Baby Arrived

So 12 hours after Karen's rant, the contractions started. Of course, this put it at 1:00 AM when the contractions started. About 3:00 AM Karen decided it was time to go to the hospital so we called her sister to watch the kids and set out on our journey. We go to the hospital shortly after 4:00 AM and they checked Karen. They weren't sure she was truely in labor. So they had us wait and walk for a couple of hours. By 7 AM they decided that if they sent her home, she would just be back in a few hours so they admitted her. By 8 she had the epidural in place and was happy as can be. Around 11 AM, she was almost dilated to a 5 and her contractions had stopped. By this time, the doctor had broken her water so there was no choice but to give her the pitocin IV. At noon she was finally to a 5 and at 12:15 Karen felt like she had to push. She called the nurse at 12:20 and the nurse said she was complete. So in 20 minutes she dilated from a 5 to a 10. WOW!! Anyway, by 12:40 the baby was born. Since she came down the birth canal so fast, she was a little stressed. Her heart rate dropped to about 60 and they wisked her away to the fetal area of the suite. After a minute or so, the baby started to cry and everything was just fine (other than her black and purple head from all of the bruising.) Anyway, in true Karen fashion, the baby weighed 10 lbs 1 ounce and was "officially" 21.5 inches long. The nurse that measured her kept coming up with 22 inches but thought it was wrong so she kept measuring. Of course the baby also had a huge head. We named her Sophie Halterman. I think she is adorable (bruised head, alien features and all.)

Anyway, I am working on about 4 hours of sleep and can no longer think. I'm sure we will post again, next time with pictures.