She is real, and she is really here!

Well, it's FINALLY time to get back to blogging! I mean, it has been like 7 months, sheesh. Let's start with the best thing ever - my baby! This will hopefully be the first in many posts to get updated (ish), so we'll start with the birth story =). Hooray!

Welp, on April 10, 2011, I was 37 1/2 weeks along and I felt like I may be leaking fluid, so I called my midwife and she told me to get it checked out. This was at like 10pm, but we packed my overnight bag and left for the hospital - since I was thinking I was most likely having a baby that night. I was right, after some tests they told me it was amniotic fluid and they gave me some pitocin to induce labor. I think I was dilated to a 2, but Spencer came pretty fast, so I felt like this one would be pretty fast as well. For the first couple of hours the contractions weren't too bad, so I let Dave take a little nap (oh, poor sleepy Dave...). I was just glad he was there for this one! (He missed Spencer's birth because he was out of town, and Spencer came unexpectedly 7 weeks early!)

Suddenly the contractions started to get worse, so I asked for the epidural. Turns out someone had just asked for one before me, and it was going to take the anesthesiologist like a half hour to get to the hospital, and then another half hour to do this other lady's epidural before me. Ugh. Next time, I'm just going to ask for the epidural as soon as I get to the hospital. So for the next 1 1/2 to 2 hours, my contractions were right on top of each other and HORRIBLE...somehow it was worse than with Spencer, I don't know why. But finally the drug man came - he made me sit and lean over, and then sign a paper - um, holy annoying! But he gave me the epidural, and then they decided to check me, for I think the first time since I had started the pitocin, and guess what, I was at a 10! That's now 2 epidurals that were given to me while I was already to a 10.
They let me rest for like 20 min before I started to push, because I thought I was pretty much spent after getting through the contractions. (sorry, I know a lot of people have hard contractions for more than 2 hours...but seriously, they took all my energy!) So I was ready to push, and the midwives (I was lucky to have 2 there - they were SO great) told me she should be out in like 10 or 15 min! Yippee!! So after an HOUR of pushing, and needing oxygen, I really was spent. I really didn't think I could push any more, so I started mentioning that maybe we should try something else...forcepts? Vacuum? Come on people! But I don't think midwives like to use those things, so they just kept telling me I "could do it!" Luckily within about 20 more minutes, my little darling was out! She was face up, which I guess is what made it so much harder. I don't know if/when they knew she was face up, but no one told me. Which is probably good. I'm glad we didn't use forcepts or a vacuum.

So Kinsey Kay Bateman was born on Monday, April 11, at 6:33 am. She came out screaming, and had lots of dark hair! So adorable! She was 6lb 2oz, and 18 inches long. So tiny, so sweet, so precious, so healthy =). She was able to nurse pretty easily right away, which is something Spencer and I struggled with for so long, because he was a premie. Having a full term (37 weeks is considered full term) baby is definitely much easier than having a premie...of course, I think your 2nd baby is probably just easier in general. Dave, Spencer, and I were just in love with this little angel at first sight. She is 5 months now, and truly is just such a sweet, fun, and bright part of our family. Almost every day, still, I look at her and cannot believe she is here - that I have a baby girl. We LOVE this baby, and she was SO worth the wait.

Pictures...

This is the day before Kinsey was born.

Kinsey Kay, just seconds old.

Mama and Kinsey's first cuddle =). (And oh, are we tired!)

My sis-in-law, Amanda, got this fantastic picture of Spencer meeting his new little sister for the first time! So sweet. This little boy LOVES that little baby!

Proud Papa and big brother. While holding Kinsey at the hospital, Dave said, "I just want to give this little girl everything she wants!" Oh yes, she has him wrapped around her finger and she doesn't even know it!

Welcome, welcome, Kinsey Kay...to the world, and to our family.