The day Nora arrived into the world was a whirlwind of a
day, but it holds so many wonderful memories of welcoming our little girl into
our family!
The days before Nora had arrived I had some intermittent
contractions. We would get so excited every time they started thinking we’d
finally get to meet our little girl, but then they always seemed to stop. I
tried to stay really active the weeks leading up to my due date, mostly chasing
around a 2 year old, but also getting all the last minute prep around the house
done. I also thought that might help kick start labor!
However, the weekend before Nora arrived, we had nothing
left to do around the house so we had no choice but to relax. On Friday we took
Wynn to the Turbo movie and on Saturday we lounged around and drove down to
Brit’s in downtown Minneapolis for lunch on the rooftop. We spent the rest of
the day playing with Wynn on the deck and enjoying the beautiful weather. It
was a great day. Only later did I learn that doing things that you enjoy releases oxytocin which can help start contractions, whereas if you stress too
much you produce adrenaline which neutralizes oxytocin. Who knew!
On the morning of her due date, Sunday, August 4th,
I woke up to a mild contraction and when I got up I noticed my water had
broken. I started getting some regular, but mild contractions, so we called my
parents to come over to stay with Wynn. I didn’t feel like I was in labor and didn’t
want to go in for fear of being turned away, but Adam wouldn’t hear of it.
Since Wynn arrived relatively quickly, he wanted to make sure we made it to the
hospital in time! Wynn was still sleeping which was a good thing, as I think it
would have been really hard saying goodbye to him knowing how much his life was
about to change.
When we got all checked in at the hospital it was about 8:30
am and I was dilated to 4 cm. The next hour was by far the hardest. I went from
a 4 to a 7 cm and the contractions were coming pretty fast and furious! I also
got really nauseous, so with that and the pain of the contractions, I was ready
for the epidural. By 10 am I was feeling much better and was able to relax
again!
It took about an hour to go from 7 to 10 cm and around 11 am
we called the nurse and doctor in so they could start prepping to have a baby!
After about just 1.5 pushes, we had our beautiful baby girl at 11:28 am. Those first moments of seeing our daughter were amazingly surreal and something I'll always remember. There is nothing like the pure joy and awe of meeting your little miracle for the first time. She was a
little spitfire at first, yelling at us until she got to nurse. My favorite part of the whole experience is when I got to hold her close and snuggle with her skin to skin. After she got what she wanted, she was much more calm and quite the sweet baby. She did a
great job her first time nursing and has been a pro ever since.
We used the same labor playlist on the iPod as we did with
Wynn. We only made it through 2 songs this time and Nora was born to a Billy
Joel song just like her brother! When she was born “Movin’ Out” was playing
which I think is pretty appropriate.
We were anxious to see Wynn and have him meet Nora. When he
first came in the room he definitely was a little apprehensive. He was really quiet,
only talking in whispers and didn’t want to see the baby right away. Once Nora
was in the arms of my mom, he jumped up on the hospital bed with me. I think after he saw that I was okay, he
warmed up a little bit more and was willing to hold Nora. He has been so very
sweet and gentle with her, always asking about her, stroking her face and
kissing her on the cheek. He also has LOVED all the attention and gifts from
all our visitors. I think he has definitely been the more spoiled child of the
two!
Nora surprised us with 2 things when she was born, that she
was an 8 lb baby and that she had so much hair! We weren’t too shocked that she
arrived on her due date. She must take after her mom, wanting to be prompt and
organized! We left the hospital the next day and dressed Nora in yellow, her big brother Wynn's favorite color. Looking back on the whole experience, we were so in awe at the miracle of life yet
again and feel so very blessed to have a healthy and amazing daughter.
No comments:
Post a Comment