We thought she would come early and most likely be a boy,
but she proved us wrong. Kate Marie Williams was born on Thursday June 5, 2014
at 6:11 pm weighing in at 7 lbs. 1 oz. and 21 inches long.
Kate’s official due date was June 4th. It is summer break
for me and Steve’s leave from work started on the 2nd, so for a few days we
were all on “Baby Watch.”
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| Still inside -- May 31, 2014 |
Grandma and Grandpa de los Santos also came to stay
on the 2nd to be close when the time came. Kate kept all us waiting and right
on time on the morning of the 4th, I woke up at about 9:00 am with
contractions. They were far apart and not consistent, but lasted all day. Around
4:00 pm we (my mom, me, and Steve) took a long walk through the neighborhood
and up and down Montana Ave to get things movin’ and sure enough, just after 5:30 pm the contractions were getting stronger and more regular. I sent a
text message to my doctor, Dr. Caroline Colin.
Dr. Colin called and said to wait at home to go to the
hospital until “nobody was smiling.” The LA Kings were playing so Grandpa put
in a request that Kate wait until 8:00 pm when the game was over (he was half
kidding). We held out but by 9:00 pm the contractions were about 5 to 6 minutes
apart and it was time. The four of us (Steve, me and Grandma and Grandpa)
headed to Saint John’s Hospital.
Kate's entry into the world exceeded my expectations. It was a long process, but there were no complications. My worst memory of it was getting an IV. Apparently my veins are thin so it took three nurses several tries to get it in.
When we got to the Labor and Delivery area our first nurse
Michelle checked us in and checked me. Much to our surprise, despite the fact
that my contractions were strong and 4 to 5 minutes apart, I was only dilated
about 1 ½ centimeters. Dr. Colin still gave the order to admit me and around
11:00 pm I was able to get an epidural (no shame here!). From there it was a
long overnight of checking and waiting. Kate's cousin Daphne sent me this good luck message:
They started me on Pitocin, but I
seemed to stay dilated at only 2 cm forever. Steve went to sleep in the waiting
room for a few hours and Grandma stayed up in a chair to keep me company and
calm through all the monitors going off. Nurse Liz came on board at 7:30 am. She was
abrupt and little rough at first, but in the end turned out to be a great labor
coach.
Around 2:30 pm she checked me again. Finally, I was about 8 cm dilated
and my water had broke on its own. She called Dr. Colin and told me I
would hopefully have a baby by the end of her shift at 7:30 pm. Aunt Rachel drove
up to be there and we got Grandpa in an Uber taxi to come back from taking care
of Otter at home. At this point, my biggest concern was the epidural that I had
gotten almost 16 hours earlier was starting to wear off. They added another
dose, and by just after 5:00 pm, it was time to push. My first attempts
were terrible. I had really bad heart burn and it hurt and felt impossible to
take a deep breath in, but told myself I had to do it and it was game on from
there. When she arrived about 45 minutes
later, they let Steve announce that she was a girl! After nine months of
waiting, our big surprise was revealed.
We had been settled on the boy name Chase Charles for
months, but our girl name was tougher for us to pick. We had three in the mix:
Kaia, Hayden, and Kate. Once we saw her we knew she was our Kate, but then had
another decision of whether to spell it with a K or C. Steve had the idea to write both
of them out to see how they looked and K it was.
Once we got transferred into our postpartum room, I was
starving. Nurse Michelle came to the rescue and showed up with a tray full of
food containing soup, string cheese, Jello, and more. The plain turkey sandwich
on wheat bread and a huge glass of iced fruit punch never tasted better. Aunt
Rachel and Grandma and Grandpa returned from dinner for one more quick look at
our girl and then everyone told us get some rest as Kate would likely be sleepy
her first night. Not so! Our night owl woke up at midnight and introduced us to
her impressive set of lungs until about 5:00 am. She was up and ready to eat!
On Friday, Nana and Papa Williams drove up from La Jolla to
meet Kate and were at the hospital to witness her first bath.
We were nervous
because she was already crying when the nurse showed up to do it, but like she
has done a lot already, she calmed down and got through it like a champ.
After a few delays, one being that they forgot to remove the
clip from Kate’s umbilical cord, we were able to the leave the hospital on
Saturday afternoon.
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| Daddy getting his girl dressed to go home |
Both sets of grandparents and a lot of love were there to greet us when we got home.
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| PINK flowers from the Bernard family |
