Wow - over a year hiatus from blogging. You know...life as usual around the McCormack household...other than 9 months of pregnancy and the birth of our third child. That is ultimately what brought me back. I owe someone an apology...

Dear Kaelyn –

Let me start by saying I’m sorry. Sorry for letting 2 weeks pass without posting your birth story – but I’ve been busy watching your beautiful, expressive face. I’m also sorry for not posting one single blog post during my entire pregnancy with you. All I can say is…if there was ever a “perfect” pregnancy, my 9 months with you would be it. I felt great, slept wonderfully, had no major issues, only gained 34 pounds and actually made it to my scheduled c-section date. On the day of your scheduled arrival, however, you did throw us a little bit of a curve ball. Going into labor was definitely NOT part of the plan.

When I woke up at 2:30am, unable to fall back asleep because my mind was swirling with all of these thoughts and emotions about your impending arrival, the last thing I expected was to feel the start of contractions. I started timing them at about 3am – 12 minutes apart, 8 minutes apart, 10 minutes apart – then all of a sudden they were a steady 9 minutes apart. I decided to wake up early and take a shower, letting your Daddy know that Mommy was pretty sure she was in active labor. To say he was surprised is quite the understatement. We woke up your big sister and big brother, let Grandma Laurie know what was happening, and hopped in the car about 45 minutes earlier then we had planned. By the time we were in the car, contractions were about 7 minutes apart and were quickly gaining strength. We dropped Rya and Keaton off at daycare – dressed in their Big Sister/Big Brother gear - and headed off to the hospital. While in the triage room, contractions slowly became stronger and stronger until they were coming 1 minute apart. The staff had alerted Dr. Bullaro of the situation and we were walked to the O.R. about an hour ahead of schedule. Daddy waited outside while Mommy was prepped for her spinal…which took a little longer and required a few more pokes than expected. Once I was ready, Daddy came in with camera in hand and everyone was ready to begin. I looked up and caught sight of you being born in the surgical light above me. It was one of the most memorable moments in my life and I started to cry. Next came the shock when I heard the nurse announce that you weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 3oz. You outweighed your big sister by 9oz and your big brother by 1lb 2oz.

And that – my dear – is how you came into this world. We spent 3 days in the hospital, all of which were joyfully uneventful. We were able to just enjoy our first 72 hours with you, and share you with close friends and family. Rya and Keaton were probably the proudest big sister and big brother in the history of big sisters and brothers. They couldn’t wait to hold you and welcome you into our family. Even now, they are excited to see you in the morning and love to kiss you goodnight. It might not always be this sweet, but I want you to know they really do love you unconditionally.

So…now that we’ve gotten that important business out of the way, maybe Mommy can get back on the blog bandwagon. Yeah, I know…we’ll see how that goes…