm faithful that God and my wife will guide me through this new chapter of our life.

Still Pregnant - with photos

We went to the Dr. this Tuesday - and the verdict is "same 'ol, same 'ol" - baby hasn't dropped; I'm not dilated or showing any signs of being ready to deliver. He did, however, say that when we come next week once I am 40+ weeks then if we want to induce he is willing. I feel like the induction is as likely to work at 40 weeks as it is at 41 weeks, and so I am thinking that Wednesday might be our day! Martin has worked hard to get the nursery in good shape and we officially have all the 'stuff' we need. The baby has gotten bigger even in the last week and I am really uncomfortable with my rib pain, so I am very ready. Just to give you an idea of my size, below is a photo from a month ago - Sept. 20th. I'll have to post another one this weekend for comparison.
I also wanted to include pictures for some of the previous posts - here is one of Jake after their first big win at football, and two from Sydney's cheerleading debut.

Tagged!

I got tagged! Thanks Karen, who has been both a great friend and mentor to me at Gateway the past couple of years, and who is expecting her first baby.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random thoughts about yourself.
4. Tag six or so people at the end of your blog.
5. Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.

Random thoughts about me:
1. I could make Coke Slurpees their own food group in the summer. When I had mono in high school I lived off of one giant slurpee a day for some number of weeks.
2. I love holding hands with my husband.
3. I hope to always live in Austin, but also to travel the world again someday when the kids are older.
4. My favorite vacations are beach vacations. Something about the ocean and the waves makes me feel at peace.
5. I love my babies but I don't particularly like being pregnant.

Here's who I'm tagging...
Katie
Heather

How Far We've Come

This may seem silly to some... I'll try to put it in context, but have to admit up-front that I got noticeably teary in Jake's school conference today :).
This year has seen such a change in Jake. He is reading for pleasure - of his own accord! Less than three years ago, Jake was tested and qualified for special education, largely based on his inability to recognize all of the letters in the alphabet, sound out simple words, etc. - in spite of being obviously 'smart' in other ways. His main diagnosis was severe dyslexia. When I asked people at that time (like the diagnostician and the director of the dyslexia school here in Austin who helped interpret his test results for me) if he would ever read, no one would give me a solid answer or really even much reassurance.
OK, so here's what made me cry today, and granted my hormones and emotions are a little off-kelter, but still it was huge to me. Jake takes the TAKS test this spring and has to pass it in order to pass 3rd grade. They gave the kids a pre-test, using the actual TAKS test from June that was given to 3rd graders who didn't pass the spring test -- and JAKE MADE A 100 IN READING!!! They don't expect 100's; they are testing to get a baseline to know what to teach and focus on for the next few months until the tests are given to the 3rd graders. I am so proud of him and so happy that he is going to be a reader and enjoy the many doors that will open for him. I have to add that, once again, we have been blessed with an amazing teacher for him this year. She turned his face towards hers today and told him she wanted to be sure that he heard her say that he is a strong reader. She said to him, 'you have dyslexia and I have freckles... Working with Mrs. Sternad (who is doing his special ed time with him this year) is a blessing to help you with the dyslexia, but nothing about being pulled out of class to work with her means that you are not a strong student and a strong reader.' I love our school - thank you Mrs. Neuman!

Maternity Photos

A few weeks ago we had maternity photos taken with the kids, and we just got a link to a slideshow with the images. We LOVE these photos. Heather did our engagement pictures as well and she's great. Anyway, I don't know how long the link will be live, but check them out at: http://www.heatherwalkerphotos.com/courtneymaternity/.

False Alarm

Well, we thought we might be having the baby today - I was having contractions some yesterday and then all through the night. They were pretty frequent and some were painful, but they weren't consistently spaced. So, the Dr. asked us to come to his office this morning and sure enough I'm showing no signs of being in labor. I'm a little disappointed and feel a little silly, but am back home and going to try to get some work done and some rest. Martin is working from home. The kids' school is having their annual cook-out today where the parents come and eat with the kids, so we'll go to that around 11:30 but nothing else is planned for the day.

A Quick Update

I was waiting to pull pictures off the camera to post, but realized that a few friends and family are reading this blog to get baby/delivery news so I figured I would post a quick update. We went to the Dr. today for our weekly appointment and there have been no changes. The baby is growing and has a healthy heartbeat. I am not showing any signs of being ready to deliver so we'll just keep going weekly for the next couple of weeks. We moved our appointment to Tuesday of next week because Mondays aren't good for Martin's work schedule - so my previous estimate of a 10/21 birthday for Kiley is likely to be 10/22 (or 10/29, but I'm really hoping for 10/22). I like even numbers more than odd, and the sooner the better. It would be nice if there is a week between her birthday and Halloween so she can have her own party each year and not have to roll it into some kind of Halloween shindig unless she chooses that.

We had a busy weekend - Sydney had two soccer games, Jake had football, and Sydney cheered at her first game. Jake WON!! They had a big win on Saturday morning and were so excited. They really focused on correcting mistakes they had made in the past and they played great offense. It was very exciting. Sydney's team won one game and lost the 2nd by 1 point, but she really hustled and scored a goal on Saturday. It's been good that the last couple of teams they have played have provided some competition for them - I think they had won every game so far up until Sunday. Sydney's first impression of cheerleading is that it's kind of boring. But, her regular coach was out and so things weren't as organized or high energy as I think they will be. I heard from another parent that the coach may miss 1/2 of the season because of traveling, so that's not ideal, but we'll see how it goes. She does seem excited to learn the cheers and she looks adorable in the outfit. We will post pictures soon!

We continue to make baby steps towards being really ready for the baby, but I feel like we're going to be in good shape. We found and bought a glider/rocker today off of craigslist. I had been reluctant to spend a ton of money on something we would only use for a year or two. But, when they come up for sale they go FAST so I was about to cave and buy one new. Now we won't have to...

I know this isn't a very exciting post - I'm not feeling really entertaining these days - just ask the kids or Martin :). But, it's only a few more weeks and we'll get to meet our sweet baby girl. We can't wait!