It's a few months behind, but I've just had it sitting on my desk top for about 2 months now, & I've decided I'm just going to put it in my blog and get some use out of it! Even if I am the only one who reads it 100 more times. Plus I want to try adding pictures with my blog, & they are really the only pictures I have.
*it's only kind of long (I actually shortened it for the sake of anyone who wants to read it)
HARPER’S BIRTH STORY
A few weeks before we had our baby Dr. Anderson was getting concerned that she hadn’t turned head down, and out of the breech position. I was really set on having a natural birth, & Dr. Anderson knew that. And to do that we needed her head to come first! So if he was concerned I was concerned, & committed to do whatever I needed to do to get her to turn head down for birth.
Maybe it was just because it was me going through it, but looking back it seems like I made a bigger deal out of it compared to others. A lot of people I talked to said their babies didn’t turn until the last few days of pregnancy, & were never really concerned about it. I guess I was just really passionate about the birth process, & it made me more vocal about her being breech.
Anyway..I got to do all these fun little exercises encouraging her to turn. Most of them revolved around my bum in the air, & my head down. A few of my favorites were putting head phones on my lower belly so that she would get curious & head down there.
Another was putting frozen veggies on her head, & hope that she hated it bad enough to swap positions. Though I did these religiously everyday, they never worked.
On Tuesday April 19th I was tending Adam and Julia’s 5 kids. I got there at 11 am, & was there until the morning of the 20th. For what ever reason I didn’t sleep much that night, I don’t know if I was just excited about all the TV shows I had missed, and could catch up on, like The Office & Parenthood. Or if I was anxious for my doctors appointment the next day, which would be the appointment where we set the date to do what is called an External Cephalic Version, if she was still breech. I actually had thought I had felt her turn that night. So I think I was excited for the Dr. to tell me she had turned, & I now just needed to wait for labor to come on its own.
The morning of the 20th I talked with Julia a bit before I headed out. She later mentioned that she had noticed & was concerned about how swollen I was. She was glad I was going to visit the doctor that day.
I had an appointment at Finnish Touch Day Spa that morning to get some fun waxing done. Then it was straight to Doctor Cameron Anderson’s office for my weekly checkup. Little did I know it would be my last exam before our baby was born.
I picked up Jared on my way there. Most of my appointments were pretty routine, & quick, I didn’t have Jared come. But if she hadn’t turned head down yet we were going to schedule the day to do a procedure call External Cephalic Version, or as everyone at the hospital called it, a Version, where the doctor would attempt to rotate her to the head down position for a vaginal birth, and then induce my labor. So I wanted him with me. I’m so glad he was!
My doctor’s appointment was at 11 am. The nurse checked my blood pressure and it was high. I can’t remember the numbers, they meant nothing to me. She waited a few minutes, and checked my other arm. Still high. The doctor had me go into the ultra sound room where it was conformed that she was still breech. I was shocked. I was so hopeful she had turned on her own. I was 38 weeks along that day, so we were far enough along that it was ok for her to come at any time. He mentioned that we would schedule the ECV within the next couple days. But once the nurse checked my blood pressure a couple more times he must have changed his mind. He wanted us at the hospital that night at 6pm, and I wasn’t to eat or drink anything for the rest of the day in case we had to do a c-section. He said he would meet us at the hospital around 8pm to do the Version. I was so stunned I didn’t know how to react. I don’t know if I was nervous, or excited, I just felt so unprepared. Looking back though, I was definitely more nervous than I thought I was. All Jared said was, “I guess we aren’t going to make it to our birthing class tonight then.”
We definitely weren’t ready to bring a baby home. We hurried and sat up the play pin that Julia got us. (Thank goodness because we are still painting the crib) and ran the dogs to American Fork to stay at Jared’s parents house. At Target we bought some Dreft baby detergent, a sheet for the play pin, and snacks for the hospital. Jared’s truck was still at his work, so I dropped him off and came home. Jared followed about 2 hours later. (He said he was going to be 15 minutes) I got her clothes washed and ready, our bags packed, I showered and just put my hair in braids. I figured I didn’t really care how I looked. But once Jared got home I did have him tint my eyelashes, I wasn’t in the mood for mascara.
Throughout the day I called a few people to let them know the baby was coming within the next 24 hours. I called Julia to ask her a bunch of medical questions that I can’t remember now. But she has been very helpful during my whole pregnancy, birth. I’m lucky to have her. Another person I called was Christy. She called me back after I had told her, and said she was going to come out and be with me! I was so relieved. Her mom was going to come with her, and watch her baby Vivian Harper, while she was with me in the hospital.
We met Christy, Viv, and Becky at the hospital a little after 6. Jared and I filled out paper work, and we all just hung out in a waiting room for awhile, before they took us back to a room. Sometime in there Christy took her Mom and Viv to her Grandmas.
Once in the room the nurse got me all hooked up. She missed my veins a couple of times, resulting in a very painful bruise in my arm. So the IV ended up in my hand which wasn’t very comfortable. They had my belly all hooked up monitoring my contractions and the babies’ heart rate. Throughout the day I actually had been having very mild contractions, which I am glad that I had. I guess the contractions are good for the baby to go through.
This very nice Indian man named Jay was my anesthesiologist, who did my epidural. I have heard mixed thoughts on the epidural, and all I have to say is that it was definitely not my favorite. I do remember Christy massaging my feet and legs during the epidural and it was very soothing. Once it was in though I just hated life. I didn’t like being so numb, and not having any control over anything but my head and arms. People had to move me, and turn me. It was really uncomfortable actually.
Doctor Anderson came in around 9pm. Once he made sure I was totally numb and the baby was still breech he had another doctor, and a few more nurses come in to help with the ECV. They tilted the bed back so that my head was down and my legs were elevated. Jared was up by my head holding my hand. I closed my eyes for the whole thing. I didn’t want to watch it. But Christy and Jared said it was quite intense. They could see the outline of the baby, and they doctors were really using all their strength to turn her. It was a very fast process, I was surprised at how quickly this all happened. She locked into place head down and it worked! I was so happy! The next few minutes were kind of scary though. Babies’ heart rate had gone way down, and if it didn’t go back up within a certain amount of time they were going to take me into the surgery room to do the caesarian section. Luckily it went back up and everything looked great for a vaginal birth at this point. I think we were all relieved. I know I was! They broke my water, and gave me pitocian to induce my labor, and now we just needed to wait. Dr. Anderson said he thought the baby would probably come around 5 am the morning of the 21st.
I don’t remember much about the next few hours. I think I was pretty drugged up, and out of it. Christy went into the café and got Jared and her some food. I was starved. I hadn’t eaten anything since the day before. I got to eat flavored ice chips though! I think I had one cup cherry, and one cup lime. I basically just drank the flavored juice after the ice melted. Jared had brought a new “How I Met Your Mother” season that I didn’t really watch. I was really entreaged by the monitor that was watching my contractions, and the babies’ heart rate. It seemed like every time I had a contraction her heart rate went down just a little bit, the nurse said that was normal. But there was one time towards the beginning that her heart rate dropped way down again, but went right back to normal pretty quickly.
Then around 11:15pm the nurse wanted to check how far dilated I was. The next 5-10 minutes were very odd. The nurse kept saying that babies’ head was in a funny position, and she thought she was poking the baby in the eye. She had a doctor come in to check me, and that doctor said, “That’s not her head, that’s a bum.” They gave me another ultra sound and it was conformed, she was breech again. They think that when her heart rate went way down earlier was when she turned back. My heart sank. The very last thing I wanted was a c-section. And now that they had broken my water there was no other choice.
Dr. Anderson came around 11:45pm. He double checked everything, and was ready to go. The nurse had me drink this yucky sour drink to stop my contractions, and gave me some other medicine too. What ever they gave me made me shake uncontrollably. My body was so tense and my hands were shacking like crazy. I couldn’t stop crying, I felt horrible. Everything that had happened was so emotionally traumatic for me. To have the ECV work, and be so happy thinking that we were going to be able to have a vaginal birth, even though it wasn’t the natural, un-medicated birth Jared and I had prepared for, to all of a sudden be rushed into surgery. But I am glad that I knew we did everything we could do, instead of just jumping straight to the c-section.
Jared put on this fun white space suite looking thing, so that he could come into the room with me where they were doing to c-section. They wouldn’t let Christy come, which made me a little upset. Especially later when I was all alone getting sewed up and Jared was gone with the baby.
For the c-section they draped a sheet between me and my belly so that I couldn’t see anything. My arms were stretched straight out, and I couldn’t move them, they must have been strapped down. There were quite a few people in there with us. Jared was up at my head again, and Jay the anesthesiologist was up around my head too. I told Jared I didn’t want him to watch the c-section. I was afraid he would pass out on me. But Jay said to him, “If you want to see anything you’ll want to see this” and I guess that is when they pulled our baby out. She was born at 11:55 pm on Wednesday the 20th. I asked the doctor if we could wait and have her after mid-night on the 21st. But he said we couldn’t wait because the babies’ heart rate and my heart rate were dangerously low.
Jared went with the nurse to get her cleaned up. I didn’t see her for about 5 minutes. But I could hear her little cries. Jay was really sweet, and wiped my tears off my face, and rubbed my arms every once in awhile. Finally Jared came back with her. She was so tiny! I couldn’t believe it. I was prepared for at least a seven pound baby. So when they told me she was 4 pounds, 10 ounces, and 17 inches, I was stunned! The first thing that came to my mind was ‘is there anything wrong with her? There is no way a baby that small can not have any problems.’ But she was perfect! The nurse said she passed all the tests great, and she was a very healthy baby. I remember a lot of the nurses kept commenting on how big her eyes were. I was still getting stitched up when Jared came in, and my arms were still strapped down. He held her against my face. She was so beautiful. They had put some goopy stuff in her eyes, & her eyes were closed the whole time. I was also surprised at how dark her hair was. We got a few pictures, and then Jared and the baby were off again to get even more cleaned up. It took the doctors about 30 minutes to get me stitched up. I remember Dr. Anderson explaining what layers he was stitching to Jared, and he said he didn’t have to stitch my fat layer because there wasn’t much there. Being so exposed in front of so many people made me very self conscience that at least made me feel good about myself.
Everyone cleared out of the room then, and it was just me and 2 nurses. They maneuvered me off the surgery table and back onto my bed, and then wheeled me back into the room where Christy was waiting. Jared was still off with the baby. It was really odd for me. I felt so drugged, and yucky, and had just gone through the c-section, but had only seen my baby for a few minutes. It was not the bonding birth experience I had planned to have. But I had known for a while that this would be an option, and I was so happy she was finally here! Christy and I just hung out for awhile. I was really glad that she was there with me. Jared eventually came back alone. The nurse had us load everything up; we were moving down stairs to where we would finish our stay. We had so much stuff they ending up just throwing it on my bed. I was still numb anyway; I couldn’t even tell it was there.
I don’t know how long it was before they brought her into the room. But they finally did. She had this cute green bow with white polka dots in her beautiful brown hair; she was so pretty, and so small! We had been back and forth with names for awhile. But we decided to name her Harper Lynne. Everyone seems to love it. I was worried that Christy would hate me for stealing Vivian’s middle name, but she seemed happy to share it with her.
The nurse and Christy helped us figure out how to breast feed. It took us a while, but we got it. I remember being really impressed with Harpers natural eating reflexes. I later told my mom that my baby is so smart! She just laughed at me. Christy left after that to spend the rest of the night at her Grandmas. Nurses were in and out all night long. I just held her on my chest the whole night while she slept. I was exhausted but couldn’t get enough of her. She was so perfect, and loved to snuggle up close to me. The nurses would randomly take her to get different tests, which she did very well on. She has a beautiful skin tone that everyone would comment on. I think that during my whole stay at the hospital I only changed 2 or 3 diapers. The nurses were very helpful.
That morning Dr. Anderson came in to see how I was doing. He told me that he noticed that Harpers umbilical cord was rather short. He thinks that is what kept her from turning, and then made her turn back again after the ECV.
Christy, Vivian, and Becky came back that first morning (Thursday 21st) before they hit the road to go home. They bought her 2 cute little preemie outfits, and a really funny elephant balloon with legs that just hovered above the ground. Edith came by that afternoon, and later again that evening with Brent. They brought some outfits also and some flowers. I think they are really excited to have a baby girl grandchild. My parents came with Jed and Nyla and their kids that afternoon. Everyone fell in love with her right away. They brought flowers and Nyla brought me a bag with a People magazine and some soda and candy in it. I felt horrible when everyone was there. I was on a lot of pain meds, and still very swollen. Looking back at the photos I sure looked it too!
The nurses had to help me do everything. I could hardly move. My tummy muscles were basically none existent, and I was pretty bruised on my lower belly. It was really difficult not to be able to do anything on my own. Once they took my catheter out it got really hard, because then I’d have to get up to go to the bathroom. That first day the nurses were there so often I could just have them help me get up and down. But after that it was mostly just me and Harper.
On Friday I was able to take a shower, and get cleaned up. The shower seemed to be kind of broken though. I just got a trickle of water, but it was still nice. I must have had an allergic reaction to something that was put on my back during the epidural. My whole back was itchy and red with little scabby bumps on it. The shower felt good on it, but I think it made it worse. I had to have the nurse give me some hydrocortisone to make it feel better, I’m not sure it worked though.
Jared left to go to work after that. That day it seemed like they did most of the testing they needed to do on Harper, so she was gone a lot. She had a little dimple right above her bum that worried her pediatrician, so she had an ultra sound for spina-bifida, turns out everything is fine. I was super bored the whole day. I couldn’t move much, and Jared was gone. Surprisingly the hospital had really great food, and a great system about it. The nurses always made sure I had plenty of fluid available to drink. I probably drank around 10 gallons of cranberry juice during my stay. And with most meals I ordered this yummy carrot cake, it was amazing!
Some Lactation nurses came by twice to show me how to breast feed. I never requested them, they just showed up, and were quite pushy, and touchy. I thought we were doing just fine with out their help. But I guess they wanted to feel needed, so whatever.
The day before my phone was beeping off the hook. But Friday it hardly made a noise. Jared’s work, Gold Tip, sent me beautiful flowers. Adam, Julia, and their 5 kids came to visit later in the evening. Their son Rhett weighed the same as Harper did when he was born. But he was a triplet, and came 3 or 4 weeks earlier than she did. He was very proud to share that similarity with her! Their kids were so excited to meet her! They were very loving and sweet. Right after they left Rachel and Kevin stopped by. They were really nice to have around. They had fun holding Harper. Kevin introduced her to all sorts of new things, like the mirror, and this hideous picture that was in my room. They also brought Jared some dinner, and me some snacks.
That night I got a few hours of sleep. They had to do a car seat test to watch Harper’s oxygen levels while in the seat because she is so small, and that took a little over 2 hours. I missed her, but it was nice to get some sleep.
On Saturday the doctor said I could leave that day or Sunday. I wanted to leave that day, but Jared had already left to work, so I was stuck until he got back. Harper and I just hung out the rest of the day. This was the first day we really had uninterrupted time together. It was wonderful. She was so snuggly. Since I had gone so far out of my way to have clothes washed and ready for her at the hospital, I tried some on her. Everything swamped her! It was really cute. The only things close to fitting were a package of Onesies Jared had bought for her the day we found out she was a girl. I made fun of him for buying clothes so small thinking that there was no way our baby was going to be small enough to ever fit into them.
Amber and Raleigh Collins came by Saturday afternoon to see us. It is so nice that we both had baby girls so close together. I’m excited for them to grow up together. My brother Nathan called that day also, to congratulate me. Jared got back to the hospital around 5pm. The nurses had a shift change at 6pm, so we had to wait for that to get situated. We probably left around 7pm. The nurse watched us buckle Harper into her car seat, then Jared went to get the car, and I was helped into a wheelchair and taken out, with Harper in her car seat on my lap.
We are so blessed to have Harper with us. I am glad that everything went well, and that Harper is so healthy considering her size and all she had been through. I couldn’t be happier! She is such a wonderful and beautiful daughter!
