Announcing...

Lilah Maurine Hikia ualani

Whew! We made it, and the newest member of the family is here!

On June 1st, the hospital called us in for induction at 8am, and we took Rebekah to Aunty Leah's house. I was 37 and a half weeks along, and we were glad to be able to schedule it for Monday--Michael's last day of teaching was Friday, and he starts his own classes at UVU on the 8th, so I've had him at my disposal for a week! I was all hooked up and contractions starting at about 9am, I think (I hadn't slept much at all the night before, so the details are a little fuzzy...). Though they stayed constant, they never intensified, so the nurse kept upping the pitocin, and Michael took a nap. We got a couple calls from people wondering why they'd had no updates, and were informed there was nothing to update--everything was still the same.

After 5 or 6 hours, and too much daytime television, I got impatient and decided I was ready for the Dr. to break my water--he did so and then things started progressing. Michael was great and got right to work massaging my back, helping me into different positions, and mostly pushing really hard against my back with a heating pad during every contraction (gotta love the back labor!). Finally I'd had enough and asked for an epidural. The nurse said if she couldn't grab the anesthesiologist before his C-section, it would be 45 minutes--I'm sure the look on my face said it all. She did catch him, but is was still 20 minutes before he got in. I knew once I got it all would go fast, so I told Michael to call his mom and my sister and tell them it would be soon. As the anesthesiologist was getting everything hooked up, however, the contractions were suddenly very intense, and I was having a hard time, and letting everyone know it.

Just as he finished and had me lie back, I gave a good yell and he and the nurse looked at each other, and with a knowing smile he informed us that there "may not be enough time for you to get much out of that." I was well aware of this, and he had not left the room before the nurse was breaking down the table and the Dr. was in. I pushed through about 3 contractions, meanwhile starting to feel the numbness in my feet, and suddenly there she was, the tiniest thing I'd ever seen, with lots of dark hair! She weighed in at 5 lbs. 8 oz. and is 18 inches long. Hikiaualani means "Looking up to heaven for life-giving blessings"--she came out looking straight up with her eyes open.

Even though she's so small, she's very healthy, and passed all the tests they had for oxygen levels and all that, and is eating well. Already it's hard to imagine our family without her. We've had lots of support from family and ward members, and are eating better than we have for the past nine months! Thanks to everyone for all the prayers and love, we've been very blessed!