Baby Nor Nor

No the baby's name is not Nor Nor, it's her nickname given by the kiddos. Her name is Eleanor. So I guess I should write her birth story. Here we go.

First I should start in November since that's when this pregnancy got interesting. After all the fun with family adventuring in Florida and Thanksgiving, the night before Weston had to drop off his parents to the airport I started to bleed. I was in the bathroom, looked down and first thought was "hmmmm, that can't be good." It actually wasn't a lot at first but it got worse so we went to the hospital and I was contracting every 2-3 minutes BUT it wasn't preterm labor. I had a placental abruption. So after few days of observations and a cancelled flight I got to go home. Gramma and Grampa stayed until they knew when I would be discharged and that everything was okay. Then Lolo (means Grandpa in Tagalog) came to help around the house when I came home and Gramma and Grampa left. It was perfect because it all happened that same day so it was a smooth transition. Lolo stayed about a week and after my follow up appointment he left because I got the green light for normal activity with the obvious precautionary things like don't carry heavy loads like my kids and no, you know.  So this was during November and December uneventful pregnancy wise, but January was proven to be much more interesting. Stephen and Deneka offered to come and stay with me and the kids while Weston was in Washington doing a rotation where Cameron works. Everything was going great. A little over two weeks I decided to be cautious and called the triage nurse, because I had a couple of concerns that I thought warranted a doctor's visit. Poor Madeline came with me and heard that I needed to go to the hospital because I was in preterm labor and 2 cm dilated. When I went to talk to Mads she was teary-eyed with worry and wanted to come with me. She's so sweet but it was best to bring her home. I dropped her off at home and grabbed the essentials; laptop, phone, ipad, a couple of books and the chargers for the electronics. I drove myself and went through the hospital valet. Told him I was in labor and he asked if I would like to be in a wheelchair. I declined, said I was okay and that I would just walk. After saying that I think he was a little bit skeptical about my labor comment. I went up to the L&D floor told them I was in  preterm labor but of course I didn't look like I was in pain so I was sent to the waiting room until a nurse came and got me. Waited a while but when I finally got into a room and hooked up to the monitors I was having contractions every 3-4 minutes. I was back on the magnesium sulfate and other lovely drugs, got my steroid shots for Baby Nori's lungs and was able to prolong deliver for 5 days. They thought I was in the clear and got transferred to the high risk floor, but I didn't last even 24 hours before I had to go back to the L&D floor and had baby Nori. Thank goodness Deneka could at least be there for the delivery. She was there as a support and Ipad holder so Weston could "be there" for the delivery, via facetime, as well.

Within those 5 days at the hospital I got a blessing from Stephen and a friend, Austin. It had brought me strength, peace, and acceptance to God's will and plan for me. When I had relented control over something I had no control over anyway, I was able to be calm and feel that God was aware of me and my fears. I felt His love and a reassurance that everything would be okay. As things continue to unfold after her birth it was clear that He had the bigger picture that I couldn't have known or the doctors. He also knows how to reach out to me through family and friends and I couldn't have done it without support and love shown to me. I also had the best nurses and doctors that were compassionate, funny, and very patient.