14-9-2009 - Harper's Birth Story

My mood while writing this blog: Happy

Well everyone...

As you all know..my little bundle of joy came last week. September 8th at 11:02 am.

I had been in labour since about Friday night and had been into the hospital each day with something new developing...they finally kept me on Labour Day Monday night b/c I had alot of bleeding...and regualr contractions...and they wanted to monitor if the contractions were in fact dialating my cervix.....

As most of you know, my little Harper had been Breech my entire pregnancy and the doctor's couldn't risk me dialating past 4cm with a bum presentation....

So I endured labour (with no meds in case they had to deliver baby via C-Section)..until I was infact 4 cm and counting...that's when my doctor made the decision to take Harper early via C-Section...we had one booked for the 18th which would have put me at 39 weeks exactly....

So they prepped me for surgery and off I went...scared out of my mind.

My boyfriend (who is not Harper's biological Father, but is 100% her only Daddy) sat beside me while they did the surgery.

At 11:02 out came Harper Evalyn in all her bum first glory.

She was not breathing or responsive so the doctors flew into action trying to revive her. They were yelling at the OB surgeon asking if my dates were correct b/c she looked way too early to be 37 weeks.

They finally did get her breathing, and eventually got a good cry out of her...and I was majorly relieved.

She weighed 6 pounds 8.5 oz was 19" long, but VERY purple and blue..:(

While in the hospital she lost over 10% of her body weight which put her into more danger...all babies lose weight after birth, but when they hit the 10% mark, it can be dangerous.

Breastfeeding has been a big challenge b/c she is so tiny, it's almost impossible for her to latch correctly and she gets very frustrated. I have since made the decision to pump breast milk and feed her with a bottle....I knew I wanted her to get breastmilk, and I'm heartbroken it didn't work out the way I had planned, but in the end, my tiny baby needed to eat, and I wasn't about to deprive her b/c of my pride.

I will add pictures now so you all can see Miss Harper Evalyn!!