Friday, October 10, 2008

Birthday Reflections

It's so peaceful in our hospital room this morning, and honestly, it was this way twenty-four hours ago, too. The major difference, of course, is that twenty-four hours ago the baby dreaming in the crib across the room was still inside my tummy. It's hard to believe it's almost been a full day since we met her!

I wanted to journal yesterday while it was still fresh... so here goes!

We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 yesterday morning, and we were greeted by our sweet nurse Teri. She ushered us into our room, and we got things started right away. Teri expertly got my IV going (it was the worst thing about labor for Phoebs), and before we knew it, the pitocin had started dripping and labor had begun.

Because I came in dilated almost 4cm, we didn't want to waste time on the epidural. As in, I knew I wanted one. And I didn't want to miss my opportunity, since I tend to progress fairly quickly. We joked that they would greet us at the door with the epidural cart, and that wasn't far from the truth. By 6:30 labor had started; by 7:30 I was "recovering" from the epidural. I told Michael that it felt a little bit like I was cheating!

I progressed quickly, and our nurse was pretty convinced that Nora would be here before 10:00. I wasn't so sure! As things got moving, I had a couple of blood pressure dips, and we ended up taking me of the pitocin for a few minutes. I have normally low-ish blood pressure, and the epidural caused it to dip a bit lower. A shot of ephedrin brought my blood pressure and Nora's heart rate back up to where they needed to be for the rest of the day.

After we resumed the pitocin, I had progressed to 8cm. I felt good enough to blog about it, so Michael got the computer up and going. I dictated some thoughts at about 9:45, but he didn't have the chance to post them. I'd felt a "hot spot" of burning when I contracted and my nurse was ready to give me an epidural boost. As she did, she checked me for progress. We were all surprised to find out that in about 15 minutes, I had gone from 8 to...about to have a baby. I was told not to cough, sneeze, or move until the doctor got there.

At 10:10, Dr. D got there and we were ready to go. Two quick pushes later, our beautiful Nora Mae was born! Immediately I was struck by how tiny she looked... even tinier than I remember her sister looking. Her cry was music to our ears! I am amazed at the tiny little miracle God has blessed us with.

And she is indeed tiny! I'm pretty sure Michael posted her stats here, but she is six pounds, one ounce, and is nineteen inches long. She has sweet, dark hair and darker eyes than her sister. She seems to be very mellow, and is easily comforted; she also has started eating well.

My recovery has gone very differently than my recovery with Phoebe. The Lord blessed us with an incision (and tear) free delivery, so the only discomfort I am feeling today is some periodic crampiness. I am really enjoying having some quiet time in the hospital with just Michael and Nora; I know that our arrival home tomorrow will bring a great deal of excitement!

And speaking of excitement, Phoebe's on her way up here... so I'm going to wrap this up! I'll try and add some more pictures this afternoon, once we've had a chance to visit with our big girl!

5 comments:

Daniel and Kimberly Jordan said...

So glad to hear the details of your little one's arrival. Also glad to hear things went so smoothly. We are so bummed that we aren't there to meet her!!

Lauren said...

Both your pictures and your story here seem so peaceful! What a wonderful blessing

The Sinks said...

Wow, you make labor and delivery sound like a breeze! Two pushes? I'm so jealous! Glad to hear everything went so well, and looking forward to more pictures. Praying for you all!

Erin said...

Congratlations on the birth of baby Nora! I am glad you didn't have to wait very much longer! What a precious blessing from the Lord she is. I am sure you are enjoying her and will get to come home today. We brought our little girl Emma Grace home yesterday. I haven't had a chance to blog about her or post any pics yet. She was also 6lb 1oz and 19in. What a coincidence! will be keeping you and especially big sis Pheobe in our prayers.

Deb said...

I am so glad to hear you had such a great delivery! How awesome about the no episiodomy (sp?) or tearing. That's incredible! I hope you continue to recover well and get plenty of rest...well...at least recover well anyways. ha! :)