We decided to start trying for a baby in the beginning of 1997. We were so excited! It took a few months, and on July 2nd we had a positive pregnancy test. What a great 4th of July present! However, on July 6th we lost our precious little miracle. We started trying again right away, and at the beginning of August we found out we were pregnant again! Yeah! I took the AFP test in November, and it came out very low. Our OB thought that our baby might have Down's Syndrome. Off to the Perinatal Dr. to have an ultrasound and genetic counseling. The ultrasound looked good. We were having a girl! We chose not to have an amnio, so we still weren't sure about the Down's. However, the Dr. thought Hannah had a cyst on her ovary. Back in a month to check we found out it wasn't a cyst, but a kidney in the wrong place(pelvic kidney). Currently, Hannah is seeing a Pediatric Urologist for her kidney. It is still in the wrong place and smaller in size, but no problems/infections.

Birth Story: Hannah's due date was Easter, April 12, 1998. On Monday, March 23rd I was told that I was 3cm dilated, and I was going to have her that week. Two weeks early! Thursday morning I woke up with a lot of contractions. Not very painful, but close together. All day I walked, did nipple stimulation, and castor oil. Yes, castor oil! Yuck! That night my contractions were getting stronger, so we went to the hospital to check my progress. Hey, I got to 3cm without even knowing it! Now I'm at 4cm, and an hour later I'm at 5cm. Yeah, this isn't so bad. It's about 12:00 p.m. Thursday night. The next morning I'm still at 5cm, so I walk the halls and do more nipple stimulation. Around 10:00 a.m. I let them break my water. I'm getting a little tired after being up all night. I walk the halls and do more nipple stimulation. Now it's around 3:00 p.m. and I'm still at 5cm! So now they talk me into pitocin, and by 4:00 I'm at 10cm and ready to push! Yes, I went 5cm in an hour! No drugs! I think the whole hospital heard me yelling! After two hours of pushing(this did not come naturally to me like I thought it would), Hannah was aided out with the use of suction. Yeah! My little sweetie! They put her right on my chest! No Down's Syndrome! Off she went with daddy for her first bath. My placenta wouldn't come out, and the Dr. was getting worried. So she gave me the choice of a shot of Stadol and pulling it out, or putting me under general anesthesia and pulling it out. I opted for the Stadol, because I didn't want to be away from my sweetie! We spent two more nights at the hospital together in the same room. I'm so happy to be a mother. I can't wait to have another little sweetie!