The Norris Gang: Happy Birthday Nate!

We are so in love with our new little guy. Where do I begin... I'll start with the labor. It went FAST! I started having contractions at 4:30am. I finally got up at 6am and started getting ready. It wasn't long before I realized, I'd better get Chance up because things were moving along a lot quicker than I'd expected. I called Trish over to watch Luke and Chance and I were headed to the hospital by 8:30am. (My contractions started with Luke around 3am and we didn't get to the hospital till around 3pm as a comparison). I was only dilated to 3 cm so they told me to walk around for awhile. When I got checked again I was almost 4cm so they decided to admit me and I was in the room by 10:30am. They had to give me some antibiotics since I tested positive for Group Strep B, which meant getting hooked up to an IV to start with. I don't normally get sensitive with needles, but something about the thought of medicine getting pumped in me had me feeling light-headed. I almost passed out over the IV! I bet the nurse who I had told earlier that I was not getting an epidural was thinking I was crazy! So time passed, labor continued and at one point with the intensity I was feeling, I told Chance I didn't think I would be able to make it to 3:20pm (which was when I was supposed to get my second dose of antibiotics - they want you to get a second dose 4 hours after the first dose is administered in order for the baby to be considered protected). Chance responded with "it's only two more hours". TWO MORE HOURS! Clearly he hadn't grasped how intense the contractions were getting. Finally it was time to start pushing. Everything up until that point had went considerably well. Suddenly, however I started to hear the voices become frantic. They were calling in more nurses and asking Chance to step out of the way. I knew something was going wrong, I assumed the baby must have been in distress. At one point one of the nurses told me I needed to push the baby out with the next push (the baby hadn't even crowned yet). For a moment I started to think I might get wheeled away to an emergency C-Section. All I could do was pray and then suddenly I heard someone say "okay there it is, we're okay". From that point on the room seemed to calm and they began to coach me through the pushing again. I later learned that at one point the baby's heart rate had dropped to 60 and then they couldn't find it at all. The cord was wrapped around the baby's head and the midwife had to reach in and unwrap it. I think they said the baby had moved behind my pelvis too which is why they had lost the heartbeat for a moment.

Nathan Russel Norris was born at 2:03pm. It was such a relief to hold him and hear him cry. Nothing, and I mean nothing I have ever experienced compares to the relief you feel when labor is over! He looked healthy as can be! A huge answered prayer for Chance and I.

So far Nate seems to be very mild mannered. He doesn't get too worked up and sleeps a lot! He's eating great and gaining weight beautifully. Surprisingly Luke doesn't seem to phased by the new addition. He asks to see "baby brother" and doesn't mind having Nate around as long as Daddy is not holding him! Only then does he sometimes demand "want down" which means he wants Chance to put Nate down. He could care less if I'm holding him.

Chance and I can't believe how blessed we are and how smooth everything has been going. We our so excited to watch both our sons grow and learn more about Nate's personality. I'm not sure how much time there will be for blogging NOW!

I'll end this entry with the first of many funny Luke and Nate stories. Chance had put Luke to bed and I was downstairs changing Nate's diaper (something Nate is not fond of). He was crying pretty loud and we could hear Luke in the monitor say, "oh, he's crying. baby brother's crying. changing diaper!" Observant little kid, that Luke. :)

Proud Daddy