Norah's Birth Story

I haven't written birth stories for the other kids on the blog, but feel like since it's fresh on the brain, I might as well share. I love reading other peoples birth stories, and find it fascinating that everyone's is so different. 

With Norah being our 4th baby, we assumed things would move quickly, and being that we live about an hour from the hospital where I planned to deliver, I was scheduled to have an induction at 39 weeks... I did this with Winnie as well and it was seamless. She was born three hours after I was induced and the process was almost too easy. Collin even asked the nurse if he could jump in the tub with a glass of champs for the bachelor premiere (she only found him mildly funny - it seems L&D nurses tend to find husbands somewhat of a royal pain in the ass). 

I went in on Friday (38 weeks + 4 days) for a non-stress test and my final check up before my induction the following Tuesday. I had on & off high blood pressure the week leading up to this appointment and a whole lot of contractions, but nothing that was enough to buy my a ticket into the Labor & Delivery ward (because don't you know that place is totally Ft. Knox...!) As soon as the nurse took my BP on Friday, she said "I don't think you're going home today". I was equal parts totally pumped (because pregnancy past 37 weeks is for the birds) and also like "show me the money" because if there's one thing I know about labor, it's that it is SO DAMN fickle. They tested for pre-eclampsia, which ended up being negative. SO, they monitored my blood pressure for another FOUR hours and finally decided that it was too high to go home (same thing the OG nurse said at 9 AM ... it's now 2:30 PM).  All that to say, they gave me a fantasy suite date card... haha no, they admitted me and started my induction. But seriously, getting a fantasy date card might have been easier (and definitely more fun ;) . 

Once they finally admitted me to a room, my blood pressure was back to normal (for the rest of our stay! go figure!) and we were focused on delivering this babe. I ate a v. dry turkey sandwich, tried to keep myself entertained with daytime television (WHO even watches this stuff?! And who the hell colors Guy Fieri's hair? He has to have brain damage from that much bleach...right?!)  and made sure the anesthesiologist was within a one mile radius for whenever I was ready for the blessed needle down my back.

My mom stopped by with Baylor while the girls napped with Grandpa, and he was beside himself - so excited that he was going to meet his baby. 

At this point, the process slowed down (even more, if possible?).  L&D was so busy, they had to slow my induction (i.e. turn off the drugs) because they didn't have time to deliver my baby. Talk about inconvenience!? SO, once they finally started my pitocin by about 9:00, I was dilated to a 4/5 and had just gotten an epidural. No pain - all gain. ;) I labored for a couple hours while Collin took a nap (let's hear it for the boys...#saidnooneever). I had horrible shaking during these two hours, the baby was sunny side up and I had just couldn't get my bearings. I came close to passing out a couple times but you guys, lavender oil was my LIFE SAVER. Seriously, I kept it on my wrists and would inhale when I needed to refocus and it was incredibly helpful. The other VIP was my mom, who stayed by my side, rubbed my very swollen feet and kept me hydrated. By about 11:00 I could feel the baby moving down and knew that I was ready to push. The nurse was hesitant to check (thinking this was way too quick), but this being my 4th delivery, I told her that if she didn't call the dr., she'd be the one delivering. The dr. came in fairly quick after that, went to check me and said "OK, I see the head... are you ready to push?!" At this point, Collin was still in his 3rd REM cycle, so we woke him up, flipped the lights on and just like that it was go time!

My dr. gave me instructions to push slow just to get things started. Once we established our "footing"...if you will, she had me give a big push. Just like that, I heard a baby screaming and they pulled out our sweet baby girl! Collin announced that its as a girl, Norah peed all over as the Dr. held her up (that's my girl...?) and they brought her right up to my chest. She screamed for a few minutes but finally calmed down, latched right away and spent the next couple hours snuggled up with me. They finally weighed her (6 lbs, 13 oz, our tiniest babe!) and put a diaper on her, ect. We spent the next two days in the hospital loving on our girl, watching our kids meet their new sister and relishing in the newborn bliss. 

Labor & delivery (and pregnancy!!) is so hard, no matter which way you approach it, but goodness, it's worth every painful second, every contraction, every IV & epidural, every moment where you just don't think you can go another day. In the end, the blessing is rich and the joy is untamed. 

The kids LOVE their baby sister, and were SO excited to bring her home. She brought a slew of presents for everyone (didn't you know, those babies come out with presents?!) and between eating and sleeping, she gets a million drive-by kisses a minute. We feel SO blessed and just so damn happy.