Welcoming Anderson David Hansen

I am as happy as I could ever be.  I will refer to Anders in probably every post from now on but this one is for his Labor Day weekend birth story! It will probably be long just giving you fair warning, but I want to write it all down while it is still so fresh in my mind.  Here goes:

Thinking back it all really started Thursday August 29th.  I went to yoga in the morning like normal every Tuesday and Thursday, I was the only one so we did a prenatal class and I realized how sore and tired I was after the session.  Thought it a little strange because it was nothing new but I felt great anyways.  That day I noticed I had contractions all day. Not feeling too bad, just noticed my heart rate increase and get slightly tired.  Worked on a puzzle basically all day (trying to pass time).  I was still pushing for baby to come early so Auntie Anna could be there and of course I could meet him early.  That evening I had indigestion and slight slight back aches.  Didn't think much of it.  Was able to sleep fine but woke up Saturday morning, August 31st, and the back pain started right away.  Got in the shower, noticed contractions already had started (crampy back pain) for about 30 seconds every 3-4 minutes.  This was the start of what I now realize was the entire day of early labor.  Contractions literally lasted the entire day, every 2-4 minutes, 30-45 seconds, without a break.  Sis and I went and got our nails done as planned previously to hopefully initiate labor of course.  Contractions continued but I was fine, breathing through them, thinking it was just pre labor pains which I knew could last forever.  As the day went on and I randomly tracked the contractions Mom began to get slightly curious saying I should get checked...nooo mom, it's nothing...I am fine.  But when I would have to pause on the phone for a sec until the contraction passed she pushed more.  I told her I would call in the evening if they didnt' stop.  They got slightly more intense and I didn't know what to do. I know mom wanted to know when she should leave but I was so sure he was not coming for a while.  David gave me a blessing and we decided to call the doctor on call (mine was out of town).  He said it was encouraging, probably just pre labor, don't expect him to come today, but for peace of mind, I could come in and get checked.  Alright! We packed up the hospital bags just in case, still thinking we would be back quickly.  

Got to the hopsital at 5pm, they hooked me up to the monitors after saying I was 3, almost 4cm dilated and 80% effaced.  The monitor was fun seeing the contractions every 2 minutes and watching it go down and up (it eventually got annoying David telling me all the time "one is coming!"...yes honey I am completely aware).  But we just joked around chatting for that hour, I was feeling fine, nothing much changing in my opinion.  An hour passed...5 cm dilated, 90% effaced.  Boom.  I was in labor! They said I couldn't leave anyways because my blood pressure was a little high but it would probably be hours so my mom would be fine coming in on a flight at 9:40pm.  Made it to the room with a beautiful Timpanogas Temple view.  Got on a birth ball (I swear by those things! Used one for my entire pregnancy), went over all the stuff with the nurse, pausing to breath through contractions, but still feeling pretty composed.  They knew ahead of time I was planning a natural delivery, using hypnobirthing (basically deep relaxation, which I absolutely loved!), so medication was not mentioned.  Because of my high blood pressure they had an IV port put in just in case.  After the questions, I got in the tub for a bit which was nice and soothing because I started to get shaky.  The nurse said that was completely normal when in transistion (WHAT? I am in transistion??).  Contractions started to feel slightly more intense and I got hot so I got out of the tub, made it as far as the sink before throwing up, so unfortunate.  But I did feel better afterwards.  Went back to the ball for a few minutes before they wanted to do another check at around 7pm. 8 cm! The nurses started to realize that they needed to get the doctor there and it would be soon, mom probably wouldn't make it.  Sis was informed that she should get her bum to the hospital if she wanted to be there for the birth.  At this point it got much more intense.  I was now on the bed kinda rolling back and forth still breathing through contractions, making noise, so great, but feeling a lot more pressure.  My water still had not broken.  Contractions started to feel like they were on top of each other.  The next hour went by in a blur.  I had a nurse putting counter pressure on my legs as I breathed through each contraction. David was right next to me doing light touch massage on my arm and encouraging me.  He was great.  I never yelled at him to leave so that's a good sign right? Around 8:10 ish I got an urge to push...POP! My water broke like a balloon bursting.  Literally liquid went everywhere. It was pretty amusing.  That helped get me to 10cm. Finally!  The nurses were mad that I wanted to push before that, naturally.  Then I really started to get urges to push. There was such an extreme amount of pressure.  They were telling me not to becuase the doctor was not there yet...are you kidding me?? Have you ever tried to NOT push when having a baby? yeah...not gonna happen.  I basically ignored them.  Eventually they realized how close he was and said "ok this baby is coming".  Then things started to get kinda scary, they couldn't find a good heart beat so they told me I needed to get him out now...I was having a hard time getting enough air so on goes the oxygen mask...iv went in at some point...and nurses and David were on my legs telling me to push with all my might.  (Doctor still absent) David of course was telling me to do my birth breathing that I learned through hypno...I listened to him, ignoring the nurses who told me to hold my breath while pushing...I actually laughed inside when I heard that...no, no miss nurse..you don't hold your breath...you breath your baby down, duh.  So that is exactly what I did.  I pushed with all my might "breathing" little munchkin down...3 minutes later I felt his head emerge...it was incredible feeling everything.  I loved it.  I knew exactly how close he was to coming, and I knew exactly when his head came, one more push and there was his body.  David said the cord was around his neck, quickly fixed, taken to the table to make sure he was ok, and quickly placed on my chest.  It was incredible.

  First thing I noticed was his dark hair! I prayed for him to have hair and I was so darn happy.  I just couldn't believe my baby was laying on my chest, perfect little bundle.  He wasn't crying much, doing little bird cries (still cries that way, it's darling).  So after about 15 minutes they wanted to take him to the nursery becuase he was breathing fast.  I was perfectly fine with that becuase all I cared about was his health.  David went with him but thankfully Anna (sister) who made it just in time to see him crowning, was there with me while I was getting stitched up.  Stitching took a while, however I only tore internally, nothing north to south which I am so grateful for.  The doctor kept saying "man in all my 12 years of delivering babies I have never seen a tear like this" (thanks doc).  He said it doesn't really match up on a scale, if it did it would be 1st degree but it was just interesting.  Whatever, just do a good job, will ya.  Baby came back after a bath, in hopes of getting his breathing normal, just as I was finishing up.  It felt so much better to have my baby back.  He was able to latch on to nurse right away which was wonderful.  From then on he was good, I was good, David and I were happy parents, and everything seemed to be like a dream. 

 So from the time I went to the hospital to when baby was born: 3.5 hours.  You could say fast! It was so great though.  I felt incredible and loved being so coherant through everything.

Anderson David Hansen (Anders)

Born Saturday August 31, 2013 at 8:32pm

7 lb 15 oz

18.5" long   *later to learn he was actually 21"*

Yes, he was much smaller than everyone anticipated.  We got comments the entire pregnancy that he would be so big, so long, probably 9 lbs...nope...he was a little guy...but a perfect size.  HUGE feet...this kid's feet are so long they barely fit on the paper for his stamps, and big long hands and fingers.  No chub on his body, but he has a darling round face with some good cheeks.  We are in heaven.  That night was amazing, got cleaned up and moved to the recovery room with Mom when she finally arrived (missed his birth by an hour), and Auntie and Daddy.  Anders was perfect.  Straight from heaven and I could feel it.  It really was such a special, spiritual experience and I could not have asked for a better pregnancy, labor, or delivery.  I will cherish the memories forever.  

Question everyone asks me since I did hypnobirthing, and no medication...was there pain? Psh, sure.  I guess you could call it pain.  I never considered it that way though.  It was pressure to me, and it was just what I expected to feel.  I knew my body could birth him and I wanted to feel everything I was supposed to feel, and I believe I did just that.  It was amazing and I am so happy.  More details will come about our perfect little bundle of joy.  But he is our son and we are so glad he finally is in our life and in our arms.  I am one happy momma!