Here she is!

A photo to satisfy this mother's proud heart!

SHE'S HERE!!

A short note just to celebrate the arrival of Sage Charis to our family! Born Monday, April 10, 00:01 a.m. Perfect in every way.

Don't know how blogger etiquette works, but I'll risk offending some rule by just quoting what my husband wrote that day and sent out to our family... it was a crazy labor and delivery story...

"To our great excitement and astonishment Sage Charis Hansen was born last night at 12:01, at 6lb13oz and 20 inches.

It was quite the adventure. The labor came on extremely fast. She was three weeks early and so neither of us expected her to be born last night. Yesterday morning Jennifer had some strong contractions but they stopped later at church and did not return in any serious way until the evening. At 9:30 last night we had to make a decision. Would we spend the night on Bowen or take the last ferry to the mainland? Thanks be to God we decided to go. We called a friend to stay with Sterling and Siena and we left. We arrived at the place we were to spend the night and got settled and went to bed at 11:07. At this point we did not think there was much chance anything would happen that night. So I nodded off to sleep. Two minutes later Jennifer yelped. Her water had broke and labor came on very strong. She could no longer walk so at 11:15 Jennifer crawled on all fours out the door, down the hallway, and into the elevator. I raced out the door when it next stopped. I came face to face with four people waiting to get on the elevator. Jennifer crawled out, still on all fours. But then I realized that we were not on the ground floor. The elevator was very small, only enough room for four people. By the time we turned around and Jennifer began to crawl back into the elevator the four others had gotten in. I yelled at them to get out but they did not respond. I had to pull two of them out before the doors could close. As we descended the two men stood there petrified, they were Asian, and when one of them finally spoke he said, "We speak no English." Poor guys. When we got to the bottom there were five others waiting for the elevator. Jennifer crawled out as I ran ahead to get the car door opened. I ran back to get her and the others, big eyed, watched us. I yelled, "Baby!" and the two apparently non-English speaking women started to shout back, "bay-be?... BAY-BEE!!!!"

It took twp contractions to get Jennifer across the parking lot and into the car. We only had four blocks to drive, but I did not know where to park and get into the hospital after hours. We found an entrance but it was locked and deserted. A nurse walked out and I ran in and asked her for a wheelchair. She left to get one and it seemed like forever for her to return. Jennifer at this point was screaming in the back of the minivan. (We took out the back seat and with blankets and comforters made a little bed for her to lie down on.) When the wheelchair came she was barely able to get on. Then the nurse said I needed to park the car and enter through the emergency room entrance. I did, but I was in a panic. They would not let me into the hospital. Once I convinced them to get in there was no one around to show me where to go. So I ran up and down hallway after abandoned hallway. Eventually I found my way to Jennifer. At 11:40. Our midwife arrived at 11:45. Sage was born at 12:01.

It was a very painful and intense delivery. We discovered that our baby was a girl and that she was very healthy. We were given the most fantastic care from the nurses and our midwife. I cannot stress how impressed we are with it all. They have treated birth like a normal event – not a medical one – and given time for everything. There was no rush. So Sage was able to nurse right away and we had about an hour together as a family before the testing and vitamin K shot, etc were performed. In all it was a terrific experience.

We intend to go home tomorrow afternoon, so feel free to give us a call then. We talked to Sterling and Siena first thing this morning and I could tell how excited they were. However, they are much more excited about sleeping over at their friends house tonight – so they will not meet Sage until tomorrow."

Hopefully we'll take a few minutes from staring at her tomorrow to post a photo or two!

More Update

Saw the hospital, doctor and midwife yesterday, and pending the results of yesterdays bloodwork, we are still on track for a normal delivery! Yippee. My levels remain low and my overall health high, so we will give the baby time to finish growing and come in its own time. Another week of time with the kids and finishing up little projects will be nice!

A Liver and Baby Update

We have been monitoring it now for two weeks, and as we approach 37 weeks pregnant, here's an update!

The baby continues to have a strong and healthy heartbeat, and to move around all the time. Space is getting tight in there, so we are at the stage of seeing little heels and elbows try to poke through my side, which is very fun.

I continue to have all over body itchiness - with little red welts to make sure we haven't missed that my liver is not processing well. Thankfully, the itching hasn't increased, so it is manageable without medication, and despite my vanity (my beautiful ball of a belly has pox marks all over it), I am well. I have finally overcome the winter cough/cold that had me laid up for almost three weeks, and now I am just eager to get the house and ourselves ready for this coming baby!

The cholestasis has not gone away - but my most recent bloodwork shows that it isn't getting worse. I have been going in for weekly bloodwork and fetal monitoring (they just listen to the baby's heartbeat for half an hour and watch to make sure it is happy and healthy). Normally they induce before 37 weeks, but the obstetrian who is consulting with my midwives has felt that the case is mild enough to wait until this Thursday (my actual 37 week date) to do another round of monitoring and then make a decision then. I also see my midwives then, so hopefully we will all be able to come to a consensus about the best approach to take. There is a delicate balance between having a fully cooked baby, who comes in its own time, and making sure that we have the baby before my liver can do any damage to it or to me. I have found my midwives to be very proactive, the obstetrician to be very measured and approachable, and the hospital to be filled with caring nurses. We are in good hands, and as long as we can get ourselves off the island in time, all will be well. And certainly, being in the Lord's hands means that whatever, whenever, wherever, we are confident that we are in the best of hands and only good will come from this.

I've given up my work with the school, for the most part, and have worked hard at resting (it is definitely like work for me to lie in bed all day!). I am not officially on bedrest - but have been trying to lay low and give my body as much support to stay strong as I can. Our community here has been amazing - the love and care we have received from all sides has kept our spirits high and my anxiety low.

The kids are great - they take much of this in stride, and mostly can't wait for the baby to come because it means a sleepover at their best friends house. We have a dear friend here on island who has a tiny one month old, and holding him yesterday, I am eager to meet this peanut inside!