Alexis Joanne Garrabrant
"Lexi" had the first underwater birth at Sunrise Mountain View Hospital in Las Vegas, NV. She is welcomed by her parents, Byon & Lara, and her two big brothers: Scott (8), and Timmy (5). Alexis's first name was chosen from a baby name book and was one of the few that both parents could agree on. Joanne is a combination of both grandmothers names: Mary Jo and Suzanne. Mother and baby are home and doing well.
Video
Click here to download a video of the birth. (3.6 megabytes)
Pictures
Right before we left for the hospital
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Minutes after birth
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Still in the tub
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The Birth Story, as told by Mom
Well, my water broke (or started a good steady leak) at about 5:30pm. We went into LDR to check that it was indeed amniotic fluid (an not a bad bladder problem). I was not yet contracting so we decided we should go home and try to get some rest. We then discovered that the hose adapter we bought to fill the tub would not fit the sinks in the LDR rooms. So we went to Home Depot in a desperate search for another adapter. The salespeople there were amuzed about us being in labor and looking for a way to fill a "kiddie pool" for a hospital waterbirth. We ended up buying a aquarium sized water pump and a bucket (just in case we needed Byon to fill it by hand).
This process brought on a few contractions, but I decided that I was a little hungry. We went to a Chinese resturant so I could get some soup. It was now around 8:30 and I started to have contractions every five to 10 minutes or so. At this point we decided that we should probably get to the hospital so we could get the tub set up and get settled.
The contractions seemed to come and go. I walked the halls while Byon filled the vinal tub with air from a foot pump. The tub was set up and ready to go before the contracions really started getting serious (at about midnight). I went into the tub at about 6-7 cm and the water seemed to help the labor progress. It hurt...alot..but the water was very soothing. I was checked to be at 8 cm at around 1:45. So, the nurse called the doctor and we called for the kids to be there for the delivery. Things went very fast from there. Four LDR nurses came in to watch the hospitals first waterbirth. But, the doctor and the kids did not have enough warning (and, I'm sorry but, I was not willing to wait).
Alexis was born underwater after about 10 minutes of pushing. She had cord wrapped all around her but she had a good strong cry until she could relax and enjoy the warm water. She even nursed for a few minutes in the tub.
The doctor arrived about 15 minutes too late and seemed a little disappointed that he missed what would have been his first water birth. Mimi (Byon's mom) and the boys came in just as we were getting Alexis out of the tub. The boys were groggy, but very, very excited to see their new little sister.
Alexis is perfect with ten little fingers and ten little toes. She has a wisp of sandy blonde hair and slate blue eyes. She took to the breast immediately and nursing is going very well.
They let us go home at around 11:30am (after all the necessarry tests and hospital procedures). Alexis has been pretty sleepy since we got home (after all, she did have a pretty exciting night).