Baby time!

No, not MY baby, and no, there aren't any pictures for this post, either (remember the lost camera? Well, it wasn't in my overnight bag either!) but I'm happy to be the proud poster of new niece news, as in, I have a really darn cute one.

My little sis Kari was due today with her first baby, so for a few months we've been planning on having me come and be with her and her husband during labor. I think this was more my idea than hers, since I had a big, fat chip on my shoulder about husbands during labor, but she went willingly along with it. We had to play things by ear since she wasn't scheduled for an induction or a c-section and I live 2 hours away (fortunately only 2; just last week it was 3 hours!) and I have crazy ol' Patrick, but everything ended up working perfectly. She started having contractions about 2:30 in the morning, and by 4:30 when she knew I'd be awake anyway (what with Joe getting ready for work), she was ready to call because it was the real deal. I had time to put some things together before Patrick woke up (the only time in my life I haven't cursed him at 5:30 in the morning) so we had breakfast and hit the road by 6:00, beating morning rush hour and hitting Pueblo around 8:00. We just had time to say hello before I was kicked out since she was getting and epidural, but once that was over we had lots of time to chill - and chill she was! With a very good epidural, Kari hardly noticed contractions from then on out so we just chatted and waited for the nurse to come in and check her every now and again. Kari's friend Stevie (a girl, don't get confused) came to visit during this part, bringing along a 10-month-old she watches for daycare, and when she left she was kind enough to take Patrick with her so we could be toddler-free during the nitty-gritty. Contractions stayed regular and Kari progressed pretty quickly, all while being blissfully PAIN FREE, so before we all knew it, it was time for her to push! Seriously, that sounds like too simple of an explanation, but it's exactly how it was. Since she could feel pressure she knew when a contraction was coming; since she knew when a contraction was coming she knew when to push; since she knew when to push they didn't have to turn her epidural down, and TA-DA! ...about 9 contractions later the doctor came in and by 10 contractions (also known as an hour with a contraction every 5 minutes) the baby came out! Seriously, what the heck is that doctor for anyway? One stupid contraction? But I digress... Kari was a serious trooper and it was really amazing to be part of the experience, I'm really thankful she let me be there! So now I'm in Pueblo for the night, visiting again tomorrow morning before we head back to Thornton to hunt down that camera. Looking forward to posting more tomorrow!