Our sweet baby Kate...

Kate was not due until October 16 so it was quite a surprise when she decided to make herself known to the world on August 15 at 4:02 p.m.  Born at a mere 31 weeks, Kate was 2 months premature and only weighted 3 lbs 6 oz and was 16 1/2 inches long. 

This is how it all got started... at 3:30 a.m. Friday, August 15 my water broke.  After getting to the hospital my contractions began and became more intense and more frequent.  They gave me a shot of steroids to help mature the baby's lungs, some pain medicine for me and medicine to stop the contractions.  They were trying to postpone delivery for at least 24-48 hrs to allow the steroids time to help her lungs mature.   Unfortunately my contractions returned and a second dose of medicine did not stop them.  At 3:35 p.m. a nurse rushed in and said the baby's heart rate was dropping and when she checked my cervix she felt a tiny foot!  At that point the room filled with nurses and doctors and they rushed me to the operating room and performed and emergency c-section. At 4:02 p.m. Kate was delivered.  The sweetest sound in the whole world were the 3 baby screams I heard before they rushed her off to NICU.  Even though I didn't get to see her, I heard her and that was such a relief just knowing she was alive!!

Since Kate was only 31 weeks and her lungs were under developed she was rushed to NICU and put on life support.  For the first week of her life she was on a ventilator and had wires and tubes attached all over her body and spent much of her time under a bilirium light to help with her jaundice.  The first week was very hard to say the least.  Because she was on a ventilator and the tube was down her throat Kate could not make any noise...we could see her crying but not hear her, it was awful.  And because she was so critical we could not hold her, I didn't get to hold Kate until she was 5 days old and Jason got to hold her at 6 days old.  Since then it seems like each day Kate has made a vast improvement.  After the ventilator, she moved to CPAP then then next day she was on a nasal canula....her jaundice cleared up so she didn't need the lamp (or her diva shades!)....she began to take enough food so they removed the I.V......she no longer needed to be under a heat lamp so they moved her to an incubator, then an open air plastic bin crib, and now her "big girl" crib. Everyday seems like something improves which has helped make the time go by so quickly.

We are so blessed that Kate was born a healthy baby and not born with any major medical conditions (i.e. heart, intestines, brain, etc) and has not needed surgery, she was simply born very premature and needs some help as she grows.  We thank God that since the day she was born Kate has steadily grown and improved.  Tomorrow Kate will be 4 weeks old!!  And now she only has 2 things attached to her body...a feeding tube in her nose and three leads attached to her chest!  Kate is eating 5 bottles per day and only taking 3 from her feeding tube.  Once she is able to eat all 8 bottles our baby girl can come home!  Our battle is far from over but each day we are one day stronger!