I was due on Sunday, December 20th. And just like it did with Rafe, her due date came and went. No contractions, no pain, nothing to make me think I would be having this sweet baby any time soon. My doctor had mentioned possibly putting me in the hospital the week before for an induction, but after my visit on the 14th he realized my body was just not ready and it would be best for me and Stella Ross if I waited. (didn't want another two day induction like I did with Rafe) So, when I went for my weekly visit on the 21st we all just knew I would be dilated, having contractions, something to make him admit me. Oh no, of course not. Nothing had changed in a week so once again we agreed to let nature take its course. Of course I was a little disappointed in this decision. I was so ready to meet my daughter and I wanted to make sure I would be home on Christmas day for Rafe. Needless to say we went about our week as if I wasn't pregnant. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday came. Nothing happened. Then during the night on Wednesday I woke up to some "mild pains." I woke Cory up and told him I "might" be having contractions. Since I didn't go into labor with Rafe I didn't really know what it felt like. Of course Cory started to panic for many reasons. Unfortunately he was on call starting that day (Christmas Eve) for the rest of the weekend. What to do? Does he go in to work? Do we start getting ready to go to the hospital? I started timing the contractions, but they were so sporadic. We both agreed this could go on all day. Maybe I wasn't really having contractions. Cory decided to go in to work really early so he could be home in the early afternoon. I remained in denial that I might actually be in labor. We treated the day like any other Christmas Eve. Rafe and I went with Gram to IHOP for breakfast, Rafe and I made cupcakes for Santa and we got everything ready to go to Nana and Papa's that evening. As the day went on my "contractions" were becoming a lot stronger and closer together, but again, I was in denial. Around 6:00 that evening we went to Cory's parents for our family get-together and after trying to eat and greet everyone with a smile I decided to leave a little early to "rest" before Cory and Rafe came home. This is when Cory knew something was definitely happening. I never leave a party early!! At 9:00 p.m. Rafe and Cory come home and we get the reindeer food ready, put out Santa's cupcakes and read "The Night Before Christmas." By this time it is 10:00 and the contractions are now coming about every 5 minutes. (I decided to start timing them without telling Cory. Again I still think I am in false labor!) At 10:45 Cory has had enough and wants to just go to the hospital to get checked since Christmas was tomorrow. We totally thought we would be headed right back home, but we took our bags with us anyway. My parents came to sit with Rafe and we headed out. After checking in to the hospital around 11:30 my contractions were becoming almost unbearable but I continued to think that this would be like Rafe's delivery, another LONG night and day. The nurses checked me and assured me that I would be staying (I was dilated to about a 3, but the baby had still not dropped). They decided to go ahead and call for my epidural because by the time they asked me the 100 questions they had to she said she could easily make me a 4! Then she said we could sleep all night because the baby was not ready and would probably be born sometime the next morning. Around 12:15 I became extremely nauseated. Just when I thought I was going to be sick my water broke. Everything after that happened SO fast. (luckily my mom did not leave like I tried to get her to!) All I remember is Cory running down the hall to get the nurse and when she came to check me she said, "Honey, whatever you do DO NOT PUSH! Your baby is RIGHT HERE!" What?? No epidural??!! To make matters worse the doctor was still at home. Well, when someone tells you not to push, you automatically have to push. I was trying my hardest not to with Cory screaming in my ear, "Don't push" when we saw the doctor running in putting her scrubs on as fast as she could. The rest is history. Two pushes later my Christmas miracle was born. I would not have had it any other way. To say I had two deliveries that were completely opposite would be an understatement. Stella Ross made her debut at 12:47 a.m. on Christmas morning. An hour and a half after checking in to the hospital.
I could hardly wait for the next morning when big brother, Rafe would come to meet his sister for the first time. I was so emotional when he walked in. This is something everyone had waited on for such a long time. Rafe was so excited about his sister that he never asked about Santa, never even mentioned that it was Christmas day. As it turned out we were discharged from the hospital later on that afternoon, so Rafe did get to see what Santa brought him. We were there for a total of 15 hours. What a wonderful Christmas! Could it get any better than this?
