Stella!

Well, my last post turned out to be timely since a few hours later we headed to the hospital.  KLC went into labor that night and gave birth via C-section to our latest addition around 3am on December 23rd. Stella Malinda arrived weighing in at a healthy 8lbs 5oz.

Even though KLC had the 2nd C-section she was trying to avoid, we got clearance to leave the hospital on Christmas Eve because both she and Stella were doing so well.  It was great to be able to wake up Christmas morning with all of the kids who were excited to welcome their new baby sister.

We had a bit of a hiccup over the weekend when KLC felt unexpectedly worse, which warranted a trip to the ER and being readmitted to the hospital to deal with some fluid around the incision and an infection.  The good news is that we live in a society with antibiotics so she's doing much better and will hopefully feel better every day from here on out.

A quick note about the name.  No, it's not a reference to "A Street Car Named Desire".  Stella was KLC's great aunt and her mother's middle name was "Malinda" and "Linda" is my mom's name so it seemed perfect. Stella is a champion nurser and isn't as serious as she looks in this picture, but it gives you an idea of how beautiful our new little one is.  We can't wait to settled at home with her and the other kids.  I couldn't think of a better way to kick off 2014.