Worth the Wait

After a long, large wait...

Welcome, Diddles!*

We named her after her 3^rd Great Grandmother on Josh’s side (Elizabeth Frances Fellows Critchlow) and Kate because we liked it, and after her several “Aunt Catherines” that we have on my side of the family.

This polite little lady joined our family on August 26^th at 7:23pm a week ago. These last several months I worried that her arrival would conflict with the numerous events which all happened to converge this month! Our anniversary, visiting family members, sister-in-law Abby’s big concert(s), Cara’s baby shower, other birthdays, Josh’s business trip, family reunions, my dad’s brain surgery, etc. Wouldn’t you know she would patiently (almost-too-patiently) wait her turn until we were all ready for her to join us. We’re so happy and grateful she’s here. What a little gift from heaven!

Weighing in at 7lbs 3oz and 18 1/2” long, I was in labor with her (with the help of Pitocin) for six hours (those of you on Facebook and Twitter already knew this. By the way, sorry about that. I was too busy having a baby to worry about what my husband was doing), calmly yet firmly requested my epidural three hours into steady contractions, and after three pushes, there she was! She has TWO dimples in the center of each cheek, just like Boo, black goose down hair, long fingers, HUGE feet (they didn’t even fit in the little box where the inkprint them on the card), loves her fingers and takes a binkie. Guess which one is her favorite? Oddly enough, Yaks always knows right where it is!

Speaking of helpers, both kids are just great with their new little sister.

Boo cannot get enough of her and keeps me on a tight schedule with her, “Mom, it’s eight, it’s time to put her in her playclothes!”(I bet you didn’t know that newborns had “playclothes”) “Mom, is it bath night tonight, I’ll get the washcloth!” “Here’s your binkie, sweetheart. It’s fine.”

Yaks takes a more hands-on approach and finds it fun to beep her nose every time he passes and yes (in true Hale form, which runs deep) I have seen him squeeze her arm and put her fist in his eye socket. He also helps forcefully cram the binkie into her mouth when necessary.

I’m grateful to be a mother. It’s an amazing and humbling experience. There are many things that make #3 an easier baby. I feel like I have several more tricks up my sleeves and I know what to expect, what’s normal, what’s not. It’s also more difficult with meeting the demands of three different children, all at home with me all day long. We’re making do, however. I’m trying to keep my temper in check, and just roll with the punches these first few weeks…or months. The Relief Society meals are wonderful (Where, oh where would we be without the Relief Society?), and the thoughtful visitors, gifts, cards and phonecalls are such a special treat.

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They day I delivered there was a baby boom at the hospital, and they were “short-staffed”. I won’t go into a complaint session here on this joyous post, but the first night I was ready for bed and had yet to receive my pain meds or have my IV tube removed. It was still stuck in my wrist and I waited a long while for them to come back. The IV bugged worse than my aching body, and I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I figured I had watched them remove these several times, how hard could they be to take out? I shuffled to the bathroom and gently removed the IV when I realized that I neither had a bandaid nor gauze to stop the blood! I quickly raised my hand above my head and applied pressure with toilet paper to slow the bleeding and tried mopping up the evidence dripping on the floor. I wrapped my arm in half a roll of toilet paper and just waited. Well, laughed and waited. When the nurse came back in and looked at my mummified arm, apologized up and down after I sheepishly answered ‘yes’ to her question, “Did you take your own IV out?” So, I don’t think they’ll be inviting me to join the ER team anytime soon. All was forgiven when they issued her this little knit cap as her hospital hat.

Have you ever seen one so cute? Oh, and the BEET SALAD for lunch the next day. Does anyone eat BEET SALAD? The cake was delicious, though.

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The day I delivered, my parents stopped by to visit and to get all checked in for my Dad’s surgery which would take place on the floor above mine at the very same hospital! My dad had Deep Brain Stimulation (like a pacemaker for the brain) implanted the next morning. It was great to see them both before their big day, and nice for my mom to have a place to relax and take her mind off of things while she waited for the lengthy surgery to conclude. Again, didn’t get a picture. I need a photographer to follow me around!

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Our neighbor Dell stopped by with a darling baby gift. He and his wife never had children and he admitted to having to ask the sales clerk for help in picking something out. We insisted that he take a turn holding the baby, and you would have thought we handed him a china doll – or a stick of dynamite! It was the sweetest little picture – of course I forgot to take one.

I think Yaks just realized he's the only boy.

* I plan to give her an alias ASAP when writing about her on the blog, but wanted to post it for those of you who just read the blog.