Kodie Ann

Kodie was our unexpected blessing. She was born on November 5, 2003 in Wichita, Kansas and weighed 8 pounds 9 ounces. She was given the name Kodie Ann Rebecca. Kodie's name is a tribute to my sister who is Mary Anne and I also have an aunt named Mary Ann :) I loved the name Kodie from the beginning regardless of whether we were having a boy or girl but we did want to feminize it a little so we changed the spelling and added Ann to it. Steve was not too convinced though so we talked about other names and considered going with Hailey but a week before I was due, I kept having a dream about naming her Kodie Ann Rebecca and that was it! I found out I was pregnant with Kodie when Natalie was 2 1/2 months old. I have had a history of abnormal pap smears and the doctor wanted to do a check but I was told they could not do certain procedures if I was pregnant so I took a test and got the surprise of a lifetime!

I had a bleed early on in my pregnancy and it caused concerns for the doctors so they monitored me closely with ultra sounds. By 20 weeks though, it was very apparent she was fine and we found out we'd be having another girl! Again, like my previous pregnancies, this one was pretty easy and again, I would end up being induced two weeks after my due date.

While I was pregnant with Kodie, we packed up in Japan and moved when I was almost 35 weeks pregnant with her for Wichita, Kansas. We visited Steve's family after our arrival back to the states and his brother Sean helped us drive Steve's truck that he'd been keeping for us and we again packed up with Steve's truck, our new van, all the adults and our two girls and one safely secure in my belly. It was a long two days but we were very happy to be able to get settled before Kodie's impending arrival.

We decided to buy a house in Wichita figuring we would not move again before Steve retired from the Air Force and we looked at tons of homes in our first few days there. We thankfully found a home that we were able to close on about a week before my due date.

With my pregnancy with Kodie, I found that I did not stress about certain things like I had with the previous two. I was in no hurry to have her so long as she was safe. The doctors offered to strip my membranes to help me out but as I learned with Natalie it did not always work and I was not in any hurry to have her so we just let things progress on their own. I must have a wonderful uterus though that my children find it nice and cozy in there because she was induced two weeks past her due date.

Since we were new to Wichita, we had no one to care for Emilie and Natalie so our wonderful realtor offered to help us out. I loved the obstetrician I had for my last few visits...because of how quickly my labor with Natalie went, they decided to wait to break my water and increase the pitocin slowly. I had an epidural with her but this time, I think it worked perfectly because I was not in pain but I was able to feel everything I needed to. My labor was 5 hours long...not too long but long enough that things went smoothly. Unfortunately, the doctor did not get there in time to deliver Kodie so the student resident did but everything went perfectly!

One thing I noticed after I had Kodie was something just seemed off with her. She was extremely sleepy. So much so that she didn't want to eat. From my past experiences, that was quite unusual. I also remember thinking she was not a cute baby and worried others would think that too...don't get me wrong, I thought she was beautiful but some of her features were just different then what I was expecting. Her eye lids were swollen, she seemed like she had bug eyes and just extra skin that was not quite filled in. I felt terrible feeling that way but no one wants others to have nothing nice to say about their brand new baby.

About a week after we had brought Kodie home, we received a phone call from the pediatrician letting us know she had congenital hypothyroidism. We were told to go pick up her prescription and start it right away and then to make an appointment with a pediatric endocrinologist. The first time we met the endocrin doctor, one of the first things he told us was out of everything a child could have wrong with them at birth, this is a good one because it is extremely manageable and as long as she received the synthroid daily, the long term effects would either not happen or be minimal. Congenital hypothyroidism is one thing they test for in the newborn screening. I had never heard of it up until that day.

I have felt and some days still do feel guilty that I could have caused this to happen to her. I worry that because my pregnancies with Natalie and Kodie were so close together it was my fault but it is what it is and all we can do is move forward and just manage her care.

Kodie is a combination of both Emilie and Natalie. She has got a stubborn side to her but she is very gentle and kind as well. She was my one daughter who actually had hair before she was two years old and that was always a lot of fun! She is in second grade and is doing really well these days.

She just turned 8 and it's just the saddest yet most exciting thing ever.