IT'S A GIRL!

Here's a quick summary of our sudden turn of events. Our due date for our forthcoming new bub was Wednesday, 6 February. However, at around 5 AM this Sunday, 3 February 2008, Liesl began feeling a few uncomfortable spells (not quite really contractions). Then, at just barely before 6 AM, Daddy woke up like a rocket upon hearing Mom's first real moans of a serious contraction hit (her first). This was it! It was time! But wait, no, Mom said it was too soon and Daddy should relax and take a shower, which he did, while Mom called up our good friend Melissa to come over and watch the kids. At around 6:25 AM Melissa arrived. Mommy was emptying the dishwasher while Daddy and Melissa helped, just to get Mommy moving along towards the door, even though Mom was confident it was too early considering contractions were at least 10-20 minutes apart and irregular. Upon exiting the front door Mommy had another bad contraction. Enroute we stopped off the shoulder of a road for another quick contraction, followed by another quickie at the hospital entrance (Alice Springs hospital is a max of 5 minutes away by car). In the elevator Mommy had another bad contraction and the mid-wives heard the screams, to which they came running while Daddy held the "STAY OPEN ELEVATOR" button down for dear life. It was now about 6:44 AM when we entered the room and after one more contraction Liesl managed to get up on all fours on the bed. She begged for drugs, but the mid-wives indicated it was too late for everything but noxious oxide (laughing gas), however Liesl tends to just vomit that kind of thing up, so she was on her own. A good 3 (maybe 4) good pushes later and the babe was welcomed into the world (about 6:57 AM, but we're just saying 7:00 AM)!! One hour from when Daddy woke up to baby being born! Whew! What a trooper Mom! The first thing Mom wanted to know before absolutely anything else was, "Is it a boy or a girl?!" Well, after moving around at all angles (the babe's legs were together) and getting a view around the mid-wives, Dad got a slight glimpse and announced, "It's a GIRL!" And thus was welcomed Elora Lee into the world. Mom and babe are doing great and staying at the hospital for a bit (primarily for rest from Elora's siblings). Speaking of which, Logan and Delenn were able to see their new baby sister at about 1:00 PM that afternoon. They were quite excited and very gentle and soothing to the babe, providing her with numerous unrequested kisses and special cards made at Melissa's house earlier in the day.

So here are the stats:
Name: Elora Lee
Length: 51 cm (20.078 inches)
Head circumference: 32.5 cm (12.795 inches)
Weight: 3.720 kg (8.3 lbs)
Date/Time born: 3 February, 2008, 7:00 AM
Blood Type: O negative

YAY!