Norah's Birth Story | the introduction

So indeed, Alison started her contractions at about 6am, that Thursday morning.  I had just closed the lights and slid into bed when she and Ryan bursted into the room, calmly getting ready to go to the hospital.  I hopped out of bed and ran around the condo gathering up necessities for Alison all while brushing my teeth and getting ready myself and dodging Alison while she endured her contractions.

We drove over to the hospital down the street, but it seemed like we were hitting every stop light.  Alison continued to feel consistent contractions during the entire ride.  It was then that I began to realize how much I hated to see her endure through the pain.  And remembered how much I feared labor.  I have a very low tolerance of pain, and even though I know I'd love to be pregnant, giving birth was a very scary thing.

Alison was admitted to the labor and delivery wing at about 8:30am where she continued to endure her contractions.  Ryan and I were there to hold her hands during each set of contractions, all while Alison focused on little Norah's sonogram for strength.  Alison did an amazing job getting through each set of contractions, but I hated to see her in pain.  I felt like crying knowing that there was nothing I could do to pacify it, so instead I concentrated on doing everything I could help.... from getting the water, to emailing family, to getting more blankets.

After Alison got her epidural, we waited for the baby to come!  Ryan and Alison were both in good spirits, checking email and updating facebook statuses.  It was about two hours after the epidural when it was finally time to push!

To be continued!

Check out the all the posts from my niece's birth story series: preface // introduction // climax // conclusion