Austin's Arrival!!!

We are excited to announce that Austin Jovan Healy arrived on Tuesday, September 18!  The previous Wed I had my 39 week appointment and found out I was dilated 1 cm, 50 percent effaced, so he was starting to work on making his appearance.  I had not been feeling well most of the week and had a suspicion he might be coming soon.  My parents were planning to drive down on Sat to be there for the birth, so they decided to come down on Thursday instead.  Friday evening I started feeling minor contractions and on Sat they continued happening regularly.  Sat evening they were about 3-4 min apart and I was a little nervous, so shortly after midnight we went to the hospital.  They checked me out and I was still only 1 cm, though I had progressed to 70 percent effaced. So we were sent back home and they said to return when the intensity of the contractions increased, along with being close together. The contractions continued all day Sun, and got to the point where they woke me up early Mon morning. Throughout the day on Mon the intensity increased, though they were not consistently close enough together. I finally tried to get some sleep around 2 a.m. and kept waking up from the contractions. Around 4a.m I woke up almost in a panic because it felt like the contractions wouldn't stop! I told Byron we needed to get to the hospital right away. This time when they checked me I was 4 cm and 90 percent effaced, so I was taken up to a delivery room immediately. I was hoping to have a natural birth, and fortunately with the amazing support of Byron and my parents, I was able to do so! The hardest part for me was feeling completely exhausted like I had never felt before. I did well up to about 9 cm, and for some reason it took forever to reach 10 (I found out later that the actual duration of time for that part was about 3 hours!). After pushing for an additional hour and a half, Austin was finally born at 4:45 p.m. Those last 4-5 hours I was literally in and out of consciousness and would not have made out through without Byron, my parents, and the awesome staff at Centennial Hospital.

Austin Jovan Healy
9/18/12
4:45 p.m.
8 lbs 6 oz
20.75 inches