Hannah's here, and here's how it happened...

Sweet Hannah Rose has made her arrival! I love to read birth stories, so here is mine.

Tuesday, May 26th we were supposed to be at the hospital at 2:30 pm to allow for 2 hours of triage before my 4:30 pm c-section. I was not able to eat or drink anything all day, and I was getting shaky and weak, so we dropped the kids off with Aunt Judy and came to the hospital early, shortly after 1:00. They started me on some IV fluids to help me feel better. They hooked me up to monitors--baby's heartbeat and a contraction monitor. After an hour or so, I asked the nurse how frequent my contractions were. I had noticed I was having contractions fairly regularly, and a couple of them had hurt very mildly. She checked the chart, and said I was contracting every 4-5 minutes! Wow, nothing like coming to the hospital to put you in labor!

A few minutes later, right about 2:30, my water broke!! I was in shock! I was so thankful it had not happened when I was at Hobby Lobby. (Just before we came to the hospital I had Chris let me run in Hobby Lobby to get a couple of things! Priorities, right?) Of course once my water broke, my contractions got REALLY painful and more frequent. I was getting very irritable as I had not refreshed myself on how to handle labor pains--I didn't think I was going to do that this time. The nurse reminded me not to hold my breath, and to take deep breaths through the contractions. I just kept saying, "This isn't fair! I wasn't supposed to do this this time around!"

Here's the irony--Monday night as we were going to sleep, I told Chris I was kinda sad about having to schedule Hannah's birth. I felt sad I was going to miss out on labor, which to me feels like a rite of passage to getting your child. Chris reminded me that I had said that, as I was in labor pains, and I had to wonder--WHAT WAS I THINKING?

I couldn't get my spinal block until the doctor arrived ready to do the c-section, and mercifully, my doctor showed up 10 minutes early, at 4:20. They wheeled me back to the OR and got me all numb, and before I knew it, they were pulling out sweet Hannah Rose! She had the cutest little cry, and I couldn't wait to see her! As soon as they brought her around the curtain so I could take a peek, I noticed she looked so much like Aaron!

Of course I cried and cried as soon as they took her out. I did it with the other two as well. It's like all this emotion just comes pouring out when I realize the baby is no longer inside of me. Very bittersweet.



She weighed in at 5 lbs 13 oz, which is just about what they were estimating last week. She is such a little peanut, and I just love holding her.


Right after delivery they took her to the nursery to finish all her measurements, evaluations, and to have her first bath. Chris went up with his mom, dad, and grandmother to watch her through the window, then Chris came back with me to triage, where I was waiting to make sure I was stable before heading to my recovery room. We made lots of phone calls!


When we got to the room and they brought her in, I got a chance to really look her over. I can hardly believe how beautiful she is!


She started nursing like a champ as soon as we started. She is such a good baby! We got a picture of the 3 of us before the rest of the family came up.


Later that night the kids came...I'll have a separate entry about that! They just love her to pieces.