Ava Grace Haislip

Of course she's beautiful! No, really. She is. She really, really is. Born at 6:11PM after a relatively short labor, she weighs 7 lbs and 11 ounces. She is 20 and a half inches long. We 3 grandparents stood with our ears to Noel's door, hoping to hear Ava's first cry. Most of the nurses who passed by us pretended we weren't there, but finally one of them told us we had to go back to the waiting room because "it's against hospital policy to have you listening to a delivery and besides, it's a fire hazard to have you in the halls". Um, hmm. Did we leave? Sure, and as soon as she disappeared we "ran" back. Finally the head nurse, who Doug called "Sergeant Carter", ran us off. After just another 30 minutes or so, we wandered back to the nurse's station in time for her to announce: "Your grandchild was just born. Give us 10 minutes to clean her up and you can go in." What a rush! 45 minutes later we did go in for hugs, kisses, laughter, congratulations, and many photo ops. The best photos will come later, but here are two from my cell phone. Noel is a natural and was enjoying dinner from P.F. Chang's when I left her. Her lovely little girl has been born into a world where she will be surrounded with love.