The Johnson Family: Our Baby Story

RAEGAN JOHNSON

Raegan was born Tuesday July 21st at 4:20 p.m. She weighed in at 7 pounds 11 ounces and was 20 inches long. Here is a short story of her birth. First off we were not prepared for her to arrive so early. I had convinced myself not only would she not be early (due date was July 26th), but she would propably be late. In fact I was at work all day on Monday with plans to go back in on Wednesday and clean up my desk (my last day of work). I was planning on getting things ready (clean the house, do the laundry, wash baby clothes, go shopping, etc.) for the baby during the week. Unfortunately I did not get to do a single thing I had wanted to because Raegan was born Tuesday afternoon. At a little past midnight I got up to go to the bathroom just like I did a few times every night while I was pregnant. After I thought I was done a little extra came out (tryinjg not to be too graphic). I though maybe my water had broke, but I just wasn't sure. After sitting in bed for 20 minutes wandering what exactly I should do I woke Derek up. He was just as unsure as I was. We read up a little in our pregnancy book about your water breaking and decided we should just call the doctor. Of course the doctor said to just go to the hospital to get checked. Derek and I were pretty sure they would send us home so we didn't take even take everything we should have with us. Luckily I had already packed the hospital bag. We arrived at the hospital at about 1:30. I changed into a hospital gown and they proceeded to do some tests to see if my water had in fact broke. The first test came back negative, but the nurse said she thought there was a lot of fluid so she did a second test that was more accurate. This test came back positive and the nurse said she was checking us in. We were going to have a baby! At this point I didn't know what to think, I felt so unprepared. Derek had to rush home and gather a few more items we would need and email his professors at school to tell them he would miss class and the two tests he was supposed to take that day. At this point I actually felt my first few contractions. Before being in the hospital I had never felt a contraction, not even the fake ones. At about 3:00 the nurse hooked me up to some Potocin and my labor started to progress even faster. At 6:00 I got my epidural (the greatest thing ever by the way). Those of you who give birth without it are amazing. At this point I was finally able to get some rest, it had been a long night. I was dialated to at 10 by noon and then we started pushing. I thought everything was going great. The nurse had even brought in the table with all the items needed for delivery, but they would never be used. Eventually one of the nurses finally told us that I didn't look like I would be having this baby vaginally. At this point I was a little devastated. I cried for a second, but then just wanted the whole experience to finally be over. My doctor came in to examine me at 3:30 and said I had an arched pelvis and that the baby just wouldn't fit. She let me try to push for another 30 minutes (I had to give it one last try even though I think my doctor knew it was a lost cause), but no luck. I only proceeded to make Raegan's cone head that much larger. At 4:00 we were on our way to the operating room for a C-Section. I still can't believe I had one. I never in a million years thought I would have any problems giving birth. But the surgery went great and Raegan was born at 4:20 pm. It was quite the experience. Derek got to spend the first two hours with her in the nursery. By this point my parents had already made it Vegas, despite getting pulled over on the way, and were able to see Raegan as well. I was feeling very tired, but otherwise OK. We had actually had a baby. It wasn't anything like I expected, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

PICTURES

Raegan's First Photo

Check out her fantastic cone head. Her doctor said it was the best one she's ever seen. Don't worry it went back to normal very quickly.