Kylie is 10 days old!

Kylie is 10 days old today and she is changing everyday. Even though we are spending our days at the hospital, it feels like she is growing up so fast!

Slowly but surely, she is making good progress. Her bilirubin was low at the end of last week, so they took her out from under the blue lights. She had her central venous line (from which she was receiving IV fluids to supplement her diet) taken out on Saturday evening. So, now she is being completely fed breastmilk (46 mL every 3 hours) through her feeding tube. She has tried oral breastfeeding 3 times and can latch on pretty well, but doesn't know how to suck yet. She had her first bath yesterday and she seemed to enjoy it. She was also moved from her incubator to a crib today. So, she is maintaining her temperature and tolerating noise well! I like having her out in the open because we can hear all of her little squeaks and noises...It's really cute. We can also dress her in little outfits now...She has been wearing lots of pink! TMI Warning: She has been having lots of really good wet and dirty diapers. Apparently, she is one of those babies who likes to go after the diaper is off and she is exposed to the air. This morning when were changing her diaper she sent a poop flying across the room. It literally landed 5 feet away on the floor! It was hilarious! She has now officially soiled 3 of her new outfits! Lastly, her biggest milestone of the week...Kylie weighs 5 pounds! She is such a big girl!

The first picture is of Kylie showing off one of her new outfits! She has her eyes open, but looks a little stunned because it was the first time she had seen a camera flash! Thank you to all of you who have found clothes that fit her! I'm so glad she can wear them here in the hospital because they are way cuter than the hospital's clothes, and I think she will probably be in newborn sizes when she leaves! The second picture is of Kylie taking her first bath. As you can see, she is very relaxed...We think she is going to be begging daddy to buy her spa treatments when she gets a little older! :)

Kylie Update--11/24/10

After Kylie was born, she was having a hard time breathing...At 32 weeks, her lungs were not quite fully mature. She was quickly put on a ventilator and given surfactant. She was then transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at St. Mary's. After about 8 hours on the ventilator, she no longer needed the help breathing and was able to move back to the Intermediate Special Care Nursery at Methodist. She will likely be there for 4-6 weeks, but I'm hoping to have her home by Christmas! Wouldn't that be the best gift ever?!

As far as her progress, she is increasing her food intake every 12 hours. She gets fed breastmilk through a feeding tube (that's what is in her nose in the picture) because she isn't old enough to breastfeed yet. She started at 3.5 mL every 2 hours on Sunday morning and is already up to 13 mL every 2 hours today (Wednesday). They have to move slowly to make sure her little body can handle it. She was also put under the bililights right away on Saturday because of jaundice, but they were removed on Monday night. Unfortunately, she had to go back under the lights this morning, but I guess that is completely normal for premature babies.

We are already getting to know her personality. She can be very feisty at times and will let you know when she doesn't like something. She especially hates having her temperature taken in her armpit. She doesn't like her feeding tube and has pulled it out multiple times. She's also not a huge fan of her eye mask that she has to wear under the lights.

There are a lot of things she likes too. She really likes to be held by her mom and dad (it's called kangaroo care). She loves to stretch a lot and make funny faces with her mouth. She also seems to be a good eater like her mama! :) She is starting to suck on her pacifier and will sometimes even hold onto it while it's in her mouth.

The picture was taken on Monday...We think she looks like a little angel!

Kylie Kristen Barlow--November 19th, 2010

Our little Kylie has quite the arrival story...It's a tale we will never let her forget! It all started on Friday, November 19th, 2010 around 2:30pm. I was teaching 8th grade boys health when I felt a huge rush of fluid...Luckily I was sitting down. I thought maybe I had wet my pants, but when I stood up and saw that I was sitting in a puddle I knew that my water had broke. It definitely caught me by surprise considering I was only 32 weeks pregnant. So, in the middle of our discussion I yelled, "Somebody please go get Mrs. Buchholtz. Tell her it's an emergency." (Mrs. Buchholtz is the spanish teacher and a good friend of mine.) A couple of the boys ran out of the room to go get her, but because there was a girl throwing up in the hallway at the same time, they didn't quite make it before they came back. Finally, I convinced them that my emergency was much more of an emergency than someone throwing up. Mrs. Buchholtz came into the classroom, saw my chair and took over from there. I tied my jacket around my waist and ran to the office. On my way out the door, the boys finally realized that they had gotten the best health lesson of their lives...One of them asked me, "Did something break?" :) Once I got to the office, I called Jon to have him meet me at the hospital...He seemed to be in disbelief because he asked me several times if I was sure I didn't pee my pants! One of the secretaries drove me from Kasson to Rochester. Luckily she was driving a rental car...The passenger seat was soaked by the time we made it to the hospital. Oops!

We were admitted almost immediately because I was a "positive wheelchair," which means that I was once again sitting in a puddle of fluid. For the first hour or so, I was having little contractions, but nothing too painful. So, the first plan was to let Kylie stay in her little oven for up to 2 weeks (34 weeks gestation) or as long as my body would keep her there. At this point, we weren't necessarily expecting to have a baby right away. But by about 7:00pm, when I was in quite a bit more pain and really shaky (apparently that is called, "baby shakes"), we realized that it was inevitable. They hadn't checked my cervix and because everything was moving so quickly, I didn't believe that I needed the epidural yet. I figured I was probably dilated to 1 or 2 cm and I was being a total wimp. They did finally check my cervix and I was at 5cm...Obviously, I requested the epidural immediately. :) As a side note, epidurals are magical and highly recommended! After it was in, I was able to think and interact with people again. Our parents arrived and we were able to chat with them for a little while before it was time to push. By 9:45-10:00pm, I was at 10cm and ready to push...I did, however, have to wait for about 20 minutes because the doctors had to do rounds at 10:00pm. Silly doctors! :)

Well, the silver lining to Kylie's early arrival is that the labor and delivery were fairly easy and not horrifically long or painful like some of the stories I have heard. I pushed for 20 minutes and at 10:43pm Kylie was born! She was beautiful, pink and crying...YAY! At birth, Kylie weighed 4 lbs. 13oz. and was 17.25 inches long. She has lots of dark hair, a chin dimple and her daddy's eyes (I think). The picture was taken shortly after Kylie was born. We think she kind of looks like a cute, little alien in it! :)

Belly Pictures

As you may have guessed, I am pretty proud of my baby belly. Jon and I have been trying to take pictures of it on a regular basis. As you will see, Baby Barlow is clearly growing as she is supposed to be...I am thinking she might be a "healthy" baby!

Craft Fair

Within the last year or two, I have really gotten into making baby quilts for my friends. I enjoy sewing and seeing my project come together. My friend Sari, who is very crafty, makes hooded towels, burp clothes, and does flower arrangements. She is extremely talented. She and I decided it would be fun (and possibly profitable) to have a booth at the Mayo Craft Fair this year. We spent 8 hours on a Saturday selling our crafts, and it was a pretty successful day. I sold my quilts, bibs and taggie blankets. Sari sold her hooded towels, burp clothes and hair clips. Grandma King sold aprons, dish rags, baby hats (a BIG hit) and rug bags. Here is a picture of Sari and I at our booth.

Maternity Pictures

Before my belly starts to torpedo, I thought we should have some maternity pictures taken. Luckily, I have a friend who is a wonderful photographer...We had a nice day and she took some fantastic pictures. It'll be fun to look back on these pictures someday with our little girl!

Halloween

We spent Halloween in costume celebrating with friends. I thought it would be fun to incorporate the baby into our costumes. So, I went as an oven (with a bun in it) and Jon went as a baker. Huey did not come to the party with us, but he spent about 5 hours on Halloween in his costume. He was the cutest Lady Bug ever. One of our little trick-or-treaters even commented on his costume. A little boy dressed as a vampire stopped by our house and when he saw Huey, he sloppily took his spit-covered vampire teeth out and said, "That's a weird costume for a dog." It made us laugh! Enjoy!

Baby on Board

The Rochester Barlow's are officially starting a family. We have a new addition on the way with an expected arrival date of January 13th, 2011. We're having a little girl and could not be more excited. Because of the upcoming changes, we figured it was time to join the blogging world to share all of our bloggable moments with friends and family. So, here it goes...