Kathryn Grace's Arrival

Kathryn Grace King arrived on Monday, Aug. 22, 2011 at 6:oo PM. Here's a bit of our story. Hopefully, it is not too much information, but I want to have it written down before I forget. Feel free to skip ahead to the pictures.

During the night on Sunday, I started to notice some contractions. By about 3:30 in the morning on Monday, I realized this was the real deal. I awakened David and called my parents to start heading our way from SC. Compared to Audrey, there was no slow building on contractions. They were pretty consistently 5-6 minutes apart the entire time but I debated calling the doctor too early because I was trying to avoid another C-section. I had consistently read that the longer you have to labor in the hospital, the more likely you are to go to a section, so we stayed at home as long as possible. Our sweet neighbor and fellow teacher, Chris Sapp, came over around 5:00 to sit on the couch until my parents arrived. I ended up not leaving until they got here, but I was wanting to make sure someone was here to watch Audrey.

We left for the hospital around 8:00 and arrived to LD Room 6 at 8:15 AM. At that point, contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart. We met our nurse and just waited. By 11:00 AM, I was ready for the epidural at 5 cm. Our nurse had been called away to another delivery, so a different nurse came in to set up for the anaesthesialogist . The epidural was put in and then the doctor asked how many bags of saline I had received. Both the nurse and doctor looked shocked when we told them I was still on my first bag. Apparently, I need to have at least completed one full bag before the epidural to ensure that my blood pressure stayed steady. This was a little frightening and I learned that my nurse was a contract nurse with the hospital, meaning she rotates hospitals. It seemed that communication was lacking, so I requested that the second nurse become my full time nurse. She agreed and we moved forward.

By around 3:00, my epidural was wearing off. I buzzed my nurse and she came in. Unfortunately, she told me that the doctor was actually requesting that the epidural be dialed halfway back to ensure that I could avoid c-section. I was not happy with that request. By 3:30, things were much more uncomfortable and she actually let me know that she was being sent home because she had just been on call, and my old nurse was returning. Awkward! My old nurse returned, but it actually was a blessing. She was very good at trying various positions to get the baby moving. I was fearful because even though I was progresssing, the baby was not moving downwards which was the same problem with Audrey. With the nurse's help, we were able to get things moving.

By 3:30, we were pushing and moving forward. Unfortunately, it was not a painless or comfortable delivery (guess that's why it's labor) and it took quite a while. Finally, Kathryn made her appearance at 6:00. Mom, David and I were all relieved!


Proud daddy - he was a wonderful support!!
Pop's first look
cutting the cord - this nurse was hilarious. At first, Kathryn wasn't crying. Dr. Walker was holding her up for me to see, and the nurse says, "Dr. Walker, gimme that baby. She ain't breathing." Even though it doesn't seem funny, it was a bit of comic relief in the way she said it.
Umm, yes, that's right. 9 lbs, 3 ozs and 22 1/2 inches long. That is nowhere near the 7 lbs, 13 ozs that was predicted last week in my last ultrasound.
The Kings arrived in the morning to help take care of Audrey at home. They kept her entertained and even made a sign for Kathryn's arrival. They came by about 8:00 PM and Audrey did great. She was interested in the baby, but once we gave her a present from Kathryn, her own baby, she was more preoccupied with her. Whenever Kathryn cried, Audrey called her a "whiny baby."

Grandmother and Granddaddy
There is a photography company that serves the hospital. They came through and took her pictures our second day. The photographer did a great job, and I love that we got these early shots. I will update soon with the real photos.
We were home by the next night at 8:30 PM!! Love it. Kathryn's blood sugar counts were high at first, so the first night, they came in and drew her blood five times. Needless to say, sleep was scarce. We were thankful to get back to our own beds.

We are so thankful and blessed for our new baby girl. She is a sweetheart.