Dear Kate Marie,

We’ve been waiting for you all week. Your Gigi and Papaw came all the way from Nashville to be here for your birth and I came from Tucson.

It snowed on Sunday and I was sure you were going to be born. But you weren’t ready.

Your mom was very tired of being pregnant by this point. For the past week, I’ve told her good night every night by pressing on her belly and saying “Baby, come out!”

Your mom had contractions on and off for several days but you weren’t ready to be born. This made her cranky. She made muffins on Sunday and then she threw them when they burned.

In other news, your older sister Ruby also throws things when she’s angry. We don’t know where she gets it.

Today, I was writing about Michelle Shocked when I got a call from your Gigi saying “You better come.” So I did.

Your dad came home and your mom was in labor.

Everything got really intense around 11am and your mom said “I can’t do this!” a lot but we all knew she could.

At 12:30 your Gigi sent your Papaw out for tacos because everyone was hungry. I didn’t go because I didn’t want to miss anything. Your Papaw walked in the door at 1:10 with 4 boxes of tacos and we said “Hurry!” He got there just in time to watch you come out.

Your shoulders got a little stuck but your midwife, Shauna, reached in and pulled you out. Your Gigi nearly fainted.

At 1:11 on April 16, 2012, you were born.

You were very purple and we were all a little scared but Shauna breathed into your lungs so you could breathe and you started crying and we knew you’d be ok.

We talked about you all day. Then your sister, Ruby, came home to meet you and tried to feed you a carrot. She thinks you’re pretty great until you cry.

We’re all so happy you’re finally here.

Welcome to the world, little girl.

It’s a pretty crazy place but I think you’ll like it here.

Love,
Auntie Kaitlyn