Well worth the wait...

It's been a long time since I've posted... :) I'm sorry... ;)

It's a girl!!!!

Katherine arrived on October 23rd. :) After 23 hours of labor and 3 1/2 hours of pushing, I can now say she was well worth the wait... :) I remain in awe...

Name significance...
First, we need to say it took us awhile to choose a name, officially. It wasn't until the lady came from the records dept. at the hospital that we finally picked... :) Let me just state one fact: It's hard being teachers and naming a child... :)
Katherine is just a name we liked... We like Katie or Kate, too, so we'll probably call her one of those names eventually. We didn't choose it for a particular reason... After thinking about it during my long nights at the hospital, I remembered that Katherine was also the name of my Nanny's mother. My Nanny, my father's mom, passed away in the early 90s, but her mother, Katheryn, is a mystery to us. She died when my Nanny and her siblings were very young, and they were all given up for adoption. No one has a lot of information about my great-grandmother... On my maternal side, Katherine is also a family name...
Elizabeth, her middle name, is also a family name. My mother's middle name is Elizabeth, my grandmother's first name is Elizabeth, and my middle name is a shortened version - Beth. I think the name Elizabeth goes back even farther, but I couldn't think of a better way to honor the most incredible women in my life... :)

We've been home for a little over a week now... :) Everything is going beautifully... I cannot complain about anything, really... Yes, I'd love a little more sleep, but just picking her up erases any sleepiness or anything that I may be feeling at that time. :)

She's nursing like a champ - she's gained about a pound since her weight check last week. :) Woo hooo! :) We got the "OK" to let her sleep as long as she'd like during the night so that we can start to establish a schedule/routine. :) This was music to my ears... There was a time right after we first got home when I have to admit that I was totally...incoherent with the feedings throughout the night! :) I would wake up to feed her but wouldn't remember what time, for how long she fed, etc. That was sort of funny as I was showing her pediatrician my "recording sheet" with question marks instead of true data... :) Now, I'm doing a little better with that... :) She tends to wake every 3ish hours, anyway... :)

Our families were here for the first week or so... :) When we got home from the hospital, my parents arrived a few hours later... My parents left and Ry's parents arrived 3 hours later... :) It is wonderful to have everyone here, yet I have to also admit that it's wonderful to be here as "just the three of us" now.

Katherine is a great baby... She's a good crier, but only when she's really tired, needs her diaper changed or is hungry. She's quite fond of her changing table area - we have lots of great conversations there. :) I love her little coos and baby talk... :) Ry and I are in total and complete love with this child... I stare in amazement as I take in the fact that she's "ours" and that we "made" her... She grew inside of me for several months...and that I was able to give birth to such an incredible human... And, equally so, it's scary to think how much we'll be doing and how much we'll devote to making sure Katherine grows and develops and becomes a person who is honorable and wonderful. We want her to be, simply put, her very best. :)

There is just so much to write, but I'll keep this post short. :) Birth story, various funny or interesting stories, pictures, etc. - they're all to come, I guess... :) When there is time... :)

We stand amazed and in awe of this life we've been entrusted with... We are in total and complete love... :)