I began having contractions around 10 PM on Tuesday night. At first I thought they were nothing more than Braxton Hicks, but by 1 AM, I was pretty sure that they were the real deal. Since I couldn’t sleep, I did some laundry, showered and slowly got ready for the big day. Riley seemed aware that something big was about to happen and followed me around all night. At 4, I woke up Ross to help time my contractions and finish packing our bags for the hospital. We checked into the hospital around 6:30 on Wednesday, October 19th. I was dilated to 5 cm and contractions averaged a little over 5 minutes apart. We walked in circles on the delivery floor and excitedly talked about how our family was going to grow in the next few hours. I got my epidural around 9 am - which made me much more comfortable! Dr. Dassanayake, also kown as Dr. T, came in to break my water and found meconium so they knew they would have to be extra diligent checking Harper over when she was born. To pass the time, Ross and I watched a movie and napped. By eleven, I was still at 5 cm so the nurse started me on pitocin to help speed up the process. The medicine began working and shortly after 2 pm the nurse started to prepare me to start pushing. After a few practice pushes with the nurse, the top of Harper’s head was visible so the doctor was called in. Ross and the nurse held my legs and coached me along. A few short pushes later, Harper arrived! Ross cut the umbilical cord while the doctor and nurses were cleaning her up. They checked her over in the room and she was held briefly by both of us. Then she was whisked off to the nursery (with her daddy!) to finish checking her over and to make sure the meconium didn’t causing any complications – luckily, she was just fine! Harper is perfect – beautiful, healthy and happy. And, most of all, LOVED!
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