Welcome, Kate!

As of right now, all THREE children are sleeping and I'm taking advantage. I thought I would share Kate's birth story. As stated previously, we tried getting Kate here on her own, but she was too comfortable! I had been contracting all week leading up to her birth and had other signs that my cervix was progressing. But, when I went in for my 39 week check up, I still had not dilated past a 1. I was discouraged leaving the doctor's office, but B kept reminding me everything would work out. So, we went ahead with the scheduled c-section, which happened to fall right on my 30th birthday! (Hopefully she won't resent me in the future for making her share a birthday with me! We also share our birthday with my Great-Grandma Pete!)

Friday morning, we got up and showered and greeted B's parents at the door. We kissed our boys goodbye and headed to Alta View hospital for the big event. We arrived at 8:00 am and by 9:30 am, they were ready for me back in the OR. Dressed in our fancy attire, we walked in and I sat on the operating table for my spinal block. Pretty soon I was lying on that tiny little table and starting to feel the anesthetic working. Dr. Larson came in, along with another doctor to assist and we were on our way! Kate Nichole Johnson was born at 9:59 am, weighing 8 lbs and measuring 20 1/2 inches! (Unfortunately, during the surgery, before they were able to get the baby out, I started to feel some intense pain and pressure, so the anesthesiologist gave me some more medication and I spent the rest of my time in the OR a bit out of it and unable to participate in skin to skin. It worked out, though, because she was a little too relaxed and needed some oxygen to help with breathing.)

After sitting in the recovery room for a while, they wheeled me into the nursery to hold and breastfeed Kate. She was perfect and she was ready to nurse! I wasn't used to having my baby latch on so quickly. I enjoyed that moment so much.

Still needing to monitor her oxygen, I said goodbye and they wheeled me into my maternity room. My mom and B's parents were there with our boys. The grandparents were able to visit the nursery one by one and greet Kate. The boys weren't officially able to see and hold their baby sister until the following day. But when they did, it was pretty priceless.

We spent the next few days in the hospital, enjoying our little baby girl and greeting visitors. Alta View Women's Center was wonderful and our nurses were awesome. Yet, come Monday, we were ready to go home!

As far as recovery, the physical recovery from the surgery has been AMAZING. That has been a huge blessing, because baby blues hit me pretty hard the day we came home (I feel inspired to post about this later) and it has been a tough couple weeks getting back on track and setting up our new routine. It's been a big adjustment for everyone, but we take it a day at a time.

We absolutely love our baby sister and can't imagine our family without her. 

Welcome to the world, sweet baby Kate!