Harper Leigh

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

12.13.12

2:41pm

7lbs.11oz

20"

Harper Leigh Bishoff

 December 13th was the day that finally came and changed our lives forever...and then there were 4.

The week before my actual due date (Dec.16th), I had a doctors appointment and to my disappointment I was still dilated to a 3 (same as the week prior), but Harper was still sitting pretty high and hadn't even dropped enough where having the doctor strip my membranes would do any good. I was a little discouraged because I had just been planning on getting her here a week early like I was able to do with Beckahm. So when I was told that wouldn't be happening I was pretty bummed out...I just wanted to meet our baby girl already! :) So instead of setting a date to have this baby we set another appointment for the following Tuesday, Dec. 11th to see how my progress was. I went in on Tuesday praying that something had changed...but this little girl was on her own time and obviously had other plans because she still hadn't dropped and I still....was at a 3... After finding this out the doctor asked me if I had thought about getting induced if she didn't want to come on her own. Secretly in my head I had been thinking about it for a while and of course wanted to get induced on 12.12.12, mostly for selfish reasons of not only wanting to meet her a little sooner, but to give her a pretty rad birthday date too. But I had been keeping this to myself as I just wanted her to decide to come on her own. Once he brought it up I decided to just say yeah lets do this...and hopefully tomorrow (tomorrow being 12.12.12). So the doctor went and made the call and not to anyone's surprise they were completely booked up for inductions for that day (turns out I'm not the only selfish thinker out there ;)) So I agreed on the soonest available time they had which was first thing Thursday morning. At this point I didn't care about the date anymore and just wanted to get this process started. I called my sister to let her know the plan and of course being the amazingly great support system, sister and aunt she packed her bags and was on her way. She got to the house Wednesday night so she could stay to help with Beckahm. We could not be more thankful for this girl! She is our life saver and B's best friend that's for sure!

So 5:30am rolled around and I answered my phone before the first ring finished. The lady on the other line answered with, "wow that was a quick answer, you must be ready to have a baby..." It was pretty funny. So I got David up, packed our things, kissed B goodbye and we were on our way. We were admitted into the exact same delivery room I had Beckahm in and had the same nurse, it was pretty crazy, but nice to have some familiarity while going through all of this. So I got ready and they started all of the prep, when they checked me I was still only at a 3 so we had a ways to go. The nurses kept asking me when I would like to receive my epidural and I kept answering with, "I'd like to hold off so it doesn't wear off this time because it did last time!" I told her I would really like to be to at least a 7 before thinking about an epidural and was okay with breathing through the contractions until then. The nurse checked me a couple more times then when I was at a 6 she finally said, "I really think you should get your epidural now and I will call the doc to break your water and things should go really fast by then, you'll be happy you chose to do it now..." So with all of the insisting I said okay and he came and went...My doctor is a pretty busy guy and was going from the clinic to hospital all morning so after he received the call to break my water he didn't actually get there for another 2 hours. The only disappointing thing about this really was that I had this epidural that I didn't actually need for those two hours and it was just two more hours that that wonderful epidural fluid was wasted. But he finally arrived and broke my water. By this time I had finished my second dose of penicillin, which I had to have for the GBS that I had. I didn't have this with Beckahm so it was all new to me. But supposedly after one dose you're supposed to be clear and good to deliver the baby without it causing any symptoms in the baby...the next post that will follow this will prove their 99.9% theory to be wrong for me, unfortunately. The dr. broke my water around 1pm and had said to plan on having a baby around 5 or 6. I had text my sister who was planning on dropping Beckahm off with my good friend Janel and her husband to watch him while she came to the hospital for the birth, and told her the time frame. But at 2 o'clock my nurse came in and said let's just check what's going on since your contractions are so strong you're feeling them through your epidural ( I knew it would wear off before the delivery...in my head thinking, "I told you so" lol) So she checked and said page the dr. were having a baby. At this point I'm freaking out because I was out of 'epidural love' and could feel everything. She looked up at me and said you're at a 9+ you can start pushing whenever you feel the need to. Of course I said, "No! My sister needs to get here and she thinks she doesn't need to come until 5!" So I told them I needed to get a hold of her and get her here before we started this process, they all just laughed and said I hope she's a quick driver. So I let her know and then got back to feeling all of this crazy pain. The nurse asked if I wanted the anesthesiologist to come administer a heavier second dose to try to numb me, but warned me that he may not get here in time. By this point I was already feeling it all anyways and just said let's do this. I started pushing around 2:10pm and this whole time in my head wondering how those women that choose to go all natural each time do it...WORST PAIN EVERRRR! It does make it easier knowing what you're going through the pain for, but it doesn't take it away...pushing through the contractions are what got me through that day without a doubt. My doctor finally arrived at 2:30 and said let's have this baby...remember, we're still waiting for Kristen. So the nurse tells him, "well we're kinda waiting for her sister to get here so can we hold off..." Funniest thing ever..so as I'm pushing, David's trying to help me and text her at the same time. Next I knew my doctor was saying, "she's posterior I need to try to turn her...." I had heard about this happening with other people, and hear their horror stories so at this point I'm freaking out inside thinking why the heck didn't you just ask for that second dose! So as my doctor is up in there trying to turn the baby I'm trying to hold it together telling myself it's a means to an end and thinking it can't feel any worse than actually feeling the birth in general. Finally Kristen shows up! So it's okay for the baby to come now, it was only right for her to wait for the person she was being named after to get there :). So while the doctor is trying to turn her he's saying, "she's going to come quick, I can't get her turned..and the nurses were prepping for anything that might happen with her being delivered face up. I felt that urge...and with everything I had, started to push. The "ring of fire" they all talk about...it's real...and oh man...that's all I'm going to say about that. I will be just fine if I never remember what that felt like! Once everyone was talking about her full head of black hair and seeing her cute little face it was easy peasy to finish pushing and get her here. So 11 minutes after starting full on pushing she arrived, the most beautiful little girl I've ever seen, perfect in every way. I felt so lucky that her being face up didn't cause any scares and she was fine to stay with me after the delivery. We were officially a family of 4 and couldn't be more excited about it. She was welcomed by her daddy and auntie and already so so loved. 

I'm so thankful for good family and friends that are there to help us when we need them. Janel made it possible for Kristen to be able to experience this with us again and we're so grateful for that! Kristen stayed with me afterwards and we had some delightful hospital food while we waited for David to pick Beckahm up from Janel's to come meet his new little sister. I was so excited to see his reaction to the babe and I couldn't be more happy when I saw him look at her for the first time. He loved her from the first moment he saw her..almost as much as the chocolate shake mom had :). But since then he has been such a good, loving big brother and is always by her side. He's especially good and putting her blankets on her and giving her a bink when she cries while rubbing her heading and saying "it's k babe"...translated..."it's okay baby"..cutest thing ever! I am so so thankful for the opportunity I have to be a mother and thank my lucky stars every day that I'm able to. I know so many people that have or are having a hard time conceiving a baby and it breaks my heart to think that it's so difficult for them. Like I say all of the time, it is by far the greatest feeling, blessing, miracle I have or will ever witness and I'm so lucky I get to call them mine. Welcome to this big crazy world Harper. You are already adored by so many! We love you baby girl!