Introducing Charlie David Kippley!

Just in time for the Olympics and Valentine's Day....Charles David Kippley made an early entrance into the world on 2.12.2010. He weighed 6 lbs 11 oz and was 20.5 inches long (4 of which I'm convinced were from a massive conehead.)

The last time I posted I mentioned that I hoped the baby the would make an appearance very soon. I think Charlie was confused that what I meant as "very soon" was around February 28th...just a few weeks before my due date. But as I've quickly figured out in the last week, this baby stuff has nothing to do with my plans..it all revolves around Charlie!





I'll try to write the condensed version of his birth story. On Wednesday I thought I had a doctor's appt but apparently it was scheduled for Friday and the super rude receptionist sent me away crying (hormones) saying they didn't have any openings and I would have to wait until Friday. I called the nurse's office on the way to work because I was having really bad gas cramps and wanted to know if I could take mylanta. Note to self and all pregnant moms: you CAN take mylanta..no need to call. If you call, you could end up with a baby instead of a mylanta recommendation. Anywho - they wanted me to come to the hospital for monitoring because I don't know the difference between gas and contractions. When I was hooked up, they realized that it wasn't contractions (duh) but my blood pressure had skyrocketed to around 175/105. They monitored me for a few hours but all my other tests came back fine and we thought I'd be released in time for our reservations at Wildfire for our anniversary. My doctor came in around 6 and told me that instead of bed rest or medication, my blood pressure had put me in the "severe preeclampsia" category and they would start inducing me that night. Brian and I just kept looking at eachother and then I burst out into tears (second for the day) and kept saying how I wasn't ready.



We must have been a sight walking to our labor and delivery room. I was carrying my shoes and bawling and Brian was in his suit and trying to calm me down. They must have been talking about us on the floor because all the nurses that came in wished us a Happy Anniversary and joked that their food wasn't going to be as good as Wildfire's. One nurse even joked, "That's what you get for complaining about some gas." So we settled in thinking he would be born Thursday.



Again..Charlie was on his own schedule. Because everything was stable except my blood pressure, they let us take the slow and steady route of inducing me and letting my body do as much of the work as possible. Mentally, this helped us really prepare as I was in the hospital 48+ hours before he was even born. All day Thurs and Fri they gave me medication to get things going. The doctor broke my water at 9 AM on Friday and the contractions came on hard and fast. I held a nurse hostage until they brought the doctor in for my epidural. He was rambling off all the risks and I'm pretty sure he could have told me that there was a chance I could lose a few limbs and my eyesight and I would have signed on the dotted line! Thankfully the epdiural worked like a charm and we just hung out and waited the rest of the afternoon. I was finally ready to push a little after 8 PM and at 9:09 PM (just as the US Olympic team came out on the floor) Charlie was born!



How do I know that this was the moment the Olympic team walked on the floor? Well my nurses and Brian were watching the Olympics inbetween all my pushing. We LOVED all of our labor and delivery nurses at Abbott. The 2 that helped us deliver were super funny and even had that sarcastic humor we love. The opening ceremonies were going on and I swear, after each contraction, the nurse and Brian dropped my legs like a hot potato and turned around to keep watching. So as I'm recovering, all I hear is "What sport do you think Ethiopia particpates in? Oh look at those outfits. Who wears shorts/crazy pants/fur like coats." At some point I started shooting Brian dirty looks. Let's keep our eyes on the prize people! I was even telling them "Umm I think this is a contraction. Should I be pushing?" And all 3 of them would turn around and refocus. It's funny in hindsight but not as much during the actual delivery! :)

Snuggling with Grandma Paula and Grandpa Dave


The big things we were worried about before Charlie was born was his weight and breathing - at 36 weeks, babies aren't considered full term and could have complications. Apparently measuring 2 weeks ahead this whole time did mean something because Charlie was a great size at 6 lbs 11 oz and he had no complications at all. He's a champ! I couldn't wait to use my "72 hour labor" to my advantage over the months and years to come. Scenario: Brian asks me to do something and I say, "remember when I was in labor for 72 hours with your son?" Well a nurse was happy to point out (in Brian's presence) that they only count labor as starting when you're 3 cm dilated and I wans't to that point until 4 PM on Friday. So technically I was only in labor for 5 hours. I almost punched her in the face but the IV made it hard for me to get out of bed!!



The name is a combination of 2 family names. We honestly didn't have our name until after he was born. (We thought we had more time to decide!) Charles is Brian's grandpa's name who passed away shortly after we started dating and David is my dad's name. Brian said he looked like a Charlie because he has an old man look about him!

With Grandma Pat


We are settling in and adjusting to being sleep deprived! It has been so much fun having Brian home too and we can't believe how fast the days go. I don't know how single moms do it..Brian has picked up right where he left off in being probably the most helpful human being ever and has just dived right into fatherhood. Our pediatrician even asked if he'd been around babies before because he seemed like such a natural :) I have so much more to post about: how Sasha and Stella are getting along with their brother, why the nurse came in to wake up Brian at the hospital, our first date post baby, etc but Charlie is ready to eat so I have to get going! I will try to update with pictures as much as possible. And sorry for this marathon post!!