" She was born 5:17pm, Monday, 16 January 2012; 7 lbs; 14 oz; 19.5"
NAME STORY
The
Millers are delighted to announce the birth of their daughter "Dorothy Ann.
" She was born 5:17pm, Monday, 16 January 2012; 7 lbs; 14 oz; 19.5"
NAME STORY
Alan and the children (Aliana, Brice, and Coewithe) spent six weeks in Iowa this summer and visited Alan’s father Wilmer at the nursing facility every day. Before he passed away we asked Wilmer if there were any names he'd like us to consider for our upcoming baby. With no hesitation and with an unusually strong voice (considering he could barely speak at all) he said "Dorothy"-- as if he had been anticipating this opportunity. Wilmer’s mother's name was Dorothy, and his grandmother and great grandmother were both named Dorothea, so we have a long family history with the name. And "Ann" is Amanda's mother's name, and Amanda's father's mother was Anne. Dorothy Ann Miller was born January 16th, 2012.
BIRTH STORY
Amanda is apparently not good at estimating timing! On Monday morning, Amanda was still thinking that Dorothy wouldn't be born till the next weekend, so Alan took the kids to the San Francisco Zoo for the holiday. Around 12:30, Amanda noticed that she had her first "real" contraction. With Aliana, though, that phase lasted for days, so Amanda still wasn't worried. After tracking things for a couple of hours, Amanda became convinced that the contractions weren't going away, so she emailed Alan to let him know, and called the doctor. Alan asked, "Shouldn’t I rush home?", but Amanda said that there wasn't any need -- she would see the doctor at 4pm, and they would know more then.
When Amanda made it to the doctor's office, they
discovered that she was already 8 cm dilated -- time to head to the hospital!
At 4:45, Amanda got to the hospital room and the nurses began their lengthy
check-in process (asking all sorts of questions that she'd already answered on
the pre-admittance paperwork -- oh well). At around 5, after they finally
finished, Amanda got into the shower (the heat is great). A few minutes later,
Amanda stepped out of the shower and emailed Alan "feels like things are moving
fast - maybe an hour?" The nurse was with another patient, so Amanda got back
in the shower. At 5:15, Amanda's water broke with a gush and Dorothy’s head
popped out! Amanda yelled "Help! Help!" and pulled the emergency cord in the
shower. Meanwhile Dorothy came right on out -- Amanda caught her, but she was
really slippery! The doctor and about 6 nurses burst into the room to find
Amanda stepping out of the bathroom cradling Dorothy in her arms...
Amanda's key thought for the day: "I'm *so* glad I didn't drop
the baby!"
Alan's key thought for the day: "The delivery process is so much easier when you don’t even know it is happening!"