March in Pictures

being taken care of in the ER.She was wide awake and alert

bonding with daddy

grandma time

my friend Nancy came to visit from Cali and she was able to see the baby

going home!

big sis Kiralie finally showing interest in Baby sis Kimara

her first bath at home!

taking good care of her baby sis

Kimara's Birth story

It's been a while since we updated this blog. It's been very crazy in the Parcell household. Trying to adjust to our new roles and enjoying our newest addition. So to start things off again, we will share our birth story and then post pictures. Enjoy :/

Woke up around 1:45am to contractions about 15 minutes apart. Decided to go back to sleep and time it. Timed it for about 30 minutes and decided to get in the tub because they were getting a little intense. By then, they had become about 6 minutes apart. Was in the tub for about 10 minutes and realized it wasn't working. So Tim suggested we go to the hospital. By then, contractions were on top of each other. So it was hard to move. We were able to get me downstairs but I just couldn't move. I knew we weren't going to make it to the hospital so I told Tim to call 911. While he was on the phone with dispatch, I had the urge to push. By then, I was creaming my lungs out. I didn't want to but my body started doing it and so my water came gushing out everywhere. By this time, Tim was being coached into what to do to deliver the baby. I tried o breath through the next couple of contractions. About 3 minutes after broke, EMT's came rushing in. As they got me ready to go, baby had already started crowning. They tried to encourage me to hold it to get to the hospital since it was about 10 minutes away. I tried, but my body just wouldn't listen. Baby was born about 4 minutes before we got to the hospital. There was a team waiting at the ER for us. So EMT handed us over. Thankfully, there was no tearing and baby was doing well and ready to nurse. After a little bit of pitocin, placenta was delivered. Everything happened in 2- 2 1/2 hours I think. And so fast. I didn't think I was going to progress that fast since I was only 3cm dilated and about 50% effaced the day before. But I'm glad I was able to have my natural birth. Even though it wasn't the way we planned it. And by the way, we were scheduled to come in at 7:30am to be induced that morning. Kimara Grace-Serwah Parcell came at around 4:55am at 39+6. she was due 3/10/2012

The joys of Potty training!

As you may know, we have about 8 weeks for baby girl Parcell to make her debut. And we've been contemplating potty training Kiralie before she comes. I tried a few weeks back but got so frustrated on the very first day and decided to quit. I was just going to let her tell me whenever she was ready to potty train and then we will tackle it again. 

But I had a very different feeling Tuesday morning when she got up. I just went with the flow. I put her on the potty after she had her milk and she went. That gave me encouragement. It was very frustrating and I almost gave up again. But with the encouragement of dear Tim, I decided to continue. She acted out and refused to go when I got mad or frustrated. And I could feel the frustration she felt. We had 5 successful catches on that day.

Day 2 was a little different. I decided to just take it easy. Will talk to her calmly whenever she had an accident really celebrate when she had a success. I also tried to give her her privacy in the bathroom. We had seven success that day. She went when I left that bathroom and she loved to flush the toilet by herself. The stickers didn't really matter at this point. It was all about flushing the toilet.

We were able to get her to go pee before bedtime too. That was awesome.

Day 3 was even more fun. We only had 3 or 4 accidents. She was able to go on the potty at grandma's place when we went for dinner. She had no accidents there. 

At this point, I feel I have the timing down and can read her body language when she wants to go #2.

Day 4 was a little tricky. I was getting my hair braided and so didn't know what was going to happen. She had no accidents till daddy got home from work. She also woke up from her nap with a dry diaper. I did the "victory dance". Wow! So potty training was really working! But she had her accident of the day when I was busy getting the hair done and thought daddy was home, so he was going to take over. Apparently, he thought, I was still on the clock. But that is ok. I say it was a very successful day. And we are proud of our big girl.

Today is day 5. And the day hasn't ended yet. We've had a few accidents and she actually came to tell me when they happened. She felt embarrassed. And so I didn't get mad. Just reinforce the fact that, pee goes in the potty. lol

But the successes of the day were, being able to take Missy(our dog) to the vet and also stop by at Wal-Mart for a few things. All without a diaper on and still didn't have any accidents. She also woke up with a dry diaper from her nap.

I'm a very happy mom right now. Considering how far we've come. I know we still have a ways to go. But I have to brag about my little girl. She becoming a big girl now. And we are proud that we are making progress.

We will keep everyone updated later how things go next week. Hopefully, she will be graduating soon. lol