Dear Kate,
YOU ARE HERE!!!! And we couldn't be more excited! You are even more precious than we expected and boy are you loved!!! Here's how your birth day unfolded...
Mommy's doctor decided that if you had not made an appearance by September 19th, then we would just make you make an appearance!! Now, I wasn't exactly excited about this, as I like nature to take it's course, BUT, the closer the 19th came, and the less you were showing up, inducing seemed brighter and brighter! So, Monday morning at 5:30 a.m., Daddy and I went to the hospital. We didn't exactly know what to expect, because EVERYONE, and I mean everyone had their own story on their inducement, or their sisters inducement, or their cousins, co-workers, random lady on Oprah, etc! And they were ALL different. All I knew was it could be very quick, or it could be very long, or it could be somewhere in between - in other words, I knew nothing! By the way, you will learn your Mommy likes to plan things, or at least have a general knowledge of how things are going to play out, but with this, I totally accepted that we just were not going to know and we'd just have to wait and see. Unfortunately, a couple of your family members (particularly your Papa Rob!!!!) could not grasp this concept!!! Remind me of this when you have your babies, please :)
SO... I'm "induced" by 6:00 a.m. and Daddy and I begin the wait. Mimi was taking your big sis to school and then heading up to the hospital and the rest of the fam was just waiting for updates to see if they should head that way, too. Well, by noon, it was pretty clear you were going to take your precious time!! Don't worry - I anticipated this. Your sister was the same way! Good news was, I had no pain!! Long story short, there were 2 C-sections coming up and the doc and nurses all recommended I go ahead and get the epidural before the CRNA went into the surgeries, and I did not refuse! So by 10:30, I was relaxing, watching your Daddy pace back and forth and back and forth. Mimi arrived shortly after and we all just waited... Soon, Aunt Amy and Papa Larry arrived to wait it out, then Aunt Ash-ash and Clara Lee and not but a few minutes behind them was Papa Rob! Still, no action from you. You were quite cozy. Around 4ish, Aunt Steph and Ellie picked Abigail up from school and the 3 of them joined the crowd anxiously awaiting and Uncle Jaybee wasn't too far behind! The crowd was growing anxious, and I have to admit, I was getting there or maybe it was just the crowd :) Well, 6 p.m. came around and there was little change so I sent everyone on their way to grab dinner. The nurse said it would be a long night since I was just at 3 cm and it took literally all day to get there. Your family graciously abided and everyone except Papa Rob and Daddy headed out of the hospital to eat. Well, about 20 minutes later, I started noticing a lot of new pressure. Still no pain, just this odd pressure. And with each minute, it was getting a little worse. The doc just happened to pop in and was beginning to tell me that if things didn't start happening soon they were going to take a different approach and I just nonchalantly mentioned this pressure to her. Well you would have thought I said I was giving her a million dollars - she got the biggest grin on her face and said that's what she'd been waiting to hear!!!! Sure enough, she checked and I was at a 10! Man alive, when you are ready, you are ready! My first reaction was "somebody better call Mimi" cause no way was she forgiving me if she wasn't here for your birth, especially waiting it out all day long! Thankfully, the family was wrapping up dinner (or well, wrapped up dinner rather quick) and all headed back to the hospital. The doc tried to get me to wait a little longer but again, when you are ready, you are ready and I needed to push! "We" quickly got the nurses and doc in the room and I'd say, oh, like 10 minutes later there you were! and YES, everyone was there - well, not in the room, in the waiting room!
It was SUCH and easy delivery, I just cannot begin to explain to you. And the second I saw you, I knew you were just perfect! You weighed 8 lbs 9 oz and were 20.5 inches long!! Oh and boy do you look just like your sister did!!!! It's kind of scary how similar the two of you look!!! Here are some first pictures right after the delivery...
Here's your Daddy and his baby girl!!! He was such a good helper - he even cut your umbilical cord!
Here's Big Sis ringing the "bell"! This is to let everyone in the hospital know that a baby was born!!!
You and Abby meeting for the first time! Such a special moment! She LOVES you so much and has been waiting for you for so long now!!! 
A family of four!!! Couldn't be more perfect!!
After making them wait long enough, I let the whole family in. I'm telling you girl, you are SO loved and are so special to have such awesome family!!!
Here's Mimi - no doubt she was going to be the first to hold you!
And Papa Rob got you for a total of 4.6 seconds!!!
and had to pass you along to Papa!
Auntie Amy stuck it out all day and was not heading back to Cookeville without her baby fix!!!
And of course Uncle Jaybee got a glance of his newest niece to aggravate!
And Aunt Ash-ash was all smiles holding you!
Like mother like daughter! Your cousin Clara Lee has been super excited and asked me all the time when Kate was coming - along with other questions that a 2 year old should not be asking regarding pregnancies and the birth of children!!!! But she sure does love her cousin!
And Aunt Steph was the last visitor of the night, getting to hold you the longest (at least on your first night!)
Soon after all the family got their dose of Kate, everyone headed back to their home and Mommy and Daddy got ready for our first night with you. The nurse came in and got you all cleaned up and you seemed pretty content with! This picture right here looks JUST like your big sis - I'm telling you, it's crazy!!
The next morning, we got ready for more visitors, although Mommy and Daddy both felt like we were able to go home! Daddy even posted on Facebook that you had been with us for 24 hours, but it wasn't even 12 hours!! That's how comfortable we felt with you! We were ready to get you home! But instead, we hung out for another day and enjoyed the company...
You got to meet your first Grugett!! Miss EP and Baby Grant stopped in that morning bringing us yummy breakfast and adoring over you!
And of course Mimi and Abby stopped in for a visit - this time Abby got to wear her Big Sister gear! She is VERY proud to be a big sister and likes to call you 'my baby'!
And Abby even brought you a present! Now this present is very special because Abby picked it our herself! See, she has a lovey that she loves, loves, loves, and she felt it was only appropriate that you have one too! So she picked out this pink giraffe!! You loved it from first hug!!
And Clara Lee and Ash-ash stopped in before they headed back to Memphis. I think Clara Lee may need a little sister - what do you think???
And later, our second Grugett!!! Miss Leigh stopped in on her lunch break to welcome you to the gang!
Later that evening, Mr. Lee and Mr. Jay (the 2 remaining Grugetts) stopped by for a visit, but you know how boys are - they didn't want to hold you for fear of dropping your or something like that :) Your daddy's the same way - says he can only hold his babies the right way!!
After school, your cousin Ellie got to meet you!
And counted all your toes - just to make sure they were all there. Your sister was more interested in doing Aunt Steph's hair though...
Another great day, but boy, were we ready to get out of there and take our precious cargo home!! The next morning, we were up and at 'em, getting ready to get this party started! We put you in your fancy going home outfit.
Took a few (million) pictures...
10 minutes later, and there you are, peacefully sleeping in your home.
Oh Kate, we are so happy to have you in our family. You are beautiful both inside and out and I cannot wait to spend many wonderful Days with Kate! I love you with all my heart sweet thing.
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