One year ago today I gave birth to my sweet, second born little girl Katherine Grace Smith. Here’s how it all went down…
I wasn’t due until December 6th, but over Thanksgiving I walked and walked, hoping for Kate’s early arrival. On the morning of the 25th (a Sunday), I chose to stay home from church. Which turned out to be a great choice, since my water would have broke right in the middle of pastor’s sermon…one of my great fears:) I called Brian at church, and while at first he thought I was crying wolf, he finally believed me and came home
My contractions began within an hour or so and by noon we were headed to the hospital. I could have stayed home longer, but many panicking friends and loved ones did not want us stuck in-route delivering Kate. So off we drove to Knoxville. Signing in at St. Mary’s was a bit of a challenge since I was still steadily leaking and they seemed to take their time.
When we arrived in our room, I got changed into my lovely gown and got walking. The rest of the afternoon was spent walking, laboring, focusing, massaging, etc. I wasn’t dilated past 2cm, so they decided to use some Pitocin to get things moving a bit more quickly (something I actually regret at this point). That ramped up my contractions BIG TIME. I was attempting a V-BAC and so had decided ahead of time not to have an epidural. Well, let’s just say those Pitocin contractions were off the charts!!!
I spent the evening hours of the 25th with teeth-chattering contractions and small bits of rest. We finally opted for a small dose of pain meds. I wanted a small dose so that if we needed to take Kate via C-section, she wouldn’t be groggy. The meds took my pain from a 9.9 to a 7.5, for which I was SO very thankful.
By 11:30pm it was time to check me again. After such pain and many hours of such intense labor, I just knew I’d be 5cm, 8 cm…but I never expected to not even be 2 cm. We spent some time talking it through with our dr, and since everyone is a bit more cautious with a VBAC(Vaginal Birth After Cesarean), we decided to move ahead with the c-section. I had still had no epidural, so they chose to do a spinal in the operating room.
And at 11:59pm on November 25th, 2007 my beautiful baby Kate was born into our world. What an incredible year, and what an incredible little gift from the Lord. She is a blessing, and a joy, truly a great reward! Happy Birthday Baby Kate!
