World - Meet Karina!

We went in to the hospital at 6:30 yesterday morning for the second external version in as many weeks trying to get Karina to flip back into a head down position so she could be born. We were confident that she would flip since she was quite active on Thursday night. She rotated that night from one side to the other and then back again. Every which way except pointed down. The version was successful, although it was much more intense than last week's. A nurse and a nursing student had to leave the OR, because they thought they were going to pass out because of how intense the version was (apparently it was an invasive version as Karina wasn't particularly cooperative). Tanja managed without too much pain though. Immediately following the version, the doctor broke Tanja's water to get labor started and prevent Karina from moving out of position. That meant we were on the clock; after the water is broken, the baby needs to be delivered within 24 hours.

We then went into recovery and then the delivery room. They placed an abdominal binder (basically a Velcro girdle) to keep Karina from trying to flip back. We have an acrobat on our hands, I guess. To help labor progress faster, the doctors gave Tanja some pitocin. This has the effect of making the contractions more intense. As things were progressing, Tanja's doctor came in to do an exam and eventually determined that Karina, while she was head down, had her head tilted so that her ear was pointed downward (her hand was also covering that ear, further complicating matters). That type of presentation is cause for a C-section. After all our work to avoid a C-section, she was born that way anyway. It's a good thing too, because the umbilical cord was wrapped around her head twice (probably the reason she didn't drop very far).

Anyway, world, we present to you Karina Jade, our beautiful baby daughter. She was born April 22, 2011 at 7:23 PM, weighing in at 6 lbs, 5 oz, and measuring 21 inches long. Karina, this is your world; go forth and conquer! ;-)

And now for the pictures...

I know I have big hands, but this just makes her look super tiny...


Our first portrait as a family, taken in the OR. Tanja was shaking from the surgery and the epidural, so she wasn't able to hold Karina for a while.


Daddy's little girl:


Taken once we got into the recovery room:


Jeepers creepers, where'd you get those peepers? Tell me baby, where'd you get those eyes?


Mormor (Norwegian for Grandma) Tove holding her first grandchild.


Karina, we're your parents. We love you and we are going to watch over you.