He's Here!!!!!! The Birth Story of Harper James

At 8pm on Tuesday, January 6th, Harper James entered our lives, and became our World.

He weighed in at exactly 5lbs, he was 18 inches, and neither me nor Tuli has ever been so in love. We are in awe that we created a human being...and such a perfect one at that.

Here is the story of how it alllllll started. It wasn't the birth experience that we planned...but then again, nothing that has happened in our lives in the last year has exactly been "our plan." God works in mysterious ways.

On New Years Eve, I woke up at 4am feeling like death. My belly was extremely sensitive to the touch, I felt like I couldn't breathe, my chest was on fire, and I had severe back pain. I thought it was my blood pressure, and that maybe I was just uncomfortable in our bed. I went to the couch as I normally do when I can't get comfy in bed. I layed there for awhile, but I wasn't feeling any better. So I tried walking around our apartment - that didn't work. I felt like I was suffocating, and my anxiety was starting to get the best of me. I kneeled over the chair in the living room, trying to relieve some of my back and belly pain, trying to calm my anxiety, and doing a little praying that everything was alright. Nothing was working.

Finally, at about 6am, I went and woke up Tuli. At this point, I was crying hysterically, and I just couldn't calm down. Tuli called our midwife Colleen, and she came right over. She took my vitals, etc., and she tested my urine, which tested high for protien (a big problem which can come from high blood pressure).

After she made her assessment, she told me and Tuli to pack a bag...and to bring baby stuff because we most likely would not be coming home without a baby. Wow. We knew Harper would most likely be coming earlier than our due date of January 29th...but now? We didn't even have a carseat!

Tuli and I quickly threw a bag together and we left for the hospital. When we arrived, my blood pressure was through the roof. They told me that they would be keeping me overnight for observation.

What was originally going to be an overnight stay, ended up being a 10 day stay.

For a hospital birth, it was an awesome experience. Besides our creepy pediatrician that we got stuck with, I can't say enough good things about our nurses and Dr. Katz. Colleen visited everyday, and she assisted in the birth as well.

Dr. Katz knew of my original plan for a homebirth. He was so understanding and patient with me and Tuli. He knew my greatest fear was a c-section...the recovery from it, and having to take narcotics to heal from surgery. Because I was only 36 weeks, he really had his work cut out to try to get me the vaginal delivery I wanted and planned for.

To get the vaginal birth I wanted, Dr. Katz had me on a 4 day induction. It started on Saturday, and Harper finally came Tuesday night. I would estimate that REALLY active labor started around 11am on Tuesday the 6th, and I vaginally delivered Harper 9 hours later - without the use of any narcotics!!! It was the most amazing experience of my life. The delivery got a little scary at the end, when Harper's heart rate started to drop...Dr. Katz and Colleen knew I could push him out, and I did. If I had to push for a couple of more minutes, a c-section most likely would have been the result. I am so proud of myself.

Tuli got to cut the cord, and he was the first one to hold our son. He is such a good daddy!!

We are extremely sleep-deprived, but filled with so much love for this little boy. We finally got to go home from the hospital on Friday night, and we are THRILLED to be here. When Colleen came to check on us tonight, Harper had gained 3oz. since we got home from the hospital! We are so happy that all of our hard work is paying off to get this boy chubby!

We are so lucky, and we are so in love.