When we arrived, my name was already on the big white board. An aide took us to the room, and said our nurse would be right in. The minutes ticked by in the half-lit room and it began to dawn on us that we might have been forgotten. Jeff went to the desk and, within seconds, our room was buzzing. A few minutes later, Dr. B came in, checked me and said that Nora literally would have been born in the car if I had sneezed on the way to the hospital. They immediately started an epidural, and Dr. B said I should expect a baby in less than half and hour.
Dr. B's shift ended a few minutes later, and Dr. Fisk came on duty. About fifteen minutes after the shift change, he walked into our room. Except for minor interruptions for contractions, we had a nice chat--for about five minutes. At that point, Dr. Fisk casually asked the labor and delivery nurse what Dr. B had estimated as a delivery time. She calmly answered, "He said 30 minutes," checked her watch, and added, "That was about 40 minutes ago." What happened next can only be fully appreciated by my friends who know Dr. Fisk. Let me just say that he's a former army doctor, and absolutely no-nonsense. I'm pretty sure he levitated as he flew across the room for gloves . . . and I know the nurse did when he yelled that the baby's head was out and needed to be suctioned. All's well that ends well, and two days later we took home our beautiful first daughter. (Just to be clear--Dr. Fisk is an outstanding doc! Most recently, he delivered our little Patrick--but with a much longer wait.)
I remember that night like it was yesterday, but it was (literally) a lifetime ago. I can't imagine what it would have been like to have had the next four babies without Nora. She's doted on all of them--from shuttling diapers for David, to shuttling Patrick himself. Nora is an AWESOME sister. There are so many times that she's put her little brothers and sister before herself. Even today, when we were shopping with her birthday gift card from Grandma, I had to stop her from spending the entire thing on a Halloween book that Lucy wanted.
Tonight, we are celebrating with a "Girl Party" in the family room. In our house, that means Mom, Nora and Lucy. The boys were all supposed to be on a camp out, but it was cancelled so folks could prepare for Hurricane Sandy. Nora kindly let the boys watch the first movie we rented, but we sent them to bed before "Twinkle Toes" (Lucy's choice) started. We painted toenails, ate cheese puffs, and assembled a Lego Friends house. There is really nothing sweeter than watching two sisters being friends. Now it's time for the "slumber" part of the party!
Good night Nora. Happy Birthday! Love, Mom
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