Easter 2009 has come and gone, along with multiple marshmallow yellow peeps and assorted jellybeans – most of which were keenly negotiated by a overly-sugared-up 4 year old! Kate had Jessica up at 4am, closely followed by Will at 5am, whose first words were “has the Easter Bunny been here?” Needless to say, Kate was the only one who went back to sleep on Easter morning. Our actual Easter morning itinerary went something like this:
Jess up at 4am, Will up at 5am, baskets and eggs found by 7:15am, first batch of gummy bugs created by 7:45am, Jess back in bed by 8am, Will and Bill watching Star Wars Episode VI by 8:30. HAPPY EASTER!
Last night was Kate’s 1 week “birthday” and so far things are going as well as can be expected. Will has taken to his baby sister better than we could have imagined, insists on accompanying her to all doctor appointments ( and is a bit disappointed when she doesn’t get shots – he apparently is fascinated by this ), and tells her that “everything will be okay – big brother is here.” It’s quite cute, in a teary-eyed parent kinda way.
I also got a chance to put together some video clips from the hospital stay, which you can see in the embedded video. Hope you enjoy!
Two days have quickly passed since we brought Kate home ( though the nights… well… not so quickly ). When Jess and I pulled into the driveway, we were greeted by two Welcome Home signs created by Will and his Grandma… Will was very proud of his handiwork.
While we haven’t quite settled into a routine, things have gone as smoothly as we could have hoped for. Kate seems to be a bit confused between her days and her nights and Will is just taking it all stride. Last night he wandered into Kate’s bedroom as she was crying to check how things were going… of course, it was about 2am, but he didn’t seem to mind.
I did manage to snap a couple of pictures while both Will and Kate were napping today and I could just stare at them for hours. Negative connotations notwithstanding, I feel like the Grinch’s heart that grew 3 sizes… you don’t know how or if it is even possible to love someone as much and then it just happens… pretty amazing. Now if we can just get those days and nights figured out, my heart may grow another 3 sizes…
Almost exactly 24 hours ago at the moment I am typing this post, the newest member of our little family entered the world: Catheryn Ann Unger. Kate was born weighing 6 pounds, 14 ounces and is 21 inches long.
Jess and I were originally scheduled to be at the hospital at 7am for induction, but they called at 5:20am to tell us we were postponed until 11am. That gave both of us a chance to get a little more sleep and relax a little before the big day ahead. We arrived at the hospital at 11 and they began administering Pitocin around noon ( after some issues inserting an IV for Jess – let’s just say that she is apparently quite valvey?!). 2pm rolled around, Jess was only about 5cm dialated and 80% effaced, so they broke her water. Then began the long afternoon and evening of waiting. Epidural came around 6ish and at 8pm she was still only 5cm dilated. I was just banking on a long night ahead when Jess mentioned feeling like she really had to push ( this was around 8:30pm ). Nurse Angel checked and sure enough, Jess was 8-9cm dilated and Angel could feel the baby’s head. The doctor was paged, lights were turned on, the bed was rearranged, I may have peed a little, and the next thing I know Dr. Madion is telling Jess to push at the next contraction – by this time is about 8:55pm. 7 minutes and 3 big pushes later, Kate popped out and immediately began crying. And crying. And crying. Though our little darling is barely a day old, we have already determined 2 things: dirty diapers REALLY annoy her AND she holds a grudge. Last night, she held a grudge for about an hour or two just to let us know she was less than pleased to be in a cold, bright room. Since then, she holds grudges for about 5 minutes to let us know we didn’t properly warm our hands before touching her or the wipes are too cold.
Jess and Kate will be released tomorrow morning and I hope to post a handful of video and lots more pictures! Here is the first video, though it is raw and unedited:
