our "1 & 'O' n.a. ly" is here!

Ona Lea has made her way into the world and what an entrance she made!

You may or may not have known that Ona was a week overdue as of Thursday, August 4^th.  Due to this, our doctor recommended that she be induced.  Kerry and I were totally hoping to avoid this, but scheduled our induction for 6PM on Thursday evening.  Well, 5PM Thursday evening rolled around and what else to do, but to grab some ice cream before heading to the hospital?  We snagged some ice cream, but received a call saying that the hospital had four emergency c-sections and was understaffed.  To make a long story shorter, they said that hopefully they would call us to come in at 10PM for the induction.  Bummer, we were already pretty disappointed about having to be induced and then to have to wait the entire evening just seemed like another smack in the face birthing process.  Well, we spent the evening watching Wipeout and playing Sequence.  At 9PM we switched on the news and I grabbed my ice cream, which I decided to save after hearing about the pushback.  I do have to mention that I had had a few contractions throughout the day, but nothing that even evoked a grimace.  I don’t know if it was the combination of this week’s most wanted and my chocked.full.of.goodness chocolate blizzard, but all of a sudden I started having outrageous contractions.  Kerry swept me into the car exclaiming, “We have to leave right now!”  On the way we passed three car accidents, ten cop cars, an ambulance, and a fire truck.   Mind you, the hospital is a mere nine miles from our house.  Yea, it was nuts.   When we finally arrived, all the doors were locked except for the emergency room entrance.  Picture it:: a way pregnant woman crying like a little girl who succumbed to being pushed in a wheel chair into the emergency room lobby where she became the evening’s spectacle to seventy-five onlookers ::oh, hey there old gawking man:: as she waited in line to be escorted by a security guard to the labor and delivery floor.  Yea, again it was nuts.  Back to the shorter story, I was actually in labor, and no, induction was no longer needed.  Ona decided to come all on her own in a superdiduper fast manner.  Needless to say, a few glorious hours later ::thank you Captain Epidural, nurses who cracked jokes about ambiguous sundaes and joined in our O-N-A cheers:: Ona arrived at 7:44AM at 7lbs 4oz and 20inches long.  

Many people have asked us where we got the name Ona Lea.  Kerry and I first heard and loved the name Ona in a story of old that my grandma passed down to us.  My great grandpa’s half brother’s wife was named Ona.  Woah, that is a long association.  There is a family story that involved a lawsuit in which Ona and her husband, Willard (great-grandpa’s half brother), sued my great-grandpa for something astoundingly ridiculous.  Well, the suit was eventually thrown out, but as imagined, it caused quite a bit of family turmoil for many years.  Eventually the half brothers reconciled and Ona went down in the family history books as the sweetest, most hospitable woman.  Her and Willard rest today in their hometown of Chatham, IL.

Lea also happens to be a family name.  Ona continues the middle name legacy that started with a handful of men.  Ona Lea is named after:: Great-Grandpa Caldwell, Charles Lee. Grandpa Caldwell, Russell Lee.  Grandpa Steines, Gary Lee. Mom, Heather Lea.  She also shares a middle name with her cousin, Cassidy Lea.
Well there’s where Ona Lea is derived from.  Baby books and websites argue about the meaning and origin of Ona, but the general consensus is that it is of Hebrew origin and means grace.  Lea is of English origin and means meadow. 

Our little grace meadow certainly has captured our hearts and is the apple of our eye.  Thank you for all of your prayer, support, encouragement, and congratulations.  Overwhelmingly blessed doesn’t begin to describe how we feel to have Ona Lea and to have you all in our lives.
P.S. Did you catch the puzzle reveal in the title of the post?  Do you get it?  One and Only ... One and Ona Lea?  We're so sneaky!