Kate began making her presence known on the evening of Friday, July 14th as I was putting Max to bed. I was having pretty significant, regular contractions and Max was having a hard time getting to sleep. After Max dozed off, Mitchell and I watched TV for a bit before going to bed. The contractions kept coming and at 10:30pm Mitchell decided to call Michele. Michele recommended that we try to sleep through the night and see how I felt in the morning. The contractions did keep coming, but at 11pm Max woke up and wanted to sleep with us. We were too tired to negotiate with him so he slept in our bed. By the time Max fell asleep the contractions were mild enough for me to sleep through them. Looking back, it seems obvious that I was in early labor but I was in total denial about it – maybe because I’d been high on birth hormones since the day before.

The next morning we woke up and decided to go out to breakfast. I jokingly made the comment that this might be the last time I got out of the house for 2 weeks. After breakfast we stopped by the grocery store. I waited in the car while Mitchell and Max shopped. Mitchell told me he felt very anxious and rushed while he was shopping and I remember thinking ‘Why? Nothing’s going to happen today.’ When we got home we all took a nap because none of us slept very well the night before.

Mitchell was the first to get up and he made lunch. As we were eating more contractions started coming at regular intervals (about 6 minutes apart). We timed them for about an hour and they started to come more frequently and get more intense. At 3:30pm the contractions were about 4 minutes apart so Mitchell called Michele, Sam and Kristen. Kristen happened to be in our neighborhood. At this point it was dawning on me that this was it – I was in labor!

Next, Mitchell called his mom. She had a 3-hour drive to get to our house and we were hoping she’d make before I got to the pushing stage of labor. At this point I was emotionally overwhelmed. I couldn’t help crying. I felt excited to meet the new little person inside me but I was little scared about going through birth. Physically, I had good energy but the contractions were very intense. They required all my attention. I didn’t want to be touched or talked to while I was in the middle of them. I wanted to sit or squat during the contractions because being on my back, my side, or bend over was too uncomfortable. I kept thinking ‘relax, open up and let the baby come down.’

When Kristen arrived she did an exam and I was dilated to 7 cm. I thought that was huge because 2 days before I was barely 1 cm. Next Kristen checked the baby’s position and discovered that our baby was facing up and needed to be turned. To coax the baby into a face down position Kristen had me get on my hands and knees. While I was kneeling Michele arrived. Michele did an exam and said that the baby was now face down, my water had not broken and the baby’s head was still floating (not engaged). She suggested that I get in the bathtub to take the edge off the contractions. Soaking in the tub was awesome. My energy increased and the contractions were much more mild. This was a neat time during the labor because Max was there and being very sweet. He brought me recharge to drink, poured warm water on my tummy and fed me raisins. Sam, Michele and I looked at Max’s baby pictures and talked about his birth.

Mitchell was in and out because he was managing Max. We had hoped to have Lillian at our house by this time to care for Max, but my denial about early labor and the quick progress of my labor meant that we didn’t give her enough time to get here. This is my only regret about Kate’s birth. I missed Mitchell and I wished he could have been by my side throughout the birth.

After about 20 minutes in the tub we did another exam and found that I was still 7 cm dilated. This explains why my tub time had been so enjoyable. Michele had me walk around the house and squat with contractions. This would help to keep the baby in a good position and hopefully help me dilate more. After walking for a while Michele did another exam – still 7 cm. So, we decided to break my water. Then, I got back into the tub. This time it was not so relaxing. The contractions were getting even stronger and I was starting to get tired, but it wasn’t long before I started to get the urge to push. Michele could tell by my breathing that it was time to push the baby out. So, I got out of the tub and started pushing with my contractions. I think we started out on the bed, but it was more comfortable for me to be upright so I sat on a birthing stool. Michele let me stay in this position for a little while, but she expressed concern that being upright might cause the baby to drop too quickly and cause me to tear. Once the head started to crown I was back on the bed pushing. It was amazing. I could totally feel each contraction move her down and I was so ready to get her out. Within a few minutes I was able to touch the top of her head and the next thing I knew her head was out! Max said with excitement, “It’s a baby!” and I felt great relief thinking that the next push would deliver our baby. However, right after her head was out she turned her body making it difficult to get her shoulders out. I continued pushing with contractions, but I felt very tired and weak and the baby seemed to be stuck. Michele reached in and popped one of her shoulders loose and then she came right out. At 6:40pm she was born and they laid her on my stomach. She was healthy and beautiful and we fell in love with her right away. However, the truth is that Miss Kate was a surprise for us. We didn’t realize we had a little girl until a couple minutes after she was born. Michele looked down at the baby and then looked at Mitchell and said “Hey Dad, tell Kendra what we have.” All our bets were for a little boy because of the heart tones throughout the pregnancy and all the old wives tales that indicated we were going to have a boy. Early in my pregnancy my intuition said I was pregnant with a little girl, but by the end of the pregnancy even I was starting to believe we’d have another son. We were wrong and now we had a beautiful son and a beautiful daughter. I felt so lucky!

About 30 minutes after Kate was born Mitchell’s mom arrived. When she got here the midwives were giving Kate and I our checkups to make sure everything was working properly. Kate had one more surprise for us… she weighed 9½ lbs! I think we were all a little shocked. She was a full 2lbs heavier than Max was at his birth. Next we ordered a pizza and ate as everyone cleaned up and got organized. At 9:30pm the midwives left. I called Mom and Dad to tell them the wonderful news. Mitchell’s mom put Max to bed and shortly after Mitchell and I fell asleep with little Kate nestled between us.