Halle Morgan Rich

Well, by the absence of posts, you can guess that our little girl is here. It all started Wednesday, the 20th. I worked all day and felt tired and a little achy but otherwise felt fine. Around nine o'clock that night, I started having random contractions and still felt a little achy. So, I went and took a shower and laid down. The contractions, at that time, were every 8-12 minutes. I got up and called the hospital. That phone call was the first time that Aaron had heard that I was having contractions that day (I just didn't want to cry wolf). They told me that they usually don't have women come in until their contractions are every 5 minutes. I went and laid back down. Then, I had two more contractions, and told Aaron that they were too painful not to be the real thing. We got Avery and my bags ready and, by that time, my contractions were every 2-3 minutes. It was hard not to cry, but Avery was concerned and kept asking is "mommy sad?" So I held it in. I guess I yelled at Aaron once to go faster. He was already driving really fast with the hazard lights on, but he did what he could. We arrived at the hospital and went up to L & D at about 11:45pm. Here is a picture, in-between contractions, as I was getting changed. They checked me right after that and I was dialated to a 7. I always thought that if I were close to a 10 I would go natural. But no way! That is the most pain that I have ever been in. I kept telling Aaron that I couldn't do it without an epidural. At midnight, the doctor gave me the epidural; I was dialated to a 9. And, my water broke while I was getting it. Not exactly like I had hoped. My OB arrived a few minutes later. He said that he too drove with his hazard lights on and flew. He let me wait a minute or two for the epidural to work. But, it only numbed my left side. I could still feel a lot on the right side, but the relief was still very welcome. Our little Halle Morgan Rich was born at 12:12 am. She weighed 8 lbs 7.5 ounces and was 21 inches long. We couldn't believe how big she was. As soon as she was born, the nurses took her because she was having difficulty breathing.

Later, they moved her into the NICU. The nurses thought that they might have to intubate her-but luckily they didn't have too. Otherwise, we still might be in the NICU. Halle was really sick for a day and a half, but then got better quickly. The doctors think that she must have aspirated some of amniotic fluid. She still had to stay a couple of days for the antibiotics and was also under the bili lights for the jaundice she has.

I didn't get to hold her until 4 pm. the next day.

Here is her little home in the corner of the NICU.

Here is big sister coming to visit me in the hospital. It was hard being separted from Avery and Aaron. Aaron started feeling sick the night she was born. He stayed home most of the time because he didn't want to risk getting us sick. He would stop by every so often wearing a mask. But while at home, he worked on the basement and I was completly shocked when I came home and saw how much he had finished. He is so talented.

Here we are on Sunday getting ready to go home. Sorry the picture is so blurry, but I thought it described how we all felt-excited.
Avery was so excited to meet her little sister. She couldn't wait to hold her. She is such a big help. She wanted to brush her hair and cover her with a blanket.

We are so happy to have our new little addition to our family. She is doing very well. We will take her back to the Doctor tomorrow-just to see how she is doing. Thank you so much for all of your calls, prayers, treats and thoughtfulness. We are so grateful to all of the wonderful Nurses and Doctors that worked with us. We love you all.