She's finally here!

Katelyn Elizabeth Galle arrived yesterday (8/10) at 8:04 AM. She weighs 5 pounds 6 ounces and is 19 inches long. She looks just like her daddy and she's doing great. She had a little trouble maintaining her temperature yesterday because she's so little but we've got it under control today!

So here's what happened.....
When I woke up Monday morning, I had pretty intense contractions but they were different from the other ones I'd been having because they had spread to my back. They got increasingly worse throughout the day so, at 3:45, when they were 10 minutes apart, I called the doctor's office and they told me that, because we lived in Brenham, we should head to the ER when I had them 7 minutes apart for about 30 minutes.

Chris was at home by this point and was doing some work outside. He came in the house at about 7:30 and I told him he needed to take a shower because we would be leaving for the hospital soon. By the time we got to Hwy 105 at 8:15, they were 5 minutes apart. I've never been stabbed, but I imagine it feels something like what I was feeling at that point (and I'm not exaggerating). I'm not sure what I expected labor to feel like, but nothing could've prepared me for what was coming.

We got to the ER at St. Joe's about 9:15 and they took me up to check my progress. At that point, I had to wait another hour and make more progress in order to stay. Otherwise, I'd be going home...for me, that wasn't an option. So after an hour, I had made enough progress to stay. I immediately asked for my epidural....she laughed and said I had to get my IV and do bloodwork first! I finally got the good stuff at about midnight and Chris and I were able to rest a little bit. And for all of those ladies out there who give birth without pain meds, all I can say is....WHY? But, seriously, kudos to you....you're stronger women than I am!

After the epidural, things went pretty fast. My doctor wasn't on call Monday night because she had been on call all weekend. I was pretty upset because, after 9 months, I really wanted my doctor to be the one to deliver Kate. But we got lucky....there was a shift change at 7:00 AM and the on-call doctor called my doctor (they're in the same practice) to let her know that I was close. At that point, she was on her way to a different hospital to check on another patient but she said if we could wait about 45 minutes, she'd be there. So I was very happy to see her when she walked in at 7:50....and Kate was born 14 minutes later! So, needless to say, the actual delivery was very easy for me and didn't last very long!

So, here we are with a new baby and we're doing great and couldn't be happier. Chris is already an awesome dad. He's been so great with her and with me. I also couldn't have asked for a better labor partner....he was so encouraging and was there for me every step of the way. We'll continue to post updates and pictures!