Nora Elaine Little was born Saturday December 20th at 5:01pm. She weighed 5 pounds and 3 ounces and she was 18.5 inches long. She was born a full month before her due date which was January 19th 2015. As a result of her early entrance into the world she got to spend 7 days in the NICU as her little lungs caught up to working in the outside world.
Her birth story and Lucy's are so different. Lucy was nearly two weeks over due. She had cooked and cooked. I started having contractions with Lucy on a Saturday night. The contractions never got very regular, but they were hard work. I labored at home for 12 hours before telling Wes he had to take me to the hospital. We checked in and I labored some more. Finally, I asked for an epidural sometime on Sunday night simply because I wanted to sleep. Once the epidural was in my water broke and I snoozed the night away. In the morning the doctor came in to let me know that my labor wasn't progressing and that the baby wasn't tolerating pitocin. We didn't know if she had the cord wrapped around her neck or not. The decision was made to have a C-section. Healthy baby Lucy was born very shortly thereafter.
With Nora my water broke while I slept. It woke me up. I remember looking at the clock at 12:34a and thinking "great I'm now completely incontinent." But the water kept gushing out here at there and I knew it was my water - much earlier than planned. I went downstairs and told Wes what was going on and then went back upstairs to pack my bags fully expecting contractions to begin shortly. An hour later I called my doctor who suggested I make my way to the hospital. We woke Lucy up and headed to Northside. I was checked in and checked out and it was noted that I was not dilated at all. I walked and walked and went up and down stairs and walked some more. Labor never started. The decision was made to perform a C-section.
Nora was born and immediately turned purple and was whisked away to the NICU. It was terrifying from beginning to end. Lucy was excited to have a sister but wasn't allowed into the NICU to visit. She could only see her through a window or via FaceTime. For seven days she waited to meet her sister. On Sunday December 27th we brought Nora home and Lucy was immediately smitten. For months Lucy had said she wanted a baby brother but that all went away as we laid her sister in her arms. I hope these girls love each other and cherish one another for their whole lives.
