Hannah's Birth Story

My name is Hannah Rose Gruber and I came into this world on Sunday, May 30th at 7:06 pm. I weighed 6 lbs 9 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. Here is the story of my birth...

I decided I didn't want to arrive "on-time" so the doctor and my mommy decided that I should come on Sunday, May 30th. I was making mommy really sick (I didn't mean to!) and the doctor thought it would be good for her to stop throwing up. At least this way my grandparents and Aunt Amy and Uncle Steven were able to plan to come up and see me when I was born!

On Saturday night, Mommy and Daddy went to the hospital with Grandmom to get a gel inserted into Mommy to get her ready for my arrival. She started to have contractions every 4-5 minutes lasting for 30-60 seconds. But they weren't that bad because they were still able to go to dinner and quickly see Waterfire before it got too bad. Mommy didn't sleep much but by morning the contractions were getting better. She'd hoped that would do the trick but I'm a little stubborn.

On Sunday morning, Mommy and Daddy checked into the hospital at 7:15 am. After making sure I was ok, they started putting something called pitocin into Mommy to make her get contractions to push me out. It worked quickly and Mommy was soon in labor. In fact, right after the doctor checked her and said she was 2 cm dilated, Mommy's water broke all on her own!

Daddy and our doula Michele helped her walk around and manage the pain. She was good about relaxing through the contractions. After a while it got really hard and the contractions got close together so after seeing she was 4.5 cm dilated, Mommy got an epidural at 1:15 pm to make it easier for her to enjoy my arrival.

She was soon 7cm and in "transition". The epidural started to wear off and she got it topped off. Before we all knew it, she was nearly ready to push. The doctor and nurse were a little worried about my heart-rate so they attached an internal monitor to my scalp (and gave me a scab!), which showed I was fine. The doctor pushed the rest of the cervix out of the way and soon mommy was pushing.

She was good at it and thought it was easy but I kind of liked that birth canal and even though she kept getting close to popping me out, I put up quite a fight. After nearly 3 hours, I gave in and came into the world. Mommy and Daddy were overcome with joy and cried all over me. They were especially surprised at how pink I was and what long limbs I have.

They think I'm beautiful and I have to say, I am pretty darn cute!