Welcome to the World Landon Kawika

From the beginning, even before I really wanted to have another child, I knew that it was time to start trying. I had the impression that it would be a boy, and the name Kawika was imprinted in my mind as his name. I guess it was meant to be, because with my first, Emma,  it took a few months to get pregnant, but with Kawika we got pregnant quickly. I'm sorry to say that at first I wasn't all that excited. I knew it was right, but I was not ready to be pregnant again. Pregnancy is beautiful, but it is also hard, and this time I knew what I was getting myself into: nausea, trouble sleeping, weight gain, possibly bed rest (like with Emma's pregnancy), delivery, and oh yeah, a crazy two-year-old to add to the equation. Besides, I had dreams of starting a masters program while my husband was still pursuing his, and adding child #2 to the equation wouldn't make that dream very easy. So, there I was, pregnant with another child and not too optimistic about it.

Well, somehow, the Lord knew that I needed a break with this pregnancy, because although I was more nauseous this time around, I didn't have any of the stressful complications that accompanied my first pregnancy. I feel like it was a miracle; my body was that miracle. My OB during Emma's pregnancy gave me the impression that my future pregnancies would be similar. She even told me I might not be able to have very many children. She was wrong. The first time around, I had a weak cervix that started to dilate at 28 weeks (18 weeks early). Because of that, I was put on bed rest and had to take medicine that prevented me from going into labor early. They told me that I would have Emma early, they just weren't sure how early. Wrong again. I had emma a day shy of 38 weeks, which means she was fully developed. Another miracle. Because of my complicated pregnancy history, I saw a specialist every few weeks of this pregnancy to make sure my cervix was behaving. Every appointment that they told me my cervix looked fine I breathed a sigh of relief and said a prayer of gratitude.

At my 18-week ultrasound, the doctors informed us that we were indeed having a boy. This was no surprise to me, but something else was: our boy had a clubbed foot. Although, we were a little concerned about this, we had a feeling that somehow it would be ok and compared to the things we went through during our previous pregnancy, this was nothing. Somehow, the Lord saw fit to bless us again. Over the next few ultra sounds it appeared that Kawika's clubbed foot corrected itself. Another miracle.

Months dragged by slowly, and every month I was grateful that my baby boy was heathy, but I was so ready for him to be healthy and on the outside of me. Week 37 came and went and I was annoyed that baby was still inside of me. Then, week 38 came. Still no baby. I made an appointment to be induced on 7/14/14. Which, lets be honest, would have been a cool birthday, but he finally decided to come on his own at 39 weeks on Saturday, July 12. This is how it happened...

July 11th I went to look at houses with my Mom. As I climbed up and down the stairs, while checking out the houses my Mom and the realtor stared at me me, their eyes filled with concern. " You okay, Keola," my mom asked. "I'm fine." And I was, but later that night, contractions started. At about 8 PM the contractions got more intense and were about 5 minutes apart. I suddenly was exhausted and I realized that if I was going to push a baby out of me, I wanted a least a few hours of sleep first. So, I went to bed. I actually made it until 5 AM. I went to the bathroom and suddenly the pain was intense enough that I couldn't get anymore rest. I woke Phil up and said "it's time." He jumped out of bed and we got ready to go. We checked into the hospital at 6 AM and it took a little bit of time to check in. By the time the nurses checked me and I was dilated to a 5. My doctor was called and the nurses started to put an IV in me. They stuck it in me and it didn't go in right. Instead of taking it out and putting it in a better place they kept prodding it and trying to make it work and in the mean time I was having contractions while they were causing me unnecessary pain and suddenly I was in tears. And all the while, I'm thinking to myself, "Why did I put mascara on this morning? Stupid stupid stupid?" My birth photographer and friend, Tessa Antivilo, showed up shortly after. She took some awesome photos and wrote down her side of the story too. (Check it out here). Then my doctor showed up and broke my water. After that, things went quick, really quick. I believe Dr. Harrison broke my water at about 6:45 am, and Kawika was born at 7:17 am. Lets just say things were really intense. Doctor Harrison left the room for a few minutes after she broke my water and when she came back I was dilated to a 7, so she stayed in the room and waited for me to dilate the rest of the way. I moved around onto all fours during some of my contractions to help me get through them. I concentrated on my breathing and I squeezed Phil's hand when I couldn't handle the pain anymore. When a contraction passed I would lay on my side and try to relax. Phil would put some ice chips in my mouth, then wipe my face and prepare me for the next contraction. He was a great partner. I couldn't ask for a better one. I told Dr. Harrison ,"I feel like I need to push." She checked me and I wasn't quite at a 10. "You're almost there, just a little bit longer." That's not what I wanted to hear, but I'm grateful she made me wait, because in the end I didn't have to get stitches. Finally I was given the go ahead to push and I did. It hurt so bad, yet felt so good. I just wanted this baby to be out. When the contraction stopped I wanted to keep pushing, but again my doctor urged me to wait, until the next contraction. I did, against my will. I listened and trusted dr. Harrison's every command. She was my leader and she didn't lead me astray. I thought to myself, "why didn't I get an epidural?" Then, a contraction came again and I pushed with all my might. Finally, I felt his head come out, and suddenly his body followed. My body instantly sank in relief that the worst was over. I did it! Nothing else I had to go through that day would be worse than what I had just gone through. I felt triumphant. Poor Kawika started to scream as soon as he had a voice. After all, the birth had been just as traumatic for him, if not more, as it had been for me. Phil cut his umbilical cord and they wrapped him in a blanket and placed him in my arms. He looked so sad, and perfect at the same time. I hugged him tight. He was here, and he was mine.

Landon Kawika is now 2 months old. He is such a smiley and happy baby, when he isn't struggling with gas. He is such a joy to be around. He loves when people talk to him and make faces at him. He is very alert and has been that way since he was born. He seems to notice everything that is going on around him. His eyes are open so wide when he is awake, taking in all the sights. He is strong. He can hold  his head up already and can sit in a bumbo. He's even rolled over already. He's definitely a Kinghorn because he usually doesn't go to bed until midnight. He prefers to be held up right, and he has to be held or rocked to sleep. It's alright though, because he is constantly smiling in his sleep, and it just makes me so happy. 

As of today, he is 12 pounds and 24 inches long. People tell me that he has long fingers. Hopefully, that means he will be a piano player. But, more than anything I hope he is happy all the days of his life.