Meet Mariah!!

Quick stats:  Mariah Harper - named 12 hours after birth :)
 born 7 am 3/27/13
9 lbs 3 oz
21.25 inches long


WARNING: TMI, TMI . . .if you don't like birth stories, don't read ;)

Dave's grandma passed away on Saturday and we wanted to attend her funeral this Thursday (in Utah).  That being only 6 days before my due date, there was no way he could go unless the baby was here already.  So I moved up my weekly appt and got my membranes stripped (Terribly PAINFUL process!) Apparently I have a posterior cervix which means that just being checked is pretty difficult and uncomfortable, let alone being stripped.  I had been having light contractions all morning before the stripping and continued with light, irregular contractions all day.  I tried to walk and move quite a bit.  In fact, we walked to our local Wal-mart, which is about 2 miles round trip.  By the end of the walk I was very sore and having painful contractions fairly close together.  As soon as we got home, I didn't have another contraction for an hour.  They continued about hourly, and then were completely gone by the morning.  I was so sad and discouraged.  All those contractions and hope and nothing actually happened.  Plus, Dave was going to have to miss the funeral.  About 4 pm on Tuesday I started have some strong, real-feeling contractions.  They were irregular and some were spread out 10-15 mins, but they felt very strong.  Throughout the evening I was wondering if I was in real labor or not.  When it got to the point I could barely talk through them I figured it was real labor.  Jackson was so excited he couldn't sleep until after 10:30.  My cousin came to sleep at my house at 10:30 and we headed to the hospital.  My contractions slowed way down and spread apart, even though they were really strong still.   In triage, two different nurses had to work to check me. .  .I hadn't progressed at all since Monday... I was still a 3 +.  I was so discouraged!  I felt like it was going to be a labor like Jackson's.  Lots of pain and very little progress.  They let me stay for an hour to see if I progressed.  After this the contractions became very close together and strong.  I was shaking and in a lot of pain.  I was so discouraged and thought that if they sent me home I didn't know how I was going to do it, the contractions were so painful.   Luckily, an hour later, the cervix wasn't quite so posterior and I was at a 4+ so they admitted me.

I felt so relieved to be admitted and on my way to an epidural.  I had a sudden naseaous spell and threw up several times.  This has never happened during my labors, so it caught me off guard.  Then I started shaking (mostly during contractions) and couldn't stop.  My legs and arms and hands were just shaking out of control until I forced myself to relax before another contraction.  The epidural was heavenly as always!!  It was now 2:30 in the morning and I was desperate for sleep (for me and for Dave. . . I wanted him to have a good experience, too).  My blood pressure kept dropping sending off the alarms on my machine.  So every 10 minutes I would be woken up.  Then my water broke (also a first for me) and I was checked to be at a 5 dilation.   I was light headed and naseated.   I then started getting a bit panicky or nervous about the baby coming.  Nervous about the pain and the pushing and meeting her.  I think all the junk running through my body contributed to the anxiety.  Finally, at 5:00 I felt the need to push and I was fully dilated.  However, my doctor was delivering a set of twins (pre-term) so I was not first priority and I held off for a couple of hours.  It wasn't hard or anything, I felt pressure during contractions, but didn't feel a strong need to push. I had been laying on my side and when I rolled onto my back, the baby was completely on my right side. . . in fact my belly button area was concave, my left side was completely empty and the right side was all baby.  It looked so funny!  I wish we would've gotten a picture.   Finally, around 6:40 the doctor came in and I started pushing.  My epidural was so strong I couldn't feel my legs and had a hard time telling how to push.  The baby was face up, so that made the pushing even a bit longer.  Even so, I pushed for about 20 minutes and out she came.   As soon as the doctor saw her he knew she was at least 9 pounds . . . sure enough she was 9 lbs 3 ounces and 21.25 inches long.  She had chubby cheeks and a double chin.  She cried a bit, but calmed down quickly too.  Also, he movement were not so frantic and wild as my other kids (which is what I experienced with her in the womb.  Her arms are not always flailing and she is able to be calm and even soothe herself.

I didn't tear or get an episiotomy.  The epidural wore off in 2 hours and I was able to walk and move.  I feel like I will recover quickly.   I only itched after the epidural for an hour and after eating I my nausea and headache went away and I started feeling great.  I am tired from not sleeping last night, but happy that I feel like this will be an easy recovery. 

She nursed and gulped lots of colostrum.  However, since she is so big, they have to measure her sugar levels every hour and she wasn't meeting the requirement, so we have to supplement with formula after feedings.  Even then she is dropping her sugar levels before the next feeding.  It is a bit of a concern so we are continuing to feed her formula.  She is going to continue to be a big baby I think.  Because of this problem, she still hasn't bathed, so we don't have a photo of her cute hair yet.



The kids came to see her at 1:00.  Hallie gave her so many hugs and kisses and would just leave her lips on the babies lips.  She kept saying, "baby come out!"   She just loves her SO much.  Jackson was equally in love, but shows it in a more mild way (thank goodness).  He wanted to hold her an feed her.  The baby didn't mind being squished and kissed by Hallie one bit and didn't complain about it at all.   She is a tough little girl. 



She has lots of dark hair, cute little nose and perfect everything.  I think although she has some features of my other kids, she has her own different look.  Her eyes look much darker and I wouldn't be surprised if they are brown soon.


I already feel so in love with her and can't imagine life without her (although just yesterday I couldn't imagine life WITH her :) )