We are proud and excited to announce the birth of Noah Lee Hartter! He was born June 15 at 10:21 p.m. and came in at a whopping 8 lbs 9 oz and 20.5 inches long with a full head of dark hair. We feel so blessed to be Noah’s parents and can’t wait to introduce him to our friends and family around the world who share in our joy.
Noah all cleaned up and waiting to be reunited with Mom.
Noah joins many uncles, great uncles and boy cousins (on Dave’s side) in continuing on the Hartter tradition of boys. Our sweet niece AnaLeah remains the only granddaughter on Dave’s side so I will have to indulge my thoughts of tutus and leggins with her! Noah is the first grandchild on my side of the family and I know his grandparents and uncles look forward to having a little one in the family.
What’s in a name?
I am sure it is no surprise to our family that we picked Lee as Noah’s middle name. Both Dave and I have Lee as our middle name and it is a family name on both sides.
Noah is a name I have always loved. As we approached our due date, we were locked solid on our girls name, but were wavering just a bit on Noah. While we both loved the name, but were worried it was becoming too popular and there would be 15 other Noah’s in his 2nd grade class. In the end we chose it, not just because we loved it, but also for its meaning of “rest, peace or comfort,” the story of Noah’s Ark and it went great with Lee. Dave and I wonder how many Noah’s Ark books we will be “flooded” with over the years. 🙂
A Dramatic Entry
I had a very easy pregnancy, but Noah decided to turn up the drama the last week. I had been having painful, sporadic contractions at home for about a week when they finally got closer together on June 15. We went to the hospital, got checked in, and they ordered my epidural right away. After meeting with the anesthesiologist, my blood work needed to be redone because of a low platelet count which would not have allowed me to get an epidural. I nearly lost it at the thought of having to deliver without the pain meds, as my contractions were already close and painful. I’ve never prayed for something so hard in my life… to allow the epidural. Luckily the anesthesiologist gave the thumbs up after my 2nd round of blood work. Phew!
I got the epidural and rested comfortably for about a hour. All of a sudden several nurses came in and got me to change positions in the bed and turned up my oxygen. The baby was not responding well to my contractions. Then the doctor came in and said we needed to get him out NOW! It was a very scary time, but of course we agreed. Through tears and panic, I explained that the epidural was still only working on one side.
The team of doctors and nurses got me into the OR (while Dave suited up in his OR jumpsuit and mask) and explained that they were going to give me local anesthetic where they needed to make the incision since the epidural did not fully take, but if that didn’t work, they’d need to put me under general anesthesia. That would have meant me sleeping through the birth and Dave not being able to be there. I can’t really sugar coat the fact that I could feel some of the surgery or that I was in panic-mode crying the whole time. But the minute we heard Noah’s cry and “it’s a boy,” that was all forgotten. Another common phrase from “the other side of the sheet” was “wow he is big” and “he has a ton of hair” and more comments about how people Dave and I’s size had produced such a big baby!
Meeting Noah for the first time.
First picture of our new family of three.
The first few days of recovering were tough, but Noah is doing awesome and were are figuring out our new life as a family of 3 (plus Greylock). We are so thankful for the support of friends and family and for the incredible care we received from the doctors and nurses at the hospital. Throughout the craziness of Noah’s birth, I realized the importance of the hospital staff and how much their kindness makes a tough situation easier.
Our family blog 