welcome nora

Our little Nora is one month old today. We didn't have a party or cake like I was considering, but I did hold her for the entire day and we watched a video about making a lego cake.  John thought we should have made it immediately.

We are all enjoying every little minute with our sweet baby. She is definitely sweet. She sleeps a lot.  And poops and eats with the rest of her time, just like a good baby should. And since she is already a month old, she is learning new tricks.  Like she can lift up her head pretty well now, which is great, because her sisters want to hold her all of the time, and sometimes they aren't too careful about her developing neck muscles.  And she is getting pretty good at smiling. I don't have any proof, but I swear that she looks us in the eye sometimes and smiles. She loves very soft, sweet voices. Maybe because she hears so many loud voices.  I don't know, but she definitely only smiles for the soft voices.  That will make it hard for the kids.

They adore her, and want to hold her all of the time. And, amazingly, they don't usually fight over who gets to hold her.  They are really good about taking turns with her. Everything else seems to be free game for bickering, though.

And, it is wonderful that she is out of my belly.  John and Lucy sometimes comment on the size that my belly still is, but it is way smaller than when she was inside of me! She came out weight 9 pounds 6 ounces! I knew I'd grown a big one this time.  She weighed exactly 2 pounds more than Britton.  But she's already over 11 pounds. She's a good eater. And so am I.  There is no way my milk is low calorie.

For posterity, I will now record Nora's birth story. You have been warned.

When I first found out my due date was September 29, I figured this baby would be an October baby.  I just seem to cook babies a little longer than that 40 week suggestion. But as I socialized with moms who have had 7-10 babies, they told me uplifting stories about the fourth child coming early, and being the easiest baby to birth. And I started getting my hopes up.  But with moving and starting school and trying to prepare our brand new life in Ellensburg for a baby, when she didn't come a couple weeks early, and then a week early, I was okay. I actually hoped she would wait a couple days after the due date to come.  There was just so much to do!

By 8 days past my due date, though, I was getting desperate.  We were watching General Conference, and I started feeling a few contractions.  So I made James dance with me.  No mean feat when you have a 9 pound baby waiting to come out. And after conference was over, we walked about a mile. And after that I mowed our yard.  And then I mowed the neighbors yard. The contractions were coming on pretty strong, but irregularly by then.  I wasn't sure if she was coming, but I was pretty sure I was going to make her come. And James was excited that it was a Saturday.  His new classes that he was taking and teaching were proving to be more challenging than anticipated, and he didn't want to miss any.  So we went in and got checked, but my water hadn't broke and I was only dilated to a three.  I almost cried.  But I went home and tried to relax the contractions into getting us somewhere.

About midnight I decided I couldn't handle it any longer, and then I had the fun of trying to wake up James between contractions.  On the way to the hospital I told James that all I wanted was an epidural.  He tried to talk me out of it.  During the entire pregnancy I had talked about going natural. I watched videos, did research, made plans, but when it comes down to it; I am wimp.  James finally resorted to,  "but it will be so expensive. When we are paying the bills, are you going to be happy that you chose the epidural?"

The first thing I asked for when we got to the hospital was an epidural.  I still had only progressed a couple more centimeters. They must have told the nurse anesthetist to take his time, because two hours later I was trying to hold the screams in to let the baby next door sleep. I was nearly fully dilated, but I really really wanted the pain to end, so we went ahead and got that epidural. I wish I could figure out how to get my mind past focusing on the pain, because the last three kids were pretty close to falling out of me by the time I received pain relief.  Anywho, got the epidural, took a quick nap, and woke up to some pretty crazy contractions, but I couldn't reach the call button, and James refused to wake up.  Boy, he can really sleep through nearly anything.  I eventually got him to wake up, pushed through a couple contractions, and then a beautiful, healthy little baby slipped out.

Babies are such miracles.

I got to be the first person to hold Nora. the doc rubbed her off a bit and handed her straight to me. None of my other doctors have done that.  I've had four babies delivered by four different men.  And I definitely appreciate this guy handing me my baby.  The experience brings tears to my eyes now. But my hormones are still trying to figure things out.

Some research suggests that epidurals can numb the baby and mother from feeling connected right away.  This could be true.  Sometimes.  But this time, having Nora handed straight to me, I knew I already adored her, that she was meant to be in our family. And I still know it now.

Adora Belle would have been a fitting name, but Nora Lavendar fits like a glove.  And the kids still give new name suggestions that we should have used.  Even a month later. It's sort of a fun game.  They like the name she has,too.