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!

Comments

Visiting Susquehanna: The Priesthood Restoration Site

On our way home from Palmyra, we decided to go a couple of hours out of our way to visit the recently opened Priesthood Restoration Site along the Susquehanna River. This is where we believe that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist which gave them the authority to baptize. This site also has the restored Isaac and Elizabeth Hale home where Joseph and Emma lived for a year as well as the home where Joseph and Emma lived on their own. We spent a couple of hours there and I wouldn't have minded a few more minutes but we had a long way to go that night. It's a beautiful setting, very much in rural Pennsylvania. However, on the day we were there, cars at a racetrack nearby were detracting from the peace and quiet. I'm guessing that's not as big of a problem on weekdays. The Hale Family was quite well-off for their day so their home was probably nicely decorated with wallpaper and carpet. ...

Hansen Family Reunion 2026, Wednesday and Thursday

We had another Hansen Family Reunion at Bear Lake! In total, there were 93 of us there with 11 missing--our biggest yet! We enjoyed seeing everyone and catching up a little bit. Here are some pictures. My goal was to get a picture of everyone, so if you don't see a picture of yourself, keep scrolling. Also, more individuals coming on the post for Friday. Sorry for the weird angles on some of them. Michelle made dinner the first night, chicken and vegetables with Michelle's specialty--lots of sides and plenty of leftovers. After dinner and clean-up, we had a FHE lesson outside on the lawn with Melanie in charge of the lesson after a few raucous songs. The newest addition to the family, #103. On Thursday morning, Kent and Melanie chaired breakfast with eggs and sausage and plenty for everyone. The cook with his breakfast sandwich: After breakfast, some of the group went rock-climbing, courtesy of Everett, David, and Susanna while more people went on a hike--the Limber Pine Hike....

Nauvoo Pageant!

I have been a negligent blogger this last month. My reason is that we have been super busy. At the end of July, we went to the Nauvoo Pageant. We were able to participate once again in the Gold Cast like we did in 2007 and 2014. We picked up our daughter at the end of her cross country camp in Price, Utah on our way out of town. Then we drove to our friends' house in Golden, Colorado near Denver to stay the night. It was fun to reconnect if only briefly. The next night we were in Lawrence, Kansas, visiting my brother and sister-in-law and their family. That was also fun but short. We left the next morning, attending nearby church before taking off. We arrived in Nauvoo around 4pm with just enough time to have dinner at our cabin before going to our orientation at the pageant building. The next day we went to the pageant building to get our costumes and to learn how to do our hair in the 1840 styles. ...

Search This Blog