We are so excited to welcome Kate into our family.
She was born Friday, September 16th 2011 at 5:07pm
She weighs 6lbs 6oz (2.89kg) and is 19 inches long (48.26cm)
Such a tiny little girl :)
Her labor and delivery was so completely different from Lukes.
For various reasons, I chose to have an induction.
We arrived at the hospital Friday morning at around 7:30am.
I was checked in and taken up to labor and delivery, where they started doing blood work on me and setting up IV lines for the induction.
At 8:50am, they started me on a low dose of pitocin. For the first couple hours, I felt little more than some mild cramping. I was fairly comfortable, and spent my time between the bed and bouncing on a birthing ball. During this time, I also had my epidural catheter placed, so that it would be ready for later in the day when I felt I needed the pain relief. I do love modern medicine :)
My OB, Dr Chandler then came in and broke my waters and my nurse, Amy (what a great nurse to have for the day) increased my pitocin. It was after this that things really started to get going... contractions started to get much harder, and stronger and things were really moving along.
Eventually, I decided I was ready for the epidural to be switched on. It was only suppose to take about 15 minutes to kick in, but an hour later I was still in a large amount of pain. I also had a spot in my lower right side, that didn't take to the epidural, and I was feeling contractions really hard there. They were coming fast and lasting long. The anesthesiologist came back and gave an additional shot into my epidural to see if it would get it working. I finally started to feel my legs etc going dead. My left side went solidly dead, while my right side remained just tingly, and the spot that never took to the epidural still remained mostly unaffected until about an hour before I began pushing. (Fortunately, being a second time labor, I was able to visualise in my mind how I needed to push, so I was able to push effectively despite the still very strong numbness.)
By 1:30pm I was 7cm dilated, and by about 3:00pm I was 10cm and ready to deliver little Kate.
However, Dr Chandler had just been called away to an emergency C-section, so Amy said to just let the contractions continue to push Kate lower down. She finally came back about 2hrs later and got me to do a couple practice pushes to make sure I could do it despite the numbness and then at around 5:00pm Dr Chandler made it back to 'catch Kate'... we got ready and positioned and in not even 2 full pushes she was out. I literally could have sneezed her out. LOL... over 2hrs of being fully dilated and just waiting, definitely got her good and low and ready to be born.
I didn't break a sweat. LOL...and even better, was the 'no tears, no stitches'... sure makes for a faster recovery :)
I couldn't believe how small she is... even after she was born, I was convinced that she'd still be over 7lbs... to my complete surprise she weighed not even 6 and a half pounds... what a tiny little girl :)
She lay on my chest, and stared up at me, looking straight at my face and not making a sound.
The whole day was so much less stressful than Luke's delivery.
Jake spent a large part of the day with his nose in a book, and my mom who was able to be there too, played the role of 'labor and delivery reporter' keeping, friends and family worldwide updated with frequent Facebook reports. LOL
Unlike Lukes delivery, where they took him away almost immediately for his brief stay in the NICU, we were able to spend time with Kate in the labor and delivery room. We all had a chance to hold her, and take pics, and I was even able to try nursing her right there, while she was still alert and awake. It was a great experience.
Later that night, when she was back from the nursery and all cleaned up, my sweet friend Tricia who kept Luke for the day, came to the hospital with Luke so that he could meet his new little sister. I wasn't sure how it was going to go. Aside from his early morning, napless, long day and late night the day of her birth, Luke also hadn't showed too many promising signs of adjusting well to Kate before she was born. His first meeting with her though, went GREAT... what a sweet big brother.
The first thing he did, which made us all laugh was 'sniff' her. Luke likes to sniff anything questionable, to determine if he's going to like it.. from new foods, to new objects to his little sister. LOL. Apparently she passed the sniff test.
He came and sat next to me on the bed, and we let him hold her. He was so gentle, and held her really well. He pointed to all of her features.. nose, eyes, mouth, ears etc, asking what each was... he kissed her head, and then when he'd had enough, he lifted her up, and moved her over to my lap. LOL.. and then he started investigating the hospital room full of things to get into. All in all I'd say it was a VERY successful first meeting for Luke and his little sister.
(The best of the pics of Luke with Kate I can't post because Jake forgot to change the settings on the camera so they came out horribly blurry, so unfortunately this is about all we got)
My hospital stay was less than restful, which I expected, but the staff were great. I had a wonderful labor and delivery nurse, and I was really glad to have my primary OB deliver Kate, rather than just whoever was on call. I stayed until Kate was 24hrs old, and was then discharged so that we could spend Sunday at home as a family before Jake started another work week.
Kates labor and delivery was a GREAT experience, and my only complaint was the one spot where the epidural failed to work... but I guess I can't have everything perfect. LOL
She has so far been a great baby. She's calm, and quiet and seems to be pretty easy going. Whether or not she'll stay this way, we will only know in time, but for right now at least, she is being really easy on us, and we are loving having her as a new addition to our family.
I am so grateful for my family of FOUR. Each member adds something special to our family and we wouldn't be complete without every person, with every quirk and every sweet face.
She was born Friday, September 16th 2011 at 5:07pm
She weighs 6lbs 6oz (2.89kg) and is 19 inches long (48.26cm)
Such a tiny little girl :)
Her labor and delivery was so completely different from Lukes.
For various reasons, I chose to have an induction.
We arrived at the hospital Friday morning at around 7:30am.
I was checked in and taken up to labor and delivery, where they started doing blood work on me and setting up IV lines for the induction.
At 8:50am, they started me on a low dose of pitocin. For the first couple hours, I felt little more than some mild cramping. I was fairly comfortable, and spent my time between the bed and bouncing on a birthing ball. During this time, I also had my epidural catheter placed, so that it would be ready for later in the day when I felt I needed the pain relief. I do love modern medicine :)
My OB, Dr Chandler then came in and broke my waters and my nurse, Amy (what a great nurse to have for the day) increased my pitocin. It was after this that things really started to get going... contractions started to get much harder, and stronger and things were really moving along.
Eventually, I decided I was ready for the epidural to be switched on. It was only suppose to take about 15 minutes to kick in, but an hour later I was still in a large amount of pain. I also had a spot in my lower right side, that didn't take to the epidural, and I was feeling contractions really hard there. They were coming fast and lasting long. The anesthesiologist came back and gave an additional shot into my epidural to see if it would get it working. I finally started to feel my legs etc going dead. My left side went solidly dead, while my right side remained just tingly, and the spot that never took to the epidural still remained mostly unaffected until about an hour before I began pushing. (Fortunately, being a second time labor, I was able to visualise in my mind how I needed to push, so I was able to push effectively despite the still very strong numbness.)
By 1:30pm I was 7cm dilated, and by about 3:00pm I was 10cm and ready to deliver little Kate.
However, Dr Chandler had just been called away to an emergency C-section, so Amy said to just let the contractions continue to push Kate lower down. She finally came back about 2hrs later and got me to do a couple practice pushes to make sure I could do it despite the numbness and then at around 5:00pm Dr Chandler made it back to 'catch Kate'... we got ready and positioned and in not even 2 full pushes she was out. I literally could have sneezed her out. LOL... over 2hrs of being fully dilated and just waiting, definitely got her good and low and ready to be born.
I didn't break a sweat. LOL...and even better, was the 'no tears, no stitches'... sure makes for a faster recovery :)
I couldn't believe how small she is... even after she was born, I was convinced that she'd still be over 7lbs... to my complete surprise she weighed not even 6 and a half pounds... what a tiny little girl :)
She lay on my chest, and stared up at me, looking straight at my face and not making a sound.
The whole day was so much less stressful than Luke's delivery.
Jake spent a large part of the day with his nose in a book, and my mom who was able to be there too, played the role of 'labor and delivery reporter' keeping, friends and family worldwide updated with frequent Facebook reports. LOL
Unlike Lukes delivery, where they took him away almost immediately for his brief stay in the NICU, we were able to spend time with Kate in the labor and delivery room. We all had a chance to hold her, and take pics, and I was even able to try nursing her right there, while she was still alert and awake. It was a great experience.
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After a nasty bout of nausea and sickness, between contractions, waiting for the epidural to kick in. 
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| Watching her daddy with big eyes. |
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| A happy and proud daddy :) |
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| So alert.. taking in all of her new surroundings |
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| Bonding time with mommy |
Later that night, when she was back from the nursery and all cleaned up, my sweet friend Tricia who kept Luke for the day, came to the hospital with Luke so that he could meet his new little sister. I wasn't sure how it was going to go. Aside from his early morning, napless, long day and late night the day of her birth, Luke also hadn't showed too many promising signs of adjusting well to Kate before she was born. His first meeting with her though, went GREAT... what a sweet big brother.
The first thing he did, which made us all laugh was 'sniff' her. Luke likes to sniff anything questionable, to determine if he's going to like it.. from new foods, to new objects to his little sister. LOL. Apparently she passed the sniff test.
He came and sat next to me on the bed, and we let him hold her. He was so gentle, and held her really well. He pointed to all of her features.. nose, eyes, mouth, ears etc, asking what each was... he kissed her head, and then when he'd had enough, he lifted her up, and moved her over to my lap. LOL.. and then he started investigating the hospital room full of things to get into. All in all I'd say it was a VERY successful first meeting for Luke and his little sister.
(The best of the pics of Luke with Kate I can't post because Jake forgot to change the settings on the camera so they came out horribly blurry, so unfortunately this is about all we got)
Kates labor and delivery was a GREAT experience, and my only complaint was the one spot where the epidural failed to work... but I guess I can't have everything perfect. LOL
She has so far been a great baby. She's calm, and quiet and seems to be pretty easy going. Whether or not she'll stay this way, we will only know in time, but for right now at least, she is being really easy on us, and we are loving having her as a new addition to our family.
I am so grateful for my family of FOUR. Each member adds something special to our family and we wouldn't be complete without every person, with every quirk and every sweet face.
