nora

On June 20th, 2013 at 1:35 am, Eleanor Lynn Weisse was born.  We plan on calling her Nora and we love her so very much.

She came pretty quick, just like Gus (but not as unexpectedly this time).  I started laboring around 5:00 pm on June 19th.  After being in touch with the on-call midwife, I finally decided it was just time to go at 12:00 even though my contractions were being inconsistent.  I could tell it was getting much more intense, but the midwife said that since I was still inconsistent that I should just have the nurses call her once they checked that I was dilated enough.  Thanks to this call on her part, she didn't make it there for the birth.  We got to the hospital at 12:30 and she was born an hour later.  I had only been in the labor and delivery room for about 10 minutes.  I thought she was going to come out on the toilet.  I had actually never even met this particular midwife before (the only one in the practice that I hadn't, of course) so it didn't make that much difference to me who delivered the baby at that point.  They pulled a random doctor from the hall and I don't remember his name.   It was my third all natural birth and it went well.  It was pretty intense, but that is just how it goes.  Once she came out it was amazing.  She was wrapped up in her cord as all my babies seem to like, but they were able to hand her right over to me.  This was the first time I had that experience and I loved it.  I was so shocked it was a girl.  Nobody else in the room had time to inform me before I shouted, "It's a girl?!?!"  I really didn't think it would be, but was very excited about it.  One of her dad's first comments was something along the lines of, "You already own so many Barbies!"  This is, of course, reference to the many boxes of dolls I have saved that sit in our store room driving Zach crazy.  It was not all in vain.  All my old girly toys will now have a worthy owner.   

I love these two pictures from my phone because her little eyes were open and it is just how I remember meeting her.

Dad was pretty in love.  He is sure to spoil her.

 They took her away to clean her up and weigh and measure her.  She was 7 lbs. 8 oz. and 19.5 inches long.... and perfect.

Zach and I got moved to another room shortly after the birth and had a few hours to sleep.  Nora and Dad did well with that, but I was feeling the adrenaline a bit and got a few less than them.  It was nice to have a little time to ourselves, but when the sun came up, I was anxious to start calling friends and family and getting them over to meet her.  Mimi was our first visitor.

  Then Baabee and Aunt Angie showed up with the boys.  I was able to video their first reactions which were all pretty cute.  They couldn't have been more excited and in love.  It is one of my favorite things in the world to watch.

 They are going to be such great big brothers who will always protect her.  Gosh, I am blessed with a wonderful family.

The proud Grandfather:

And proud Godmother:

 Then after getting rear-ended on the way to the hospital, the Burches made it to meet their newest cousin.  Lucy could have held the baby the entire time.

 Dot was desperate to get at her, too.

  The Kerstings stopped by and then Lucia wanted to hold her forever.  Little girls just love babies I guess.

 My godparents, Uncle Dick and Aunt Sharon, stopped by as usual, too.  They are the best!

 She actually doesn't cry much, but she is cute even when she does.

I usually enjoy a good two day stay in the hospital, but when the midwife and pediatrician said we may be able to get an early release we thought it over and decided it would be worth it.  We had Angie staying with us at home so we weren't too worried about being overwhelmed and if we could pay for one less day in the hospital we figured it would be worth it.  I think we made the right choice.  We headed home around 5:00 pm the same day she was born.  I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, but in our situation it was great to just get home.

 Baabee was there to greet us as well.

 Since we had no girl clothes in our house, the Kerstings dropped off a few bags for us.  Aunt Angie was quick to put Nora into a pink dress. It was very weird because that is when it started to register to Zach and I that she is going to be way different from the other two.  I have since received another six boxes of clothes from a friend, so Nora is pretty covered for her first year.

The boys gave her lots more love and fawned over her for hours.  They are pretty stinkin' adorable!

We love our girl!!!