Susanna's Birth Story

Happy birthday to Susanna! Here is her birth story:

Susanna was due on October 30. About a month before her birth, the doctor worried that she was too small but when a specialized ultrasound was done they said she was fine. Another challenge we had is that Scott really wanted to attend a conference in Rhode Island, October. 23-26. It was early in his career and he felt it was important for him to make those professional connections. In the end he decided to attend and we prayed that the baby wouldn't be born before he came home.

Scott came home on the 26th shortly before midnight. About 1:25am on the 27th a very strong contraction woke me up. Immediately the contractions came hard and fast. At 2am I woke up Scott and told him we had to go but I didn't have a bag packed. Finally we got to the hospital but we went in through the emergency room instead of the women's clinic entrance. They walked me to the right place wondering if I was going to make it. I quickly changed into a hospital gown with Scott's help and the nurse took me to a birthing room.

I laid down on the bed and immediately started pushing. A few minutes later, Susanna was born with the help of the nurse. The doctor arrived about 20 minutes later. Total labor time was 1 hour 15 minutes. It was very intense. The nurse was great. She was very accommodating and told me that nurses like to deliver babies. Susanna was 7 lbs. 6 oz. and 20" long. She was our first girl after five boys and it felt like a pink explosion after we received many gifts at a shower sponsored by our ward. One card said, "Welcome to the Pink Club!"

The one casualty of her birth was that the weather turned cold right after she was born and we forgot to unscrew the garden hoses. A few weeks later at Thanksgiving, we discovered water in the pantry in the basement from the pipe that had burst so Scott spent Thanksgiving fixing the pipe.

We are so happy to have Susanna in our family!

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