Playful Rooted

Our little miracle baby is finally here.

Pria Kamea Sikora

Pria (rhymes with Mia) means “beloved,” and Kamea (kah-MAY-uh) means “the one and only” (in Hawaiian since this little miss is our surprise Hawaiian souvenir!).

She was born last week in a fast and furious birth that was the antithesis of everything I had planned, hoped for, and imagined. It happened how it needed to for baby girl’s safety, so of course I would do it a thousand times over, but it was brutal. I’ll write her birth story up soon, but for now: everything I was dreading about a hospital birth happened….and then some. Guh.

But! We made it! We did it. We’re home and we’re safe and we’re relieved it’s over.

And this baby girl is just an absolute dream.

She can see. She can hear. She can breathe on her own. It took her a few days to get the hang of breastfeeding, but now, she’s eating like a champ. She’s alert and responsive and totally beautiful. I am rejoicing for each one of these precious gifts.

She had a bunch of testing done in the hospital (and it was unbearably hard to have her separated from us for so long; I can’t imagine the struggle that NICU parents go through), and for the moment, we’re just carefully watching her kidney function. She’ll have more testing in about five weeks to determine the way forward; however, our hope was that she would pee at some point within the first 24 hours after birth, and she ended up peeing (on me!) twice within the very first hour. Another blessing: her kidneys are clearly functional.

Her brothers both adore her. I didn’t know how Sawyer in particular would react, but the second day she was home, he woke up early, crawled into my bed, held out his arms and said, “baby! please!” Pria looks like a combination of the two of them at this age, so I’m super curious to see what she’ll look like as she grows.

We’ve been home for a few days, healing and bonding and doing constant loads of laundry (even on the third kid, you forget how much laundry newborns generate!). I’ve been feeling like a first-time mom all over again, nervous about every little thing after such a roller coaster pregnancy with her. But I’m trying to enjoy these moments; these short, long days. She is snuggly and sweet and just the perfect addition to our family. I can’t stop looking around at the three precious little people that Ben and I created, each of them unique and challenging and wonderful.

At six days old, Pria is living up to her names already. After all we’ve been through with this little one — all the fears and doubts — looking at her now, we know she is most definitely one of a kind. She’s strong and beautiful and perfect. The one and only. Our Kamea. And already, she is deeply, dearly loved.

I’m truly honored and humbled by all the prayers that have been said for our little girl over these past months. I know that so many of you have taken the time, many times, to pray, to hope, to send positive thoughts and wishes, love and light, to our baby and our family. I’m grateful down to the bottom of my heart for every single prayer, every kind thought, every encouraging word. Your support has meant, and continues to mean, the world to us.

xo!