19 December 2010

Kirsten's Birthday-My Memories of Her Birth

Happy Birthday, Kirsten
Less than 24 hours New

My daughter, Kirsten Rae, was born December 19th at 11:27 p.m.  in Deckerville, Michigan.  She was 19 1/2 inches long and weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces and look at all that black hair!  We named Kirsten after my husband and I.  Her first name has the first three letters of Kirk's and my middle name is Rae. 

I had a uneventful pregnancy.  Once my morning sickness subsided I felt great.  I had stopped working about a week before she was born.  The day before I went into labor I had made a refrigerated date cookie, planning to bake them in the morning.  I woke up about 4 a.m. with contractions.  I wasn't sure if it was the real thing or not.  I got up and decided if it was labor, I needed to get my cookies baked.  So, while have contractions, I baked cookies!  They talk about the nesting instinct and the week before she was born, I had a ton of energy and was cleaning, baking and sewing. 

I was in labor for 19 hours with Kirsten and delivered without any pain medication.  The hospital I was in, Deckerville Community Hospital, was pretty old-fashioned.  They had separate labor and delivery rooms.  The delivery room looked like an operating room.  I spent less than an hour in the delivery room before being moved to a hospital room.  Her delivery went smoothly.  This was in the days before you knew the sex of your baby.  So, I remember the excitement of finding out it was a girl.  Kirk was allowed to be in the delivery room with me, but for my support only.  No cutting the cord, weighing her or anything.

The first time I held Kirsten was in the delivery room.  I remember being overwhelmed with feelings.  I thought she was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen.  She looked so tiny to me.  When she looked at me with those big brown eyes, I knew I was in love.  She was a very alert newborn.  Kirk and I were so excited that we called our parents around midnight.  This was in the days before email and texting.

Kirsten was soon brought to us and we enjoyed about 20 minutes with her before they whisked her off again.  She was born very healthy.  This hospital didn't encourage rooming in, even though I chose to breastfeed.  I spent three days total in the hospital.  Kirk's parents were the first to arrive to see Kirsten.  She was born on a Monday night and they came on Wednesday.  They were living across state from us at the time.  My mother flew from Texas on December 26th to help me with my new baby.

A daughter is a special blessing, and Kirsten is very special to me.  Happy Birthday, Honey.

6 comments:

  1. So, is Kirsten Rae very tall? I was 17 inches and weighed 7 and a half lbs. and I am just shy of 5'10". Kirsten was 2 inches longer! (Just wondering, I'll check back to see your answer!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. now i'm remembering my birth stories and wondering how long my babies were! i enjoyed the post.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lisa, Kirsten is very petite. She is about 5'2"

    Kristin, I had to look up the length, I remember the weight.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a beautiful head of hair she had! My girls were both "baldies."

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am very surprised Brenda! I thought she might be a 6 footer! But now that I think about it, maybe I should recheck my birth length...could be I was longer than that. Like you though, I remember the weight! Precisely, I was 7.10 lbs. My two older brothers were about the same, give or take a couple of ounces.

    ReplyDelete
  6. And my Mom is being generous. I'm actually only 5'1" and 1/4" ! But at least now my addiction to baked goods makes sense. That clearly was the last thing I was exposed to before I was born...cookies.

    ReplyDelete