Now We Are Five



We've been a family of five for almost three months now and I'm just getting around to posting, so that should give you some sense of life with a newborn. Although I honestly anticipated it taking three years, so we'll call it a win :) Anyway, in case you haven't yet, meet Katherine Rose, the newest Chaney. She joined us on August 9 at 4 pm, a good two and a half weeks early. But she was happy and healthy, so I guess she was just eager to arrive and get down to the important business of catching up with her big brother and sister. Given how much she nurses, I'd say it won't be long!


Here's the family at the hospital right before we came home. I got to the hospital around 3:30 pm, she was born at 4 pm and we left around 10 pm (mostly due to paperwork) so it was a nice quick stay. It was a sort of crazy birth story (well, they all are, I guess, what with birth being a miracle and all.) This one was crazy in the fast and intense kind of way.

The short version is that my water broke Friday morning, and mild contractions started soon after. We drove  into Oxford to be near the hospital around noon. I went in to be assessed and was only 1 cm. This felt very discouraging. Both Eric and I thought it wasn't good news, that it might end in another c-section, because I have a pretty solid pain tolerance and contractions were painful, had been for awhile, but I was hardly dilated. Anyway, we left and drove to a nearby hotel to check in for the night. We didn't want to drive back home because we live an hour away. By the time we got to the hotel room fifteen minutes later I felt like I was dying. I lasted ten minutes and said I needed to go back to the hospital. We made the short drive back and when I stumbled back into the assessment room they checked me and announced I was 10 cm and ready to push. They wheeled me frantically into the delivery room and three pushes later Katie arrived. No wonder contractions felt so intense...I went from 1 to 10 in less than an hour. Efficiency at its finest! My doula barely made it to the birth--she came running down the hall and into the delivery room just as I began to push. It was a totally unanticipated and different birth than my first two in many ways, but I'll take fast and furious over long and slow any day. And most importantly, she's here!


We got home the same night, and by the next day were settled cozily at home. My recovery was pretty smooth, and the big kids fell immediately in love. They are both so good at both comforting and entertaining her. All in all, it's been a relatively smooth transition to five-hood. And now, some newborn shots from the first days...She already looks so much bigger now than she does in these pics!





Welcome to the family, Katie Rose. You're our little miracle baby.

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