Words from the Williams: She's here!!!

Introducing Laura Susan Williams

Born Saturday, June 16th at 2:40 a.m.

Here's her birth story:

My due date came and went on the 14th. We had a doctor's appointment at 2:00 on Friday and the doctor decided to try to progress things and said that if the baby didn't come that weekend we would induce the following Tuesday. Well, that was not necessary because I was cramping by the time we left the office. Not believing I was really in labor, I went grocery shopping with my mom when we got home. As we walked through King Soopers my contractions were about 3 minutes apart and my mom kept saying, "I think we should go." To which I kept responding (when I could speak), "No, this is good. This is what I need." By the time we left the grocery store and stopped to get gas (of course I had let it get to E), I was fairly certain I needed to go to the hospital. We got home, Mark called the doctor, we grabbed our bag, and headed to Poudre Valley Hospital. We arrived around 7, got checked in and they started monitoring me.

When we arrived, I was 4 cm dilated. The anesthesiologist arrived at 9 p.m. to give me the epidural (I had to have one since I was trying for a VBAC and to be honest--it was amazing! I'm glad I tried it without the first time but would definitely get one again!). Dr. Worford checked me at 9:30 and I was 7 cm. She decided to break my water and when she checked again just after 10:30, I was fully dilated. I pushed for about 10 minutes but the baby didn't budge. They didn't want me pushing too much since I have the scar from the c-section so they told me to take a nap and let my body do the work of pushing the baby out. I never imagined that I would be fully dilated, having regular contractions and taking a nap! They woke me up about every 20 minutes checking things and changing my position. Around 1:30 they noticed my temperature was starting to rise so they decided it was time for me to really push. The nurse we had was amazing, having me try different positions and even tying a knot in a bedsheet and having me pull on it as she pulled the opposite direction. As I pushed my temperature continued to go up and the baby's heart rate also started to spike. Mark and I were both certain that we would end up in the OR again but then the baby started to move and before we knew it, Laura Susan entered the world! It was such an amazing experience! We were so surprised to see her full head of dark hair and to learn that she came out face up (the reason I had to have a c-section with Grace!). I loved having her placed on my chest and getting to snuggle her before they cleaned her and then getting about an hour and a half with just the three of us as she nursed for the first time and we loved on her.

7 pounds 13 1/2 ounces

19 3/4 inches

After our time together, Laura had to be taken to the NICU for observation and antibiotics. With my temp spike and her heart rate increase they were worried that I had an infection in the amniotic fluid that could cause sepsis in Laura. Poor little girl also had two blisters on her forehead (either from the internal monitor or from rubbing on my pelvis) so those had to be monitored for infection. Needless to say, it wasn't what we had hoped or planned for but we were glad that they were being safe. It was just sad to see her with all the monitors. The worst part was the IV line in her little hand for her antibiotics. We stayed in the women's unit and they would call me whenever Laura needed to eat and I would walk down to nurse her--I did that walk a lot!