May 8th of 2011

I know this was months ago, but I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures of a very special day..
May 8th of this year held quite a few special occasions!

For starters, it was my parents' 29th wedding anniversary

I ended up with no pictures of them that day, so this is from my brother's wedding :) They look so happy! :)

 It was my 27th birthday

 

My 1st Mother's Day

Lastly, it was my brother's first time meeting Kyla :)

Kyla is saying, "Yesssss! Finally!"

Ryan had told us that he'd be coming home from college really late that night, but he showed up after church :)

It was a day full of many blessings!

 

Four Generations!

Happy Half-Birthday Kyla Loren McCuistion!

Our precious little baby was born March 24, 2011 at 5:31 pm, 7 pounds, 2 ounces, and 21 inches long!

We were expecting her arrival on April 4th, but due to some complications I was having, we needed to induce a few weeks early.  Sunday, the 20th, we were actually sitting in church when I thought my water broke. As I stood up and started to head toward to the door, we all realized I was losing a lot blood instead. Scary! I was in the hospital for 2 days, and then sent home on bedrest. I was really bummed because I spent my entire 2nd trimester on modified bedrest and it's no fun. I just wanted them to induce! Thankfully, we were only home for one full day before getting the call to head back to the hospital. The ride was so surreal! I'll never forget the conversation Brandon and I had on the way there about how our lives would be forever changed.
I got admitted at 8 pm on Wednesday, and the induction process began at 10 pm. Brandon got a lot of sleep that night, but I didn't sleep more than 2 hours... I was seriously too excited! Every move Kyla made, every beat of her heart, every hiccup, I heard it all through the monitors I was hooked up to; the weight of the moment was hitting me hard, that this little person that I've kept safe inside me, who I've grown to love so much, was finally ready to make her debut and I couldn't wait to meet her! I spent most of the night praying and thanking God for the miracle that was about to happen!

After 17 hours of labor, 2 failed epidurals, and 2 hours of pushing with no drugs, our precious little Kyla came into the world! She was absolutely worth it! :)

 I was only able to hold our baby for a few minutes because I started hemorrhaging. The next 6 hours were a blur; I spent some of it unconscious. I had to spend about 12 hours with the bed completely flat or I'd pass out, it was crazy! God is just so good and protected us from so many things that could have gone wrong, I am SO blessed! 

I had to have 2 transfusions because I lost one-third of my body's blood. It was a long week in the hospital!

 

While we were at the hospital and right when we got home, almost all of our immediate families were able to visit. It was so special! I was sad that Uncle Ryan and Auntie Marisa couldn't make it, because they had gone back to school in Nampa a few days before Kyla was born. But, thank the Lord for Skype!

 This is Grama Sandi and Grandma Nancy
 This is Granddad Jeff and Grandpa Jay


This is Gram Gram Sue and Great Grandpa Tom

Kyla's cousins, JJ and Kara came to meet her, as well!

 Here are some of Kyla's Aunties and Uncles

 Here is Great Grandpa Elmer and Great Grandma Alena

And we were still missing more great grandparents! This girl was destined to be spoiled from the beginning :)

On top of everything that happened that week, I got one of the best surprises of my life! My best friend, Jessica, drove up from California, for literally a day, just to meet our baby. I thought I wasn't going to see her for another month! It was an amazing surprise. I love her so much!

I had the choice of staying another day and getting a 3rd transfusion, but was SO ready to go home, so they let us go, but on the condition of having someone with me at all times for the next 2 weeks and with strict modified bedrest orders. The recovery took about 3 months, but I am SO grateful for all the help we received during that time! Our little Kyla could not be a better baby. We are so blessed beyond words! I'm looking forward to blogging more often and sharing more of what's happened in the life our little one during last few months. She is growing up so fast! ♥
 

28 weeks down!

It's pretty cool to start the new year off with the start of my third trimester :)
I'm excited for my 7-month prenatal appointment tomorrow because I get to hear Kyla's heartbeat.
I'm not excited for my 7-month prenatal appointment tomorrow because I get to take my glucose screening test. I hate getting my blood drawn.

Here is a picture of me illegally vacuuming the house before our New Year's party.
Next Friday, I find out if my restrictions are lifted. Two full months of not cleaning house and having Brandon wait on me hand and foot is getting old. Yes, I am serious.

Poor Puppy :(

 

 Kate has always played very hard outside. She usually has a nail or two split a little, but I've always been able to clip them so they don't get bad. But last week she actually split one in half down the middle and to the bottom base. She was limping pretty bad and it didn't look like I could fix it. So Ryan came and helped me take her to the vet, where she got the nail removed. She got to come home with a cute green cast, but a whole week without running around outside has been very challenging. I'm excited to take her in tomorrow to get it off. She is definitely an outside dog. Not inside. But at least I've had a lot of extra snuggle time! :)

November and December

These last two months have been very exciting for our family. We found out we're having a girl, we started working on the nursery, and I got a job! We have so much to be thankful for :)

November 4th started out at 4 in the morning for me. I was so excited to find out what we were having, I could not sleep anymore. Brandon and I had to wait until 1 pm for the appointment, it seemed like the longest day of my life!
 
When the ultrasound got started, we found out I have complete placenta previa. That means the placenta is completely covering my cervix/birth canal instead of being at the top of my uterus. I was told there was nothing really to worry about; my doctor just wanted me on pelvic rest until my next ultrasound on January 14th. Pelvic rest would help prevent any contractions or bleeding that might trigger preterm labor. We were a little worried with the discovery, but when we found out we are having a baby girl, and that she is completely healthy and growing normally, we were overcome with excitement and joy! Kyla Loren McCuistion, we are so excited to meet you!

After our ultrasound was over, we headed over to Babies R Us to start the registry and get ideas on how to decorate the nursery. It was so much fun, especially with Brandon being so excited with me :)

Here is the crib Grandma Nancy got for Kyla, it's gorgeous!

Here is the bedding set that Brandon picked out, and Grandma Sandi got for the baby, it's so cute!

A while ago, we decided on a neutral jungle theme, but Brandon spotted this bedding and loved it :) I thought we could still incorporate some girly jungle stuff like this

There are so many adorable things to choose from! I am hoping to save enough money to buy this amazingly comfy glider

 

We are making an old dresser that Brandon's grandpa gave us into a changing table and it has been a lot of fun picking out clothes and accessories like cute tights and head bands. I'm going to have so much fun dressing her up every day! 

We have been so blessed by how God has provided for us this past year. It has been really hard financially and we were a little concerned when we got pregnant a lot quicker than expected, but the Lord has provided everything we've needed. We received a huge answer to prayer in the middle of November, when I got hired as a Medical Transcriptionist for a woman who owns her own transcription business in Montana. Even though the income is a lower than we were hoping, it's still flexible hours and having my foot in the door with a challenging career to get started in. I feel so blessed! 

The job was perfect timing, especially as after Thanksgiving, I was put on modified bed rest by my doctor.  I can totally still work from the couch! :) I had my first bad (and scary!) contraction on the night of Thanksgiving, and since then I've had to keep my feet up as much as I can. The doctor discovered my gastrointestinal disease has been the main cause of bad contractions and painful cramping. My management has not been very easy with most of my medications and holistic stuff off limits during pregnancy. To say the least, it's been a challenging two months! My doctor says that if the placenta has moved enough by my next ultrasound on January 14th, my restrictions will be lifted. If it hasn't changed by my 32 week ultrasound, I'll be admitted to the hospital at the beginning of March, and ride out the rest of my pregnancy on complete bed rest there. 

Brandon has been such a huge help and I'm reminded daily how amazing of a husband I have. My mom, mom-in-law and sister have also been so wonderful with coming over to help with housework and just keep me company. 

So this is my office, my day-time bed, and my snuggle buddy, Kate. She's so sweet to keep me company all the time :)

It's a girl!

Brandon wanted a boy. I wanted a girl. I won this time around :)

Kyla Loren McCuistion. We really like the idea of having familial names passed down, so we started with Loren, which is my dad's, Jeff's, middle name. Hence the boy spelling :)

I'm so excited to dress her up in all the adorable clothes we've already received from family and friends! I'm also excited to watch her grow up with future baby siblings.

Growing up, one of my greatest memories is of my little sister and I putting bows and cutesy clips in our dad's hair. Oh, the things Brandon gets to look forward to!

September and October

It's been a busy few months! For about 6 weeks I was feeling pretty terrible and stopped doing much of anything because of the major first trimester yuckies... nausea, exhaustion, and my GI disease was constantly flared... but I survived! And this second trimester has definitely turned out to be the happy one :)

While being so sick, I did manage to buckle down at school, getting ready for my final exam for Medical Transcription. I took the test at the beginning of October and I passed! Praise the Lord! I'm excited to start looking for jobs now and praying it won't take too long. God is so faithful to provide for us! It will be nice to have the additional income to help prepare for the baby.

The day I finished my test was October 5th, our first wedding anniversary! We took a trip to Seaside for a few days. It was perfect! We had breakfast at my favorite place, Bagels by the Sea:

Since becoming prego, nothing sounds better than bagels and cream cheese, especially on the days I'm feeling really nauseous, so this place seriously hit the spot!

Our hotel room was right on the beach (thanks again Mom and Dad McC!)

Those were taken from our balcony :)

We strolled through town...

We had so much fun just relaxing and hanging out for the week. Brandon knows how much I love history and took me to Fort Stevens to explore the battery and bunkers. It was so fun!

I do admit my stamina isn't what it used to be! I guess I zonked out on the couch after one of our outings :)

So now I am 17 weeks along, and most of the baby websites say the baby measures approximately 5 inches and weighs around 5 ounces. Here's a picture of the baby bump!

Yes, I'm huge! It's been pretty incredible. I love feeling the little baby every day doing fluttery somersaults in my tummy, and now knowing the baby can hear us and knows when I touch my stomach... it's amazing! Here is what the little peanut looked like on September 16th:

I can't wait for our next ultrasound on November 4th, where we learn if it's a boy or girl! The consensus is a boy, but I'm holding out for a girl... we shall see in only 12 days!

The baby is healthy so far and I'm getting a fairly clean bill of health, as well. We got surprising news after my blood tests came back, however. I was told that getting the chickenpox when I was 5 didn't immunize me for life... looks like I'm one of those rare cases, and need to be extra careful until I have our baby... weird!

I'm really happy to be past the first trimester exhaustion, it feels good to get back to working out and getting some projects done around the house. My mom and I got my office moved and now the office is the nursery! It is so exciting to start filling up the baby's room with things we splurge on or when we get something from the Grandmas :)

Life is good and we are feeling so blessed and excited! In 2 weeks, we will be anxious to share with you all what we're having!