Labor Day has always had a special meaning to us as it was officially the weekend that our first was born. Connor made his entrance to the world on Labor Day weekend 2009 and being the first of the 801 babies to make his way into the world, he was warmly welcomed by a party in Redondo/Hermosa beach which had previously been our tradition over Labor Day weekend. Pretty fitting welcoming. We celebrated our own Labor Day for the 3rd with with the entrance of little miss Kaitlyn Alice. This blog detail is mostly for her so that she doesn’t think she just effortlessly slipped into this world!!
So, our little girl proved to us she had a mind of her own long before she arrived on the scene. You would think by the 3rd time around, your body would just recognize labor and say “ok – let’s get this show on the road”. But no, little miss had other plans. Both Connor and Drew decided to show up at least a couple days before their due dates so I was convinced BK3 would do the same. On top of that, I had a due date “range” of April 11-20th and from the beginning, I stated there was no way I was making it to the 20th. My last day of work was conveniently April 5th so I could have a little time to hang out with the boys before baby arrived on the scene. As the dates drew closer, I became more anxious and really ready to hold our baby. Most of all, I was dying to find out if we were going to have a little miss who would provide her brothers with tons of unsolicited advice on clothing and girls or a third little man who would undoubtedly spend every minute keeping up with his amazing older brothers! So, when labor began on Sunday April 7th – I thought we were golden! After not much excitement, few hours later it stopped. “Ok” I thought, “no big deal. I have a few more things I want to do anyway”. We got our week of fun in with the boys, we all got sick, we all got better and then I thought – perfect…. NOW we’re ready. So when labor started again on Tuesday April 16th – I was VERY sure it was the real deal.
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| Family of Four Before 1st trip to Dr. |
Contractions were 12 minutes apart when we headed to the doctor’s office just before they closed for the day. They asked us to come up just to do a check. When we got there, I was 3cm dilated and they said I could either head to the hospital or keep laboring at home for a bit longer. Wanting to spend as little time as possible at the hospital (Drew spoiled us with his 1 1/2 after hospital arrival), I elected to head home. Contractions ramped up to about 5 minutes apart on the drive, but something must have convinced baby to stay comfy a bit longer because within 30 minutes of getting home, EVERYTHING stopped!
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| Family of Four (again) Before heading to Hospital |
Dan & I spent the majority of the next week living in 4 hour segments… made it through the night… we’ll talk at lunch. Made it through lunch, guess I have to figure out something for dinner. My parents picked up the phone anticipating the word “go time”. Each time I called them, I literally started the conversation not with hello but with “nothing’s going on”. My second due date of April 20th, the date I swore I wouldn’t see without holding a baby, came and went! BOO! On the afternoon of April 22nd (Monday), I snuck in a nap while the boys napped. I was awoken around 4pm with a contraction but didn’t get my hopes up. After about an hour of 15 minutes apart, I finally called my parents and invited them in for dinner (as long as they brought their overnight bags with them) and called Dan at work, told him not to tell co-workers (because he left work the week before and went back empty handed!!), and just said to wrap up a couple things in case he didn’t make it to work tomorrow. I ate toast while everyone else enjoyed a good dinner and we headed to the hospital around 8:30pm. By the time the nurses had us all checked in, connected to monitors, plugged into IV, etc, I was at a 5. A few hours later and a lot of leaning on Dan and having him practically punch my back (what a trooper!), the Dr. arrived. He walked in the room and asked “still smiling???”. (((( I totally took that as a compliment!)))) It was right before this that I told Dan I was ready to call the Magic Man (aka Epidural Guy). However, the Doc said we’re at 9 1/2 so I said let’s go! The next 20 minutes were a bit of a blur – but at 4 minutes after midnight on April 23rd, we met miss Kaitlyn!
I can't believe how each time we've been through this, Dan & I seem to grow a little closer still. I am so lucky to have such an amazing support man. He somehow managed to say the exact thing I needed when I needed it. He gave me someone to lean on (literally and figuratively!) He knew how to look right at me and tell me I could do it. I love this quote and for me holds so true --- "I never knew how much I loved your Daddy until I saw how much you loved you". Love you Dan :)
Stats:
Kaitlyn weighed in at 7lbs, 11 oz (exactly in the middle of her two brothers who were 6lbs, 11oz (Connor) and 8lbs, 11oz (Drew). She was 20 inches of little perfection! Thanks for coming into our lives – we’re sure they’ll never be the same.
