Happy Birthday Katelyn!

I know everyone parent says this every year. But I just can't believe that another year has come and gone. Esp. for Katelyn. For those that don't know or don't remember my birth story here is a brief version since without my husband home filling in the blanks, I really don't remember much of it all.

November 8th, 2001......Went in to be induced. Chose cytotec thinking it was the best option. Ha! All I got was hard, fast labor from the start. I tried to be brave. I think I last 12 hours before finally screaming for pain meds. I was given nubane for that. But the labor kept on coming, the pain kept getting worse, I still made no progress.

November 9th, 2001.....Yep still in labor. Still in pain. I was given different meds for pain as nubane just wasn't working. Late in the evening or sometime the next morning they gave me nubane + morphine. Yeah, I don't remember much after that except. I was told by mom that I told Clark that it was all his fault this was happening and that I wished all this on my sister (10 years younger than I) one day cause "that &*%$$ has things too easy being the youngest." It was the drugs I tell ya....the drugs! Oh yeah and another day with still no progress. I had reached 75% effaced and 1 cm dialated and holding there strong.

November 10th, 2001.........Yeah still in labor. Nubane/morphine combo not working so good anymore. I'm in tons of pain. Screaming for c-section since night before. Lead labor and delivery doctor comes in, checks progress (see above....didn't get passed that) and says "get this mama prepped for c-section now!" I remember getting the spinal. After that I'm told I was awake for everything but I sure as heck don't remember. I remember hearing my baby cry (very loudly) and the nurse saying "daddy you may hold your baby girl" and the baby stopped crying the instant she was placed in his arms. But I don't remember anything else. I'm told I was in recovery quite a few hours.

In all it can be summed up as:

Labor......56 hours
Delivery......5 minutes
one 7 lb, 19 inch long baby girl.....Priceless

Katelyn has brought us so much joy in the past 7 years. Of coure we've had our struggles as well. She's our spirited child and we've had lots to learn to figure out how to parent a spirited child. Through it all, I've learned that she gets it from me so I'm learning new things about me as well. She's had her own struggles......speech delays that caused academic delays. But she's making so much progress that it's hard to believe she's the same child sometimes. Esp when we can't get to her to be quiet. We just have to remind ourselves that once we prayed that she'd talk more. LOL!

So in honor of Katelyn's 7th Birthday, here is a montage I put together. Of course I can't just choose pics from 2008. I liked so many, I started with Jan. 2007 and worked my way in order up til this past month. She's grown a lot in a year and it shows. Enjoy!

And Katelyn......Happy Birthday Little Little! We love you!


Happy Birthday Katelyn 2008