Kuulei was due to have Alette on April 21, 2010. We went visit the doctor on April 7 and he said, "If I were a betting man, which I am not, I would say you are going to have your baby April 8." I thought, well wait that is tomorrow! We were initially shocked at such news but were very excited. Our little angel was going to come early! We went on the rest of the day minding our business and went to bed. Neither of us could sleep for some reason, I finally fell asleep around 12:30 AM. At about 1:00 AM Kuulei woke me up and said she was having back pains. We knew about back labor so I asked her if the pain was constant or coming in waves. She said it was coming in waves so I thought it was time to take her in. We had planned to have Alette at Orem Community Hospital. I had always heard good things about their Labor & Delivery department and our doctor preferred Orem Hospital over Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. We showed up and sure enough the contractions were coming...and they were coming stronger and stronger. Kuulei was in exquisite pain for about 2 hours until the anesthesiologist showed up with an epidural. After that Kuulei was much more comfortable. Our doctor was alerted that Kuulei was in labor but he was in the middle of a C-section for another patient so we had to try and wait for him to finish. I guess Alette was too excited to come because they had to give Kuulei some drugs to kind of slow things down a bit so the doctor could get there. Finally, around 7:20 AM the doctor showed up and began the process of getting Alette out. I was standing by watching and I saw a little umbilical cord coming out. Not a good thing for a baby because all the blood supply from the mother can be cut off and the baby can get into big trouble. Our doctor calm as ever said, "oh wow look at that" as if he had done this a million times. He got the tongs out and started to pull, I saw a little head full of blonde hair coming out and I thought, hmmm how did someone else's child get in there! Then I saw a big beautiful purple face followed by a 6 lbs 15 oz purple body. It was Alette! All the sudden she let out a little wail, it was great to hear her voice. She measured 20 in. and had no real complications. All in all it took about 6 hours from the time we brought Kuulei in to the time Alette said hello. I got to watch Alette get a bath and it was so funny to see her little naked body getting scrubbed down. Her golden locks seemed to beam after a nice shampoo. She has been a quiet little thing as long as she doesn't get messed with too much. Perhaps she is like her dad in that when she is comfortable she doesn't want to be bothered. Kuulei and Alette were doing so well they discharged them 12 hours early so last night was our first night with Alette. She all the sudden did not act like the quiet, mellow baby she had been the past 48 hours! We had fed her, cleaned her, and everything else so I couldn't quite find out why she wouldnt' settle down and get some sleep. Around 2 AM after Kuulei and I were getting so tired staying up with her I thought, hmmm maybe she just hates her little bed? I put down a nice soft microfleece blanket on the floor and laid her down. Voila! She calmed down. We still didn't get any sleep though because we were watching her like a hawk hoping she wouldn't suffocate or anything. I knew I would be an over-protective parent. I am sure with experience I will be less nervous. So there you have it, that is pretty much the story of how Alette Ke'alohimaikalanimai Harker came into the world. Kuulei and I just adore her and look forward to all the years of excitement as we watch our precious daughter learn and grow.
And, this is Alette 9 days old...
