Savannah Mae Johnson Makes Her Arrival!

Savannah Mae Johnson came into our lives promptly on her due date, July 19, 2012, after a long and difficult labor.

I began having regular contractions around 5:30 pm on the 18th. Our doctor had advised us to wait until my contractions were consistently eight minutes apart for one hour before going to the hospital so David and I settled in with root beer floats and the tv...and waited. Around 9:00 pm my contractions began to get more intense and closer together but I wanted to makes sure I was really in labor before heading to the hospital so again we waited. When my contractions had been 7-8 minutes apart for an hour and a half we decided it was time to go. But I wasn't going to the hospital without showering first! So, after showering (and reasoning with David why I felt the need to be clean before giving birth) we drove to the hospital.

The entire way there I was second guessing myself because, of course, as soon as we left for the hospital my contractions stopped. I was sure it was a false alarm and I would look stupid heading into the hospital when I wasn't even having contractions anymore. When we arrived the first thing the nurse said to me was that I wasn't in enough pain to be in labor. I felt like an idiot! What was I doing at the hospital?! The nurse reluctantly hooked me up to the monitor but it was clear she was wondering what I was doing there too.

Immediately after being hooked up to the monitor my contractions started up again. They were intense and four minutes apart. Aside from being in a lot of pain I was so happy. Vindication! I really was supposed to be at the hospital! When the nurse returned she was surprised to see my progress and after four hours on the monitor the doctor decided to keep me and I was moved to a room.

By this point my contractions were coming close together and they were getting more painful. Thankfully the anesthesiologist was available almost immediately to come and give me my epidural (which was not nearly as bad as I worried it would be). After the epidural I couldn't feel my contractions at all and the nurse told me to try and get some sleep since I was only dilated to a three or four.

The next morning consisted of more waiting. The doctor gave me petosin and broke my water to help me progress and soon I was dilated to a seven. Throughout the morning and afternoon I simply waited to be dilated to a ten. The worst part during all of this was that my strep B test had come back positive so every four hours I had to be given penecillan in my IV. If you think contractions or the epidural hurts, try the penecillan. It hurts like crazy! When the doctor told me I was dilated to a 9 1/2 and could start pushing soon I was so grateful because that meant I may not have to have another dose of penecillan!

As David and my family left the room so the nurses could prep for me to begin pushing, I pulled my mother aside and mentioned how scared I was to have to push for a long time. She assured me that most women only have to push for about an hour.

Four hours later Savannah Mae Johnson came into the world. It was the most horrible and wonderful experience of my life! The first thing my mom said to me when she came back into the delivery room was that she was sure I would think she had lied to me about how long it would take me to push Savannah out.

The doctor, per my request after three hours of pushing, had used a vacuum on Savannah's head to help pull her out. The first time he had attached the vacuum and I had pushed, her head had only come halfway out when the vacuum popped off. The pressure was so intense that I'm pretty sure I turned into a crazy pregnant lady like the ones you see in the movies. I begged the doctor to let me push but he made me wait through two more contractions before I could push her head out.

After she was born (and cleaned off...as much as I love her new babies are covered in a lot of gross stuff!) I held Savannah for the first time. Both David and I cried because we couldn't believe she was finally here and that she was perfect!

Since her birth we have enjoyed learning how to be parents to our sweet baby girl. She is a GREAT baby! She sleeps for four hour periods and is a breastfeeding champ! We are so grateful to have her in our lives and can't wait to watch her grow up...although part of me wishes she could remain my baby forever.