Elizabeth's Birth Story

I thought that your baby journal couldn’t start anywhere else than the day you were born. This is your birth story.

The day you were born, January 31, 2007, started like any other. I woke up at 3:33 (that time will forever be set in my memory) in the morning needing to use the restroom…or so I thought. It turns out that my water had just broken. At first I thought that I no longer had control over my bladder, so I went back to bed but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was something more. However, since it wasn’t too much fluid, I wouldn’t let myself believe it was my water breaking. I tossed and turned for awhile and then woke Curtis up. I told him that I thought that maybe my water had broken but that I wasn’t convinced and now that I had let him know, I was going to go back to bed. He asked me a few questions but I told him it was probably nothing and the best thing to do would be to go back to sleep. Then I felt it…it was distinctive and I couldn’t mistake it…a contraction. Curtis told me that I needed to go to the hospital because the doctor said that is what we needed to do if my water broke. After much persuasion, I agreed to go, but not until I had showered, fixed my hair, and had breakfast.

We arrived at the hospital at 7:15. The nurses asked me to change into a hospital gown and in the process of doing so I gushed all over the bathroom floor...so embarrassing. There was now no questioning that my water had broken. While we were waiting to be moved to our room, Curtis called the soon to be grandmothers to let them know that the baby was coming sometime during the day. After a few minutes Dr. Kells came in and told me that because my water had broken we were on a little bit of a timeline to have the baby born. The timeline, he explained, was to try to avoid infection. After that, we were taken to the room where I was going to have the baby!

For the rest of the morning Curtis and I walked around the hallways to try and speed up my labor. My mom and Cathy came in to check on us around lunch time. They brought Curtis lunch from Rubio’s. I wasn’t in the mood for anything to eat. At 3:30pm I still hadn’t progressed far enough along for my midwife to feel comfortable for me to continue on my own. So I was given Pitocin. It was not my favorite time of the day. For some reason my body didn't react well to it and I couldn't tell when I was or was not having a contraction....it just felt like one 10 minute long peaked contraction. Curtis was trying to make me as comfortable…but nothing seemed to work. The discomfort was almost unbearable. My nurse encouraged me to change positions and I immediately felt relief…well sort of. At least I could now rest between contractions.

At about 4:30 I was ready…I just felt the need to push. After about one hour of pushing you were born. You were no longer Shaboomba but Elizabeth Ann Havran. You were born at 5:48pm and were 7lb .5oz, 20 1/4 inches long. The nurses said they were going to put either 7lb 0oz or 7lb 1oz. I voted for the extra ounce and so that is why it was recorded as 7lb 1 oz.

Later that night you were visited by many family members who had been waiting for you to arrive. First to see you was Grandma Ramona, Grandpa Chris, and Cathy. A few hours later we introduced you to Gramma Kathy, Grampa Bob, Uncle Greg, Aunt Kelsey, Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Jon. So many people! I would tell you more about their visits, but I was rather tired by that time. However, I can say that everyone was very excited to meet you.

After the visitors had left, Curtis and I just looked at you in amazement. The day seemed almost unreal. After the many months of planning and anticipation, you were finally here. We felt blessed beyond words.