She's arrived!

Harper Lynne Newton

Born August 9, 2013 at 1:51am

8 pounds, 14 ounces, 21.5 inches long

Derek and I are so happy to announce the arrival of our little girl! She's the most amazing, sweet child and we look forward to our new life as a family. The past few days home have been wonderful. She's sleeping and eating well. We love staring at her every moment of the day, even if she's just laying in our arms. She seems to change everyday! It's truly awesome.

Her journey here was not so pleasant. After 9 months of an easy pregnancy with no complications, she sure made Mommy work hard her last hours in utero. Labor began on Tuesday with what I thought was my water breaking. I was told by Dr. Mercado to head to the hospital, so Derek and I got there and were put in a triage room where they hooked me up to a fetal heartbeat monitor and a contraction monitor. The nurse tested the fluid, but it was not testing positive for amniotic fluid; meaning my water didn't break. So they kept us in the room for a few hours and kept testing it, had me walk around the hospital for an hour and watched my contractions. Nothing changed and I stayed only 2cm dilated; we were sent home. We were disappointed and confused about why I was having a water discharge but no painful contractions. We had to wait until another day...

All day Wednesday, the fluid continued to flow. We went to bed early because I was feeling really tired. A little after midnight, I woke up with significant contractions. Painful cramps occurring every 3-5 minutes lasting about 30 seconds each time. Around 5am, we left for the hospital. I was already scheduled to induce labor but when I announced that I'd had contractions for the past few hours, they didn't want to start the induction right away. Maybe Harper would arrive on her own terms and we were happy to see if that was the case. Again, hooking me up to a fetal heartbeat monitor and contraction monitor, the wait began. A few hours into labor and I was still only 3cm dilated, so they started the pitocin. The pitocin is used to induce labor, so they started with a small amount and when I didn't progress as the hours ticked by, the amount was increased.

IV in arm, pitocin cranked up to 11 (out of 20), dilated 4cm and it's 2pm. I'm getting tired and Harper is no where closer to being here than she was at 6am. Dr. Mercado found that there was still a blockage and the amniotic sac had not been fully open, so she "broke my water" fully, turned the pitocin up another 2 increments and we were told it should be progressing faster and that our baby should be with us soon. My contractions, even though I wasn't feeling them, were coming every minute now. The anesthesiologist came into my room and administered my epidural. I didn't want to feel the pain when the real big contractions started and didn't want to miss my window if I went into active labor very soon.

My legs are numb, my belly is numb and I'm getting sick of laying in the hospital bed. Derek, family and friends are by my side as we wait. I'm not dilating any further than 6cm and the pressure I feel is not pleasant. The pitocin is now up to 17 and Dr. Mercado discovers upon examination that the baby's head is turned sideways, where she should have her head facing down. For the next 3 hours, I;m put in different positions to try to get her to turn back the right way. Harper didn't move. My blood pressure was getting higher and around 12am, I developed a fever. At 8cm, the doctor does another exam and finds that Harper's head has been too low for too long and that I'm not progressing enough to deliver her naturally. Exhausted, my only option was cesarean.

The anesthesiologist came into my room and I'm given more numbing. The world was spinning. Derek and I were so tired that the next few hours are a bit of a blur. He's given a full set of scrubs and I'm rushed into a surgical room surrounded by at least 10 people. I don't feel anything below my chest. We are told about all the prep and what I will and won't feel during the c-section. We were told it would be done in 30 minutes. Laying on the bed with a big blue curtain in front of my face, the only thing I want to do is talk to Derek and look at him. We are both tired, scared and nervous, but extremely anxious!

Before we knew it, we heard her cries. Harper was out and healthy! The nurses and Derek took her to a table to clean her up and tag her. Derek was given a tag like hers and took pictures of our baby being measured and weighed. I'm given my tag as I'm being stitched up. They lay Harper on my chest for what felt like seconds before having to take her away again. When I'm done, I'm rolled into a recovery room where Derek and Harper are waiting for me. Tears filled our eyes as we say our first 'hellos' to our little girl.

We finally were taken to our room at 4am. The family and friends who were still at the hospital got to see Harper very quickly before going home. She had so many visitors and she is one lucky girl to have so many people love her so much even though she's only days old! At the hospital, our room was filled with visitors who couldn't wait to meet Harper. It was such a great feeling to be surrounded by so many. Harper stayed in our room with us the entire weekend. She continued to be monitored and checked, along with me, on our condition and were able to go home Sunday.

Being at home the past few days has been great. Harper is an excellent eater and sleeper. She's cried only a few times, hungry and being impatient and then when we gave her a sponge bath. We can't wait to keep everyone posted with how she's doing, so stay tuned...

40 Weeks

Harper! Lynne! Newton! Get out of there!

Here we are. Staring my due date in the face, and baby still isn't here. We know it's an estimation, but this past week has been long and we're looking forward to meeting her! The anticipation is killing us! Derek and I went to have a nice dinner out on Friday night. I've got food prepared and stocked in the freezer, the bag's been packed and we cleaned the entire house this past weekend. This whole "nesting" stage is complete and we're running out of things to do to keep ourselves busy. I've eaten the spicy foods and walked multiple times a day this past week too.

Harper obviously just wants to be fashionably late to this party!

Comfortable? What's that? Haven't felt it in about 2 weeks. Sleep? Not a good nights rest for 2 nights in a row for at least a couple weeks. I've gained another pound since last week. That's a total weight gain of 35 pounds! The doctor examined me and said I'm really not anymore dilated than I was last week. Our hopes of Harper being born this weekend are dwindling. My contractions are random and don't hurt at all, just feel like cramping in my lower abdomen. They are never strong enough or consistent enough to make me think I'm in active labor either. So we wait!

We go to see Dr. Mercado Monday. I'll have a sonogram again to check the fluid around the baby. They will also check her vitals and monitor her to see if we should schedule induction. They don't let pregnancies go past 41 weeks anymore, so at this time next week, we will be happy, lucky, tired parents!

Most babies who make it to 40 weeks are estimated to be around 8-9 pounds and about 20 inches long. Her movements are definitely slowing down because she's running out of room! She's fully developed, so the only thing she can do this week is fatten up :)