Georgia's Birth Story

People often want to know about babies' birth story, so I thought I would give all who are curious a brief synopsis. I promise more adorable pictures to come soon!!

Georgia's birth 'story' actually begins several days before her birth. On Thursday I felt really down and 'blue'--I had not had any contractions or serious pains, and it just seemed like I was stuck. Thanks so much to my friend Karen who took time out of her day to watch a movie with me and cheer me up. That night I went walking around the neighborhood with a friend, like I had many other nights. Shortly after midnight that night/Friday morning, I woke up with my first contraction. They continued erratically throughout the night and Friday morning. Mid Friday afternoon, the contractions took a turn from uncomfortable to really painful and getting closer together. We really weren't expecting to go to the hospital until late Friday night or early Saturday morning, but by 7 p.m. we had called the doctor and he sent us to the hospital. So we got to call our parents and surprise them with the "We're headed to the hospital!" message, which was a lot of fun. By the way, my hospital is 35-40 minutes away, and that was both the shortest and the longest trip I have ever made.

We checked into the hospital at 8 p.m. and got set up in our room with our labor and delivery nurse, Deb. Our timing was perfect, because she had just come on shift, so we got to keep her the entire time. Deb was a huge blessing to us--she was calm, efficient, and has a 6 month old little girl, so I asked her about everything. Her advice and calming manner made the difference between a decent experience and a great experience. Thanks Deb! Also, my doctor was wonderful. Dr. Inge is my primary Ob/Gyn (he has seen us through our desire/attempts to get pregnant), and he was on call that weekend. That night I was his only patient (though he had four ladies have babies on Sunday), and his bedside manner was both reassuring and relaxing. He is a joker, a cut-up, and he managed to balance jokes with very professional bedside manners. Thanks to him as well.

By the time we checked into the hospital, my contractions were 2 1/2-3 minutes apart, and my back was killing me, so an epidural was not up for debate. The epidural took SO well that I had a hard time pushing when that time came! We had a brief scare when we thought they were going to have to perform a C-section. My blood pressure had dropped significantly, as had Georgia's heartrate. I remember thinking that I was having a hard time breathing, and that something didn't feel right, when suddenly there were additional nurses in the room prepping me, putting scrubs on my husband, unplugging machines, and talking C-section. The doctor decided to wait for just a minute, and Georgia's heart rate picked back up. The scare was past!

Georgia entered the world at 4:18 a.m. on Saturday, after about two hours of pushing and some extra help from the doctor. I truly felt no pain--as Nathan pointed out, I was grinning and giddy when she was born! Nathan got to hold Georgia first while I was being taken care of, and he thought that was the coolest thing. From the very beginning she has been a delightful baby. The story of her birth is just the beginning of Georgia's life story, a story that we hope will continually give honor and glory to her Creator and our Savior.