Hello ladies! Let me start off by saying congrats to all the mommies, mommies to be, and good luck to those ttc. God bless you all.

Let me introduce myself...

My name is Katie and I'm from a very small town in central Alabama. Everyone here knows everyone else's business. My husband, David and I have been married for 2 wonderful years and we welcomed our first born baby girl, Amanda, in December 2007.

David and I met right after highschool and became friends. We then started dating for a while and became exclusive a short time after. He first told me he loved me during his cousin Christopher's wedding. I melted and he's had my heart since then. About a year later David asked my daddy for my hand. As hard as it was for my daddy to let go of his little girl, he did give David his blessing and wished him the best. David totally shocked me when he proposed. We were standing in my mom and dad's drive way and he pulled out a ring. He told me it wasn't much but it was from the heart and wanted to know if I'd make him the happiest man on earth. Of course I said yes. Later that year, on Dec 3rd, we got married in our family church and have been happy ever since. I'd marry that man a 100 times over.

We bought our first home in Jan. 2007. It's not much but it's ours. It's a 3 br, 2 ba, brick home in a quiet neighborhood. It was hard handing over all of our hard-earned money for a down payment, but it was definitely worth it.

We have 2 miniature dachshunds who are pretty much like our children. My girl dach, Tiffy, thinks she's the queen of the castle. Rowdy, our boy dach, is very playful and mischevious.

We welcomed our first born daughter, Amanda Caitlyn on Dec. 4th 2007. She came the day after our 2 year anniversary. She was not planned, but she was also not prevented. Now that she's here, I don't know how I ever lived with out her. She is our world and I love her more than words can describe. I found out I was pregnant the day after Mother's Day, and to be honest, it scared me to death. I knew it was bound to happen but I was still shocked when it actually did. I had only been off my bc for 2 months. I thought it would take a while for my body to get back to normal, but I was so wrong. After I got use to the fact of having a little one around, I started to get more and more excited. It all set in when I saw her little heart beat on the ultrasound monitor. I couldn't believe that God had blessed me in such a way. I thank him every moment of every day that he sent her to me. We decided to name her Amanda in honor of my older sister who passed away when she was 6 and I was 3. Amanda Lynn was her name and my name is Katie. We put the two together and came up with Amanda Katelyn. I know that little Amanda's aunt Amanda is in heaven watching over us.

***My BiRtH sToRy***

I woke up early in the morning on Dec. 4th 2007. I jumped out of bed and yelled for David to get up because I was peeing on the bed again. I did this a few times in my 3rd trimester. I even peed on myself at work once. Talk about embarrasing! Well I went to the bathroom and sat on the toilet. I was peeing, but it was a different feeling. Little did I know, it was my water breaking! I finished and cleaned myself up and got back in bed for another 2 hours until I had to get up at 6 to get ready for work. Well, my alarm sounds and I wake up to start the day. I brush my teeth and get in the shower just like any other normal day. While I was in the shower, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a small reddish colored clot-like looking thing go down the drain. At first I though it was just my imagination, but then I began to wonder if it was my mucous plug. I get out of the shower and dry off. I notice a little bit of red on the towel. I wasn't in any pain but I woke David and told him that I think maybe I should go get check out just to be sure. I went on to work and casually called to make an appointment with my OBGYN. The appointment was set for 10:00. I was sitting at my desk and notice some little cramp-like pains in my lower abdomen. I told my co-worker about it but brused it off as braxton-hicks. Nothing to worry about right? I was only 34 wk 5 d, I still had a month before I was ready to go. Well, the pains grew stronger and stronger. At about 9:00 my co-worker drove me to the hospital and sure enough they checked me and I was 4 cm dilated and in labor! I freaked out and called David who was at work at the fire dept. He came right away but for those few minutes I was alone I was so scared. I couldn't be in labor, it's too soon! All I could think about was if she'd be ok born this early. I dilated pretty fast and began pushing at 1:45. Amanda Katelyn was born at 2:18 weighing 5 lbs 4 oz and was 19 in. I saw her for a minute and they carried her out to be be examined. She was in good health but needed oxygen. She couldn't keep her O2 stats up on her own. She was in the hospital for a week after I was released. It was so hard to leave the hospital without my daughter in my arms. I blamed myself for her early arrival. I thought that if I had taken it easy and not been working or on my feet at home then she would have stayed in longer. Basically, I was too small to carry her any more. She had no room in my tummy and had no where else to go but out. I though I was huge but apparantly not big enough. Pre-pregnancy I weighed 105 and at the time she was born I was 137. I'm also only 5 ft tall. It's ok now though. She's happy and healthy and I couldn't ask for more!