Harper's Arrival

Harper has finally come, all the waiting is over! She was born on Wednesday July 28th at 8:42 in the morning. We are very excited to have her here and are now learning how to be parents! She is the cutest baby. She has dimples, blue eyes and blondish brown hair. When she was born her feet where squished flat together, with her toes intertwined. She still keeps them this way when she is sleeping, its pretty funny.

Now for the story! On Monday the 26th my doctor told me he could induce me anytime. Since my due date was not technically till Thursday the 29th we decided to wait till then to decide when we would induce. Blake had to return to Missouri for Dental school on August 5th so this really limited our time! We decided on Tuesday that we would plan on inducing on my due date so that Blake could be around Harper for a few days. After talking with my doctor we were told that the hospital would be too busy and the earliest day for an induction would be Saturday the 31st. We were sad to hear this since that wouldn't give Blake anytime with the baby. That night my doctor called and said that we could come in that night at 11 pm and be induced. I was shocked! I hadn't quite mentally prepared myself for that! We talked with each other and the doctor and decided that was going to be our best option!

We went into the hospital at 10 pm and I was given Pitocin around 11 pm. After receiving Pitocin the contractions started and they were very strong! She was facing up so most of the pain was in my back and felt like my back was snapping! So at that point, around 1 am, I got an epidural. Shortly after that things started to go badly. With every contraction Harper's heart rate was decelerating and her baseline was extremely low. They reduced the Pitocin drip and had me change positions several times to try and fix her heart rate. For about 2 hours that night her heart rate was in a dangerous zone and the doctors were considering an emergency c-section. Every 10 or 15 minutes my doctor and nurse would return and have me rotate to try and move Harper off the cord. They also gave me an amnioinfusion which means that they pump water into the uterus, in order to give her more room to move. I ended up throwing up a few times during the process also which made it just that much more fun!

It was hard to watch the monitor and see her struggling through the process. We were all pretty nervous and scared about what might happen. My mom and Blake were in the delivery room with me and I am very thankful they were both there for support! I could tell they were both trying to keep cool so I didn't freak out!

The nurse came in to check me to see if I had progressed at all around 3:30 am. She never said this but I think if I hadn't dilated anymore by this time they were going to perform a c-section. She checked and I was at a 6.5! So I had gone from a 4 to a 6.5 and about 80 % effaced. That was good news. Around this time Harper's heart rate started to normalize some and they were not as worried about her. The nurse checked me every hour from then on and by 6:40 am I was fully dilated and ready to push! I was so relieved!

As I said earlier she was face up to begin with and the doctor expected her to come out that way. I was pushing for about two hours and the whole time her head was almost out but she was not moving anymore out when I pushed. Right at the point when I was ready to quit, or throw up again, her head finally moved and the doctor was able to get her head out. She ended up being face down but her shoulders were face up. She had basically corkscrewed out. Not the easiest way to come out! She was born at 8:42 am on Wednesday July 28th. She was 8 lbs. 3 oz and 20 inches long, with some really strong legs!

At first she wasn't crying so the NICU breathing team came in and worked with her. Due to the addition of water she had breathed in a lot of water, and was having a really hard time breathing. This was another very scary 5 minutes but eventually they got her to start breathing an everything was just fine! She came out with a really bad cone-head too, which I thought was kinda funny!

Based on the way she entered this world, her disposition during pregnancy, and her personality we are planning on her being very strong willed and stubborn! We expect her to do everything at her own time and in her own special way!

We are so happy that she is here and that she is healthy!