MacKenzie Taylor...

...the newest member of our family has arrived!! Although the arrival came a couple of weeks ago, I am just now getting around to posting photos of our sweet baby girl...sorry for the delay.

For those wanting to know the stats, MacKenzie weighed in at 7 pounds 9.3 ounces and measured 19.5 inches in length. She was delivered by C-section. Unfortunately, she had a lot of fluid in her lungs which resulted in low oxygen levels and difficulty in breathing. Little Mac had to spend the first day in the transition nursery under the watchful eye of nurses until she could regulate her breathing on her own...that was a long and lonely day for me. On day 3 of our hospital stay, the pediatrician noticed a small dimple along her spine (usually indicative of an under-developed spinal colum...a big problem) which resulted in a field trip down to the radiology department for an ultrasound. Luckily, everything turned out okay and the ultrasound showed that MacKenzie's spine is fully developed with no holes or gaps or anything bad. Day 4 was supposed to be release day, but Mac's bilirubin levels were a little too high so we had to stay an extra day so that she could lay under the blue lights and get into normal levels. Aside from hating the eye mask, she did pretty good with the whole treatment and we were able to leave the following day by noon.

Aiden and Reilly absolutely LOVE their new roles as big sisters. They want to help with anything and everything baby related...from changing diapers to dressing to bathing to feeding (when possible) to burping. There have been no jealousy issues with the baby (which seems to be the first question people ask), but they seem to be fighting more amongst themselves than usual. In addition to the very helpful BIG sisters, we have been fortunate to have received a tremendous amount of help from my parents, Doug's parents, and family and friends. Tonight is the first night where we don't have any help...and I'm a little worried about the reality of it all. I want to do this right...I want to be a good mom...I want to include everyone and give everyone the same amount of attention and I want to stay on top of things around the house and try to maintain a routine and to be patient and loving and easy-going and not mess up. My mom kindly reminded me to not set unrealistic expectations...she knows me too well. So I have decided to simply take things one day at a time.

I will try to keep the blog updated with the haps and mishaps of our transition from a family of 2 kiddos to a family of 3 kiddos...but since I don't know how regular or frequent I will be at posting, here are some photos from our stay in the hospital to hold you over until next time...