Our New Addition

Heather Ann Manuele

July 5, 2012

8 pounds, 7 ounces, 21 inches

1:49pm

A second bundle of joy has brought much love and excitement to our family.  Heather Ann is a beautifully charming and delightful little girl.

My original due date of June 29 came and went.  I was hopeful this baby would come naturally, but yet again, I was not having any contractions or signs of labor.  So, Paul and I scheduled an induction on July 5.

We woke up early that morning and reported to the hospital at 6:30am.  When the nurse hooked me up to the baby monitors she asked, "Did you feel that?"  I responded with, "Feel what?"  Apparently I was having small contractions about 10 minutes apart but didn't feel anything.  My guess is the previous day's 4th of July festivities (walking to the fair, parade, and playing at the park) put things in motion.  Who knows, maybe if we waited a day or two this baby would have come on her own. But, we were at the hospital and I was ready to have this baby!  No going back now!

I was started on Oxytocin at 8:45am and within two hours was having pretty regular contractions. At noon, the doctor broke my water but I was only 4cm and 80% effaced so I had some work to do.  Contractions really kicked in and by 1:00pm, I requested to have an epidural.  The anesthesiologist came at 1:10pm, had the epidural inserted minutes later, and left the room with the intent to return 10 minutes later to complete the dosage.  However, not 5 minutes after he left, I felt extreme pressure, enough to bring me to tears.  I began to worry that something was wrong with the epidural.  Paul called the nurse in and she decided to check my progress.  To her surprise, in a 20 minute time period, I went from 4cm to complete, and the pressure I was feeling was a result of being ready to deliver.   

The anesthesiologist rushed back in to complete the dosage while the doctor literally ran from another part of the hospital.  Even though the epidural was not in full effect, I began pushing.  I pushed for 3 minutes and Heather Ann joined our family at 1:49pm.  

We were surprised by her weight but thankful she was healthy!  We immediately fell in love with our daughter and are now so excited to say that Katelyn is a big sister!

To see more pictures of Heather, click here.  Or, click on the photo album titled "Heather's Birth" on the right-hand column of this webpage.