January 19, 2009

Grammylou turned the big 6-0 on Jan. 17, and since I was on travel restriction and unable to join the celebration at Oak Ridge, she and Summer came to visit on Sunday, Jan. 18 with plans to leave Tuesday morning. It was great to have their company and to help celebrate mom’s birthday. Robin is convinced that Harper could sense my joy with having them visit that she wanted to meet them also, so we ended up celebrating another birthday and they both extended their trip until the next Sunday so they could help us around the house and spend time getting to know sweet Harper.

Following is Harper's birth story...

I woke up Monday morning, January 19 at 1 a.m. with a funny feeling and then quick realization that my waters had broken. I woke Robin and we decided that it was too early to go to the hospital since I wasn’t having contractions. He got up to finish compiling my birthing CD and I went back to bed in an attempt to get a little more sleep. It was hard, but eventually, we both went back to sleep and woke again around 6 a.m. and I called the doctor to ask when we should plan to go to the hospital. Dr. Thurston, who was on call at the time chuckled at the fact that my water had broken five hours before I called and suggested that I should have already been at the hospital for five hours and suggested we come in as soon as possible. Robin and I decided that another hour or two wouldn’t hurt anything, so we took showers and finished packing our bags. We were soon on our way to the hospital with promises to Grammylou and Summer that we would keep them updated on progress.

Our first stop was labor and delivery triage. The nurse who first saw us wasn’t convinced that my membranes had ruptured, so she called Dr. Nokleburg to check our progress. Dr. Nokleburg confirmed what we knew and admitted us into labor and delivery.

Unfortunately, I was only dilated to one centimeter, so I had to be flexible with my birth plan and allowed them to start a Pitocin drip to induce contractions since I had to deliver by midnight due to risk of infection if we were allowed to labor longer than 24 hours after my waters broke.

Robin and I were quickly situated in a labor room and we settled in for what we hoped would be a quick, textbook labor. I did my best to relax through the contractions and Robin kept the lights low and helped me relax with lavender oils and the birthing CD. Harper was positioned with the back of her head against my spine, so between contractions, I did all of the exercises we learned in our Bradley classes to try to get her to flip. By early afternoon, I was in hard labor with strong 2-minute contractions that were only about 20 seconds apart. Because of Harper’s position, all of the pain was concentrated in my lower back at an intensity that I wasn’t going to be able to tolerate for much longer. Robin was an absolute saint and stayed by my side massaging and keeping pressure and heat on my hips and back, feeding me ice chips and making sure that the room conditions were as close to perfect as they could be.

At 6 p.m., Dr. Nokleberg came in to check progress and I was only two centimeters dilated. Because of Harper’s positioning, it was unlikely that I would progress further. If the diagnosis was different, I would have kept going as naturally as possible. However, we were basically where we started and I was exhausted beyond belief, I gave in and accepted an epidural. The epidural provided immediate relief and allowed me to nap while Robin grabbed a bite to eat.

Dr. Nokleberg came back in to check on me around 8 p.m. and I still had not progressed, so she started me on an antibiotic drip to help avoid any potential infections from my waters being ruptured for so long, and she said I would need to have a cesarean birth if I hadn't progressed by 10 p.m. After many tears about the fact that my labor had taken a completely opposite direction than what I had planned, I decided that Dr. Nokleberg is the expert – not me – and I needed to follow her advise as to what was best for both me and the baby.

Though Harper started the labor, she decided she was comfy right where she was and wouldn't let the contractions disrupt her cozy place.

Ten o'clock came and still no progress, so Robin smocked up, the nurses prepped me for surgery and the anesthesiologist increased my epidural to numb me from the chest down – a VERY odd feeling.

Daddy's all smocked up. Momma's a pretty good photographer lying down!

Prepped for surgery

Time to go...

On the way to meet sweet Harper

I was wheeled into the operating room from labor and delivery at 10:37 p.m. and Robin joined shortly after. The surgery was quick, routine and not as traumatic as I expected, though my attention was briefly brought back to reality when Dr. Nokleberg commented on my recent illness and pointed out the affected portion of my colon to the assisting doctor. It's was a very odd feeling for me to be completely conscious while doctors were looking at and discussing my inner workings without the aid of an imaging technology.

Harper Noelle Holubec Roberts 10:56 p.m. January 19, 2009

I fell in love with Harper the moment I learned I was pregnant, but the reality of hearing her first cry was the most emotionally poignant time of my life aside from Robin's and my wedding ceremony. As soon as I heard her, I wanted to hold her so bad my heart ached, but had to wait until they sewed me up, cleaned her up and did the initial health screen, which she passed with flying colors. Fortunately, Robin was able to be by her side the entire time.

7 lbs, 10 oz; 20 inches

Sweet Harper was born with a cone head because of her hard labor. It was back to normal by the following day.

Harper "big foot" Roberts

Daddy and daughter... first moments together - a memory that will last a lifetime

Daddy showing his daughter to her mommy for the first time

First family picture

On the way to the recovery room

Mother and daughter bonding time in the recovery room

After we left the recovery room, we took Harper to the nursery for her first bath and additional health screening. She joined us in our room around 2 a.m. I was completely in awe and so desperately in love with her that I couldn't bear the thought of putting her down so I held her in my arms all night. I didn't think I could love her any more than I did at that moment, but that love has continued to grow achingly strong I now am beginning to understand the unconditional love that only parents can know.