She's Here!

Norah Grace arrived on Thursday, March 24th, at 2:18pm. She weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces, and was 20 inches long!

We arrived at the hospital early Thursday morning for an induction around 39 weeks. Our appointment was at 5:00am, so we called that morning beforehand to make sure they had a bed for us. Mark called, and I was in bed, waiting to hear if they had room for us. They said they did, which meant we were having a baby that day! Ummm.... wow. We got there a little early and waited.

Once they got me hooked up to everything, the monitors showed that I was already having contractions! Woohoo! I was dilated to a three, so we were at a great starting place. They hooked me up to the pitocin and got things going, sometime maybe around 6:00ish.

Sometime around 10:00am I got my epidural. Pain was getting real before that. Yikes! My sweet friend Leah, a past labor and delivery nurse, accompanied us at the hospital. She's awesome. We had other family members there as well, waiting for the big moment! We also had an incredible labor and delivery nurse named Bethany. She was extremely attentive and kind. She had me try various positions and use the labor peanut.

Things progressed quickly, and by noon I was fully dilated. They had me sit up and let gravity work until around 12:30 and we started pushing after that. After pushing for a while, it was discovered that Norah's head was turned to the side, which is not ideal. So we stopped pushing and they had me lay on my tummy with one leg up (called the running man, I believe) to see if she would turn. After about 20 minutes in this position, thankfully Norah had turned her head. I am so grateful she had turned! Before she had turned, our doctor had told us that basically she wasn't sure how we would deliver her yet (possibly c section) so I was a little discouraged after that. Things had progressed so well up until that point. I knew a c-section would be fine and it didn't really matter, but it was a bit discouraging. Thankfully, Norah Bean cooperated and turned her head!

So, we started pushing again, and after this round of pushing, Norah decided to make her grand entrance! Mark got to cut the cord, and there she was - our baby was alive and well! This is the first photo that Mark took of her after she came out:

Mark and I were able to have the "golden hour" for a while. Once we moved to postpartum, lots of people came in and met Norah. She has lots of people that love her. (-: 

We stayed at the hospital until Saturday, the day before Easter, and then we were able to go home. Leaving the hospital was very emotional for me. I was being wheeled out of the hospital with our baby. Our healthy, beautiful, perfect little baby. I thought about the moms who leave the hospital empty-handed. It was an overwhelming moment. The drive home was overwhelming as well. Lots of tears were shed. See?!

When we got home, some family members were there waiting for us. My brother recorded us arriving. (-: It was, without a doubt, the most wonderful Easter weekend we have ever had. I am so, so grateful for this precious gift.

~K