Harper June Obie has arrived!

Laura and Harper managed to hold out through the entire week when I had to work and then by the time I got home on the last day I had to work, Laura was in pain and contracting. I thought we were going into labor the night before around 1AM when the tightening in Laura's stomach began. The contractions were spaced about 10-15 minutes and continued all day long. Just long enough for me to go to work and finish up without having to close down the clinic. The timing is amazing.
We headed on down to the hospital(a 30 minute drive) and by the time we checked in Laura was 3-4 cm and contracting every 4-5 minutes. The first 1.5 hours was pretty painful for both of us. She was screaming/crying in pain with each contraction and then she was sobbing for a little while. She was having back labor and the drugs could not get there fast enough. Stadol helped a little but the epidural really did the trick. I found out how hard it is to watch your spouse in severe pain and be helpless to change anything, and I really did not like the feeling. Thanks Dr. Justice. This is an after epidural picture.

By 8:30 or so she was asleep(for a few minutes) but the contractions kept on every 4 minutes like clockwork.

10 o'clock arrived and so did Anne, Katherine, Elizabeth and Jeff. That was great timing for everyone as Harper was then born at 10:49PM. Laura pushed for 16 minutes and did great.

I really liked this above picture and it reminds me how much we appreciate having Jeff as our obstetrician. It is quite a blessing to have one of your best friends as your delivering doctor. Part of me felt bad that Jeff was on call for us for so long and willing to come in even when not on call for us. Luckily Harper waited until he actually was supposed to be on call Sunday night. We also feel so lucky that Harper came to us on Jeffs birthday too. I don't know what else to write, but Jeff thank you for the gift you have given to us in making this experience even more special.
We actually had the name Harper for many years. We had this before we knew that Jackson was to be a boy and when we found out we had to come up with a boys name. When we found out she was to be a girl this time, we knew we had saved the name and not told anyone for a reason.
So why Harper? Why not? I've never known a Harper personally, but I like it because its a little old fashioned but not too old fashioned(unlike the Beulah or Eunice she has been going by to this point). I really really liked To Kill a Mockingbird when I read it for the first time a few years back and the name stuck with me(I thought naming our girl Harper was better than naming the boy Atticus or Finch, etc). Since then I have had a male 3 year old patient named Harper but no other acquaintances. I understand Laura knows of a Harper but doesn't know her well enough to color the name one way or the other. So Harper it was and now is. And we did a pretty good job keeping the secret(although there was a slip 2 weeks ago when mom and dad visited, so mom knew the first name, but she was the only one-I think). And we think it passes the test(its passed almost 3 years of time with us to get used to it). So the only other Harpers that seem common are Harpers Ferry - a historic town in West Virginia, and Harper Collins - the publisher and Harper Valley PTA - the song by Jeannie Riley and the subsequent movie and TV show, and Harpers Bazaar - the fashion magazine for "the well dressed woman and the well-dressed mind". Recently there is also the new "TV event" Harper's Island which is a horror series that started April 9th. As soon as we saw the ads for Harpers Island and we knew the name, I figured it meant she was due to arrive on that date. Its come and gone now and we've watched the first 2 episodes which were halfway decent. We have been teaching Jackson the name for months and he has gotten quite good at saying it. He has almost given it away too. My mom thought he said Hailey, and Katherine thought he said Bubba. We thought sometimes it sounded like Barbara at times. He never fully gave it away, but we think he would have here in a few more days.


June is relatively straightforward. Grammie Cushman is June and I have a very close relationship with Grammie(we solve the worlds problems on the phone at least weekly)and we felt the name June went well with Harper. Laura's middle name was Nell after her great-great-grandmother(and Nana's middle name is also Nell) so we thought keeping to the same type of tradition felt right. Also June was the month we found out we were pregnant for the second time, although that was not meant to be and we were pregnant again in August.


Surprisingly when I googled Harper June, there is another blog out there dedicated to a 3 year old with the same name(I think out in Seattle). Kind of funny.


There are some symmetries with Jackson's birth. He came 2 days prior to his due date and Harper is arriving 2 days prior as well(although she is natural and he was induced).


We also went out to dinner with Jeff the night before both labors. One big difference for this date is that it is actually Jeffs birthday too which is really cool.


Jackson, Fenway and Brewser are hanging out at his Virginia grandparents house while Harper arrives.


She finally arrived at 10:49PM, on April 19th, 2009 and weighed 7 lbs, 11 oz(this must be due to all of the Double Gulps that Laura had from 7-11 through pregnancy) and is 19 1/2inches long. The big mystery all along for us was what color hair she would have and its dark brown.


Here are the first few pictures and I'll try to update all of Harper's new friends and relatives on the blog and facebook as soon as I can.
Allison came to visit and held Harper for quite awhile, the pro that she is. Aunt Liz was there for the entire birth and held Harper soon after birth as well.

Facebook was also a good outlet to release the progress of the labor and epidurals and other goings on as we went along. Thank you to everyone for all of the well wishes.