Brittany & Scott’s Wedding

Last Friday Jeff attended his cousin’s wedding in Fullerton.  The wedding was at the Villa Del Sol and took place outdoors in their courtyard. 

Jeff went solo since I was home with Mackenzie.  He said the ceremony was nice & sent me the below pics throughout the evening.  Brittany looks so pretty in her dress!

Instead of a sit down dinner, they opted for heavy appetizers.  Jeff said they had a mashed potato bar (which he enjoyed), crab cakes, mini french dip sandwiches to name a few.

Jeff also left a little note for the happy couple on their “wish tree”. 

While Jeff was out enjoying the wedding, Kenzie and I hung out at home. 

Congratulations Brittany & Scott!  We wish you a marriage filled with love & happy memories!!

Week 2-Getting to Know You

Mackenzie,

It’s so crazy to think that at 2 weeks old, you already have a personality.  You have some distinct likes & dislikes at only 1/2 month old. 

You don’t mind taking a bath.  You sort of look shell shocked but don’t cry anymore like you did the first time you took one. 

You love your swing.  We plop you down, set it on the lowest setting and you become so quiet.  It’s been such a help during those early morning feeds when I’m getting things ready. 

You love sleeping on Daddy’s chest.  Mommy has tried to hold you this way and you either puke all over me or start to scream.  This is strictly a Daddy & Kenzie position only.

You like the paci when we give it to you, which is only on very rare occasions.  You hate the mittens we put on your hands since all you want to do is suck on your fingers.  But after a few bad scratches, sorry Kenz, they are here to stay. 

You may be indifferent to what you wear but the below “monster” onesie that Kalea made you, perfectly describes how you are when we change your diaper.  While you HATE  to have a dirty diaper, you hate it more when we change it. 

You went to the doctor on your 2 week birthday and your jaundice is definitely getting better.  The doctor also confirmed what we already knew – you are skinny minnie!!  Our goal this week = fatten you up before your next doctor visit.

It’s hard to believe you’ve only been part of our family for 2 weeks.  Those two weeks have seem like a lifetime!  Mommy, Daddy and Chloe are all so happy to have you here now!!

Love you Kenzie!!

Kenzie’s 1st Week Home

The day after Mackenzie came home she had people waiting to meet her!  Her little cousins came over to say hi.

Little Mac also got her first bath.  Jeff was the brave one and did it while I observed.

The first few nights Jeff even helped me out with the middle of the night feedings.

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On Wednesday the older cousins stopped by to say hi.

On Friday Vanessa came over and took some newborn pictures.  They turned out way better than the hospital’s and I can’t wait to use them in her announcements!

And one more picture of Mackenzie during her 1st week home. 

Mackenzie’s Homecoming

When we were ready to be discharged on Sunday (7/14) one of the nurses came in to show us how to properly strap Mackenzie into her carseat.  Similar to how they wheel women who just gave birth out of the hospital, they put Kenzie’s carseat on a stroller and wheeled her out.

We loaded her up in the car and made the short ride home. 

One of the most common questions we got was “how do you think Chloe will react?”  We googled how to introduce a dog to a newborn but really just went on instinct when we introduced them. 

As you can see from the video, Chloe did awesome. She was really excited but listened to us and mostly stuck to licking Kenzie’s feet.

Even now, a week later, she’s doing really well.  She loves to keep tabs on her.  One time Jeff moved K and her bassinet and Chloe didn’t realize K was still in her bassinet.  She went tearing through the house looking for her (checked K’s room, the bathroom, her swing) before finally finding her.

Thank goodness our two little girls get along so well!  We can’t wait until Kenzie gets a little bigger so she can interact with Chloe more. 

Hanging in Peds

When we went to check Mackenzie into her room in Peds, we were told that they would have a bed and one of us could stay overnight.  Even though I had just delivered less than 48 hours ago, we both agreed I should stay so I could continue to nurse her. 

Unfortunately, when the child is the patient (vs the mom) a bed is not always a given.  Instead they had a recliner chair for me to sleep on.  I took one look and almost broke down crying again.  I was so uncomfortable and could not imagine sleeping in a chair for the next week. 

After some discussion, Jeff and I agreed that it was best we both head home for the night.  The nurses all assured us that they would take extra care of our little girl and that we could call anytime to check in on her.  It was one of the hardest decisions I made, but that night we headed home without Mackenzie after all. 

The next morning (and the following days after) we got up bright and early to go be with our little girl.  One of the best things about being in Peds was that we had our privacy.  In the newborn nursery, we wouldn’t be able to sit and cuddle with our little girl without numerous people walking by and staring.  Peds also allowed visitors during regular hours, something that was originally not going to be possible in the nursery. 

While we were there, Kenzie’s original hospital pediatrician came to check on her and unfortunately she was diagnosed with jaundice.  There were some issues with how the pediatrician told me the news (she literally blamed ME!) so when Jeff returned, we requested another pediatrician.  Dr Alegria was a God-send and took her time explaining things and answering all our questions.  Kenzie’s jaundice ended up not even needing treatment.

On Sunday my mom stopped by to visit for the first time. 

While we were there, Dr Alegria mentioned that since Kenzie was gaining weight and showed no other signs of complications, we may be able to take her home on Sunday vs Tuesday.  We were so excited and kept our fingers crossed that it would work out. 

Because my milk had not come in yet and we wanted to ensure Mackenzie gained weight, we supplemented her diet with formula.  We were laughing because towards the end of her stay, she would try her best to hold her own bottle with her little hands. 

She found her thumb!

Since all our shuffling around, we missed out on newborn pictures during the first 2 days.  The peds nurses called the photographer and on Sunday she came to our room and snapped a few pictures. 

Earlier on Sunday, we also got the okay from Dr Alegria to be discharged later that evening.  Around 8pm, we signed the final paperwork and were all set to go home.

After spending 5 days at the hospital, we were finally going home as a family of 3. 

Mackenzie’s First Couple Days

I was moved into my recovery room soon after delivery and waited for Jeff to meet me.  During Mackenzie’s initial newborn scans it was determined that she had an infection (most likely from my water being broken 28 hours prior to delivery) and needed to be given antibiotics and checked out by the hospital pediatrician before being released to hang out in our room. 

The pediatrician was running late so around 11am the next day (Wednesday) one of the nurses said “screw it” and brought Mackenzie to our room. 

Around noon we got our first visitors!  Nate and Vanessa dropped by to meet our little girl.

Ashley and Vanessa also came by but I don’t have a picture!  I’m blaming sleep deprivation.  In between visitors we had our down time and tried to get accustomed to the newest little Loyd.

Later that night we had our “celebration dinner” of steak, rice pilaf, veggies, garlic bread and apple cider. 

After dinner we had some more visitors.  Shannon, Chad, Crystal, Aunt Bernice, Uncle Tim, Nana and Tata all showed up. 

Once everyone went home, it was just me, Jeff and Mackenzie.  We survived our first night together – Jeff learned how to sleep through a crying baby and a wife screaming his name to get his attention. 

Thursday was a tough day for us.  I was being discharged but Mackenzie was scheduled to stay admitted until the following Tuesday.  When 8:00pm rolled around and we followed the nurse to the nursery, the tears started flowing.  It wasn’t until we were got to the nursery that we were told of a new policy that allowed babies to be transferred to Peds which allowed a parent to stay with the baby.  This sounded like the perfect solution for Jeff and I. 

As of Thursday night, the above became Mackenzie’s room for the next week.  More to come!