During the last week of June, each morning when I would wake up around 4:30 in the morning for a trip to the bathroom, I would notice I was having contractions, go back to bed, and by the time I got up around 7:00 or 8:00 they had stopped. June 30, this was not the case. The contractions were noticed around 4:30 am, I went back to bed, and when I got up around 7:30 I was still having them. The contractions continued through the morning. I had a Doctor's appointment at 1:30, but when the contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and lasting 45-90 seconds at 11:30, I called the Doctor's office and told them I would not be coming to my appointment, but would be headed to the hospital in the next couple of hours. The contractions continued like this for hours, but I was able to talk through them and they were not very painful, more just feeling of by belly becoming very tight and my hip joints stiffening. I even sent Kyle for a Jamba Juice and shopped the ads. I even contemplated mowing the lawn to try to speed things up.
As you can see in this picture, I had finally "popped out". In the the last three weeks of my pregnancy, Caraline decided she wanted more room to move, so I had to go buy some maternity clothes and got some AMAZING stretch marks!!Contractions continued all day. I was still doing things around the house, getting a little anxious for this little one to come, but feeling pretty good. Around 7 pm I noticed that I was having to go to the bathroom more often and each time a contraction came I would "dribble". So questioning if my water had broken, we headed to the hospital, which is just over two miles from our house.
We checked in and the nurse checked me. My water had not broken, but she was surprised that I was dilated to a 6 and 50% effaced. Her comment was that I was too calm for that. They put me on the monitors and were surprised at the strength of my contractions for my demeanor. So the text messages started being sent to let everyone know we were actually at the hospital and this baby was coming.
The nurses informed me that my doctor had ordered an epidural, and asked if I wanted it right away or if I wanted to wait. I told them I didn't want an epidural. We discussed the pros and cons, and I told them that at that point in time I wanted to deliver this little girl as natural as possible, but I would let them know if I changed my mind. Labor continued uneventful and pretty much the same until about 3:00 am when I was moving from the chair next to the bed back to the bed and my water broke. Then the contractions became very strong and very intense and painful. At this point Kyle came over to my bedside to coach me with breathing (which I wouldn't have been able to do without him in my face helping!!) I knew this little one was going to come pretty quickly. The nurses called the doctor, but Caraline beat him there by 45 minutes!! When I got to the point that I felt like I needed to push, I told them, the nurse and Kyle told me not to, but Caraline came anyway! I couldn't stop my body from pushing her out. Two contractions after I felt like I needed to push she came very quickly. . . and wow does she have a set of lungs!! Caraline was born at 4:04 am July 1, 2009. She weighed 7 lb 12 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. Kyle is excited because she has curly hair. At birth there was no way to say which of us she looks like, except that she has a dimple in her chin like her mom, and Grandma Hansen says she has long skinny arms and legs like Kyle did.This picture is after they cleaned her up and were weighing her.
This is Kyle next to the crib, checking Caraline and trying to decide if he should go bug mom again and see how she is doing. . .she's got a great nurse at her bedside!!
This is the cake the hospital gave us to celebrate her "birth"day.
In the warmer after the first bath.Notice the baby LoJack on her ankle to prevent anyone from
kidnapping her. Her scream would deter them.
She has an amazing set of lungs!!
36 hours after labor started Mom and Baby finally get a nap.
The happy family just before our first dinner as a family.Yes, we are all as tired as we look!!
Our first evening at home and Caralinejust wants to cuddle with Mom!
Three weeks after birth Caraline still likes to cuddle for naps!!
We stayed at the hospital till around noon the day after Caraline was born and couldn't wait to get home!! The following Monday, Grandma Hansen and Aunt Rachel came and stayed for a week. This is Grandma Hansen's 1st grandbaby. They left July 13, leaving us to get through Caraline withdrawals from Grandma holding her all the time. July 19 we made a daring trip to Salt Lake City for my youngest sister's wedding. Caraline did great on the 8 hour drive, but struggled a bit the first night we were there, waking up every hour wanting to eat or be comforted. Possibly a growth spurt? We've made trips to the dog park, the grocery store, the library, the mall, the park, Great-grandpa Hansen's house, and mowed the lawn together. This precious little girl has brought much change to our lives and lots of laughs and joy!! Her expressions are priceless. I think my favorite is her wink/I'm not asleep face. (There are pictures of many of these at the link below.) Her dislike of being swaddled, but love of being cuddled and her "frog" legs keep us smiling. Check out more pictures by clicking on this link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/hansen.suz/CaralineGwenHansen?authkey=Gv1sRgCOun0cKf562IYQ&feat=directlink
Check out Caraline's own personal blog by clicking this link :
http://caralinehansen.blogspot.com/
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