Today...

I'm sitting here, it's 12:48 at night, and I'm remembering that right at a year ago right now, I was about to get my epidural. I had labored through some serious hours of contractions & David finally convinced me that I just needed to get some sleep if I was going to be able to push in a few hours.

All day long, I've been thinking what was happening a year ago today.

12:30 pm - I went in for a 40+ week appointment
1:15 - they hooked me up to a monitor to check Kate's heart rate, and realized it wasn't changing with my contractions (this was from 3+ days of hard contractions that weren't close enough to call "active labor" pphh)
2:30 - Doc told me to go home, get my stuff, & go to the hospital. I was in labor & it was time to have this baby!
3:30 - checked into hospital
8ish - my parents got to town
10ish - contractions got REAL hard & I really started having to work through them. In some strange way I really enjoyed this. I loved knowing that my baby was coming & that my body was working to get her there.
1ish -got my epidural
lots of not sleeping, lots of beeping of machines
4ish - I begged for my epidural to be turned down. I hated the way it felt.
6:30 - Dr. Martin came in to explain that Kate's heartrate had now gone above the level it was supposed to & it wasn't coming down (again, too long with too many contractions). I thought we were just discussing that a c-section was possible, but by the end of the conversation, I was being prepped for surgery. I had to face the fear I had felt most of my pregnancy. But, it was ok, a healthy baby was all I wanted. I cried, but I was just so ready to meet her.
7:20 on Friday, December 12th, Kathryn Elizabeth Mitchell was born. All 8 lbs and 12 ounces of her (doesn't seem like much to the 24 pounds she is today!). She changed my world.

This year has been amazing. I have loved EVERY MINUTE of it. Some of it has been so hard. I cried more over this child (& I'm sure there's much more to come!) than I knew possible. In joy, in saddness, in frustration, and in love. So much of it has been so fun...both of us laughing so hard with each other, and playing as a family. And a lot of it has been so sweet - cuddling, reading books, kisses, & watching her with her daddy.

I just can't believe this day is here. Today, my baby is turning one. I plan on soaking as much of her up as I can. I know I'll blink & she'll be in college. But, today she's...