Harper's Birth Story

Harper Traci Gray

December 27, 2013

7:11 pm

7 lbs, 2 oz

20.5 in

Our sweet little Harper joined our family a few weeks ago, and we have been loving life with her in our family so much!  I figured I should take the time to record how it all happened though as I have looked back on my post about Quinn many times and I want to remember Harper's story as well.

Her entrance into this world was so different than we thought it would be.  Quinn came three weeks early when my water broke suddenly after I had had the flu for three days, and Quinn was here six hours later.  So when 37 weeks came and went with Harper, we were on pins and needles thinking that each day could be the day that she would make her appearance.  Well, it turns out Quinn truly just came early because I had the flu and was dehydrated.  Without that going on, it seemed that Harper was in it for the long haul.  Until a week before Christmas, December 18, my stomach was super hard and tight all day.  I continued through the day, but realized in the afternoon that I hadn't felt any movement from the baby for awhile.  I couldn't say for sure when the last time I had felt her move had been.  I laid down for a bit to really pay attention and see if I could feel her, and when I didn't for another hour or so, we decided to go into labor and delivery to have them check on her.  They hooked me up to the monitors, found her heartbeat right away, and watched what was going on for about 45 minutes.  Turns out I was having pretty hard contractions about 90 seconds apart.  Because of their consistency, the doctor was shocked that I wasn't in more pain (I could feel them, but they didn't hurt), but said it made sense that I couldn't feel the baby because my stomach was constantly hard from contractions.  I was only 1 cm though, so she said I could walk around and she was willing to admit me, but I was pretty sure nothing was going to change from walking.  So we went home with clear instructions to come directly back if they got at all painful.  They were worried about how quick it would go since I had gone so fast with Quinn.  Nate didn't sleep well that night as he was certain that the baby was coming, but they never got worse for me.  I had a doctors appointment the next day (38 weeks) and I was still having contractions.  She checked me and I was at 2 cm, so she stripped my membranes and told me that the baby would for sure be coming by the weekend.  I was so excited!  Even though I had originally wanted her to come after Christmas, I was so ready to meet my baby!  I spent the day with Quinn, walking around to help things get moving and just enjoying my time with my first baby girl.  We had the best day together and Quinn was such a good girl!  I was so ready for my next baby to come now.  Neither Nate nor I slept well that night as we really thought it would be happening now, but my contractions never got super painful so we got up the next morning and kept going with our day.  I spent the next two days walking lots and doing all I could to help things move along, but they just never progressed much.

39 weeks, the morning we went to the hospital to have Harper.

At this point it was getting too close to Christmas, and I definitely didn't want to have her on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.  So I mentally made the decision to stop trying to make her come (like it was even up to me anyways?) and to just enjoy the holiday with my family of three.  After I made that decision, the contractions seemed to really slow down and I was able to totally enjoy the holiday with my family and it was beyond perfect.  The day after Christmas I had another doctors appointment (39 weeks) where they were shocked to see me again.  The doctor checked me and I was at 3 cm and she stripped my membranes again, even though I knew it wouldn't do anything at this point.  She said if I had any kind of consistent contractions that I could go in and the hospital would admit me now that I was 39 weeks, but then asked if I would like to schedule a time to go in in case it didn't start happening on it's own.  I agreed and she set me up for 10:00 am the next morning.  It was such a weird feeling knowing that my baby would for sure be coming the next day.  So Nate and I really enjoyed the day together and with Quinn and the next morning we dropped her off at my parent's house for my sister to watch her and headed to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital, they hooked me up and monitored me for 30 minutes before giving me any Pitocin as they wanted a record of what my body was doing on it's own.  Harper was doing great and my contractions were very consistent and very frequent.  The nurse thought that this would take no time at all and started my Pitocin to get things moving.  We had the best nurse, her name was Janice, and she was actually the head nurse for the labor and delivery floor.  I'm not sure how she got assigned to my room that day, but I am so glad that she did!  She was amazing.  She told me that her shift ended at 7:00 and she was hopeful we would have the baby by then.  She kept coming in to check on me, but was shocked every time she walked in the door and I was laughing and texting and not in any pain.  I wasn't planning on having an epidural or pain meds, so she checked on me frequently, thinking I would be in pain, but I never was.  She was getting a little worried as my contractions were literally right on top of each other and she couldn't give me any more Pitocin, so she turned it down to see what would happen.  My body kept doing what it had been for a week, hard and consistent contractions, but they just weren't hurting!  At this point I started feeling like my body wasn't working right and that I should start feigning pain, but it really just didn't hurt and I didn't know what to do.  At one point, she told me she really wanted to break my water.  She said it would be painful, but she really thought it would help.  I was fine with that, so she called my doctor and she agreed.  The doctor came in to break my water at 5:00 pm and it definitely hurt, but literally the contraction after they broke my water I tensed up and said, "Oh ok, I feel that now."  She laughed and said, "Finally!"  The doctor asked her to put internal monitors on the baby as he left the room and she turned to me after he was gone and said she wasn't going to because she could read the baby just fine and Harper was doing great!  I was so happy to hear that because I really hated the internal monitors with Quinn.  (This was one of the many great things she did as my nurse!)  The intensity and frequency of my contractions didn't change at all, but the baby had just been bouncing around during them because there was so much water.  Once it was broken and the contractions were pushing her and putting pressure where it was supposed to, I felt it and I knew it would be quick at that point.  My sister brought Quinn by right after that and it was so great to see her one more time and have her snuggle with me a bit before things got crazy.

I had to stop talking through each contraction for about the first hour, but was still alright in between.  Throughout the hour, they got a little more painful but still nothing unbearable.  She checked me at 6:00 and I was at 5 cm.  Within a few minutes, they started getting pretty intense.  I had to focus on breathing through each one a little more and I had to hold Nate's hand through each one and he massaged my neck to remind me to keep my body relaxed.  It was so helpful to have him helping me through them.  I could tell things were progressing and my mom set the goal for me to get to 6:30 before having her check again.  We counted down the contractions until then and when she came in and checked I was at 7 cm.  As soon as she was done checking, I knew things were almost done.  The pain came so fast and so hard and it felt exactly like it did at the end of Quinn's labor.  At this point I closed my eyes, never let go of Nate's arm, and focused ONLY on matching my breathing to my mom's.  I could tell I wasn't getting enough oxygen and really really had to focus on breathing exactly like her to keep from needing the oxygen mask or hyperventilating.  The nurse had also let me take the dumb thing off of my finger that monitors my oxygen levels and pulse because it was bothering me as I was holding on to Nate's hand, so I knew I had to focus because there was no monitor to tell her where I was at and I didn't want to put it back on.  She had me put the oxygen mask on a few times in between contractions, but still let me take it off during them, which was so helpful.  It couldn't have been but 7 or 8 contractions later and I knew it was almost time to push.  I started getting scared as the pain got really bad and almost lost it and started crying once, but my mom was able to get me refocused quickly and pull me back.  I heard the nurse calling the doctor in from the hall as she didn't even need to check me, but could tell from how I was acting that it was almost time and it was going quick.  About 3 or 4 contractions later I said, "I need to push!" and I felt them setting up the bed for delivery.  They said if that's what I felt than I could go ahead and push through the last centimeter, and that was all I needed to hear as I began pushing.  I think it took about 4 or 5 contractions of pushing and my sweet Harper was here.  The cord was wrapped around her neck twice, but they were able to unwrap it quickly and she was fine.  I 100% could not have done it without my mom and Nate on either side of me.  They were so helpful and were the best team I could have ever asked for!

I got to hold her right away for a minute or two before they took her to wipe her off a little and finish with me.  Within about ten minutes though, everyone was done with me and I was handed my little baby back again.  She laid on my chest for awhile and I was so happy, as I never got to hold Quinn after she was born when she was rushed to the NICU and I wasn't allowed in because I had the flu.  My parents and Nate's parents both came in to see her, but I was not about to give her up.  I just wanted to have this time with her.  Harper found her food within minutes of laying on me and has been the best little eater ever since.  We were moved up to a recovery room about a half hour later and Nate and I spent the night alone with our newest little daughter.  I recovered so well and so quickly, which was so different from after I had Quinn (which again, was due to the flu) and we were able to have visitors coming by all the next day.  My whole entire family, as well as Nate's, was in town and every single one of them was able to stop in to meet Harper that day.  We were then discharged that night around 9:00 pm and we were home as a family of four before we knew it.  Everything went so smoothly and so well, I wouldn't have changed any of it.  My body responded so well to the Pitocin, just as it had with Quinn, and as soon as my water was broken, my body knew exactly what to do and I had her within hours, just as I had with Quinn.

I have felt great and at this point, two weeks later, I feel totally back to normal and am just learning how to be a mommy to two beautiful daughters.  Harper has slept and eaten great from the very beginning, I never had to do anything to get her to nurse.  I fell right back into it and it was like she had been doing it for years.  Quinn loves her baby sister so much and is beyond so cute with her every day, saying "Hi baby!" every time she walks past her.

We are loving life with our two beautiful girls.