Kosette RaeAnn Collier

Well, she's FINALLY here! Kosette took her sweet time to come....18 days over due. But in all reality, how many baby's really arrive on their due date anyway? And considering all our kids have been late, this was no surprise. She came just perfectly and we're so thrilled she's here! We decided on the name Kosette, one we have liked for a long time. And her middle name is a combination of two. Rae comes from a dear high school teacher who was my speech and debate coach (Pamela Rae). She passed away several years ago, and I was lucky enough to perform her temple work. And Ann comes from Kody's sister Sunde's middle name Ann Marie. So we put the two together and we think it goes good! It suits her.....don't you think?

 

 

Here is her birth story, if you're interested.....along with an update of the past couple of weeks. 

 

 

My mom flew up from Arizona on Sept 27th, a week past my due date and we were all kind of thinking that Kosette would come any day. The order of the kids being late has been 13 days, 14 days, 6 days and 12 days. So we just went about life like normal for a little while longer. It was fun to have Marmie here. The kids loved it and she was a great help. I was a bit of a slacker taking pictures while she was here, so sorry! We enjoyed a nice walk, coloring cat tails, and the kids loved the "special Marmie kisses" and the fun things she bought them.

 

 

After going 14 days over due, my midwife ordered a Biophysical Profile Ultrasound, just to make sure things were still looking ok. As far as we could tell, baby was in the right position, good heartbeat, and good movements, but the ultrasound would verify that. Needless to say I was getting a little nervous, but thank heavens for Kody, he was very reassuring and that helped a lot. The ultrasound was a great success, and baby looked and sounded perfect. All my fluids were good and high and so it just became a waiting game. On Saturday the 6th my midwife stripped my membranes which started contractions, but they weren't intense or very constant. By Sunday evening things really hadn't picked up so my midwife came and stripped my membranes again. Mainly, for the sake of my mother, since she had to fly home the next day....bless her heart. And ok, I'll admit it too, I wanted things to progress. So by 10:30pm Sunday evening contractions were a bit more intense and more consistent. At midnight I woke Kody up and said it was time to get things ready.  After a couple of contractions I told him we didn't have time to get the pool out (we were planning on a water birth). I said lets go to the bathroom and fill the bathtub, but after getting in there I realized we didn't have time for that either. I yelled for Kody to come because I had to push, this baby was coming. He came running. I yelled at my mom to call the midwife, which she did as the baby's head was starting to crown. So there I am on my knees leaning over the bathtub pushing out this baby while Kody's holding the phone on his shoulder catching the baby and following the instructions form the midwife. I'm sure it was quite the scene!

 

The midwife arrived about 10 minutes later, but by then the show was all over! Kody did amazing! He stayed very calm, and did everything he needed to without hesitation or nervousness. It must have been all that experience growing up on the farm helping to deliver baby animals that gave him the sense of what to do. How much different is a human labor and delivery.....right? (Just Kidding!) I think I did pretty good too. I didn't bleed hardly ( not right then anyway. More to come on that later).  And I felt pretty good. Once the midwife got there, we cut the cord, cleaned up and headed to the bedroom. I took a shower and even felt so good I shaved my legs! Kosette latched right on to nurse and it was so incredible to just sit there and hold her. Babies truly are a miracle!

 

Here are some pictures of that first hour or so. 

 

 

 

Getting measured! She had a 38cm head...yea that's big! And believe it or not her weight of 10 lbs 5 oz was not even our biggest kid. Jefferson beat her by an ounce. However, Kosette is the longest baby we've had. So we'll she how tall she ends up being!

Look at the veins in Kody's arms! Yea, he's been superman!

 



The kids have been thrilled and have just loved her!

 



 

So after a couple of hours of everything getting all calmed down, the midwife left and we went to sleep for a little while. Things were great until mid morning. I got up to go to the bathroom and that's when I started loosing blood. I had a few major blood clots, and they just kept coming. To make a long story short, I hemorrhaged. I passed out on the bathroom floor and was there for at least an hour. The midwife came back over, gave me a shot to stop the bleeding and also called in a prescription. She said later that I lost 800 cc's of blood, and a normal hemorrhage is 500 cc's. So I had a hemorrhage in a half.....lovely. The midwife said that if she hadn't been doing this for over 20 years and since this wasn't her first rodeo, she probably would have sent me to the hospital. We're glad she didn't. So I was down and out for a couple of days, but a HUGE thanks to Kody and friends and neighbors who stepped up to help with watching kids, and brings meals, and checking in on things. And as of now, 5 days later, I'm slowly getting back to normal. And Kosette is looking and doing so great! If you ask me, she looks older than 5 days old, but she's oh so cute!

 

So that's been our life the past couple of weeks. Filled with lots of excitement! It's kind of strange to think that I have 5 kids......seriously 5 kids? Crazy! Good thing we love em'! I'm so thankful for all the help and support. Kody, Mom, Mindy, Kate, Ashley, Marielle, Julie, Lisa, and all the others who sent prayers, fasting, love and thoughts our way....all I can say is THANK YOU!  Next week when real life has to resume I hope to adjust well. I'll post again...hopefully sooner than later!

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