Ava Kate is Here!

As many of you know, Ava Kate has officially been born! Yay, she was only 6 days late :). She was born September 3, 2009 at 1:35 am. She weighed in at a healthy 9 lbs 5 oz and 21 inches. And she's adorable! So, here's the story. I actually went into labor around 4 pm Wednesday while at work. However, I wasn't completely sure because the contractions weren't too bad and since I hadn't had any braxton hicks, I thought these might be them. But..just to be safe I decided to go over to my parent's house so I wouldn't be home alone for 2.5 hours before James got home from work. Around 5, mom and I decided to start timing my contractions and they were about 3-5 min apart, but I was so paranoid about going to the hospital and being sent home that I was going to make sure I was in labor before driving to the hospital. Around 5:30 they actually started to hurt...pretty bad, so mom said, "We're going to the hospital!" I was admited just after 6 pm, but they were so full that I had to wait in the hall until they had a triage room open. P.S. James didn't arrive to the hospital until conveniently I was getting the epidural, therefore he missed the "hard part". But don't worry he makes up for it a thousand times over later on in the story....So by this time I had mom, dad, and James as my support. We then waited for about 5 ish hours during which they broke my water and there was meconium in it. Also, my Dr. was out of town... I pushed for two hours and then once she started crowning they called in the Dr. and the NICU (because of the meconium) and then it just took one push to get her head, and then the next push and out came her body! easy peasy japanesey! James cut the cord and NICU cleaned out her lungs. As for me I had a 2nd degree tear (no episotomy) and developed a lovely rare complication (as in so rare my Dr. hasn't seen one in over 15 years) that we call helga the hematoma. (there's a lot more to the story, but this is a novel already) Here's where James turns into superman...I have been bed ridden for the past 16 days and for the first week James took care of two babies (Ava Kate and myself). I also have to thank my neighbors, Ashley, my mom, and grandma for all their help. I'm still recovering, but thanks to a priesthood blessing I received in the hospital, and the enabling power of the atonement of Christ I was and have been able to take care of Ava Kate since the day James had to go back to work. And there ya have it, and believe me that's the abridged version. Also, thanks to Annika for taking amazing pictures for us. If you want more e-mail me.