When we left off, Lisa was resting more comfortably. Dr. Henry came in and indicated that we should hope for 1cm / hr progress, and that's what did happen, more or less. He shared that he was off duty at 8am, so that meant another OB doc, Dr. Laura Sabo, would presumably take us 'the rest of the way'. In between, a couple of residents came by, each with a medical student, and Lisa's mom and Gretchen came along to help with delivery. It was great that it wasn't just up to me, since I trend toward the squeamish side and know very little about the whole labor and delivery process. Plus, we could each help Lisa and then take breaks now and then for a little air throughout the course of the day. Unfortunately, Lisa wasn't able to do the same. On the other hand, the epidural did its job, and she did some opportunity to rest up for the hard work of pushing yet to come.

When we visited Dr. Anderson on Monday, she indicated that the baby, let's call her Anna!, was face up, rather than down, which makes for much more difficult delivery. The doctors were fairly certain that was still the case as Lisa waited for her time to push. In the morning, Dr. Henry did provide some encouraging news that sometimes babies 'corkscrew' a bit as they come out, so we hoped that would be the case this time. One of the complications of such an infant orientation is that the contractions can come in 'couplets', which means they came one right after the other, with no return to 'baseline'. Turns out that's not optimal for delivery, so the Dr. began some pitocin to 'even-out' the contractions.

At 3:30p.m., our nurse Kelly, who proved to be just the right person to work really well with Lisa, indicated that it was pushing time. The Lisa we know and love naturally asked for 15 minutes to rest before she began, which shows that she is wise beyond her years.

Turns out that pushing was hard and progress slow. After a few examinations, Dr. Sabo wasn't particularly encouraged at the baby's movement. At one point, she called for a fetal monitor to be placed, since the external one failed to be reliable, given the movement involved in pushing. She shared some concern that the baby's heart rate was a little too high, which can indicate that it's under stress. Kelly figured out that certain positions for pushing made the heartbeat respond better, so she had Lisa favor those. She also put Lisa on some oxygyn, which helped, also.

After the fact, other OB doctors are surprised and a little shocked that Lisa pushed for four hours. Forunately for mother and baby and those there to witness, Lisa's strength, stamina, and will allowed her to do an incredible amount of very hard work. She knew that the alternative was a 'C - section', so she worked extra hard.

The only price the baby paid for all that effort was a little extra 'cone' head (since her name IS Coan, that's not the worst thing), which has shrunk away. Lisa, on the other hand, is very tired and suffered a few complications, though none that required additional hospital stay, which will make her recovery a little extra slow.

The great news is that we have a little girl who, after an evening of consideration, her mother decided to call 'Anna Elisabeth'. We're so very humble, happy, and pleased to share plenty of adventures to come with our little sweetie, who we sometimes call 'Snorky', since she snorts when she cries.