She's Here!

Hannah Faith was born July 15, 2010 at 6:25am. She weighed 6lbs 1oz and was 19" long. She is even more perfect than I ever could have imagined! (picture taken about 5 hours after birth)



Let me start off by saying that for as long as I can remember, I've wanted a natural birth. I wanted no pain meds at all, no IV, on our own timeframe, skin to skin contact immediately after birth, breastfeeding with an hour, etc. Now let me follow that up with saying that it is impossible to know what circumstances will surround the birth and what you will be able to withstand. Hannah's birth really didn't go anything like I had planned, and for a while (during labor) I was very upset that things weren't going as I wanted. It is so important to be flexible and listen to your body and your husband. I would have worn myself out so early if I hadn't been able to let go and listen to Neal and do what was going to be best for me and Hannah. Now looking back, I'm glad that I did things the way that I did, and I see why I needed to make those decisions. With that said, here goes nothing...


For a couple weeks before the birth we'd be having issues with Miss Hannah not responding on NSTs. Her heart rate wouldn't accelerate like it was supposed to, and we would have to repeat them 2 or 3 times to get her to cooperate. This was really pretty scary for us, so we agreed to be induced at 39 weeks. I was still determined to not use any pain meds. Wednesday July 14 we were admitted to start my induction. The plan was to start Cervidil to soften my cervix (I was 70% effaced) and 12 hours later start Pitocin. Around 4:15pm the nurse inserted the Cervidil (OUCH) and we were left to wait. I was 1cm dilated when she put it in and having some contractions. My contractions started picking up little by little. They started getting pretty painful around 9pm or so, and I had some pressure like I need to have a BM. At around 11:15pm I got up to go to the bathroom and was in a LOT of pain. I had diarrhea and then felt a little gush. I told Neal, “I think my water just broke”, and after the “Are you kidding me?” response followed by my “No... I don’t know…” he called the nurse. I went to wipe and there was a lot of blood. As I walked back to the bed I had blood running down my leg. Talk about freaked out. The nurse removed the Cervidil and tried to test to see if it was my water breaking and she couldn’t tell because of the bleeding. She said it was probably her head pushing on my cervix and blood vessels burst or something.


I was at 3-4cm then and shaking uncontrollably. I knew I couldn't hold off much longer, so I got a little morphine in my IV then and it didn’t do much other than make me really sleepy and out of it. I couldn’t respond to questions or keep my eyes open. I tried quiet, deep breathing, but for me it was easier to make a little noise. It probably sounded like moaning or something, but it made me feel better. At that point, Neal said, “You need help. Its ok if you need the epidural.” I was in so much pain that I said ok. They moved me to a delivery room and as soon as we got there my water broke for real. It kept gushing and gushing. I hate being wet, so it grossed me out. The nurse checked me (it was now around 12:30am) and I was at 5-6cm. Not long after that the anesthesiologist came in and did my epidural. It was hard to stay still because of the contractions and the shaking. Her heart rate dropped after the epi was started so I was put on oxygen and it came back up. I was able to relax and sleep a little, so I was so thankful that I got it. Neal and I rested for a while and I was checked again at 2am. I was at 10cm. If you’re keeping track, that’s 3cm-10cm in 2 ½ hours. The nurse said that once you get to 3cm its 1cm per hour for first time moms. No wonder I wasn’t able to deal with the pain.


Anyway, at 2am she wasn’t down enough so they let me rest a little longer to see if my contractions would push her down. At 4am they checked again and I was ready to push. The nurse helped me until the dr got there at around 4:20 and I pushed for probably 30-45 minutes with them both. I wasn’t making much progress, so the dr left for a little while and the nurse stayed with me while we kept pushing. Around 6am the dr came back in and she still wasn’t coming, her head was stuck. I kept pushing and pushing and the dr had to do an episiotomy. I found out later that it was a 3rd degree, so the perineum tore as well as muscles and I think maybe a little on my cervix. He had the vacuum out in case she didn't come out after the cuts were made. I'm so thankful that we were induced when we were. I'm convinced that had we let it go she my not have fit and I would have ended up with a c-section.


After the episiotomy was done, her head came out in just a few pushes. The cord was wrapped around her neck, but not tightly. She was bluish-gray and really limp. The dr suctioned her out and got the rest of her body out, and Neal cut the cord so she could go see the nurses. They thought there may have been some meconium in the fluid so NICU nurses were there for her. Her APGAR was only a 6 because she was so limp and her color wasn’t so good. They suctioned her out (lungs too) and she cried really loud. It was such a relief, we were scared. They got her reacting better and brought her to me for a minute or two before taking her to the nursery for observation because of the issues she had at first. Neal went with her, and she did pretty good. Her second APGAR was a 10! She had some trouble keeping her temp for the first couple days so we had to keep her really bundled up. While she was gone my dr got me stitched back up (it took 15 minutes or more I think) and I was able to rest for a while. About an hour after she was born I was able to see her and try to nurse. She tried for a minute, but got distracted looking at mommy and daddy! After 10 minutes or so they had to take her back to the nursery for the doctor to make sure everything was ok (her doctor).

I got moved to postpartum (I walked there!) and her dr came to see us. He said that she looked perfect except for her temp, and soon after she came in to see us! She is a perfect little angel! She is sleeping for 3-4 hours at night, 1-3 during the day and nursing great. When we left the hospital she was 5lbs 12oz. At the weight check 4 days after birth she was 5lbs 14.4oz! The nurse/lactation consultant said that was excellent, they don’t expect them up to their birth weight until they are two weeks old! She really is doing great!


I got an infection after we got home, but I think its getting better now. Its been really tiring still trying to recover from birth and fight an infection when Neal is at work, but I'm getting it. I just need to learn to rest more!


I am so thankful for the friends that I've made throughout this journey, and I hope you don't leave me now. I know its hard to read sometimes, but I pray that maybe I can also give some hope. Its been a rough road to get here, and I am thankful for the strength that was given to get through the tough times. My daughter's middle name is Faith because that's what has pulled me through. I hope that with faith you are able to push through too.