welcome, baby Harper!

They say to sleep while the baby sleeps, so I really should be sleeping (or cleaning the kitchen!) right now. But it's about time I posted Harper's birth story, so here I am. Feel free to jump to the condensed timeline version of the story at the end of this very long post.

The story really starts back in December, when a crucial detail took place.  We signed up for a supplemental health insurance option that covers hospitalization - basically a guaranteed payout when you have a baby. Several friends and family members clued us in to this insurance and we signed up on the 22 of December.  In order for the payout to occur, however, it had to be active for 10 months before we could claim any money.  No problem.  We were thinking we'd have our first baby around January of 2011.

As the new year rolled around we started getting more and more antsy for kids, so we decided to abandon the birth control at the end of January.  It wasn't until I got pregnant and we figured the due date out that we realized we were cutting it pretty close as far as our insurance was concerned!  We would have to have our baby after October 22. The due date was Nov. 3, so as long as she wasn't more than 12 days early we'd be fine.

When October 22 rolled around we were relieved that we had made it!  We told our baby that she could come at any time - but I honestly figured she'd be late, as many first-timers are.  That evening we went to dinner and a movie with McKay's parents.  McKay and I opted to walk the half-mile from the theater to the restaurant, haf-joking that it might induce labor.  After our fun-filled evening we went back home to finish our Friday night.  All during the movie and dinner I was pretty uncomfortable.  My lower back hurt, my muscles ached and I was burning through tums. But there were no contractions - just uncomfortable end of pregnancy stuff.  At home I fell asleep on the couch while McKay finished up some work stuff.  At 1 am we headed up to bed - our last night as a family of 2!

Around 4 am I was having a dream about giving birth and breastfeeding.  My eyes popped open as I felt two small gushes happening down south.

"What!? Was that my water breaking!?!"

Quickly I checked the time. 4:03.

COAT . . . color, odor, amount, time. I rehearsed the acronym of water breakage stats as I headed to the bathroom.

Sure enough, this was it.

I shook McKay awake.  "I think my water just broke".

He hopped out of bed.

"Okay, what do we do first?" he asked, alert.

"You install the car seat, I'll shower and get my stuff together."

About 40 minutes later we were on our way to the hospital, bags packed, and munching on dry cereal and string cheese.  Excited, nervous, yet calm and comfortable.

We checked in and I climbed aboard the wheelchair bound for labor and delivery.  I stripped down and put on my loose, flowy robe. We checked in right at a shift change so we went through a handful of nurses before our team was set. We had the best experience with our nurse, Katy and our midwife, Claudia and the whole crew at Timpanogos Hospital.

Because I had tested positive for Group B Strep I was hooked up to an antibiotic to make sure Harper didn't get any infections once out of her protective sack!  Because my water broke first, before I was in serious labor, and because I had this strep thing and was being pumped with antibiotics (every 4 hours), time was of the essence.  Claudia suggested we get going on pitocin to move labor along.  I was initially anti-pitocin because I wanted my labor to progress naturally until I was really in labor - at which point I'd get an epidural and finish up medicated.  But, after weighing the pros and cons, and realizing that getting Harper here before a third dose of antibiotics were administered would be ideal for both baby and me, we went for it.

The nurse anesthetist came in and got the epidural in. The pitocin was started and my legs started falling asleep. It was such a funny and weird feeling not being able to move my legs or wiggle my toes!  Especially because my right side was completely numb right away, but my left side had a tiny bit of feeling through most of labor.  I was able to tell when contractions were hitting - on my left side - but it wasn't bad.  In fact, I watched some Office episodes, played Tetris and dozed in and out of sleep until it was time to push!

At about 1:00 Katy came in to check me.  I was only dilated to about a 6, but I was all effaced and Harper was descending into the birth canal a bit more.  Hopefully things would pick up soon!  About 45 minutes later Claudia decided to check me again.  This time?  Dilated to 9 3/4.  Alright!  It would soon be time to push.

Claudia, Katy, McKay and a student nurse helped me push and when Harper started crowning, McKay put gloves on and helped Claudia with the delivery.  As Harper's head and shoulder came out, McKay was right there helping her make her entrance into the world!  When her top half was out, Claudia had me reach down and together McKay and I pulled Harper the rest of the way out and up on to me.  They got her all cleaned up as McKay and I held out new baby girl!  What an incredible moment!

she's healthy and happy

The rest of the day is a bit of a blur of breastfeeding, visitors, various vital sign checkups for both Harper and me, and lots of emotions!

already going for the thumb!

The whole staff were champs and we really had a great experience.  We love our baby girl.  It's difficult to describe the emotions I'm experiencing as a mom, but it really does give me a new perspective on parenting, and life in general.

We are so happy.  More to come!

our sweet girl

Labor & Delivery Timeline

4am- water broke

5am- arrived at hospital

6am- first dose of antibiotics

stats: 80% effaced, dilated to about a 4.

8am- midwife Erica off duty, Claudia on duty

We discuss pitocin, decide to get going with epidural and pitocin

10:00am- second dose of antibiotics

epidural in, pitocin pumping, catheter taking care of business

11:30am- stats: fully effaced, only dilated to about a 5.5

nap, play, text, Office, chat with McKay, as labor progresses

1:00pm- stats: dilated to a 6, fully effaced, baby at station 0

1:45pm- stats: dilated to a 9 3/4!  Baby at station 1.  Time to push in 15 minutes!

2:00pm- McKay, Katy, Claudia and a student nurse help me start pushing.

2:20ish- Harper starts crowning, McKay puts on gloves, gets instructions from Claudia and delivers Harper!

2:32pm- Harper's head and upper half are out, Claudia has me reach down and McKay and I pull Harper the rest of the way out, and right onto me!  They get her cleaned up as I'm holding her.

Our little family of three!

a smoothie story

Lately I feel like the only things going on around here are baby-related! Hence, the baby blog has gotten more attention than this one. So I decided that while McKay is cuddled up for his Sunday nap I'll toss a post up here from his new gift to himself/us... an iPad. We're having fun with the new gadget, although we're becoming bigger apple-geeks by the day. A wall charger in all major rooms, wi-fi tethering from our phones to our MacBook and iPad... I married a fan-boy.

A few days ago McKay had a little dose of "the junk". Sore throat, achy. So, being a good wife I decided to pick up juice and smoothies on my way home from my afternoon doctor's appointment. There's a great smoothie place called Roxberry Juice in Highland, 15 minutes or so east of our house. They have a tasty peanut butter smoothie that I was hankering for, and a delightful citrusy number that won McKay over. I had seen another one just a few days before- in American Fork, I thought. Because my appointment was there I figured I'd easily find it on my way home.

Once orange juice was retrieved from Macey's I headed down State Street looking for Roxberry signs. When I realized that it was not where I thought I had left it, I pulled up my maps and found that it was just a couple miles away. Perfect. I headed down the purple path, following the blue blinking dot. I thought the route seemed oddly residential, but trusting in Google, I followed obediently anyway. After about 10 minutes I arrived at the red dot, labeled Roxberry Juice... Only it was the home of an American Fork resident. Not delicious smoothies.

Slightly perturbed, I backtracked through houses and quiet streets, past the cemetery and back to state street. A nice side-effect to this detour was the beautiful mountain scenery I was able to see. The leaves were gorgeous, the clouds were low and wispy from the day's rainfall, and the first dustings of snow lay on the mountain peaks.

Back on my smoothie mission, I called McKay to apprise him of my delay. No worries, he said. Just pick up some burgers too and all would be well. I headed to in-n-out, just down the road, and while waiting in line searched my maps for any smoothie solution. Conveniently, I found that Emerald City Smoothie was right across the street! With burgers in the bag I navigated through the thickening traffic to the complex across the street, parked at the smoothie joint and walked up... to the locked doors. The bare countertops and "enter to win a gold's gym membership" display were the only remains of a once open business.

Okay. Next option. There was a Paradise Bakery in the same complex. Figuring it would be just like Kneaders (with smoothies) I popped inside, only to find cappuccinos and frappes on their drink menu. And nothing else.

The next closest smoothie place on my map was just one exit away- and on the way home! It was no peanut butter goodness, but it would have to do. I jumped back in the car and sped there. Minutes later I finally had my two smoothies in hand, burgers getting cold, and a couple hundred ounces of vitamin-C packed orange juice. Mission accomplished!

On my way out of the parking lot, I saw it.

Roxberry Juice. Just a few doors down.

At least now I know where it is.