Purses for Preemies in Memory of Kailynn

 As most of you know Kailynn passed away in the NICU after a month of being born. She was born at 25 weeks only weighing 1 pound and 15 ounces. Only 10 months later her sister Kinsley was born. Kinsley was also sent to the NICU becasue she was having dificulty breathing. She spent four days there while they monitored her to make sure she was breathing fine without needing any assistance. While both girls were in the NICU in Huntsville they received exceptional care from the doctors and nurses.

Kailynn in the NICU

Kinsley in the NICU

Each year Chris and Amy George host Swim for Melissa to raise money for the NICU. Kinsley has joined in to raise money in memory of her big sister. This cause is so special to us because of the generosity the NICU staff showed our family while we watched Kailynn fight for her life and Kinsley prepare to come home with us. We are forever grateful for this NICU family and want to help make a difference in the lives of preemie babies and their families. Kinsley's Page in Memory of Kailynn

Last year we had an overwhelming amount of support as we raised money for Swim for Melissa in memory of Kailynn. This year we decided to take a different approach and instead of just asking for money; we thought it would be great to host a Purses for Preemies Auction. This was mom's idea! I think it is great! I can't wait to see how it turns out! We will all be supporting a great cause and saving the lives of preemies! If you can't make it or donate a purse click on the link above to donate to Kinsley's page!

These are really Kailynn's tiny footprints!

Mom wanted to use Kailynn's intials KPH.....so we decided Keeping Preemies Healthy would be perfect!

Thank you all for supporting us as we remember Kailynn by saving the lives of other preemie babies!

5 Months

Miss Kinsley Kate turned 5 months old this week and she is growing so fast! She weighs around 16 pounds. I love how she is beginning to have more of a personality. She is such a happy baby and loves for you to talk to her. Her sweet giggles are my favorite!

I am working very hard on weaning Kinsley so that when I go back to school she will take a bottle, but so far she is not very happy about it. I really wish that I could just stay home with her and we would not have to do this, but I guess we do need insurance. Kinsley absolutely hates tummy time right now. She screams until I let her stop and I let her stop beccause this little girl gets what she wants all the time....I guess I should work on saying no, but for right now I think I will continue to spoil her. Kinsley is loving summer and the water. I am glad that she is going to be a water bug! Here are some new pics-Hope you enjoy!

She looks so much like her Daddy!

My little water bug!

March of Dimes

I have not had lots of time to post lately, but this morning I decided that I needed to! I have so many sweet baby pictures of Kinsley I promise to share, but this morning I woke up thinking about the March of Dimes walk and how important this organization is to our family.

With two children being born and having to spend time in the NICU you begin to look at life and things differently. Kailynn being born 15 weeks early needed medical care for about everything. Kinsley was born 5 weeks early and had a little trouble breathing in the beginning. I am very grateful to the NICU and March of Dimes for providing research, technology, and resources to help babies like mine survive. I think that it would only be fitting to show my gratitute by walking, donating, and raising money for these wonderful causes.

I have created a March of Dimes team page "Walk for Kailynn" so that on April 17th we can walk in memory of Kailynn Presley Hall. This time of year is hard for us anyway because Kailynn was born one year ago on March 9th 2009 and became an angel on April 9th, 2009. The walk is just another way that we can honor and remember our little girl. I know she would be proud!

So please join our team in raising money for babies. Here is the link! http://www.marchforbabies.org/s_team_page.asp?SeId=1372338

We are planning on purchasing T-Shirts so after you register I will get with you and see if you want one.
Thank you for all your support you have shown our family!

Our First Week at Home

Kinsley Kate did not have to stay long in the NICU only 4 days! I came home on Tuesday and Kinsley got to come home on Wednesday. We were very surprised that when we arrived to feed Kinsley they said congratulations you will get to go home in a few hours and take her with you. We knew she would get to come home soon, but we were not sure when so we were very suprised and excited!! We quickly fed her and then ran to Target to get a few things that we needed. When we got back it was time to go home. Kinsley's first week at home has been so busy! Our first morning home Kinsley had a doctors appointment. She weighed 5 pounds and 10 ounces. Everything else looked great also. They checked her for jaundis and I realized real quick that I was glad Kevan came too becasue he had to hold her and she squirmed around and cried the whole time. They had to prick her little foot and squeeze it to get blood.  It just broke my heart (maybe Kevan should take her when she has to get shots).We go back in two weeks for her check-up! We have had lots of family visiting Kinsley and she has slept through most of it. She is such a good baby...I know I know it probably will not last long. I wake her up when it's time to eat. If I didn't she would sleep right on through. I am even more protective than I thought that I would be. Hand Sanitizer, Gowns....the whole works to hold her. She is just so tiny and fragile.....I don't want her sick! Tori has been here so its really been crazy....The first thing she said was "make the baby go away". She really likes her now. Actually she kinda just ignores her. Every once in a while she will say...Hey sissy. Oh...and she can't say Kinsley so she has been calling her Candice-Too Funny. Anyway here are some pictures from her first week home. I really have tried to take some pictures, but she keeps her hands in front of her face all the time and she is such a squimer that everytime I get her like I like it she moves.

Kinsley Kate has Arrived!!

Kisnley Kate Hall was born Saturday 1/16/10 at 5:36 p.m. She weighed a whopping 5 pounds and 15 ounces! Kinsley is in the NICU and will have to stay about a week. Her breathing has already got much better! She looks just like daddy! I will post more pictures soon!

Tori was so excited about sister coming!

Ok, It's Official!

I am Huge!!! 35 Weeks

I am getting so anxious for Miss Kinsley to be here!

34 Week Appointment

Tomorrow I will be 34 weeks! I never thought I would make it this far. We started early this morning with going to get my last Rogahm shot. Thank goodness; I hate to get those! And then to Dr. Bailey's office for our last ultrasound and an appointment. It was a mad house because of the snow they had called in every patient to come in so they could close early. During the ultrasound Miss Kinsley kept her hands and arms over her face the entire time....She really wants it to be a seceret what she looks like. She is doing a good job. The last several times she has done this. She weighs 5 pounds and 9 ounces already! She may have outgrown all her NB clothes by the time I actually have her. Dr. Bailey said my amniotic fluid was a little better and everything looked great. I begged him to schedule my C-Section so that I could at least start counting down. It did not work- He said he would schedule it next time and he would see me in two weeks. So much for me holding my ground trying to get it scheduled. Now I am home and exhausted. What am I going to do when this baby gets here. I hope my energy comes back! Now that I am monitoring again I am seeing contractions on the monitor.....Brenda you may be right, but I hope not. The roads are bad and Kevan will be mad if she interfers with the ballgame.

Surprise!!!!

Kinsley Kate is one lucky little girl! Saturday night we had a surprise baby shower. I really did not know anything about it. All of my family and friends came and brought Miss Kinsley some of the most precious gifts. We had a wonderful time and I was so glad to get to see everyone. Here are some pics!

Update

Tonight I decided to take on a very difficult task! Paint my toe nails. I have been begging Kevan to do them ever since I was put on bedrest, but it has not happen yet and I was tired of waiting. I started out trying to just do a french manicure...What a disaster; I could not get them straight! So then I took it all off and started over. Now they are red. Kevan looked over several times laughing because I was having such a hard time. He did ask if I needed his help, but I was being stubborn and since he did not do it in the first place I told him NO! Two hours later my toenails are painted and my back is killing me. I just could not get around my belly to paint them. Anyway-lesson learned (never get fat!) Simple tasks become more difficult!

Yesterday Kinsley and I went back to L and D. This was the third time this week. The first two for steroid shots and this one because she was not moving much at all. It has made me paranoid since they told me my amniotic fluid was a little low. So when she has a lazy day it makes me worried. I did the kick counts all day like the nurse said to, but was only getting to like 3 or 4 every 2 hours. So the nurse sent me to L and D to do a NST just in case. When we got there I was the only one there. I can't believe it. It is usually a mad house. Kinsley's heart beat was good and she did move a little...not a whole lot; but then she got the hiccups!!! This girl gets fighting mad when they put all those belts on to monitor everything. So between that and the hiccups she was definitely moving now. I guess she learned her lesson not to be lazy and scare me because she has been moving most of the day today! The nurse comes back tomorrow to give me a shot and monitor Kinsley again.

I can't believe that Christmas is almost here! YAY!! Thanks to every one's help all my Christmas shopping is almost done. We will get Tori Friday and have her for a week. I think this year she will actually enjoy getting presents! What a fun time of the year!

Cutie 'P" Tutie

Candice has been making cute Diaper bags and accessories for babies. Here is her website if you know anyone you wants to place an order. They are really Cute! Great for Shower Gifts!

http://www.wix.com/cmarmstrong/cutie-p-tutie

What a busy day!

Today we had a check-up. The first one in three weeks; it seemed to take forever to get here because I have been going every two weeks since the very beginning. The day started out CRAZY! First April came to do my hair which I desperately needed...I called her in tears almost. My hair had not been colored since July and I had not had a hair cut in like 12 weeks. It made me feel so much better-I was so afraid that I was going to have this baby and my hair would look horrible.Then they came and cleaned the house-It looks great! I was pampered all morning. Next, agenda is my toes. We were going to go today since I had permission to get out of the house, but we did not have time...so I guess Kevan will have to do it. I love doctor Bailey and everyone in his office, but we waited forever today and Mr. Impatient was with me. He is not really that bad but 1:40-4:00 is kinda crazy.First we got to see Miss. Kinsley she was sticking out her tongue.She is sitting very low so we did not get any pictures that were any good. I think she is about getting to big to get good ones. She weighed 3 pounds 13 ounces..To most people that does not seem huge, but Kailynn weighed 1 pound 15 ounces so that means that Kinsley is about to double her in size (huge to us)! Then we waited to see if anything has changed...Everything was about the same;which is great! Since there is a chance of pre-term labor they decided that steroid shots would be best. So off to the hospital. It did not take too long..It was only another shot in the booty-This one hurt though!Tomorrow we will go back to get one more. After 34 weeks they feel like the baby would not need steroid shots so this will be the only ones we get. We are getting close- 30 weeks Friday!

Happy Birthday Tori

Tori turned 2 on Friday! On Sunday we had a Barney Party! Barney is Tori's favorite...She will watch Barney all day if you let her. Since I am bedrest Kevan was the party planner. He did an amazing job....I was actually a little worried because I am picky picky picky, but Kevan had everything together and made everything look wonderful.We had a surprise guest. Barney even came to the party (I really thought she would love him) WRONG! She screamed to the top of her lungs! Eventually, Tori decided that she could be beside Barney;if someone was holding her, but when Barney tried to touch her forget it-she screamed again. I think she actually kinda liked him a little in the end, but was very glad to see him go. All night Tori would point to the door and say Barney like she was going to cry again...We had to tell her over and over that he left and was not coming back. Oh well....I guess we will know from now on that she only likes Barney on T.V.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving at our house! This year because Me and Kinsley are on bedrest we had Thanksgiving here. Nana K brought lots of yummy food! Thanks Nana K for bringing everything here;sorry I could not help! We had Tori this year and she got to wear her Thanksgiving outfit...Good thing because it was almost too small! Oh well...We will save it for Kinsley! We were sad that we did not get to spend Thanksgiving with the rest of the family, but next year we can and we will even be able to bring Kinsley! Tori loved Nana K this Thanksgiving.....You never know with that child! Nana K bought Tori a movie for her birthday and proceeded to convince Tori that it was a Barney movie even though it was not! Tori kept watching for Barney...This is the first movie we have got her to watch that is not Barney! We missed baby Kailynn very much this Thanksgiving...Although we know that she was here watching over us! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family!

Baby Website Closing

From the beginning I created Kinsley Kate a baby website. Now the website will be closing so I decided to create this blog and post everything on here instead. Kinsley Kate was 28 weeks as of yesterday. This is a huge milestone for us considering that Kailynn was born at 25 weeks and at my last Dr. Appointment Dr. Bailey put me on bed rest. I have been on bed rest for almost 2 weeks now and I am going crazy! My medicine seems to be working because I have not been having contractions except for yesterday when I had 2 at the beginning of the Alabama/Auburn Game. I told the nurse that Kinsley was screaming War Eagle!!! I don't go back to see Dr. Bailey until December 7th because he does not want me getting out of the house to go to the doctor. The home health nurses come instead. I am very anxious to go back because we get to see Kinsley again and Dr. Bailey said that he would let me get steroid shots for the babies lungs!

Day 2 on Bed Rest

Yesterday we had a wonderful surprise! Shana and baby Hudson came to visit. He is such a precious baby. I am glad I finally got to see him. He has grown so much since I saw him last in the NICU. I told him Kinsley could be his girlfriend one day...lol. Then we talked to Home Health and The Insurance Company trying to get everything set up. Kevan called to get a phone line so that we could send them information from home. I also talked to Dr.Bailey's office yesterday. Miss Kinsley will be getting steroid shots to develop her lungs at our next doctor's appointment in 3 weeks. I am glad that she will be getting these. I think I am going to get bored pretty easy. Thank goodness Aunt Candice is coming today to visit!

At home with Kinsley

Today was our 26 week checkup and ultrasound. Nana K even came to see Kinsley. We went in and saw Kinsley while Emily took all the measurements and took some pictures. Kinsley was practicing sucking. She was turned sideways so we did not get any really good pictures. After waiting forever to see the doctor she finally came in.I have gained 20 pounds so far. Kinsley's heartbeat was 160. The doctor said that it was time to stop working and go home to take care of Kinsley. I thought this was coming soon, but not this soon. I had hoped to make it a little further. In just a week my cervix had went from 3.2 to 2.5 and I had started to funnel a little. We increased my medicine and Dr. Bailey called and set up home health so that they could come out once a week and also bring me the equipment to measure my contractions. Kinsley needs to stay in to until at least 32 weeks to make me happy! We still have a ways to go so we will just be taking it easy for a while. Poor Kevan.......He can take care of us!

What a Day!

Yesterday was an emotional day for me filled with lots of worries. I was exactly 25 weeks and 2 days; that is when baby Kailynn arrived. I have been waiting this entire pregnancy to get this far because I knew that we would at least be as far as last time. I have said all along that if we could just make it that far I would feel better. Wrong! Today Kinsley had other plans. She wanted it to be her day. I woke up with a few issues that I was unsure about so I called Dr.Bailey first thing. I had a doctors appointment at 12:50.....I left at 5:00 this afternoon. Kevan now has to give me shots once a week. I know! What a scary thought.He had the nurse laughing so hard that I was not sure if she could even show him how. I guess we will see how this goes. Today when they were checking to make sure everything was ok all I could see was Kinsley's head and her little hand stretched out on her head as if she was saying "No...your not supposed to be looking yet" ...lol.Wednesday we go for the Glucose test and Monday we get to see baby Kinsley again. I can't wait!

The Best Present Yet!

Today is our anniversary....we had already celebrated and exchanged gifts, but this morning when I woke up Kevan had another surprise. We were discussing day care and where the baby would stay when I went back to work. I told him that I had it figured out after summer, but I was unsure what I was going to do when I had to go back at the end of the year for a few weeks. He said that I could just continue my leave until next school year!!! This has to be the best thing he could have gave me. I was dreading having to go back to 5th graders at the end of May. Now I can stay home with Kinsley. This means she will be 5 months old before I have to put her in day care instead of the 3 months I had thought! 7 months of leave altogether will going to be wonderful!!!

24 Weeks and Growing

This girl is growing!!! We gained 5 pounds in two weeks. One day the doctor is saying gain weight and the next time we had gained the same amount in the first 5 months. 15 pounds total now. Kinsley's heartbeat was 140 this week. Everything was perfectly normal and we go back in two weeks again. We have to do the glucose test next time;which I am not looking forward too. I remember 24 weeks when I was pregnant with Kailynn like yesterday. I thought that we would be doing this test at 26 weeks and Kailynn was born at 25. I am really anxious to get past the 25 weeks 2 days mark! I have faith that we are going to make it! They said that they would not do a C-Section until 38 1/2 weeks because C-Section babies tend not to breathe as easily as regular baby deliveries. Kinsley has been moving like crazy! This makes me feel so much better that before I could feel her move. We get to do another ultrasound at 26 weeks. YAY! I love to see pictures of baby Kinsley!!

The Things Kids Say

This is too funny! I just had to share it. Today a Kindergartener told his teacher that he can not wait to see what we are having for lunch because it must be real good. When she asked him why he thought that and he said that it was because Mrs. Hall really enjoyed her lunch today. It made her belly stick out real far. She explained that I was having a baby and the lunch did not do that to my belly. He wanted to know how the babygot there............She changed the subject.