Akls = 1, Grumpy Ultrasound Technician = 0

Actually, the Akls have 3! Nola Bibi Akl entered the world at 8:37 pm on Saturday, July 25. She weighed in at a svelte 8 pounds 15 ounces, versus the 11 pound baby we had been anticipating -- thanks to our nemesis, the Grumpy Ultrasound Technician. Okay, from here on out, I promise to stop obsessing -- as we have someone much more important in our lives to obsess about now!

We knew that we just might be on the verge of the birth experience we had been anticipating for so many months, as my water broke in the middle of the night, at 1:15 am on Saturday morning, and we rushed to the hospital, full of the excitement of what was to come -- and Nick's specific excitement over the fact that he would now be able to use his i-phone application, i-contraction.

When we got to the hospital, we learned that the doctor on call only wanted for us to have a C-section as a final effort to deliver if, and only if, labor failed to progress -- and we didn't even have to refer to our Ultrasound Technician as grumpy for the doctor to be dismissive of his assessment.

After allowing labor to progress for seven hours (to lots of pain, accompanied by lots of puking), we finally got the epidural at 9 am, and everything from that point on started to look brighter. We figured we were close to the end of the labor part of things.

Anyhow, we were wrong. Twelve hours, multiple bags of I.V. fluids, and a few more puking sessions later, we were ready to endure the estimated two hours of pushing to meet our little baby. Very long story short (and this is to save Nick the embarrassment of mentioning that he nearly fainted), three pushes later, we became the proud parents of Nola Bibi Akl!

Here she is world! Don't you just love her?