I am, and will forever be, thankful to be your mommy, K. 

I love you. 

Shane and I have pneumonia…wtf. 

We both went to the doctor on Saturday and were told it was just chest colds. Well, Shane developed a nasty fever so we took him to the ER yesterday morning. Sure enough- pneumonia. So I emailed my MFM who told me it might be good to be seen just incase (I was having the same symptoms as Shane minus fever). I decided I would go this morning after a bit of soul searching.

I would have to go up there by myself, which is stressful in and of itself because I’ve never been there and it’s near campus and just makes me nervous!

I would have to go to Labor and Delivery alone. The last trip to L&D was last year when I heard Kenley had died so I really didn’t want to go alone, but what choice did I have. 

So I hopped in the shower and told myself I would have gone for Kenley so this baby deserves that too. And off I went. 

I was able to find my way up there fairly easily. I kept giving myself pep talks which I think helped to keep me focused on where I was going. I found a good parking spot, and walked over to the Hoapital through the connecting bridge sky walk thing. I had zero clue where I was going, but managed to figure it out thank god. 

When I got up to L&D I tried to not focus on the bajillion people waiting to hear if their grandbaby was born, and how mom was. But of course right when I signed in and sat down a dad came into the waiting area with a nurse talking to family about how his twins (ugh) we’re just born healthy as could be….at 3 lbs a piece..and we’re doing great! 

3 lbs. 

Kenley was 7lbs 5oz, perfectly perfect. 

Eventually I got called up to registration and talked to the receptionist for a while and we waited for a nurse to come get me. Thirty minutes later a nurse sticks her head out of a side door and says these exact words: 

“So seeing how you’re NOT VIABLE, we’re going to just send you to the ER”.

Nope. 

I looked at her and said no. I lost my daughter at 38+4 last year (I start crying) and I was sent here per my MFM, so I’m not going to the ER. She seemed pissed and said ok well I’ll go get my charge nurse to talk to you (you’re damn right you will). 

Charge nurse comes out and says ok we will see you (yup.) so they stick me in the quick eval room where I would stay from 10:30am- 2:45pm….No bed. No gown. No proper fetal heart tones monitoring like I expected. I felt like a giant inconvenience to ALL of them. 

So when the nurse came in and tried to do the Doppler I stopped her and said “no, I have an anterior placenta, and I need an ultrasound”. She just looked at me. I said “I’m sorry, I just cannot be here and hear you tell me you can’t find my daughters heartbeat with that Doppler, can’t handle that”. 

The doctor rolled in an ultrasound machine a few minutes later and I was able to see her bringing her legs up to her chest (this must be a favorite for her- I see it often) and her HB was a beautiful 150. Shew. 

She said she was going to have the nurse hook up IV fluids. When the nurse came in, I immediately got all clammy. 

I hate IV’s. HATE. THEM. 

When I had Landon, 5 nurses dug around in my hand for a vein, until finally one said fuck it well put it in her arm! I have an amazing vein in my right arm, please place ALL IVs there. 

This nurse did a FANTASTIC job, and I didn’t even feel it anymore than a regular blood draw. I was super impressed. Too bad her bed side (excuse me…chair side) manner was “meh” at best. 

I was given IV fluids (while sitting in a shitty chair in pretty much a storage closet) and while that was in progress the mobile X-ray people came and took an X-ray. The tech made me laugh, thank god. She’s was all “uh they could have just waited for the IV because now you need to take your bra off and you have an IV in, so this will be fun!” Ugh. 

After a while the doctor came back in and said that I had some stuff in my lung which they are calling pneumonia. I was to get an antibiotic shot, and some antibiotics for the next week and be on my way. 

So…antibiotic shots suck so bad. 

I’m tough. I can handle my shit, and have a suuuuppperrrr high pain tolerance…well this shot felt like she hit me with a sledge hammer with the needle attached to the end, and injected burning lava into my skin which caused me to not be able raise my arm. It only lasted about 45 seconds but OUCH. Maybe it was a mix of the whole day, who knows. 

Today was hard for about ten thousand reasons but I made it . I’m ready to be asleep. One good thing, well two good things today- I got an email saying my candles have shipped for the bags! Yay! And I was able to see my sweet baby A dancing. I do not take that for granted. I could watch her all day. 

I have been waiting for my “You are the mother of all mothers” books to come, and they are finally here! 

When Kenley died, this book was included in the care pack from the amazing women on my board. I read it every day for about 4 months. I now purchased a special memorial spot for Kenley in the back of this edition: 

Each book has her name in the back and it makes me so happy to be able to donate these to the hospital. I know that when I first read it, it was hard. But, I needed to hear it, it helped me eventually. I truly hope that these books make a difference in the hands of those which they are placed. 

If you’re interested in reading what is inside the book, click here. But…have the tissues ready because holy tear jerker. 

One step closer to having the bags complete. I need to place a giant Amazon order for the rest of the items. Maybe that will happen tonight? 

Shane and I are sick as dogs (can someone explain to me why people say this?) currently and we’re laying around doing nothing. He keeps getting a fever and shivers uncontrollably until his medicine kicks in, and I’m burning hot while coughing my face off which gives me a. A sty headache. Needless to say, last nights sleep was the worst. It’s viral per the doctor today…but seems a little weird to only be viral. 

Tylenol and Mucinex for me; Motrin and Mucinex for him. 

I hate getting sick! There is so much I need to do around the house but instead I’m laying in bed. 

Must. Get. Up. And. Do. Something. 

Maybe I can find the strength to throw some laundry in or something. Uggggh. 

Tomorrow we have our repeat ultrasound in hopes to get the photos the tech needs to say that things look good for Baby A. I’m pretty interested in seeing what photos the tech needed.

After the appointment, we are taking Landon to my mother in laws and we are having a date night!

I can’t wait. I need a good relaxing date night.

First, a huge thank you to everyone who has sent me a photo of Kenley’s name! I am in love with them, and just seeing her name makes me feel all warm inside, along with a bit of sadness- I won’t lie. Her name is so beautiful, it’s like music to my ears so every time I see it, I say it out loud. So thank you everyone 🙂

The past few days I’ve been silent just because I have been feeling weird. I feel like the holidays are approaching so fast, and I just want them to stop coming. I know that’s not possible so I’m trying my hardest to relax when I’m around xmas things.

I’m trying to focus on the positive in my life. It’s fucking hard…Im not gonna lie.

Yep pretty much this pic is how I’ve been trying to keep my mental state, but it’s just a big joke because nothing is ever easy. Landon has been sick for the past week. He’s had a little cold, but that triggered his weird ass asthma which triggers his nasty coughing fits at all hours of the day and night. All last week I kept track of how many times he coughed at night, and when I had to go into his room and give him his inhaler because he was really struggling. I even took him to the childrens urgent care on friday night because the entire family needed to get some sleep- we needed relief.

They gave him a 4 day prescription of a steroid and told me to use his inhaler every 4 hrs for a full 24 hrs to see if it helped. It did help, but I still made him an appointment to see his pediatrician tomorrow. We have to do something because this kid has had coughing fits since the day he was born, I swear it. I often tell people that I’ve felt like I’ve had a newborn for the past 5 years because he keeps us all awake at night coughing. I have a baby monitor in his room still (his room is at the other end of the house) because I know that he coughs so hard he will puke sometimes. I gotta be able to hear that at 2am…

So, tomorrow is the appointment and I really hope that we are able to come up with a plan to combat whatever the hell is going on. I often wonder if it’s because he was born at 35 weeks…

••••••••••

Today was a really good mail day for me. 3 packages! I couldn’t even remember what they would possibly be, but when I opened them I cried (of course).

The first were my fox leggings from Fabulegs! I love them and they are so soft!

The second package was from a friend named Christine. She is just amazing and has been nothing but my guardian angel this entire process. Hell, she’s been here from like the VERY beginning after I met her on TTCAL (from the Bump before the great exit!) and she has just continuously been amazing to me. Anyway, she sent me another package today. Inside were the most beautiful ornaments for my Christmas tree. They are perfect. I love them SO much. She was also so kind to include a 3d puppet of a dinosaur for Landon; He is in love.

And finally is from a sweet lady from my BMB (j16) who has kept in touch with me throughout this whole process. She had PM’ed me on the board a few days ago asking if I would like something that she found in her house that she forgot about- A pink carters fox security blanket. My heart melted. I never thought I would see the pink fox again in real life. Well, it (along with a starbucks gift card, nail polish, and a dinosaur puzzle for Landon) arrived today, and I lost my shit. I cried so hard.

These women…I mean like seriously? They, STILL, after all this time are thinking of Kenley (and Landon!). Our BMB was really close, because there were only about 10-15 of us who posted regularly. It broke my heart to no longer be a part of that board. I consider those types of losses as secondary losses to the loss of Kenley. I had so much love for those ladies, and now? I cannot hear about their lives and their babies. All of their babies survived, and mine didn’t. Their babies are Kenley’s age…I can’t hear about them. They’re all getting ready for their first birthday parties…not me. Sigh.

••••••••••

Christine (the friend mentioned above) told me she wanted to help with the bags I’m going to donate, so she purchased body lotions for them. I am so in love with the lotions because I feel like they’re going to be used and the mommas will be thankful for them. I also decided on the candles with Lisa from Aggies on Main. I can’t wait for them to get here so I can share them with you. She donated these out of the kindness of her heart, so I am thankful for her generosity. It is going to make a huge difference for the women who receive them, not immediately…but one day. One day when they feel strong enough to light their candle in memory of their child they will be thankful to her as well.

I purchased all the “You are the mother of all mothers” books today! I had a gift card that the women on the board sent included in Kenley’s “care package” and I had been saving it for this reason. It felt good to use that today for a good cause. So, if any of you are reading, thank you for helping with this project too!

I’m sitting on Amazon right now deciding what other things to purchase and put in there. I am looking for chapstick, journals +pens, and one more book that I found helpful. I want to order 20, but amazon has 1 in stock, and it says “more are on the way”…well that’s not helpful. I think that I’ll probably have to order their last one for them to get more in stock. Whatever! I can’t believe that this is coming together so quickly. I suppose I need to order bags, stickers, and let the Hospital in on my grand plan…but ugh. That all just seems too heavy right now.

One step at a time.

••••••••••Pregnancy talk below••••••••••

I went to the mall today by myself to just relax and spend a little money on random crap because I’ve been feeling stressed out. I bought a few things for me, and then ended up at Old Navy and bought Baby A 4 outfits. What is happening here? She doesn’t need anything, AT ALL. I hope this is how I’m trying to bond with her? It’s becoming easier for me to look at the baby things, and picture a baby in them. I still however can’t imagine having her here. I still don’t believe that we will be able to bring her home from the hospital. It’s scary. Deep down I know that my undiagnosed blood clotting disorder was the cause of Kenley’s death- I know this. It’s just super hard to think anything good could happen to us after what happened last year. 

We also went to babies R us tonight and looked at the travel system we are interested in buying for her. We are thinking about getting something super gender neutral beaucse we have two male embryos on ice waiting to possibly be implanted someday. We’ll see. I don’t know how much more my body can take after this…physically, mentally, emotionally…all of it. It’s just becoming WAY too much.