Meet Anna Kathryn!

Anna Kathryn made her way into the world Friday, October 14th at 7:56am via scheduled C-section. 6 pounds, 13 ounces, and 19 inches long. I couldn’t wait to hear her little cries and look at her perfect little face. I am unbelievably in love!

She is so PERFECT! What a miracle.

Her great grandmother’s name is Anna (my grandma), and her great Aunt’s name is Kathryn. Both women are very special to me and our family. I think we would have landed on the name Anna irregardless (it fits so perfect alongside Greta – simple, Scandinavian, older-fashioned, but not too popular, and obviously, easy to cheer for!), but it’s even more special to be named after my grandmother.

We decided on her name while vacationing in Alaska, which is perfect. We bought her an AK bumper sticker there.

Another cool fact: Anna was born at 7:56 am. My aunt’s birthday is in July of 1956.

Back up to the day before: Craig and I headed out for our traditional 5k run the day before C-section. It took 33 minutes, and I made sure to walk whenever I felt like it :). Nate was home on Thursday as well (home sick…) so he was able to bike with.

Both commented on how much more strength and knee drive I’ve been able to maintain through this pregnancy. Yay! I remember trying SO HARD to get my knee drive back after Greta. Hopefully it’s a little easier this time around.

Later in the day, we all went to our CSA for our last pick-up. I snapped this while she was taking him to see the chickens and pigs. Because… nothing better.

The morning of: Dropping Greta off right at 6am. I gave her a big hug and fought back tears. I was hugging her as an “only” for the last time!

And then she was here!

Greta is meeting Anna for the first time here. At this point I think my heart was close to exploding. I felt so… complete. I had my entire little family in the room with me. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Time to head home!

I had joked that our second was going to look like me since Greta is a pretty darn good replica of Nathan. Looks like I might have been right – we will see! 🙂

We are all still adjusting to life as a family of 4, as is evident by how late I’m getting this post up. It has been a little difficult as we have been battling:

–Strep: Nate walked down to the ER room the night Anna was born, was diagnosed, and received a “butt shot” of antibiotics… he didn’t ask for sympathy 🙂

–Mastitis: I went through 6 of 7 days with a 100-102 degree temp. At first I thought I was coming down with what Nate had, but after not having other symptoms and having my chest become more pink, warm, and tender, I called. I guess I had expected it to be super painful, and although it was uncomfortable, it wasn’t terrible… hence waiting so long.

–A stubborn respiratory cold that has given Nate and Greta low grade fevers, sore throats, and lots of green stuff in their noses for the last 6 days.

Not cool. As I write this, my throat is sore and I’m sniffling. I hope I’m not coming down with N & G’s cold! Ug. Guess the lack of continuous sleep isn’t helping boost my immunity.

The good news? Anna is healthy! She is eating well and was already above her birth weight at 10 days post-delivery. She is unbelievably sweet and the best snuggle buddy. She’s also becoming quite tolerant of her sister’s pokes.