The Davenport Family: Katelyn's story

Today was supposed to be my due date, but like her older siblings, Katelyn decided to join us a couple weeks early. Here is her birth story:

I had been having contractions for a few weeks. At 37 weeks I was dilated to a 3 and 60% effaced, so my midwife stripped my membranes. That night I had so many contractions, but then they went away. I had a growth ultrasound that week and they were estimating our baby girl was 8.5 lbs, on her way to being a big baby. So, my midwife said she would induce me on October 29th if I hadn't had her already.

As the week went on my contractions continued. I really wanted to have her that week, Seth's brother, Scott, was visiting and I really hoped he would be there to meet his new niece. But, no luck. Scott flew home Sunday and Sunday afternoon I went into labor and delivery to get checked. My contractions were still coming, but not strong enough yet and I hadn't progressed any, I was still only dilated to around 3. They told me to walk around and come back if they got stronger. That night Seth and I walked the neighborhood for an hour. I went to bed with no contractions and feeling normal.

I slept great that night, didn't even wake up to use the bathroom! Around 6:45 am the kids got up and I had a full bladder, so I got up too. When I got up I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. When I went to the bathroom I realized I was bleeding. I got Seth right away, he went upstairs and got his Mom who came down to watch the kids. We hurried to the hospital. It was a scary drive, I was worried about our baby, but Seth kept me calm and assured me everything was going to be fine.

At the hospital they found a heartbeat right away, which was such a relief. When they checked me I was dilated to 6 cm. Somehow during my great nights sleep I had been progressing:) They admitted me and we began notifying our family that today was the day. Poor Scott, he missed being here by less than 24 hours.

I was admitted around 8am and decided to walk through the contractions. So, Seth and I walked the hallways. The contractions were getting stronger, but still manageable. Around 10:30 the midwife, Mary, came in and broke my water. Then things got intense. I am so glad Seth was there with me. He held me up during contractions (literally held me up so I could relax the rest of my body), made me laugh in between contractions, he is such a blessing to me! Around 11:10 am I started pushing and our sweet baby girl was born at 11:19 am. It all happened so fast. It was hard and painful, but worth every second.

The nurses were all so excited to weigh here. I couldn't believe it when they told me 10 lbs 5 oz!!!

We still didn't have a name for her, so for now we kept calling her what we have called her for the last 5 months, Jingles. She immeditely tried to put her fist in her mouth before even taking her first breath. She wanted to eat right away and latched on so good that first time. She is already a pro at eating:)

We had lots of visitors that first day. I rested a lot and Seth snuggled a lot with his new baby girl. The kids came to meet their new baby sister. They loved her right away. Kimmie was so excited to see with her own eyes that she had a baby sister. We spent most of the day trying to decide on a name. We stayed Monday night and she was great during the night. It was harder for me to adjust than for her. I kept worrying about every noise she made. Tuesday we had more visitors and threw around more name ideas. Then, Seth suddenly said "what about Katelyn?" I loved it immediately! Our sweet baby Katelyn, it was perfect just like her. Tuesday night we went home. It was so nice to be in our own bed.

Having 4 kids seemed scary to me, but once she was born it all felt perfect. Our perfect little family of 6:)