Jumping Ahead To Kati

So far all my stories have come from the 3 years we lived in Nairobi. We lived in South Africa for 11 years! So I guess that means I have a lot more stories to tell...

Yesterday I posted an article I wrote in the months following the birth of Nicholas. Today I want to talk about Kati. It's hard to believe that my baby turns 20 this coming Sunday. Surely I'm not old enough for that...

We had hoped for Nicholas and his brother or sister to be 2 years apart. When things didn't happen in the time frame we were thinking, we had a choice to make. If we kept trying to fall pregnant I wouldn't be able to make a trip to the U.S. that was planned. If we waited awhile, I could still make the trip, but I would be as pregnant as the airlines would allow! We had hoped to make the trip with our new little baby so he or she could meet family, but God had other plans. Instead my mom got to see me pregnant first hand, which I think was pretty special too.

So Kati and Nick are two and a half years apart. Three school years apart because of how their birthdays fall. Nick was excited about having a "baby sister." His favorite thing during that time was a combi, which was a van-style vehicle used as a taxi in South Africa. Obviously, his chosen name for his new baby sister was going to be Combi! There was no reasoning with him. He refused to consider it might be a baby brother and he refused to consider another name. I guess God heard him, because indeed he did get his baby sister. Thankfully, he took to the name Kati from the very beginning without a fight!

Kati was my calm, sweet baby. She slept well and ate well. While Nick was also a happy baby, getting him to sleep day or night was a real challenge. Kati, on the other hand, loved her naps and slept through the night pretty quickly. She loved people and was happy to be held by every new person that wanted to get to know her. I remember her being a contented, smiling baby most of all.

While Nick's birth ended up being by caesarean because he was late(although they induced my labor nothing happened for over 12 hours), Kati's birth was a planned caesarean, two weeks before the due date. Even so, she was still close to 8 pounds. I had another great doctor in South Africa and the hospital was much more modern than the one in Nairobi! My bed in Kenya had been an old-fashioned metal bed. I am sure it moved up and down a bit, but it was nothing fancy for sure. In South Africa I had an electric-operated bed that I think would have been comparable to one in the U. S. In both Kenya and South Africa I was required to stay in the hospital for 5 days after the birth.

With Nick I was under general anesthesia, but with Kati I had an epidural block and so was awake and able to see her right away when she came out! It was so exciting! She was just the most beautiful little thing. (I was so groggy and confused when I woke up after Nick's birth that I forgot about having a baby. All I wanted to know was where Tom was. I was embarrassed later that it had taken me several minutes to remember that I had had a baby and had to ask if it really was a boy or not.)

When I thought about having children, my prayer had always been for "a boy and girl, in that order, please. But your will be done, God." I am grateful that he decided that was the best plan for our family. While Kati struggled for a time as a young girl with wishing she was oldest, I know that she loves having Nick for her older brother now and they are very close, which brings my heart more joy than I can express. They are each unique and possess amazing, though different, talents.  (Remember - I am their biased mother and it is my prerogative to say such things!) I couldn't be prouder of each of them than I am.  They each have strong characters and possess a deep, growing faith that I know will take them through all the ups and downs this life brings.

Having said all that, the only fitting way to end this post is...Happy Early Birthday, Kati! I can't wait to see you Sunday!