Emma's Birth: The Big Day

The following "play-by-play" chronology leading up to Emma's birth was broadcast live on the Internet, in "real time" as the events actually occurred:

Aug 31, 1999: 8:00pm - Laura's contractions are 5 to 6 minutes apart. They're going to call the doctor and find out if they should proceed to the hospital.

Aug 31, 1999: 9:47pm - Kip and Laura are at the hospital. Confirmation that the contractions are 6 minutes apart. Laura is about to be looked at -- if she is at least 3 cm dilated, she will be admitted. We are awaiting word...

Aug 31, 1999: 10:02pm - The doctors have confirmed that Laura is at 3 cm dilation with contractions 6 minutes apart. She has been admitted to the hospital. Kip explains that likely nothing will happen until the morning, as she still has a long way to go. At about 4 cm, they will give Laura an epidural. Helen and I (Henry) are planning to head up to San Francisco very early tomorrow morning to continue this chronicle. Watch for web photos!

Sep 1, 1999: 6:00am - No baby yet. Laura reports that she is feeling pretty good. Because she hadn't slept too well Monday night (the previous night), doctors wanted to make sure that she slept well last night (Tuesday) to ensure that she would be able to push with sufficient strength. So they administered morphine and Laura was able to sleep for about 5 hours. Her dilation is still at 3 cm. I am heading up to San Francisco and will get there in about 90 minutes and will resume reporting.

Sep 1, 1999: 7:50am - We have arrived at the hospital. Laura looks great! She's all hooked up to instruments that monitor the baby's heartrate, movement, Laura's contractions, etc.

Sep 1, 1999: 8:05am - Doctor Wiggins has come in with the intent to break Laura's water to induce stronger contractions. This is a normal procedure. Laura is currently dilated to 4-5 cm. Laura is getting an I.V. - since she has asked for an epidural, the I.V. is useful to keep Laura hydrated. To break the water, they use a stick with a hook in it and break the amniotic sac. Having done this, the large contractions should begin.

Sep 1, 1999: 8:10am - In case you were wondering, Kip went home to shower and grab a bite to eat. He is on his way back.

Sep 1, 1999: 8:16am - Helene, the R.N. is putting the I.V. in right now.

Sep 1, 1999: 8:18am - Kip is back!

Sep 1, 1999: 8:46am - The anesthesiologist, Ed, is putting in the epidural. He has explained the procedure to Laura and is now proceding. It's actually a fairly involved task! Laura is thin, so the doctor is inserting the needle very slowly into her back/spine, a half a millimeter at a time, in order to be certain to get into the epidural "zone" and not beyond it.

Sep 1, 1999: 10:09am - Sorry for the delay, folks. Laura is now dilated to 6 cm. Baby looking very healthy. Heart rate at 130 (normal).

Sep 1, 1999: 10:40am - Helene is thinking that the baby will be here in "just a couple of hours" -- Laura's uterus is very soft and so the dilation is proceeding very well. Helene can feel the baby's head!

Sep 1, 1999: 11:11am - View some photos! Laura's contractions are about 2 to 3 minutes apart and really big; fortunately with the epidural, Laura is feeling no pain at all. Ah, modern medical science. Laura's blood pressure is good.

Sep 1, 1999: 11:50am - Added two more photos

Sep 1, 1999: 12:10pm - Helene has confirmed that Laura is dilated to 10 cm. Kip is able to feel the baby's head (he says, "wow, this is one hairy baby")! Helene has advised Laura to save her energy and not push yet. The baby should continue downward on its own.

Sep 1, 1999: 12:55pm - The baby has dropped down to another stage. The pushing will begin at about 1:15pm. Everyone here is getting very excited.

Sep 1, 1999: 1:15pm - Laura has entered active labor/pushing. I have elected to step outside of the room. Kip is assisting and Helen is recording the sights with digital camera and video camcorder in hand. These will be posted shortly.

Sep 1, 1999: 1:40pm - The world says hello to Emma Kyungsun Potter!

Sep 1, 1999: 2:15pm - While we are waiting for the baby's statistics (weight, length), you can read about the origin of Emma's middle name.

Sep 1, 1999: 2:16pm - For those of you who know what this means -- Laura "pushed" just 10 times over a 25-minute period! Easy birth!

Sep 1, 1999: 2:30pm - Emma weighs 7 lbs 1 oz and is 19.5 inches long. See the pictures of Emma's first minutes in this world. Don't forget to take a look at the earlier pictures, taken during "baby watch", in case you missed them.

Sep 1, 1999: 5:20pm - Hear Emma crying in either QuickTime (96K) or Windows .wav (340K) formats. (If you have installed QuickTime, this is a much quicker download with the same audio quality.)