Stevie’s Birth Story

It still amazes me that she is here! If you’ve been here a little while, you know that we have been praying for this little girl and the past few years have been challenging in our journey to her. 

Stevie was to be born via scheduled C section, much before her due date. I had a vaginal delivery with our first (with epidural), an emergency C section with our second (after natural labor & he was nearly 10 pounds) and a scheduled C section for our third. A couple days before Stevie’s scheduled date, I started having some signs that maybe she was going to arrive early. Mamas know!

Around 2:30 am I woke to a contraction and was able to fall back asleep for an hour but at 3:30 am I was up with some pretty good contractions and quickly downloaded a labor app to track how close they were. By 5:30 am I was sure that I was in active labor. The contractions were not super close so I waited to wake Chris up so he’d be fresh at the hospital. I called my doctor and he said to come on in!

I texted my parents (they were in the guest room) and asked told them we were about to leave. They were so excited!!

We started the hour long drive to the hospital around 8 am and OMG the contractions were sometimes only a minute apart. Chris was going to drop me off at the door but I said he could park and we’d walk in together but as soon as he parked, my water broke! Luckily, I had “prepared” my seat and asked him to drive me to the doorway at that point!

I walked in an not a second sooner, another contraction came so I used this big trash can to lean against while I waited for it to pass. It was a cold, January morning and I had managed to get half of my jacket on before the contraction started so the other sleeve was inside out and hanging there. The sweetest, very pregnant woman came up to me and asked, “May I help you?” Me, being someone who always says no to this question, is someone who always says yes when I’m pregnant. She put on my jacket for me and it was the most endearing thing. I thanked her through breathes and headed to the restroom. Chris met me moments later and we headed to labor and delivery.

After I checked into the room, The nurse was looking at me funny and asked why I was having a c section. I’m guessing because I had been in labor through the morning and things were really moving at this point. We heard her tell the staff outside our door that they better send someone to get me soon! Of course at this point I’m thinking, “Should I try to push this baby out?” PS I waited to come to the hospital until morning because I wanted to have our baby during “business hours.” I know that hospitals are 24 hour places and this might sound strange but this is me.

Minutes later they had me in the OR and everything went so smoothly. Once they actually start a C section, the baby is out in minutes. My doctor is the best. He took care of my through our third baby’s birth as well as 2 D&Cs. I have felt so taken care of by him!

When he showed us, Stevie, I gasped and covered my mouth. Tears. Relief, amazement, gratitude and so much love.

Here she was. Stevie.

This amazing OR nurse made a bow hat for Stevie and it was the kindest thing. She was so upbeat and cared for us in the post-op/recovery room. Her excitement for us was palpable and I thought, wow, what an amazing person for this job. She is incredible.

Chris and I stayed at the hospital for 2 nights where we watched Frazier on the iPad and enjoyed the great hospital food! I always crave cottage cheese and fruit after I have a baby and this time was no different! Stevie hardly slept so we didn’t sleep much either!

Meanwhile, at home, my parents took the kids to Target and had a really nice time. We were so lucky to have them here! My dad recently retired so they had the flexibility to do this! Their help was truly the reason we were able to transition so smoothly from the delivery to those first days at home as a family of 6.

Thank you for sharing in our joy!