1:15 Update

Well the epidural is in. Katherine was in a bit of pain before, but now she is feeling just fine.

The mothers and H went on a culinary adventure to the most glorious place in the hospital: the cafeteria (or the CRAPeteria, as Mom calls her place at work). The perused the delicious jello choices, the chocolate puddings, the turkey sandwiches...and decided to go with some broccoli cheese soup that looked magnificent. In my opinion, there is nothing like broccoli cheese soup to warm you up on a cold day.

So they started ladling up the big - I'm sure styrofoam - bowls of soup when they got a surprise guest: a shrimp. One lone, stray shrimp that somehow managed to work his way from his other friends (don't really WANT to know what they were in) and into the bubbling pot of cheese, cream and broccoli.

What a great place for a crustacean to be.

Needless to say, they left the bowl of soup and their little friend and opted, instead, for a bowl of tortilla.

10:40 Update

So I got a new phone number a couple of weeks ago, and J didn't know what it was. So he was texting updates to my old phone and wondered why he wasn't getting a response. I'm sure somebody in the panhandle is thinking, "I wish this guy would quit texting this stuff to me!" Oops!

So here is the update, sent to my correct phone number. Katherine's water broke at 8:30, but there hasn't been much progess since. Everybody - well, ALMOST everybody :( - is at the hospital now.

I will keep you posted as updates become available.

Manning the Ship

Good morning, and happy eventual birthday to the little girl who does not yet have a name. This is Lauren, and I have now taken over blogging responsibilites and will keep you all up to date as events progress today.

I had a dream last night that Meredith kept calling me - how she got my new phone number, I have no idea - but she was wanting baby updates. I guess that was I sign that I needed to update you all!

As you have read, K&J went to the hospital last night to get things started. They were supposed to start administering the pitocin at 6:00 this morning, and when her doctor arrives - around 8:30 - she will gauge where things are. Seeing as that is in seven minutes from right now, I'm hoping to have another update soon.

Claire spent the night with Honey & H last night, and Honey is going to be taking her to school today, and I think Aunt Jamey will be picking her up. Claire will be spending the night with them (and me!) the next few nights.

If you would like me to send you a text when we know her name, send me an email with your phone number: lauren.mccarthy@broadlane.com

Getting Settled

We're in the room, just watching the little contractions on the monitor. They're coming every 2-3 min, but aren't painful yet. I'll get a sleeping pill about 10:30, then hopefully no distractions until 5:00 tomorrow morning, when we'll get ready to start the pitocin. And then the fun will really begin....Good night!

Today's the Day!

My doctor and I decided at my appointment this morning that, since my body is showing no signs of wanting to go into labor on its own, we need to get the ball rolling a bit earlier than tomorrow morning. So, Jason and I will head in soon and the "fun" will begin! Lauren's going to be updating on here as news comes in, but I don't expect anything to happen before lunchtime tomorrow.

And I'll leave you with one last hint of her name.....It's not Elisabeth, or any variation of it. :)

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with all of our family. As usual, both sides met up at my grandparents' house outside of Austin for a day full of great food and football. After we ate, we took J's family down to the olive orchard for a quick tour, then headed over to the ranch so the boys could play with their guns. Because of all the rain this fall, there's actually water running through the tanks and creek--the first time in about 10 years.

We came back home on Friday and spent Saturday getting ready for Christmas! Claire had a great time putting ornaments on the tree and helping Daddy put lights up outside. But, now that the tree is up, she thinks Santa is on his way. Everyday she asks if he's coming tonight, then lets out a fantastically whiny "awwwwww" when I tell her not yet. She seems to be content with the reason being that he's still working on the toys, but we'll see how long that lasts.

Here's a picture re-cap of the weekend:

Playing with the aunts

Checking out the baby trees

With Grandma

"Driving" the go-cart

Over at the ranch, making leaf boats in the stream

My 2 favorite people

Playing in the deer corn in H's truck

Helping Daddy drive around the ranch

The whole group

Yay Christmas!!

No baby today

We had a little shock yesterday when the possibility of a C-section today came up, but luckily my appointment this morning went well and she's decided to flip back to being head-down. All the doctors are convinced that she's staying put now, so unless she decides differently, we're set for the induction next Thursday! She's weighing in at 6 lbs, 3 oz, which means her growth has slowed down pretty significantly since the last growth check. The same thing happened with Claire, and my doctor told me that the last couple weeks aren't devoted to growth anymore--they're for last minute neurological development. Pretty interesting.