We love Aunt Allie!

My sister came to visit us recently and we had such a great time with her! The girls missed their Aunt Allie and I really needed some sissy time. Allie brought me wine and chocolates and she even cut my hair for me. She is so thoughtful and giving and she always knows how to make me feel better. I have the best sister in the world!!! While Allie was here, we finally got a couple of photos of our whole family of 5 too.

A Fresh Start

I am so excited to begin blogging again! I have missed recording family moments, sharing thoughts and pictures, and creating a journal of memories. After Kate's birth, I had my hands full with newborn care, a very needy toddler, homeschooling our oldest, my sister's wedding (for which I was the matron of honor), my husband's job and career change, selling our home, selling or donating half of our belongings and packing the rest, moving across the state with a few stops along the way, and finally settling into our new home! In the midst of it all, my computer's hard drive crashed and my ability to blog or communicate via the internet was limited to a few cell phone uploads. It has been a long 7 months, but with a new season just around the corner comes a new beginning for our family and a fresh start in many ways!

Kate Lilian has arrived!

Our sweet baby girl has finally joined the Halsted family and we love her bunches already!! Kate Lilian was born on 1/19/10 at 5:23 am.  She weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz. and measured 19 1/2 " long.  I started having contractions 2 weeks prior to her birth.  It was rather frustrating because it seemed as though labor was beginning and every time it fizzled out after a couple of hours. By 1/13/10, I was dilated to a 3, 70% effaced, and the baby's head was very far down in my pelvis. We (me, Clint, my midwife, one of the OBs, everyone I talked to...) all thought that the baby would be born within a couple of days, but she wasn't coming out!  I knew that she would eventually get here, but it was so hard to wait and anticipate her birth.  What added even more pressure for me was knowing that the OB scheduled an induction for 1/21/10.  I was not interested in having labor artificially induced, but I would have been about 41 weeks and the OB thought it would be best considering my high-risk pregnancy and the fact that this was my third baby.   On Monday night, 1/18/10, I had decided that I didn't want to be induced and I was planning to ask for a few more days, but there was no need!  

Kate's birth story-

I had my usual pattern of contractions ranging from 3-6 minutes apart from 10pm-12am on Monday night (1/18/10).  The contractions stopped so I went to sleep.  I was woken up at 3am with some intense cramping.  I decided to get up and go to the bathroom and realized that I was actually having some heavy contractions and they were coming fast.  I timed them for about 10 minutes and they were 2 minutes apart.  I called my midwife first and by this time I was shaking so I could barely speak.  Lucie was the midwife on call and she asked me how fast could I get to the hospital...she knew the baby was coming fast and she was debating whether or not to have me call the paramedics to the house.  I told her we could be there in 20 minutes so she said to go.  I had to call my parents and tell them it was time and to come on over, but they were an hour away and they had to get dressed so I knew they wouldn't make it in time.  Then, I called my neighbor, Linda, and asked her to please come over to stay with the girls until my parents could get there.  She was a lifesaver and came right over!  Clint and I finally headed for the hospital and arrived shortly after 4am.  The nurses and Lucie were ready for me and this was definitely my fastest labor and delivery!  Lucie was amazing!!  She stood on one side of me and Clint was on the other and I felt completely supported and encouraged throughout that very difficult last hour of labor.  With one long push, Kate was born at 5:23am!