Baby Kate's Arrival

My third labor and delivery proved to be the craziest one yet. I anticipated being late since my other kids were, and during a doctor's appointment the day after Christmas, I was so excited to hear that I would get to be induced the following day (Dec. 27). Well, I called in that morning and they said they were swamped and would call me back. When they still hadn't called me back around dinner time, I told Spencer I didn't want to cook because I was supposed to be having a baby that day instead of making dinner! So off we went to Arashi's. To make a disappointing day even worse, on our way home Spencer made a short left turn and skidded the rear bumper of a car that was stopped at a red light. He stuck around to deal with the Military Police and Japanese police, and our friend Seth came and picked up me and the kids to take us home. 

By then it was around 6pm, so with very low expectations, I called the hospital again to see if there was any chance I was getting to be induced that day. Unfortunately the answer was "no," and I was told just come in around 8am the following morning. I emailed my family to give them the heads up, and then my mom called me that night around 11pm. We chatted for about an hour, then Spencer and I headed up to bed. I got in bed at about 12:30am, and hadn't had a single contraction. Then I woke up around 2am to a pretty strong contraction. Then I had a few more strong ones about 10 minutes apart, and I just laid in bed trying to breath through them. Around 2:30am it felt like Kate stretched out all her limbs as far as she could, and my water broke. I woke Spencer up and told him to run and get towels, and he came in with like six, which kind of made me laugh. I had him call the hospital to tell them we'd be coming soon, and while I showered he called our neighbor Whitney to see if she could come over to watch our kids. 

Spencer said it was about 3:15am when we were finally settled in the delivery room. I had asked about an epidural about 50 times because my contractions were so strong! It seemed like everyone was moving at a snails pace… the corpsman took forever to draw my blood while the nurse slowly entered my info into the computer. Then they informed me that because I had thrombocytopenia, I couldn't get an epidural until the result of my blood work came back to show that my platelets were high enough. I asked how long that would take, and the nurse said an hour. When she finally checked me at about 3:45am, I was dilated to 7 cm. I looked at Spencer and said, "I don't want to have a baby naturally!" My contractions got to the point that it almost felt like pushing a bit helped me get through them. It felt like I couldn't really stop it if I wanted to. The nurse asked if I wanted drugs to take the edge off once they got an IV in my arm, and I said "yes." But the corpsman botched that, so the nurse was going to have to do it.

Then all I remember was that my contractions were super intense (poor Spencer tried to comfort me, but all I said was, "Don't touch me.") and all the medical personnel just left the room. I distinctly remember looking at him and saying in an irritated voice, "Where is everyone?"And then it felt like I was going to the bathroom, which was totally embarrassing. The corpsman came in and I told her, then she left again. Then Spencer lifted up the sheet and ran out to tell the nurses that something was going on. My nurse came in along with a slew of other people. She lifted the sheet and said, "Don't push! Don't push!" Spencer later told me she was holding the baby in until the midwife could get on her gloves! Then the midwife told me I could go ahead and push the next time I felt a contraction. I pushed once, and Kate was born! It was 4:06am. 

In all the excitement, Spencer realized he left the camera in the car. Our first few shots of Kate had to be taken with his iPad (thank goodness he had that with him!).

Sweet relief- it's over!

Check out that chunk! I love her roly-poly back.

My perfect little girl.

At 8 lbs. 8 oz. and 21.5 inches long, Kate was my biggest baby.

I was freezing after the delivery, so it was nice to get cleaned up, put on some leggings and thick socks, and get tucked into bed. And the icing on the cake was getting to sleep on my back!

While we rested, Kate got her first bath. She loved every minute of it.

False. She screamed through most of it.

Later that morning, Spencer went home to relieve Whitney and feed the kids breakfast before bringing them to see the baby. Shawn came right up to me and said, "Let me hold her."

Such a sweet big brother!

Sydney could not have been more excited to hold her new sister. She ate it up, giving her lots of kisses and saying things like, "Hi Kate. I'm gonna take care of you."

The proud big sister.

The Heaton's came to visit us a few hours later, and were so kind to take our kids to their place while we bonded with baby Kate. Later that day we also got a visit from the Perrins' family.

Colton was also excited to hold Kate, especially since he's going to get a new baby brother soon.

Seth & Cameron

Our room had an ocean view. Can't beat that!

I still can't believe that from start to finish, my labor was just over 2 hours. I guess if it had to happen sans drugs, I'm sure grateful it happened fast! My nurse friend Melissa was working that night, and before her shift ended she came and told me that my platelets were under 100, so I wouldn't have been able to get an epidural anyway.

On Sunday afternoon, Spencer and the kids came to pick us up after church. I am so grateful for my loving husband and three beautiful kiddos!

Our family of 5!