Introducing Our Katelyn!

Yay! She's here! Katelyn Elise Davis was born on Thursday, Sept 3 at 1:35 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 19 in long. A very nice size, in my opinion! ;)

Sometime later when I have more time, I'll share the whole story. But, for now-- I delivered vaginally! (That deserves a whole lot more exclamation marks, but you get the point) Labor wasn't too bad. I went in at 2:30 am, started pushing at 11:00 am, and after a grueling 2 1/2 of pushing, she was born. Pushing was definitely the hardest part. I was quite exhausted by the end of it. Duh, I guess.

The absolute best part was getting her here, hearing her first cry, and being able to see her first moments. That was amazing. I didn't get to have that with Jeffy, and it was such a special experience. She was placed right on my chest after she was born and I got to hold her and feed her for quite a while before they took her to weigh, measure, and clean up. I felt the most wonderful sense of awe and peace and joy. Who knew childbirth could be wonderful, and not traumatic!

It was really a blessing I was able to get her here the normal way. I'm so grateful for the doctors and nurses who worked so hard to help me. I'm going to write them letters and thank them.

Anyways, she's here and she's perfect! Isn't that all that really matters? Let's see if I can get some pictures posted quickly.

First picture!

So tiny.


With mommy.


With daddy.

So pretty!

In her hospital bassinet.


Ready to come home!


All warm and snuggly in her bed.

I Think This Is It!

After my doctor's appointment yesterday, I came home determined to help baby start her journey out, if she was ready. On the way home I stopped and got some castor oil, my mom's induction method of choice. :) I followed her directions and make a castor oil cocktail of 2 oz oil and 6 oz orange juice, followed by two big spoonfuls of ice cream. (the ice cream was my idea) :) It was the nastiest thing in the world and I don't think I'll ever do it again. I had a cocktail at 1:00, 3:00, and 5:00. Diarrhea started at about 2:00 and contractions a little after that. At 7:00, when I was supposed to take another dose, I called my mom and complained how gross it was. She told me to go walking. So I did.

Jeff and I went walking around the neighborhood from about 7:30 to 9:30. It was quite enjoyable! I loved being with him and just spending some time talking together. We brought Jeffy in the stroller, and eventually stopped back at home to get his doodlebug (giant stuffed caterpillar) and he went to sleep. By the end I was contracting every 4 mins or so and feeling pretty hopeful.

After a shower the contractions died down a little bit and I thought that maybe it hadn't worked and it was just false labor. I wasn't especially disappointed, because I still felt that the real thing wasn't really far away. I was able to fall asleep and slept till about 2:00.

Then, the contractions really started. It's now a few minutes till 5:00. I was having one every 3-5 minutes until about 4:15 and now they're coming consistently at 4 minutes. And these babies hurt! In about 20 minutes I'll call my doctor and see what they want me to do.

I really think this is it! If all goes well, we'll have a baby girl today!

I'm so excited!

Is It Worth It?

Castor oil is the most disgusting thing in the whole world. I feel so sick.

Ugh. Keep going with it? I don't know if I can. . . .