our Birth Story

Forwarning: I'm going to do my part to tell Nora's birth story without too many graphic or boring details; however, I will warn you, after being a witness to one of God's most incredible miracles, it's hard to not want to tell everything :)

Like most expecting couples, the week before our due date came faster than expected. We found ourselves finally in a place where we were constantly thinking "This could be the day." Although we had no idea what God had in store, we packed our bags and began waiting for signs of labor. The week came and went like any other week. We awoke on our due date (Sunday, the 12th) wondering if she was ever going to come. And come she did...
Around 2:30 pm I started having contractions that were 15 minutes or so a part. After watching a movie and getting a few more things together for the hospital we found ourselves at 5:30 pm and the contractions were now 5 minutes a part. At 7:30 pm we headed to the hospital where I was admitted and found to be only 1 cm dialated! I couldn't help but think that I must be in false labor. The nurses said they'd give me an hour to walk the halls and see if we could progress the labor along. Sure enough, by the end of the hour my water had broken, I was dialated to 4 cm and my contractions were now 2 minutes a part. Note: By this time I was thinking "there is a good chance this pain is going to be the end of me!" (seriously...) The nurses then got me hooked up to an IV as I waited for a bag of fluid to get into my system before I could be given any pain medication (which I initially didn't want but changed my mind in the middle of the 45-60 seconds of rest I was getting between contractions).
We were then taken into a labor and delivery room where I was given an epideral and within 30 minutes found to be 9.5 cm dialated - it was time to push! The nurses hurried to get a hold of my doctor (with no luck - the doctor on call was in another delivery at another hospital). Unforunetly Nora's heart rate kept dropping with each contraction and the nurses felt that we needed to get moving. So in walks Dr. Huff (a doctor on call for the hospital). After getting a few things ready it was time to go. And believe it or not - I pushed a total of 2 times with the doctor and Nora was born - 12:49 am on July 13th - weighing 7 lbs, 5.5 ounches and measuring 20 inches in length.
Our stay in the hospital came and went quite quickly. Between getting some much needed zzz's and introducing friends and family to Nora, we were fairly busy.
So - that's our birth story. Nora is doing well at home. Mom, Dad and baby are all trying to get used to our new lives together and are enjoying every waking opportunity with one another (which happen to be more often than you could imagine).

Our nurse, Missy and doctor, Dr. Huff.