Be prepared for a picture-heavy post. Almost a month after Kate's birth, I'm finally posting her story and getting back into the blogworld.
Here's the story, in brief; my delivery was truly amazing.
My due date, July 26, came and went without much fanfare. I had been having contractions on and off for weeks and slowly dilating and effacing for weeks prior to her due date. I thought, "Surely, she will arrive any day!" At 41 weeks, I went to see the OB and was still dilated to 5cm and was 80% effaced and had yet to go into spontaneous labor. So we decided on a mild induction for Tuesday morning, the 3rd. We went in that morning and they started me mildly on Pitocin around 9am and by noon there hadn't been any change. My OB broke my water at 12:15pm and Kate arrived at 5:12pm after what I call 5 hours of labor and 3 pushes! God totally answered our prayers for an unmedicated VBAC (like Curren's birth). It was an incredible day, not knowing if the induction would work and yet being totally peaceful about the outcome. And God allowed me to really walk *moment by moment* through the whole thing. Such an incredible lesson for me. Kate was a whopper, too--9 lbs., 13 oz. and 20 inches long. We came home from the hospital that Thursday, and moved into a new home (renting from friends who are in Italy for a year--God's timing is awesome once again!).
And now, 4 weeks since her arrival we are doing amazingly well. I feel good about mothering 3; surprisingly, the transition has been smooth. I love having our own space once again and just being able to slow down and enjoy my oldest children while I, say, nurse Kate and am thus, forced to sit for long periods of time. It's good. Really good. I'm TRULY grateful to all the friends and family who prayed for me and encouraged me.
Heading out early to Starbucks to read, pray, and eat breakfast before induction
My good friend Cayla was able to be at the birth and was a wonderful support throughout. She was also our birth photographer. I'm so grateful she could experience this with me.
My good friend Dawnielle was also able to be at the birth and was an incredible support throughout--I got tons of back and head massages from her; so helpful!
I LOVE this photo because this is moments before delivery, I was in gnarly pain and Dawnielle was just whispering truth to me, saying over and over, "You did it! She is almost here! God is so good! Has is answering our prayers!"
This was the first moment I held Kate. I was just saying over and over, through dry tears, "THANK YOU, Jesus, THANK YOU!" I couldn't muster any watery tears for some odd reason, but let me tell you, the joy was OVERWHELMING!
My FANTASTIC-AMAZING-TERRIFIC husband! This labor and delivery would not have been possible without his constant companionship, support, truth spoken, prayers, encouragement, hand holding, feet massaging, and outpouring of LOVE. I am one blessed woman.
