Harper

Harper Jane

My princess was born June 24th 2012 at 1:27 a.m.

Weighing 6lbs. 8oz. of heaven.

20in. long.

Her story starts on June 22nd, when I went out to eat with my parents and some friends for my step dad's birthday. We went to a Mexican restaurant called Roja. Two of my friends that were there were also pregnant. They are sisters and twins and so super sweet! How cool right! Anyways, I of course was ordering spicy food to kick start anything I possibly could because at that point I was dunzo with being preggo! Anyways, people kept making comments about how that dinner would probably be the last time all of us were baby free since we were all due within days and 2 months of each other. As we were leaving and saying goodbye, one of the twins Sheena said that one of her friends went into labor the next day after eating at the same restaurant. I was hoping that would be me too but didn't think much of it. I felt completely normal the rest of the night except for the anxiety I had been having the last couple weeks about my water breaking and thinking okay is this the night?

The next day, Saturday June 23rd, started as a normal day. Nick went to work and I was at home with my Mom and step dad. My mom and I were suppose to go to a wedding reception that night so we were just being lazy until we needed to get ready to go. Around 2 p.m. I kept leaking fluid, but it wasn't like a big gush that you always hear about so I didn't think it was my water breaking. It kept happening for the next half hour or so, so I knew I needed to tell my Mom and call my Dr. I called my amazing OB/GYN and she told me to head to the hospital cause it sounded like my water broke. At this point I was getting so extremely nervous and excited about what was coming! My baby girl!! I asked my Dr. if I had enough time to shower before heading to the hospital because I was disgusting and I wanted to have my hair and makeup done lol. So stupid now that I think about it, but that's just the diva in me! She said no and that I could shower at the hospital if I ended up staying. My bags were already packed so i grabbed them and headed to Methodist Women's Hospital with my mom. We got there and they checked me and I was 3 cm. dilated which I had been for about 3 weeks. They also tested for amniotic fluid with this test strip which came back negative saying that my water hadn't broken. I knew that was wrong because I don't just gush fluid on a regular basis. Anyways, after that the on call Doctor came in with some scary tool and confirmed that my water did break and I was there to stay! YAY!! I had been waiting for this day for 38 weeks!I called Nick and told him I was there and to go home and eat and shower and not rush because I wasn't even in active labor yet but I could hear the panic in his voice. It was cute!

Last belly pic. 38 weeks 6 days

Once admitted I told my nurse I HAD to take a shower otherwise there would be problems! So I took my shower, washed my hair and took one last belly pic in my hotel like hospital room. (My amazing hospital is a whole nother story. Simply the best in Nebraska. I really did feel like a princess there.) Then the worst part came! THE IV!!!!! It was the worst pain in my whole labor experience. OWWWW. Anyways it was around 4 p.m. at this point and I wasn't having any contractions (that I could feel) so they wanted me to walk around the hospital to get them going. So my mom and I walked for a couple hours and she called our family members to tell them it was baby day. My sister was making plans to come to Nebraska because she was at the airport in Vegas on her way back to Texas when all this was happening. After walking for a couple hours they checked me again and I hadn't made that much progress so they put me on pitocin and that's when the fun began. By around 9 p.m. I was in MAJOR pain. Those contractions sucked!!!! I knew I wanted an epidural but I was trying to hold out for as long as I could and I was also really nervous about having a needle in my back. After an hour or so of intense contractions, I got the epidural and I was in heaven! It was so nice! Getting the epidural wasn't bad at all. The contractions were so incredibly bad that the bee sting in the back felt like nothing. I even wrote a status about how amazing epidurals are, and I only write facebook statuses once in a blue moon. :) I only got annoyed of Nick and my Mom one time which I was pretty proud of myself for. ha! After chatting with the nurse and my mom and nick for a couple hours I was complete and ready to push. The nurse called my Dr. and told her she needed to come and I was so nervous she wasn't going to come because it was past midnight. But she did come and I pushed for a little over an hour with a couple scary moments of Harper's heart rate dropping. But after wearing the oxygen mask and changing positions she was born and I was in Love Love Love!!!

First born.

Daddy couldn't wait to hold her.

Grandma holding her first grandchild.

First family photo.

It was so amazing to see her for the first time. She was so incredibly beautiful and I was so happy!!! My family and I were over joyed with how perfect she was. She was healthy and had perfect feet! Which we were very nervous about because of my club feet. That was the best day of my life and I will never forget it!

After a couple hours in the L&D room we went upstairs to our postpartum room. It was around 4:30 a.m. We ordered a bunch of food, I was freaking starving!!! My mom went home and Nick and I got settled in our room. I couldn't sleep because I was on a high and I couldn't stop holding and staring and kissing my sweet princess. I was soo exhausted though that I asked the nurse to take Harper to the nursery because she wouldn't sleep in the bassinet and i was afraid I would fall asleep holding her. At this point I couldn't keep my eyes open. i felt so bad about her going with the nurse but knew I should probably take advantage of it now. I only got to sleep for about 2 hours before they brought her back to eat. Harper nursed well from the beginning and I am so thankful that she did! It was hard and very painful at first but I we both caught on quickly. My parents and aunt Sue came around 8 or 9. We were patiently waiting for my sister Tera and her boyfriend Todd to arrive from Texas. They finally got there and I was so happy that my sister was getting to spend time with her since we live so far apart. Harper also got her pictures taken that day by the hospitals photographer. It was adorable. All the clothes I had brought for her to wear were way too big! My mom and sister had to go and get her more newborn onsies because that was the only thing that would fit her. She was so tiny! That first day, she slept the whole day. The nurses told me she probably would. I had to wake her up every 3 hours to feed her. I felt like a semi normal person. I put makeup on and straightened my hair. I wore the hospital gown pretty much the whole time though because it was much easier with nursing and other things. (If you've had a baby you would probably understand.) That night I didn't sleep again because the only way she would sleep was in my arms so she went to the nursery again for a couple hours so I could try to rest. The next day my family came again and Harper was more awake that day. She was actually kind of fussy the second day and wanted to cluster feed the whole time. Which kind of made it hard with guests. I was so happy to see visitors though because I was starting to get cabin fever in the hospital. Finally the third day, (fourth day for me) we got to go home!!! I was so excited and a little nervous to be on our own. Harper also had a little jaundice but she ended up being fine.

 So obsessed.

Mama and baby snuggles.

Harper and Aunt Tera.

We finally were home and it was so amazing to have her there! My mom always says, What did we do before her? ;) I really have no idea what I did before her?? I feel like my life is complete and meaningful now that I am her Mom. I thank god every day for her, and for choosing me to be her Mom! My family is truly blessed!!!!

Going home!

Finally leaving the hospital.

First moments at home. Lucy meeting Harper.