1st day with Kate

Last Saturday morning, shortly after midnight, Angela wakes me up to mention she is having contractions. If that doesn't wake you up in a hurry, I'm not sure what will... After several hours of timing, they were at the point where nervous first-time parents head for the hospital.

We were there before 5:00am, having gathered all our gear, showered, etc. Angela looked great and while the contractions were obviously painful, she seemed to be handling them well. Unfortunately, she looked a little "too comfortable" for the doctor, who said we should head back home as he felt she had a ways to go yet...

So, we headed back home, took a nap, cleaned the house, and kept timing contractions. After several hours the contractions were coming fast and furious, and we decided to head back to the hospital. We were disappointed to hear that after all that labor, she had only progressed a little ways. However, this is apparently "normal" for a first baby and the doctors decided we should try walking around the hospital for an hour or so.

All feelings of being "too comfortable" were a distant memory for Angela at that point. The contractions were coming hard as we promenaded around the hospital. Shortly after noon, we headed back to triage and were encouraged to hear that she had made a lot of progress during our walk and would be admitted!

Things moved quickly after that, as the nurses set up the room, pain medication was administered, and phone calls to family were made. Megan, our delivery nurse, was great, as was our delivering physician Dr. Nevel. Within an hour of being admitted, they told Angela it was time to begin pushing...

Just after 4:00pm, we had our first look at our new baby girl! She was so tiny and perfect! As you can see in the last picture below, Kate quickly began sucking her fingers to cope with the rigors of life outside her cozy little home of the past nine months...