On December 10, 2009, Nora Taylor McCall was born at Olathe Medical Center via C-section. She was born at 9:40 a.m. an weighed in at 6 pounds, 14 ounces and 18 inches long.
The day before we were scheduled to have the surgery, the stretch from Bethany to Kansas City was absolutely dumped on with snow. In fact, we were in a blizzard warning (I didn't know there was such a thing!) for almost 24 hours prior to Nora's birth. The morning of the 9th, Jack and I enjoyed our last day as parents of one child to take Joel sledding in our yard. Even though the windchills were in the single-digits, Joel loved being outside in the snow, and we created some very special memories.
Of course, I was concerned that we wouldn't be able to make it to the hospital, but thank the Lord we were able to brave the roads and head to KC the night before the surgery. It took us almost an hour to get Cameron, but things got progressively better from there on out and we made it to KC just fine.
Having a scheduled C-section was just so different than my experience with Joel's birth. We woke up on the morning of the 10th, drove to the hospital, checked in leisurely and went up to labor and delivery. By about a quarter to nine, we were headed into the operating room where we met with the anesthesiologist, my doctor and the rest of the surgical staff. I received my epidural and spinal as Jack waited outside patiently. Then, we were in business.
The surgery began on time at about 9:30 a.m. and by 9:40, I was staring at our beautiful baby girl. Let me tell you, it was a much more enjoyable experience than going through 10+ hours of labor to end in an emergency C-section like I had with Joel. Jack was able to go with Nora to the nursery to take pictures and get her stats while the doctors worked to close me up and get me to recovery. I was back in my room by about 10:30 a.m., and the nurses brought Nora to me before 11 when I was able to really start bonding with her and nurse her for the first time.
On Friday, my parents brought Joel down to meet his baby sister. I was soooooo happy to see him, and I think the feeling was mutual even though he seemed a bit perplexed by the hospital bed and the new little baby in my arms.
By the way, I do believe that Joel and Nora look an awful lot alike in their newborn pictures. Check this out for sibling resemblance:
Joel did very well with Nora that first day and got some special attention when Jack left and took him swimming in the hotel pool for a couple of hours. Jack's parents and Elaine came down to visit on Friday evening and both sets of grandparents and Joel came back for more Nora time on Saturday before heading home.
Sometime between her birth on Thursday and Saturday afternoon, Nora lost a significant amount of weight due to the fact that my milk had not come in yet. She had gone from 6 lbs. 14 oz. to 6 lbs. 4 oz., so I began pumping colostrum to help her bulk up a bit. It worked! By the time we went home on Sunday, she was back up to 6 lbs. 9 oz. and my milk had come in fully. I suspect she'll be a chunk in no time at all! Jack, Nora and I headed home on Sunday around 1 p.m. We were very very happy to leave the hospital and be in our own environment.
Life has been very different around here since Nora's birth on December 10. Since we've come home from the hospital, it seems like sleep consists of a series of short naps as we try to adjust to having a newborn around the house again. The new normal at our household is wonderful as we've been blessed by a beautiful little girl, but also challenging at times as we try to catch sleep when and where we can and keep things as normal as possible for Joel's sake.
That said, Joel is adjusting very well to having Nora in the house. He loves to give her hugs and kisses and doesn't seem to be jealous of her at all, even when I'm taking time to nurse her (which I suspected would be a problem).
To top it all off, Nora is a fabulous little baby. She literally only cries if something is bothering her, which as it turns out, isn't much. Really, she only cries if she's overly hungry or very, very gassy and in both cases, she's pretty easily comforted. I feel so blessed to have such and easy-going little girl. Hopefully she'll stay like this! So far she's sleeping as well as can be expected for a nine-day-old baby. She gets up every two to three hours to nurse and usually goes right back to sleep...usually. I am definitely looking forward to the day when she is sleeping five or six hours at a time, but until then I'm doing my best to just enjoy the snuggle time we have when the house is quiet at night. I know they grow up too fast and these days don't last long.
