These baby days...

"Enjoy every minute" they say...
"It goes so fast" they say...

It's been three years now since I got pregnant with Quinner. It has gone fast. I have enjoyed all the minutes.

I am constantly reminded that all too soon these babies of mine will be grown. I know it's going to happen. I know it will be good. When that day comes, please remind me if I wonder: We loved them well. We changed those diapers. We fed them at least a few times a day. We played patty-cake and ring around the rosy ad nauseam. And we laughed a lot. There were early mornings and long days and frustrating moments, but if I ever start to feel regret, please just stop me. Somebody remind me that I did these days well. I held my babies close. I watched their little bodies sleep. I breastfed and breastfed and breastfed. I played and I danced and I tickled. These are good days, these baby days. And to all the old ladies that will stop me: "Yes, I know I am blessed. I am enjoying every minute."

Becoming Stacy's Mom

Giving birth is often characterized as a marathon, and my first labor and delivery almost two years ago definitely fit that description. We eagerly awaited the starting line and then gleefully breezed through the first few miles before buckling down for over six hours of active and hard unmedicated labor. Well, if Quin's birth was a marathon, Stacy's could better be described as an liesurely morning stroll followed by an all-out sprint, after which I was suddenly handed a shiny medal for finishing the race!

My contractions started coming on regularly at 4:30 am on Sunday morning, but for the first few hours I just slept between contractions. I'd been having strong contractions every little while for a week, so I didn't really take these ones too seriously. At about 7:30 I got up and took a shower, then laid down again and went back to sleep. When Quin woke up an hour later, we all got up for breakfast and to get ready for church. While my contractions were relatively strong, they were still mostly ten to fifteen minutes apart, and I figured I could probably sit through Sunday School and church without being too much of a distraction.

However, Aaron, in his wisdom, suggested that we skip Sunday School, since we had a long day of church activities planned, and take our time to get ready for church. At this point we decided to call Aaron's parents (who were planning to head out of town after our weekend of graduation celebrations) and let them know that they might want to stick around for a few hours just to see what happened. While we waited for them to come down from their hotel, I went and laid down for another little rest time sleeping between contractions.

By 11:00, I was ready to either get on with our day or get this baby moving, so when Aaron's parents arrived, Quin, Aaron and I went out for a walk. We didn't make it very far, since walking down the street my contractions started coming every two minutes or so! At this point, I started to think she might actually be on her way.

So we texted my brothers and called our friend Kimberly to ask her to come by after church and hang out with Quin. I sat him down to explain what was happening, and he looked at me with wide eyes and said "Contractions!" It was amazing to see how much he seemed to be understanding as he waited for his little sister. Kimberly arrived at our house shortly after noon and we took off to the hospital. I kept telling Aaron, "I hope they let us stay this time..." remembering being sent home once with Quin and then being told to walk for hours before actually being admitted for his birth.

When we got to the hospital I told the nurse that I believed I was in labor. My contractions were still quite bearable and coming every five to seven minutes, so imagine our surprise when she told us I was already at a NINE! I guess those contractions all week long had actually been doing something!

We were rushed over to the delivery room, where I had to sign lots of papers, get my hep lock put in, have my blood pressure taken, and get hooked up to monitors. Of course, once I heard how close I was to the finish line, I figured it was time to have this baby! With each contraction I just bore down and willed that last centimeter away.

Our midwife was off on Sunday, so we had a wonderful OB who was to deliver Stacy. Even if Kari had been available, I'm not sure she would have made it in time! Stacy was born about 45 minutes after we arrived at the hospital.

In those 45 minutes, though, I'm pretty sure I experienced all the pain that I went through in the six hours we were at the hospital with Quin, it was just all at once! After a few intense contractions (one of which felt like my back was literally breaking down the middle), I asked my nurse, "When does the doctor come? I'm ready to be done now..." She left to get the doctor, but on the next contraction I told the neonatal nurse, "Ok, I can feel the burning of her head now, I'm ready to push so the doctor better come soon." In a flurry they pulled the bed apart, set up all the stuff needed for the delivery, and the doctor walked in and threw on her gown. My water hadn't broken yet, so the doctor asked my permission to break the bag of waters. I'm pretty sure my response was, "Yes, please, I'm ready to get her out!" Moments later (after five hard pushes) Stacy literally popped out! She was tiny but strong from the beginning, and once she was out I experienced literally no pain or strange shaking like I remember from my first birth! Of course I delivered the afterbirth and had to have one tiny stitch, but even the part where they pushed on my tummy didn't hurt at all!

Aaron was by my side the whole time (although he was also in charge of communicating with everyone - which he hardly had time to do)! I vaguely remember him praying over me in the moments before she was born. He cut the cord and we both got to hold her for the first two hours of "recovery" time in the delivery room. She even nursed a bit in the delivery room, and then had a bath and got her vitals all checked. After two hours I informed the nurses that I felt fully recovered, so they took us over to the neonatal wing where we were when Quin woke up from his nap and came to meet his little sister. She had special family time for most of the afternoon, and it was so incredible for Aaron's parents to get to be here for all of it (although they didn't make it to the actual delivery since it all happened so fast)! We spent one night in the hospital and now we are home enjoying our precious little girl!

It's still hard to believe how beautifully she came into this world, and I have to keep reminding myself that she's not going to be born on June 1st because she's already here! It was so clearly God's timing for her to be born two days after Aaron's graduation while his parents were still in town, but I feel a little like I'm still catching up emotionally with all the events of the past week. Quin, of course, is thrilled, and doesn't seem to be a bit jealous of her yet. Aaron has started his new job, and we are settling in to life with our girl and looking forward to some more excitement with the visits of my parents, other family, and then hopefully buying our house sometime soon! We are excited to see what life brings us with our Stacy Rose, and we are so incredibly thankful for her beautiful, healthy, and  incredibly timely birth!

Anastasia Rose Woodard
May 17, 2015 1:11 pm
6 lbs 7.6 oz, 19.5 in