Caitlyn is 17....

It's actually Monday, but to me it's still Sunday, I haven't gone to bed yet....

Caitlyn's 17th birthday,

she was actually born on a Sunday morning 17 years ago....

I remember being woken up around 7 that morning, cuz something didn't feel right,

and wahla, sure enough, I was in labor,

and so true to a Caitlyn attribute,

I skipped the first stage of labor and was on my way, very fast and intensely, to the second stage,

(it makes me laugh cuz Caitlyn is still like that, she is a fast learner and likes to get thing done, she doesn't mess around!)

she was a few days late, her due date was on the 14th of December,

and I remember I was so ornery and tired of being pregnant and if one more person called me on the phone to ask if I'd had the baby yet... someone was going to get hurt!

Kurt called our Dr. and was relaying information to him,

(because, I was to ornery to talk),

about when labor started and how far apart the contraction were, and he, Dr. Campbell, had the nerve to tell me that he thought it would be awhile and to call him back in a few hours,

(Dr. Campbell delivered both Candice and Caitlyn,

he use to call them, Candi, the dandy and Cate, the great!

he was the best doctor....

Charlottesville, Virginia)

Hint..... don't try to tell a pregnant women her own business!

well, I remember saying to Kurt,

"well, you two can sit and talk on the phone and decide when you want to show up at the hospital BUT I'm going to the hospital now to have this baby"!

that's when I walked out the door, that's when Kurt realized I was serious and ready to go!!!!

When we got to the hospital sure enough, I was ready to go,

but, I had passed the window of opportunity to have an epidural,

I had just had Candice naturally 13 months earlier so my body knew what to do,

so hooray for me, I was having a natural childbirth again!

it really wasn't that bad!

my Dr. did arrive in time, and Caitlyn was born just right after that!

We loved her the moment we saw her...

We had a few names picked out,

both boys and girl names cuz at our ultrasound appt. they told us 90 percent chance it was a girl but don't paint the room pink just yet...

when she was born, unlike Candice, we didn't know what to name her,

our #1 name for her was Miranda, (a family name)

but for some reason, it just wasn't right,

I remember thinking, this girl has a name, I just don't know what it is yet?

The next day after she had spent the morning with me in my room, I sent her to the nursery so I could get some sleep, everything was quiet and my heart was just so full for this new baby,

I had just closed my eyes when I heard "Caitlyn" it was so loud,

I opened my eyes and sat up,

I sat up so fast, I winched in pain....I couldn't believe what I had just heard, and thought someone was in the hall, I sat there and listened to hear where it had come from, but again, everything was quiet and still....

I reached over and wrote Caitlyn on my bedside table, picked up the phone,

called Kurt, and said "come on over, I have her name".

When I said the name out loud to him, he just let the name soak in for a few seconds and then smiled...

Caitlyn is a common name nowadays, but 17 years ago, I had only heard it one other time years earlier from a sister in my mom's ward.

We are so glad to have Caitlyn in our family,

this morning as Kurt was saying our family prayer, he got all chocked up as he thanked our Heavenly Father for giving us the gift of Caitlyn, we are lucky to have her...

Happy Birthday Caity!!!

We love you!