Kate, 3-1/2 weeks(The following is rather lengthy and is mainly for our own memory, however, if you want to read, go right ahead. Otherwise, scroll to the bottom of the post for another cute picture of Kate.)
Our precious little Kate just keeps growing. The past month has just flown by.
As Mike alluded to in his post about her birth, Kate did come quickly. I thought I was having some Braxton-Hicks the evening before and went to sleep praying they would turn into something more, but as I had already had so many similar episodes, I wasn't counting on it. The night before Kate was born, I woke up a couple times with a backache, and Mike asked me if my contractions were close together, to which I replied I didn't think I had anything to time.
By about 4:30am I couldn't sleep anymore and decided to go into the living room to see if I was having timable contractions. To my surprise and growing excitement, my contractions were indeed timable and growing closer together. They seemed to be about ten minutes apart to start and by about 5:00am had gotten down to six or seven minutes apart and definitely more and more painful. However, as they were still not completely regular, I was hesitant to call anyone. They were strong enough though that at about 5:30am I decided maybe I better call Mike's parents, as they live an hour from us and Maggie's Grandma Gotfredson was planning to come over to watch Maggie while we went to the hospital. I told them I wasn't positive it was the real thing, but maybe they should come and I would call the doctor. I then called the emergency hotline for my doctor's office and was rather annoyed to have to listen to an automated voice message system during a particularly painful contraction. But I left my message saying that I was pretty sure I was in labor and that I was planning to go to the hospital in a little while.
At first we planned to wait until Mike's parents arrived to leave, but as my contractions were getting ever stronger and more painful (though still not completely regular--they were still four or five minutes apart with a seven minute gap every now and then) and the hospital was at least thirty-five to forty minutes away, we decided to call our kind neighbor, Iris, to sit with Maggie until Mike's parents arrived. She got to our house a little after six. About the same time, we got a call from my midwife telling me to definitely head to the hospital and that she would probably deliver me if I really was in labor, but wanted to know my second choice doctor if she couldn't get there. We also got a call from Mike's parents, telling us they were just leaving and the roads were rather snowy up by them. I was glad we were already leaving.
We jumped in the car and before we were even out of the driveway I had my most painful contraction yet and started dry heaving. I was almost afraid that we had waited too long to leave and as we passed the local hospital, I wondered if we should just head for the emergency room there, but Mike thought we could get to our hospital, where they had a maternity ward. Luckily, Mike remained calm the whole drive, whereas I alternately worried that we wouldn't make it and worried that I was just being a baby and was still only in the very early stages of labor (after all, Maggie was a thirty-four hour ordeal). We were also blessed in that none of the roads we needed were much slower than normal with the snow, but were significantly slower going the other directions. Another thing that saved me was that my contractions were still close to five minutes apart, so I figured I wouldn't have to endure more than about ten before we got to the hospital. I passed the car ride by counting them down.
Still, I never felt such sweet relief as when I saw the hospital from the highway. (Well, except for the moments after Maggie and Kate were born.) We pulled up to the front door a few minutes after seven and I hurried in while Mike parked the car. A nurse helped us up to the maternity ward and checked me right away. The rest of my fears of not really being in labor dissippated as she announced I was at a nine and told me not to push. She quickly got the midwife on the phone and told her to hurry over.
I spent the next fifteen minutes or so being poked with those awful IV needles while the nurses kept asking me questions, telling me I was doing great, and calling me a rockstar (whatever that means); I tried to answer correctly and not say "ow" too loud and make the nurses feel bad. I also finally asked how you are supposed to relax through contractions and also not push, when the only way I could not push was to be tense, and found out I didn't have to relax anymore. Finally the midwife walked in, told them I didn't have to have an IV since they hadn't gotten it in in four tries, and told me I could push whenever I wanted. Ten minutes and several pushes later, I heard Kate's first cry, then saw her beautiful face. She was perfect and has remained perfect ever since.
We spent the next day and a half in the hospital, where the room service was plentiful and excellent (especially the fresh fruit and chocolate cake) and the nurses were kind as could be and went home to meet Maggie the following night. At first Maggie wasn't completely sure what to do with Kate, but quickly found out that kissing her on the top of the head with a loud "mmmmah" was rather fun and has kept it up ever since.
Since her rather exciting entrance into the world, Kate has been a very peaceful little newborn. She has an incredibly sweet little disposition. Her likes include eating, sleeping, staring, being carried and chilling in her bouncer. Her dislikes are being cold, being strapped into her carseat (though once in, she is quite happy there), being hungry, or being messy or more generally being uncomfortable. She is such a sweet little sleeper. She's been sleeping through the night in six to seven hour stretches since a few days after we brought her home and makes the cutest little grunting sound as she is waking up, so I awake to that rather than crying, which I prefer. I caught her smiling and giggling in her sleep the day after we got home from the hospital and it seems she smiles more every week. Now she even smiles when she is awake!
We all love little Kate and are so glad she is ours!! We feel so blessed that both she and I have been so healthy and hope to remain so. Happy one month, baby girl!!!
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