Katie is Born

The Fourth of July

Unfortunately Chris was on call today. He’s doing his Psych Rotation at Walter Reed Outpatient Clinic. But… Ryan and I met the Chuggs and Currans for the Fourth of July Montgomery Village Parade. It was fun to watch and Ryan was very well behaved! Then I went and had lunch with the Chuggs and spent the afternoon straightening up my house. At about 7:00 I went over to the Gaithersburg Firehouse and met the Breinholts and Chuggs to wait for the fireworks. It was fun to let the kids play around together and to ‘chit-chat’. At 8:30 we flagged Chris down and he came and hung out with us for about an hour. We only got to see the first five minutes of the fireworks though because my mom flew in at 10:15. It was amazing to see the fireworks right over top of us as we drove on the freeway. Wish we could have seen more. We haven’t been here for July before!

Mary Arrives

It was fun to pick my mom up from the airport. She looked at me and said, “Wow, that’s how I carried my babies… right out front.” I was glad she could see me pregnant. We talked the whole way home.

Last Doctor Appointment, Errands, Long Walk

Wednesday was a good day. We got up and ready for my doctor’s appointment at 10:30. Mom and Ryan came in with me. Dr. Miller said I was dilated to a 2 or 3 and very soft. He estimated about 30% effaced. My mom was amazed. She was never dilated early… she even had a hard time dilating after days of contractions. It was fun to hear how I was doing down there but I was still disappointed. Having my mom there ready to help put the pressure on too! After the appointment we went to the commissary to go grocery shopping, stopped at the LDS bookstore, at Old Navy and then went home. Then we had lunch, naps, and then mom helped me pastel a bunch of things. It was really fun. When Chris got home we BBQed hamburgers and then decided on a nice long vigorous walk around Lake Whetstone. Ryan enjoyed all the dogs being walked and seeing all the fireflies. He had to point at every one and say, “Fly”. It was cute.

The Delivery

At 4:48 am early Thursday morning, a faint popping sound and a gush of water awakened me. “Christopher, wake up, I think my water just broke.” Chris immediately popped up. “What?” he said. “I think my water just broke… the bed is all wet.” He checked it out and agreed. We both sat there startled. This wasn’t the way we had been expecting to go into labor. Chris went and woke up my mom and the three of us started to rush around and get ready. A few minutes later another gush of water came and I said, “Oh, it’s coming out.” With a panicked look on his face Chris said, “WHAT’S COMING OUT?” It made me laugh. Actually Chris was the only serious one. My mom and I kept joking around and laughing. My mom asked me which toothbrush was mine. I said the yellow one… but there was only a pink one and a blue one. My mom started laughing, I started laughing and Chris stood there with a blank face still a bit panicked. We headed for the hospital at about 5:30 and arrived about 6:00. I still hadn’t had any contractions yet. It seemed weird to be driving to the hospital to have my baby when I wasn’t even in pain. At 6:00 they hooked me up to a bunch of monitors and I began having contractions about 8 – 12 minutes apart. They started hurting really fast.

Eventually the OB doctor performed a speculum exam and she was able to see hair on the baby’s head sticking out through the cervix. Chris could see it too. Pretty soon… about 7:30 they moved me into my own room onto a much more comfortable bed. My contractions were getting closer together and more painful. It’s amazing how fast I remembered what contractions felt like. OH, it was awful. Soon the Resident Anesthesiologist came in and gave me an epidural. She was so nice and did a fantastic job. I sat on the bed with my legs hanging off and my head resting on Chris’ chest. During the process I had some hard contractions and the fetal heart rate was difficult to monitor. Then it dropped to about 60 – 70 beats per minute. Dr. Miller, the OB doctor, the staff anesthesiologist, and some additional nurses charged the room and scrambled around to try and help the situation. They lay me down, put an oxygen mask on, and gave me an injection of Terbutaline (to slow down the contractions). Unfortunately nobody seemed to tell me what was going on. Doctor’s were all around the bed and it seemed like they were whispering to each other stuff I couldn’t understand. Chris was behind them so I couldn’t see him. I was more scared than I’ve ever been in my life. Dr. Miller looked at me and said, “Lisa, you look a bit pale, what are you feeling?” I started to cry and said I didn’t know what was going on. He and all of the nurses and doctors did a good job explaining what had happened. I guess they were doing everything they could to help the baby and forgot to tell me. Chris wasn’t scared because he could see the fetal monitors and could tell that the heart rate was coming back up. Anyway… after that little scare things went a lot smoother. My epidural was working wonderfully and kind of put me into a relaxing hypnotic trance. I slept on and off for a bit. It took my contractions a while to start up again because of the shot. My nurse was in and out but for a long time it was just Chris and I. Then Chris looked at the monitor right when the baby’s heart rate dropped to 70 again. Chris momentarily thought about going to get someone but just then three or four people ran in.. The heart rate immediately returned to normal. A midwife checked me and I was to a 8. Obviously the baby’s heart rate was reacting to a strong contraction, which were getting very close together now. The midwife said, “Oh, this baby’s coming out now!” It made Chris and I choke up. It looked as though we would have a baby in our arms very soon. At this point some of the techs started getting the delivery table and newborn station all ready. About 20 minutes later Dr. Miller checked me again. “You’re fully dilated.” he said. My nurse, Jean, a very funny lady, kept encouraging me to just sneeze the baby out. Dr. Miller had the anesthesiologist turn down my epidural so that I would partially feel my contractions. He wanted to wait about 20 minutes. My nurse, however, wanted to jump the gun a little bit. She said she just wanted to see how I would do. She grabbed one of my legs and Chris grabbed the other. As soon as a contraction started she urged me to push. Within seconds they could see the top of the head. Dr. Miller quickly finished getting ready. I pushed through two more contractions and the head was out. Then I pushed one more time as Dr. Miller said… “IT’S KATIE!” I was in shock. I couldn’t believe I had a little girl. They cleaned her all up and weighed her… 8 pounds 12 ounces and 21 inches long. Nobody could believe that she was that big. Chris and I said now we realized why my skin felt like it was stretching and why my ribs hurt so much. She was huge in there. Soon they wrapped her up and gave her to me to hold. She is precious.

Katie Johnson

Born June 6, 2000 at 1:13 pm

Weight: 8 pounds 12 ounces

Length: 21 inches

Dr. Miller delivered the placenta at 1:17 and then checked to see if I tore. NOPE. I’m so lucky… especially with such a big baby! Wow. I tried to drink some apple juice after I delivered but just got nauseous and threw up. I tried again later and threw up two more times. Odd.

We spent the majority of the afternoon calling people to tell them about our news. It was fun to share it with everyone. I cried as I called home to tell my mom.

At about 3:00 they got me settled into a brand new room. Chris stayed with Katie and I until about 5:00 pm. Then he went home to go get my mom and RYAN. They got back at about 7:30. Chris had a big bouquet of pink roses. They are beautiful. Ryan was SO excited to see me. He wanted to come and sit on my bed with me. We introduced him to Katie and let him hold her. He was so sweet with her and so serious about the whole thing. He kept kissing the top of her head. It was adorable. We got some really cute pictures. My mom looked at her and said she looked just like me when I was born… not quite as much hair though. Ryan was very energetic. He kept chasing a ball all around the room and then would stop and look up at Daddy and say “Ryo hold baby”. Then he would climb up on the chair and hold Katie for about 10 seconds until he’d say “Daddy hold baby”. Chris, Mom and Ryan left at about 9:30. I tried to have a good night’s sleep but it didn’t work very well. So many people kept coming in to test me or test the baby or tell me to feed or I had to go to the bathroom etc.

Katie’s Second Day

Chris came back to the hospital at 7:30 am. I was able to sleep a little bit while he was there. Chris helped me take a shower and wash my hair. Then I pulled a chair into the bathroom to sit while I blow-dried. The Chuggs came to visit in the afternoon and brought a little pink shirt and some hair clips. Later my mom and Ryan came and then Chris took Ryan home while my mom stayed. She watched Katie while I slept and then we talked.

My ‘recovery’ is going well. My epidural wore off much better than with Ryan so I was able to hobble to the bathroom easier. I wore pads but no ice packs or anything. It’s so nice not to tear. Breastfeeding is going good. I’m starting to hurt a bit as she latches on. I’m sure it’ll get worse before it gets better. She’s a good eater. She’s been going about every 3 or 4 hours. (Longer at night if I let her).

Home from the Hospital

I left the hospital on Saturday just after lunch. Mom and Ryan came too. We stopped off at Michaels on the way home because I wanted to get some pink paper to start working on my birth announcements. By the time I got home I was ready for a nap.

It was so wonderful to have my mom here. She did laundry, made breakfast lunch and dinner, cleaned up… but the most helpful was getting up with Ryan every morning and letting me sleep in, and taking care of the kids while I took an afternoon nap every day. It was wonderful.

On Wednesday we took a picnic dinner up to Rio Lake and walked around, ate dinner and then fed the ducks… until Ryan took a dive into the mud. Oops!

Thursday Chris was on call so he didn’t come home. I went over to FHE packet group and handed in my packet. Lisa Curran was so surprised I was there… but I didn’t stay long.

Letter from Katie - July 14, 2000

Well hello everyone,

This is Katie. I’m now 8 days old. I have been very busy sleeping this past week. I sleep all the time. In fact, for the first few days, Mom would have to wake me up in the night because it had been 5 or 6 hours since I had last eaten. Now I still sleep that long at night but I groan and grunt in my sleep to let them know that they can wake me up to feed me. It’s working well for me. Mom gets frustrated because as soon as I latch on, then I fall right back asleep. Lots of times she doesn’t even feed me on both sides because I won’t wake up. But I don’t really mind … I just love to sleep.

My big brother Ryan is so active. I can’t believe how much he runs around, and how loud he is. He likes to sit on the couch and hold me. He pats my hair softly and gives me lots of kisses. He is always very serious when he holds me … I’m glad.

My Grandma Walton has been taking very good care of me. She changes my diapers all the time. As soon as she finishes then I mess my pants again. I think it’s really funny but I don’t think she does. My Grandma takes care of Ryan and I when my Mom and Dad leave. They went to a movie today and I watched Grandma paint. I’m not very fussy at all. I just like to watch what is going on.

Mom and Grandma have taken me on lots of outings. We’ve been to the park to watch Ryan play and we’ve been shopping lots. The most fun was at the Baby Gap. My Mom got lots of cute outfits for me. We’ve tried out my double stroller a couple times. One day, all of us went for a walk around Rio Lake and had a picnic in the shade. It was lots of fun until my big brother fell into the mud trying to feed the ducks. He was really messy.

Mom is feeling really good. After her milk came in on Saturday night, she was in a lot of pain. But now it’s finally getting better.

Daddy was on call last night so I didn’t see him for 2 whole days. He is busy working in the Psych department at Walter Reed Hospital … Outpatient Clinic. He always has stories to tell when he gets home but they just put me to sleep. I think he is enjoying himself and learning lots though.

My Baby Shower is tomorrow. All of Mom’s friends will be there. I’m so excited except I’ll probably just sleep the whole time.

Love Katie

Katie’s Baby Shower

We just had a great weekend. On Saturday, July 15, 2000 we went to the baby shower for Katie and I. Geneva put it on for me with a little help from Lisa Curran. It was so much fun. Those in attendance: Geneva, Lisa Curran, Deanne O’Brien, Amy Carlson, Mary Seaquist, Kristen Stuart, Jenny McDermott, Janet Soressi, Delene Peterson, Traci Lovejoy, Teresa Barrett, Lydia Gettys, Suzanne Moulton, Lois McBride and I think that’s it. We played some really cute games. One where they pinned 'famous mothers' on everyone's back and we had to guess who we were. I was Carol Brady from the Brady Bunch. Next, Geneva had asked Chris a bunch of questions about the pregnancy and delivery. I had to answer them thinking what Chris would have answered. For every 'right' question I received a newborn diaper. I got most of them right and it was fun to explain some of the funny stories and differences behind all of the questions. I definitely had all the girls laughing about my 'throwing up on top of the Empire States Building' story. Here are the questions…and Chris’ answers.

1. What food did Lisa crave the most during this pregnancy? (Ice-cream)

2. What food did Lisa throw up this Pregnancy? (Thanksgiving dinner)

3. Where was Lisa's favorite place to shop to get ready for the new baby? (Baby Gap)

4. How many times on average did Lisa have to get up during the night to go to the restroom? (once)

5. How often did Lisa throw up on average per day during the first trimester? (four)

6. What was Lisa's most embarrassing moment during this pregnancy? (Throwing up on the Empire State Building)

7. What day was the most special during the pregnancy besides the birthday? (When we found out we were expecting- Early November)

8. What pregnancy related complaint did Chris hear the most during this pregnancy? (Lisa's ribs hurting/ being pushed out)

9. What was the meanest thing Lisa said to Chris during labor? (It's Coming Out!)

Then we played CONCENTRATION where you get a candy bar that goes with the matching pair of words. Anyway, we had a great time and I was 'SHOWERED' with presents. Lots of cute little girl sleepers and outfits plus $150 towards our awesome double stroller and car seat. Katie was definitely spoiled. It was so much fun to have my mom there with me.

Church and Friends

That night we rented Anna and the King. We loved it.

Sunday Katie and I joined everyone for church. Chris had to be holding her the whole day and went around showing her off to everyone between meetings. What a proud Daddy. After church Jared & Geneva had us over for dinner. They just moved into a new townhouse so Ryan and Carter spent the whole time exploring. Chris and Jared told stories about their Psych Rotations and Geneva, Mom and I looked through craft magazines and talked about tole painting. When we got home Mary and Derek came over for a visit and brought us some goodies.

Katie

Katie has been sleeping SO well at night. She goes from 4 to 6 hours at a time! Last night she slept SEVEN HOURS straight. That's the longest yet. I can't believe it. It does seem like she is waking up a little more as she's getting a bit older though now. It is always fun to see her dark little eyes wide open. Today, Monday July 17, we went to her first doctor's appointment. She's 9 pounds 8 ounces already! She's quickly following after Ryan's footsteps. He gained a lot of weight fast and became quite 'solid'. She's doing well. She is such a good baby... so easy to take out places... a lot less fussy than Ryan, and Ryan wasn't even that bad. She is feeding well. My breasts are slowly getting better after a painful week of engorgement due to my milk coming in.

Goodbye to Mary

Well I dropped my mom off at the airport on Tuesday morning. It was sad. She kissed both the kids and started to tear up. I cried and couldn’t even get out the words “Thank you”. It’s been three days now since she left and it’s definitely harder doing everything myself. By 1:30pm I’m exhausted. Some days I get naps and some days I don’t. Katie has definitely ‘woken up’ the last couple days. Today she wanted me to hold her all day. It’s hard to get anything done.

Ryan and Katie

I know Ryan means well but he sure gets in the way a lot. He wants to jump on the bed when Katie’s lying there, he wants to put books on Katie’s head while I’m feeding her, he wants to cover up Katie’s face with her blanket. Nice, huh? He did some cute things today though. While I was at the computer holding Katie Ryan walked to one side and pointing to Katie’s head said head then walking to the other side he pulled off her sock really fast and said toes. Then he went and hid her socks behind the bookshelf. When I asked him where the socks were he kept saying “Idonknow?” with a little smile on his face. Little rascal. Later he kept trying to put the soother in Katie’s mouth. She didn’t really want it so it would fall out and Ryan would laugh. He though it was so funny. But the funniest was when Katie sneezed. Ryan giggled so cute that it made me laugh.

Chris’ Birthday

Chris’ birthday was Wednesday. We enjoyed pizza for dinner while watching the rest of Jurassic Park. I made a cake and had Ryan help me decorate it with M&M’s. He did a great job. Katie gave Daddy a case of cranberry juice… Ryan gave Daddy a battery-operated lantern for camping… Mommy gave Daddy a temple clothes bag… and Daddy gave Daddy a new golf club.