The Arrival of Miss Stella

December 23, 2016

The Arrival of Miss Stella

Well, this is my 4th child so of course this post is definitely delayed...and combined with her 1 month update! I'm so trying to keep up with this though because I LOVE looking back at Phil's ...I wish I would have done this with the other two...ah well!

So...little Miss Stella Rosalie! didn't make her debut until October 11th! Yep...3 days late...no baby of mine has ever been early! Needless to say I was more than ready...I felt like Rachel off of FRIENDS...miserable, mean and willing to do anything to get her out!

I think the worst this time was my sister and God love her but her and Jack were on edge every single time I made a noise or grimaced in pain (I mean come on braxton contractions are not the most comfortable- especially when they hit on your sciatic nerve). Jack would yell "call 911" when I would shout out in pain! He's a bit dramatic...I don't know where he gets it from!

So on my actual due date-October 8th (and OU/TX) we hung out. Jack and Jason actually had an away game in Edmond and I told him he couldn't go (I was so worried at how quickly Phil came that I didn't want to take that chance). We had an early morning game for Henry then watched the OU/Texas game and celebrated my MIL's birthday. Late that afternoon I did start having contractions- they were every 45 or so minutes apart and then got to about 30. They lasted all the way til 10 when I was in bed. I kept thinking it was going to happen so I was going to try and get some sleep. Then they just went away. That was it. Nothing.

Then nothing the next day. We even went to the Pumpkin Patch and had a nice family morning. Then some more started again later that afternoon and then again like the night before they just totally disappeared! SO frustrating. And each time this happened I just had Jason and Olivia staring at me. I would be in the middle of a contraction and I would look over and they would be just intently watching me. IT was a bit annoying I'll tell you.

So by Monday I had decided she wasn't coming for awhile. I had an appointment set up for Wednesday and Dr. Williamson said they would more or less strip (and try and get things moving for me), so I was just waiting on that.

Monday night comes and I started feeling them again, but wasn't counting on anything so I got in bed about 10. Jason quickly fell asleep but laying there I could feel them getting more intense and closer together, so about 11 I got out of bed. Olivia (my sister) and Mia (my cousin) had been upstairs watching a movie. They came down to find me sitting on the couch by myself. (Apparently Mia had told Olivia she needed to get out of here earlier before I went into labor- well apparently she didn't!). I was sitting on the couch with my trusty contraction timer. They come in and said "Why are you up?" to which I replied "Because I'm having contractions". SO, of course, Olivia asks me if this is really it. And not 2 minutes later my trust timer says "At this point you should probably be heading to the hospital". My contractions were about 7 minutes apart then. Yep, time to go! I'm not missing out on that epidural!

Okay so here's where I always find it gets humorous- when Jason gets involved. (rolling of the eyes here). So I go to wake him up and he's so soundly and deeply sleeping and I shake his arm and say "it's time to go the hospital", which he replies "how do you know?". I mean what? This is my 4th child and I'm pretty sure I know by now. Now I'm not in a complete panic quite yet about being there but a little bit. (some of you may not know but I had Phil naturally- not by choice I'll add- and I didn't want to have to do that again so I was very much worried about getting there in time for that wonderful epidural!).

We got dressed (though I wasn't happy with Jason's first choice and told him to change shirts- ha ha!) and then I'm ready to walk out the door! Well, Jason starts going through the pantry telling me he might want to get a little snack. At this point I kinda lost it on him because he had been poking around anyway. Then he starts rummaging in the cabinet looking for something. So apparently (and Mia & Olivia thought this was quite hysterical) I told him if he didn't get in the car and I missed my epidural I was going to "pinch his head off!" I mean I may or may not have said it.

Then! I get in the car and he starts rummaging through his dang car. I couldn't believe it. At this point I'm on the phone with my Dad and my Dad even offered to come over and get me. HE said he could get me there quicker than Jason anyway - ha ha! (even though none of this was funny at the time). I swear I was being tortured.

Finally! we arrived at St. John's at about midnight. And let me just tell you that it was a slow labor. I mean with Phillip I literally arrived at the hospital at about 7:30 and he was out by 11. Lil' Star just took her sweet time. I told my Mom that she would be out by 2 a.m. Nope. We got checked in and sorted and moved to our room ( I was only dilated to like a 3). So we sat and sat and then I got my epidural- thank the Lord! I was a-okay after that! (and anyone that has had a baby naturally knows what I"m talking about!)

Now remember that part earlier when I said Jason was looking for food. Well the nurse tells us that things are going really slow and that if we wanted to rest now was a good time. So I told Jason to leave and go get something to eat. He came back and I dozed in and out of sleep for a few hours. I mean she was in no hurry. 4 a.m. passed so did 6 a.m. and NOTHING. I mean I had texted all my cousins and besties and family and I still had no news to give them by 8 a.m.

Finally they came in and broke my water and it kinda helped but not as quickly as I thought. I'm telling you I laugh because Phillip was so much like his birth- fast and furious. So I'm guessing lil' Star will be like her birth- sweet and on her own lil' time!

Then family starts arriving- still no baby! So one of the nurses tells me they're going to use a peanut ball to induce labor. I was very confused especially when they brought it in. It literally looks like a peanut. Very odd. So by this time it's about 10:00 and no baby. My Dad is there, my sister, my sister-in-law, my mom and brother, my in-law's, my cousin..all there! So they scoot everyone out of the room and put the silly ball in between my legs. And that was it. I didn't do anything (I mean technically I couldn't- my legs were nice and numb) but lay there on my side with them in between my legs. I did that for about 10 minutes on one side then the other. Then all of a sudden the doctor comes in and says "where's your husband, we need to get him in here" and I was so confused but apparently the magic peanut ball had worked and I was ready to deliver! Of course Jason was down the hallway chatting so I had to send Olivia to get him. Olivia, Jason and my sis-in-law, Amy, were all in the room when I delivered her.

And it was FAST! The nurses all came in and prepped the room and we got ready and I literally pushed 3 times. That was it and lil' princess was out! I mean I cry every time with my babies and this was just as special- our lil' girl had finally entered this world! Sweet Stella! Ah we were so in love the minute we laid eyes on her. Giving birth and then having your lil' one put on your chest is one of the most amazing experiences. I just tear up thinking about it. There are so many emotions running through you- it's still even hard to write about- you're thinking about their arrival and how you've been anticipating this very moment. You examine every little inch of their little bodies and their little faces. You think of your relationship and their life and your life together and how truly blessed you really are. It's just a blessing. One of the greatest gifts that God gives us as women and I've been so fortunate to have this 4 times. (No more though!).

She was 6 lbs, 11 oz. and came at 11:09 a.m. Then the rest of the family joined in on meeting the lil' princess! This was definitely a different experience (I mean all of my babies have been). There were so many friends and family that it was really fun. I mean the last two babies it's just been Jason and I. Everyone is examining her and wanting to know who she looks like and what features she has that resemble the boys or us. It's all pretty amusing- and LOTS of pictures- of course!

Well, that's it. Stella and I were in the hospital for 48 hours ( though I didn't have a c-section I tested positive for the Group B so they had to monitor Stella). She dropped a bit of weight- she was 6'3 when we left the hospital. And honestly it wasn't because she didn't eat well- she took to breastfeeding really quickly- she just slept a TON! I'm pretty sure the labor wore her out as well!

And then we got to go home! To our family of 6! :)