nova is here

Just checking in to say that, yes, Nova did finally come!  (13 days late - the day before we were scheduled to induce)  Her labor/delivery was something else.  I labored for 3 days off and on at home, living life, and running errands until contractions finally got close enough for us to head to the hospital.  We arrived around 9:30 p.m. on May 28th and I had her at 1:22 p.m. on May 29th.  Not counting my days of laboring before, that's about 16 hours of labor at the hospital - 14 hours of natural labor, 2 hours with an epidural, 20 minutes of pushing.

Obviously, the epidural was not in the plan since I had such a successful and amazing experience with birthing Duke naturally.  But when I stalled at a 9 for 3 hours, this labor quickly became something very different than Duke's.  Very different. 

Once all of my thoughts are gathered, I plan on sharing Nova's birth story.  Even though it didn't necessarily turn out exactly how I was hoping/praying it would, it was still beautiful.  It's a precious story because it's Nova's story.  We have a healthy baby and that is a wonderful thing.

She's just about 2 weeks old now and we are slowly but surely adjusting to life with an infant and toddler.  Of course, I have a million things to share and write down, but for now, I'll leave you with this ...

Nova Catherine Westbrook

Born on May 29th, 2014 at 1:22 p.m.

9 lbs.   21 1/2 in.