Introducing Ryan!

I needed to make this blog official, though most of you already know...

Ryan Marshall was born on Thursday, December 15 at 10:47 am.  He was 8 pounds, 12 ounces and 21 inches long!

My labor and delivery was expected to be a smooth one and started out that way.  I went in on Sunday having contractions 3-4 minutes apart, but I never progressed so they sent me home.  The rest of the week was uneventful and I was scheduled to be induced starting Wednesday night.  By 2 am, I had my epidural and was resting.  The girls were with Pops & Lolly.  I texted my mom at 7:30 to head on up because I was at an 8.  Unfortunately, that's where things got interesting.  I started pushing at 9ish.  Ryan's heart rate was dropping every time I pushed.  It would recover quickly, so they let me keep going.  They thought his cord was wrapped around his neck, so they kept watching him very closely.  They finally decided to use a suction cup on his head (aka vacuum) to get him out.  Normally this is only done for 5 minutes.  Silly boy wasn't budging and his heart rate continued to drop.  After 8 minutes, the doctor said I had one push to get him out or we would be going for an emergency c-section.   Thankfully, he finally came out!  He was a pound bigger than the girls!  I was shocked he was so big.  Because of the scares he gave us, there were about 10 extra people in the room when he was born - the anesthesiologist, NICU nurses and I don't even know who else.  He quickly was cleaned up and checked out and was 100% OK.  Thank you God!

The first thing I noticed about him was his dimple on his right cheek...so cute!  His poor head was pretty beat up from the suction, but he was beautiful to me! 

That's a bruise on his poor head.  Luckily, it's almost gone now. 

Meeting his sisters for the first time.  Landrie didn't want to hold him until late Friday.  Karsyn couldn't keep her hands off from the very beginning.

Meeting Pops & Lolly

Meeting Grandpa & Gigi

Going home on Saturday 12-17-11.

24 Week Update

I'm a little late with this post since I'll be 25 weeks tomorrow, but that's the way things go...

24 Week Update


Baby Size: Almost a foot long and 1 lb.

My size/weight gain: I've now officially gained 3 pounds since my first appointment in May.

Clothes:

I bought 2 pairs of maternity pants from Target, but I'm still wearing a lot of regular clothes.  All of my shirts are non-maternity and I love wearing dresses and leggings. 
Cravings:

No cravings, but no aversions either.  I like ice cream, but it doesn't agree with me most of the time.

Symptoms:

I'm beginning to be uncomfortable at night and still have a long way to go. I have RAGING heartburn almost all day long.  It's extremely annoying!  Thankfully, the doctor says I can take the maximum dose of meds each day.  Morning/All Day Sickness has been much better! I still get sick once or twice a week, but not every day like with the girls.  Thank goodness!

Sleep:

I'm sleeping pretty good as long as I take Benadryl which helps my allergies too!
Stories to not forget:

Going back to school has been really good!  My students are all really funny and ask questions from time to time.  One class has 25 boys and 4 girls, so that will definitely be interesting! 

20 Week Update

20 Week Update

Baby Size: About the length of a banana - 10 ounces, 10 inches long.
My size/weight gain: I've now officially gained 2 pounds since my first appointment in May.

Clothes:

I have 2 pairs of maternity jeans that I wear most days. I'm still wearing regular shirts and will probably keep wearing them. It's time to buy some work clothes since I'm officially back at school as of today.

Cravings:

I'm still craving salty foods, but I don't really enjoy anything particular right now.

Symptoms:

I'm beginning to be uncomfortable at night and still have a long way to go.  That might be because we have assembled bunk beds and have been cleaning out all of the girls' closets to make room for baby.

Morning/All Day Sickness has been much better!  We'll see if it stays away now that I'm back at school.

Sleep:

I'm sleeping OK. I usually end up on the couch at some point during the night, but I am getting 7-8 hours consistently.  Had to wake up to an alarm for the first time this morning which was not fun, but it is good to get back into a routine.

Stories to not forget:

Our reveal was so much fun!!  We are having a BOY if you missed it---Ryan Marshall Kirk!  We can't wait to meet him in December.

The Reveal

Our family has a LOT of babies!  The oldest is almost 11 and there are 3 babies on the way.  By Christmas, there will be 17 great-grands!  Right now the count is 6 boys (3 on the way) to 10 girls plus our little peanut.  We had a 6 girl streak and currently a 3 boy streak.  There was a lot of pressure to keep the streak alive! Ha!  As the last few babies have been born, we've started the tradition of the BIG reveal.  My Shanty cousins both did cupcake reveals, and they turned out so cute! 

We had our gender sono on Friday, July 1.  I started researching ideas and came up with several:

• a pinata with pink or blue candy insde - lots of fun for the kids
• Hand out a Hershey's kiss to everyone - with nuts BOY, without GIRL
• blue or red/pink sparklers
• balloons in wrapped in a box

Since we were so close to the 4th of July, my mom bought blue and red sparklers.  We were going to hold off our reveal until after the fireworks on the 4th and light the right sparklers for everyone.  It would have been 11 o'clock if we waited until then, so we opted for a new plan.

We went with the balloon plan, and it turned out perfect!

Team Blue

Team Pink

The girls were finding out for the first time too!  They got to open the box to reveal the surprise for everyone.

It's A...

 BOY!!!!

Ryan Marshall will join the Krazy Kirk Krew on or around December 16, 2011!!

16 Week Update

Baby Size: About the size of an avacado - 4 1/2 inches and 2 1/2 ounces.

My size/weight gain: I gained one pound since my last appointment.  I'm still down between 3-10 lbs depending on when I started counting.
Clothes:
I have 2 pairs of maternity jeans that I wear most days.  I'm still wearing regular shirts and will probably keep wearing them.  I hate the look of maternity clothes on me!

Cravings:
I'm still craving salty foods, but I don't really enjoy anything particular right now. 

Symptoms:
I'm still tired a lot, and now that it's summer - I can nap guilt free!

Morning All Day Sickness hasn't let up yet. I still get sick at least once a day and the heartburn is out of control!

Sleep:
I'm sleeping OK.  I usually end up on the couch at some point during the night, but I am getting 7-8 hours consistently.

Stories to not forget:
We were able to have a gender sono on Friday.  The tech said she was 5000% sure and that she would repaint the room if she was wrong.  More on the big reveal in my next post.

Week 12 Update

Baby Size: About the size of a lime.  Just over 2 inches long.

My size/weight gain: I'm down 3 pounds since my last appointment 4 weeks ago.

Clothes:

I bought a pair of maternity capris that I wear nearly every day!  Time to invest in a few more.  I'm not really showing yet, but they are much more comfortable than the button up ones.


Cravings:

I'm still craving salty foods.  My newest favorite is a Cranberry Limeade from Sonic - I get one 3-4 times a week!

Symptoms:

I'm still tired a lot, and now that it's summer - I can nap guilt free!
Morning All Day Sickness hasn't let up yet.  It's been worse at night than I remember with the girls. 

Sleep:

I'm still waking up around 4 every morning! I'll be glad when I'm completely over this cold so I can sleep all night without a coughing fit!

Stories to not forget:

Landrie still has a lot of comments/questions.  The other day she told me that I shouldn't eat "chunks" of food because the baby couldn't swallow them!  She thinks about things alot and comes up with some interesting things to say.

Karsyn is still just as excited as can be!  Her first cousin, Easton J was born on Tuesday and she couldn't keep her hands off of him.  She will be a great big sister!!  Landrie was not interested in him at all!  She prefers them after about 6 months old.

My first nephew - Easton!  Born 5/31/11, 7 lbs. 15 oz, 20.5 inches long.  He is adorable!!!  We are all so in love!

Big News

We have big news in a very small package!  The Kirk Krew will be a family of 5 sometime around 12-16-11!!!  We are thrilled!!!

I didn't blog when I was preganant with the girls, but I've decided that I'll document all the milestones for this one. 

Week: 8

Baby Size: About the size of a blueberry.  The girls have nicknamed it Peanut!

My size/weight gain: I'm down 2 pounds this week.

Clothes:

I'm looking forward to the maternity jeans soon!  I feel like my body is already changing alot! I did buy a maternity bathing suit (my first EVER) this week.  I plan on swimming a LOT in Lolly's new pool!

Cravings:

I'm craving lots of meat!  I really want salty, greasy food.  I know that's bad, but I'm sure it will change. 

Symptoms:

Extremely tired - especially around 3 in the afternoon.  Luckily, the girls are extremely understanding and let me "rest" on the couch before dinner. 

Morning All Day Sickness has started!  I was this way with both girls for majority of my pregnancy, so I really don't have any expectations of it letting up. 

Sleep:

I'm waking up around 4 every morning!  This is not like me at all! I am quite the sleeper and could probably sleep through a tornado if it wasn't for me needing to go to the bathroom. 

Stories to not forget:

We told our families over Easter weekend.  We gave a gift to our parents that was a little onsie that said "Hi I'm New Here".  Everyone was very surprised and very excited!!  Landrie's initial reaction was tears - she was very worried about the attention the baby would be getting.  By the next morning, she was really excited though and she talks about the baby constantly!!! 

The girls have had tons of questions, mostly about how long I'll be in the hospital and who will take care of them while I'm gone.

Our due date is an interesting one...12-16-11 is the day before State Championship Football in Texas.  Considering that we have been to the last dance the last 2 years, we'll definitely be discussing a scheduled induction for this baby. 

More to come soon...I need to do an Easter post soon!