Aliza Grace
Arrived today!
Sara and Scott welcomed Aliza Grace today (August 28th) at 6:26 pm.
Aliza is beautiful! 6lbs 4oz and 19 inches long. Hooray for the full moon!
Sara is doing amazing! It was a super quick labor and delivery. Sara started having mild contractions around 12:30 pm but wasn’t sure they were real. She then started having real, consistent contractions at 3:30 pm (while at work–babysitting). I brought Sara over to my house and tried to help her get as comfortable as possible. I was timing her contractions and the time between them–using 2 separate timers– one on each wrist! At around 4:00 we called Sara’s midwife to let her know that Sara had begun having pretty consistent contractions. The midwife wasn’t too concerned because Sara sounded so perky on the phone. The midwife told Sara she’d check in with her around 6pm.
Meanwhile, Scott was at the doctor’s office trying to get a metal sliver taken out of his eye and wasn’t able to make it over to my house until a few minutes after 5pm. Shortly after Scott got here it was agreed that we should give Ann (the midwife) a call. She decided to come to my house to check Sara. She was planning on doing the exam here and knowing that there could be some possible water-breaking I scrambled to prepare my bed– just in case. I ran downstairs and urgently asked Cam, “Do we have anything waterproof we could put on the bed?! Just answer yes or no!” Cam replied, “Hmm, what about those vinyl table cloths we use camping?” I said, “Sounds great go get them quick!”
When Ann checked Sara she was 8cm and it was time to head to the birthing center (no water-breaking). We (Sara, Scott, Ann and I) arrived at the birthing center at around 5:50pm. It was fast and furious after that! From the waiting room I heard one final push/yell (sounded SO painful I couldn’t help but cry), immediately followed by Sara exclaiming,”She is the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen!” 6:26 was the recored time of birth– but according to my cell phone– the first cry I heard was at 6:23pm. Sara and Scott spent the next hour or so alone with Aliza before inviting us all (all 13 of us) into the room.
You would have never known Sara had given birth only an hour before. She looked beautiful and SO happy. Scott looked awestruck by both of his girls. Aliza was very alert and responsive to each and every family member who held her. That baby is already so very loved.
One of my favorite moments was watching Sean and Caleb sitting on the bed with Sara staring at Aliza. I saw such a sweet, adoring yet curious look on Caleb’s face. He kept touching her head and hand, almost as if he wanted to make sure she was real. One of my other favorite moments was when I went outside to help Scott get the carseat base secured. We had just finished getting it situated and looked over to see Holly and Shane walking into the parking lot! I’m so glad that they could make it up to meet Aliza tonight and thanks to everyone who facilitated their trip up here (borrowed cars, given rides, etc.) . It had felt so weird that Holly had not been there earlier in the evening. We always do these big things all together!
It was such a blessing to be part of this amazing experience. Scott and Sara did a great job! I am so proud of them both! I will never forget how special this day was!
We are so excited and hope to have lots more pictures soon.
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