Kate Burnett Carlson

January 13, 2010

8 pounds, 11 ounces

20 inches long

It's hard to believe that Kate will be a week old tomorrow! It was exactly one week ago today that we were heading to the hospital to start the induction process. Little did we know it would be a full 24 hours before our precious girl arrived...

Tuesday night the nurses gave me some drugs that would speed up the induction scheduled for the morning. It was not a restful night! Although I had been experiencing some light, sporadic contractions, these were much more intense.

The following morning, the nurses started the Pitocin, and the contractions became more regular. I made quick progress, and by 1:30, I should have been ready to push. The first complication arose, though, and put things on hold for a bit. When they checked my vitals, I had a fever of 101.3. They immediately started me on antibiotics through my I.V. that would take an hour to drip. By this time, I was definitely ready to get this show on the road, so the fever set-back was frustrating.

Once the antibiotics were in, it was time to push… and push… and push. An hour and a half later, there was still NO PROGRESS. The doctor said that Kate was turned sideways, and with her substantial size, she was not going anywhere soon. Also, Kate's heart rate was consistently up in the 180-200 range because of my fever - way too high.

After 24 hours of induction meds, contractions, fever, and pushing, it was decided we should do an emergency C-section. So it was that Kate Burnett Carlson was FINALLY born at 5:40 PM. The doctors and nurses cleaned her up and handed her to Nick. It killed me not to be able hold her! They wheeled me back to our room while Nick went with Kate to the nursery to be weighed. He even got to help with her first bath! Now, at this point in the story, things are really fuzzy to me. It felt like forever before they finally brought her back, and Nick passed our daughter for me to hold for the first time.

Nick and I praise the Lord for His protection over us and His outrageous blessing of our lives with this child. We now depend on Him and trust that He will use us as He shapes her life and directs our family in the way He has planned.

And now it's about time for some pictures, don't you think?