Mini Milk Mustaches.

Getting Kayleigh's ears pierced.

I knew i wanted to get Kayleigh's ears pierced while she was still really young. But, I wanted to make sure I was educated on the different ways to go about it and which way was the safest. It was something that I took a lot of time researching and doing my homework on.

While I got my ears pierced at 5 months with a piercing gun and my ears turned out totally fine, I wasn't sure if that is the route I wanted to take with my own daughter.

I've never liked the idea of the piercing gun. I mean, even the name sounds scary! Not only does it look scary, but next to a child ear, the sound is terrifying as well. The piercing gun itself is actually really bad. Here's why:

The piercing gun will damage the tissue of the ear. Unlike using a piercing needle, the piecing gun uses blunt force to create the hole in the ear. Instead of a sharp needle creating a slit in your skin, the earring stud itself is forced through the skin, damaging the tissue in the ear. The blunt trauma can also increase chances of infection. Which I didn't want to chance with my baby girl.

Also, guns are NOT sterile! Which makes it easier to get Hepatitis B or HIV. Rubbing alcohol or boiling water doesn't 100% sterilize things. If you do your research, you may be able to find a shop that has disposable piercing guns. But a few places, like in the malls for examples don't have disposable guns. So when they pierce someone and they get blood on the gun and then wipe it down with some rubbing alcohol then pierce your kid! Um, no thanks! How could you live with yourself after putting your innocent child through that because you didn't do your research.

Most times, getting your ears pierced with piercing guns it can come out crooked. I've seen so many girls with that same story.

And lastly, studs from piercing guns are not proper jewelry for healing. The one thing I always hated was those butterfly clip backings. They were so hard to clean behind while they were healing. I couldn't get back there good enough to clean out all the gunk while it was healing. Plus, those little butterfly backs are like little bacteria traps. It pushes the bacteria on or into the piercing. But with a surgical steel barbell, you don't have to worry about not being able to clean both sides well. Especially with a little baby, it makes it 100% easier to clean not only the front but the back as well.

I got Kayleigh's ears pierced at my local tattoo shop. I personally had two piercings and a tattoo done at this shop. I knew the piercer and she was fantastic. She was very patient with Kayleigh. Also, everything she used was sterile. She opened all the packaging right in front of me and explained the process before she did it. She used a hollowed out needle to do the piercing. Kayleigh did cry, like I expected her to. But she did a great job. She is going onto her 3rd week with them in and they have healed beautifully. No signs of redness, or infection and she hasn't tried pulling them out. The great thing about piercing with a needle versus with a piercing gun is, the piercing done with the needle also heals a lot faster than that done with a piercing gun. I can change the barbells out this week to a pair of pretty studs.

I was given a lot of crap for doing it the way I did it. But, I am her mother and I wouldn't do anything to hurt my daughter. That's why I did my research and did it the way I did it. She's still a happy, healthy, lovable baby girl with a pair of cute, stylin' earlobes! :)

Her ears the day I got them pierced. She did bleed a bit when she got them pierced, but that common. I gave her some baby Tylenol before I took her and 4 hours after to help with the pain. She did great though. Didn't seem to have a problem with it after it was all done. She is such a brave girl!

Her ears 2 1/2 weeks later. The barbells are still in her ears, it's just pushed up in the back. But they are healing beautifully!

Kayleigh is 3 months old!

I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. It seems like while I was pregnant, time couldn't go fast enough until I got to meet my baby girl. Now that she is finally here with me, it seems like time is just flying by. She is growing right before my eyes and its such an amazing thing. She is such a smart girl, discovering new things every day. She recognizes mommy and daddy and loves to smile and laugh with us. She loves to talks our ear off and enjoys putting everything in her mouth (especially her hands)! She has her ears pierced now and took it like a champ. She went on her first airplane ride already and has met most of mommy's side of the family. In September we are going to fly to Illinois to meet daddy's side of the family.

She is truly the love of my life. Each day I love waking up to her big, gummy smile. She makes each day better and I look forward to watching her grow, learn and discover new things. Happy 3 months princess! I love you so much.

Then comes the baby in the baby carriage.

Kayleigh was born on May 16th 2013 at 1:59 PM. She weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and was 19 inches long. She was the prettiest baby girl I ever laid eyes on! I couldn't believe she was all mine.
I was 39 days pregnant exactly when I started having cramps. It was around 7 PM and they felt like menstrual cramps, just a little more intense. Nick and I went to bed around 11:00 PM and I was hoping I could just sleep it off. By 1 AM the menstrual cramps had turned into something much worse. Back labor. It was the worst pain i've ever felt in my whole life. I just couldn't handle the pain. I was timing the contractions and they were 2 minutes apart by 1:30 AM. I woke Nick up and told him it was time, I needed to get to the hospital.
When we finally got there it was 2:00 AM and labor and delivery was pretty empty. For some crazy reason, they still made me wait to put me in a room. I was so mad! I was in the worst pain i've ever felt and they just made me sit around for 10 minutes and wait. When they finally got me into a room, they hooked me up to a bunch of machines and measured my contractions. They were pretty intense! The nurse came in and told me I would be having my baby TODAY! I was so excited that it was finally time to meet my baby girl! But, I was having the worst back labor! I couldn't stand the pain anymore. I was only 2 cm dilated and 95% effaced, but I needed my epidural and now. The nurse said I could have my epidural after I got my IV. It took the nurse three attempts to get my iv in! I felt like a human pin cushion.
The anesthesiologist finally came in to give me my epidural. They made Nicholas leave the room and they prepped me for the epidural. It was so hard to stay still while she stuck this huge needle in my back, not because the needle itself hurt. My back labor was so bad that I couldn't hold still. It took her two tries to get it in, but once it was in I felt like a million bucks.
It was 4:00 AM and I was going to try and get some rest before it was time for the big push. I sent Nicholas home to let the dog out and to get some rest. Even though I couldn't sleep, I was too excited!! I was going to be meeting my baby girl soon. I couldn't even imagine how it would feel to hold her.
My doctor came in my room and broke my water around 9:30 AM. I was 5 cm dilated and completely effaced. Nicholas got back to my room at about 10:00 AM. I was so happy to see him again. At this point I wasn't feeling much of anything (Thank God) but I was ready to get the show on the road.

They were monitoring me very closely because Kayleigh's heart rate was going down and nothing they tried would elevate it. They put me on oxygen, had me flip sides every 30 minutes and ever pressed this loud machine up to my stomach to see if she was asleep and if so to see if they could wake her up.

By 11 I started to feel a lot of pressure between my legs. It felt like the contractions I was feeling earlier on in the morning. It felt like the epidural was wearing off. I was starting to slowly feel everything again. They upped my dose into my epidural but it wasn't helping me. I was still feeling every contraction. Sure enough, the epidural had came out. Probably while flipping sides every 30 minutes. But it was to late to put it in again. By 12:20 I felt like I had to start pushing. So that's what I did. I got my nurse and told her I felt the need to push. She notified my doctor and my doctor came in to see how I was progressing. At that time I was 10 cm dilated and 100% effaced. It was go time.

My first few pushes were so painful. I could feel every single thing going on with my body. I was so mad that my epidural wore off because I didn't want to feel all the pain of child birth. But, like they say.. You can't plan child birth. You just have to roll with it.

After about and hour and a half of pushing and telling Nicholas I quit. I finally delivered my sweet baby girl at 1:59 PM exactly. I had some many emotions run through me at one time when I finally got to hold my baby. She was all mine. After holding her for 10 months in my belly, she was finally in my arms. The moment was so surreal.

While delivering Kayleigh I had a 102 degree fever. So while she was inside still, she was cooking away. She came out with a fever as well. But after a little observation in the nursery, she was back in my arms within 30 minutes.

Ill never forget the day I had my first baby girl. She will forever hold a special place in my heart. She will never know how much I love her. She really is one of the greatest things to ever happen to me :)