Alexandra Ilene Powell was born on November 21, 2007 at 12:50pm and was 6lbs, 12oz and 17.5 inches. She was named after her great-grandmothers, using the "A" from James' grandmother Adelina and after my grandmother Ilene.
As many of you have asked about the birth, here is the short version....
My water broke at 4:30am on Tuesday morning but by late afternoon I hadn't felt any contractions and our doctor sent us to the hospital to be induced. We had a fantastic nurse who helped us through the night and through the epidural and by the next day we were ready to go, the nurses estimated that I would be giving birth by the afternoon. Our doctor arrived to the hospital at noon to help another patient with a c-section, but her plans quickly changed when she came in to check on us first. Alexandra's heart rate was dropping with every push and suddenly her birth became very urgent. What we later learned, was her umbilical cord had been extremely short and with every push it was being pulled in different directions.
What happened over the next 40 minutes is still surreal to me. Within minutes, what started out as a few practice pushes quickly changed and suddenly our room was filled with NIC nurses and doctors and serious efforts were being made to get the baby out as soon as possible. We can't thank Dr. Huh enough for her actions and her ability to keep me focused. At literally the last possible second, we avoided an emergency c-section and Alexandra was born naturally and completely healthy.
Our stay in the hospital was not bad as far as hospital stays go. The food wasn't awful, they served a very edible Thanksgiving meal and on our last night, they wheeled in a special dinner served on a white linen tablecloth with sparkling cider.
We are now home and learning our way. We want to thank everyone for your kind emails and calls, we feel so lucky to have such great friends and family. We will be in touch soon, I promise.
