She's here!

Kenley Isabel was born at 4:07 am, Sunday, June 20. She was 8 lbs. 5 oz. and 20 inches long. We think she is perfection.

I won’t go into her entire birth story, but I thought I would share some because it was an incredible experience. Looking back on it, I wouldn’t have it any other way!

I woke up Friday morning at 2 am with steady contractions (8-10 minutes apart). After a few hours of the same, I was convinced that I was in labor and that baby Kenley would be born by the end of the day. Well, they continued that way – sometimes closer together, sometimes getting more intense, but never really progressing past early labor – all through Friday and Saturday. I had called my family in Des Moines Friday morning and they came driving over expecting a baby anytime. Needless to say, by Saturday night, I was quite tired and wondering if I was actually in labor. Our doula, Lauren, and the midwives assured me that I was in early labor and that my body was making important progress.

I went to bed around 10 pm and slept until a much stronger contraction woke me up a little before midnight. The contractions continued to get stronger and closer together over the next few hours. By 2 am I had called our doula, Lauren, and asked her to head to our house (she lives over an hour away) and I asked Bill to wake up my mom to help keep track of my contractions. Less than an hour later, we decided we better head to the hospital, so we gathered our things and called Lauren to tell her to meet us there.

When we got to the hospital, I didn’t have more than a couple minutes between contractions, so after stopping every few feet on the way in, my sister Bethany ran to get a wheelchair and Bill pushed me in it up to labor & delivery. When I got into the room, the resident doctor on call checked and announced that I was 8 centimeters dilated. Good news, since that meant we were going to get to meet Kenley sooner rather than later! My mom was on one side of me holding my hand, and Bill was on the other. Lauren was at my side, coaching me through the last & hardest moments. Bethany was there recording every moment in photos. Well, we got into the delivery room at 3:45 am and after just a few more very strong contractions, I was ready to push and she came out with one big push at 4:07 am! The midwife on call did not make it to our room in time for the birth – the nurses and the resident delivered Kenley, they did a great job. She was beautiful, perfect, alert and ready to breastfeed right away. I’m so happy that I was able to labor at home for most of the time and that I was able to give birth again without any pain medication or complications. My recovery time has been even faster than with Lachlan. Kenley is healthy, and eating, sleeping, and pooping like a champ.


Bill and I spent all day and night at the hospital receiving visitors and snuggling our new little treasure. By Monday morning we were ready to go home and we were happy to be able to be discharged a day early. It has been a busy week getting adjusted and settled at home.


Lachlan is doing a great job with Kenley; he’s so gentle and sweet. He wants to make sure she has socks and a hat on at all times. If she cries or fusses, he says “check baby” and runs over to check on her (then often imitates the sound she’s making). He doesn’t seem to be very jealous, but he has figured out that when I am busy with her it is a great opportunity to get into mischief. My mom has been here all week to help, especially with Lachlan and laundry and cooking, so that has been wonderful. She’s heading home today, so I’m getting mentally prepared for being here with both of them on my own during the day starting tomorrow.

I've posted lots of photos and a couple videos from Kenley's first week in a Flickr set.