Presenting... Stella Jolie Williams

Our Sweet Baby Girl is Here!!

Stella Jolie

July 5, 2011

11:20 am

6 lbs 15 oz

20 inches

The "story" : (the short version )

It was about 8:45pm, on July 4th, at the Worthington fireworks festival when it all began. :) Isn't that a nice start :) Eric, Ava, & I were out and about with our friends, the Seeds, walking around downtown Worthington with our children, enjoying some Independence day festivities. I had been contracting on and off all day (like usual) when, after a visit at Graeter's and a very large turtle sundae, we started walking back down the hill to our cars, when I felt a large GUSH of fluid fill my britches. I squealed, "Oooh crap, guys! I think my water just broke! Oh man, or maybe I peed myself?!? But it won't stop! And it's very warm!! Ahh!" I froze in the middle of the sidewalk, one hand holding myself and the other grabbing Jess' arm while also crossing my legs, (water still flowing!) and trying desperately to cover what felt like an ocean of wetness down my legs. I must've had THE MOST terrified look on my face, because my sweet friend Jess assured me that it does indeed feel like you've peed yourself! Ok, then! Well, now what!? (The labor & delivery nurse in me left the building at. that. moment! I felt clueless despite seeing this stuff almost everyday:) We continued walking to our cars, but only after the lady in front of us, who happened to hear the excitement behind her, yelled "Well, Congratulations!!" Ha! We hurriedly made our way to our vans... drip, drip, drip... and I pretty much shuffled the entire way there! I was convinced I peed myself. I thought, "ok, if my water did break, these contractions will pick up and then I'll know for sure!" Our friends offered to keep Ava for the night and watch the fireworks while Eric and I went home for our bags... or to at least figure out what in the world was going on here! More leaking on the way home... "this has to be my water, right?!" I'm telling you, labor is not a straight forward science. Especially when you're the one going through it! Like textbook though, my contractions got considerably more intense and closer together within the hour. By the time we got to the hospital, they were baaaddd. I was 2-3 cm when I got to the hospital, they tested to see if my water broke, and the tests came back negative! What the!? Now, listen... I am self-admittedly a rockstar pants-pee-er. Especially during pregnancy, I have the weakest bladder. I know when it's happening, obviously, and how to make it stop... know what I'm sayin'? You can stop the flow of urine! Not amniotic fluid! Right? Confusing. Regardless of the skeptical tests, my contractions were coming much more frequently and stronger! So something was brewing! :) So, I was admitted to the same room we had Ava in... Eric's request. Thankfully, there were rooms available! Labor & Delivery had been so busy lately I was afraid I'd come in in labor and have to deliver on a cart. Ha! So, after a few hours and only very little cervical change, I got pitocin and promptly an epidural. I wanted to have more cervical change before getting the epidural, but when the word pitocin is mentioned, I know better, hook me up with the epidural! Forget waiting for more change! This is exhausting! The rest is history :) Labor went well, except for a one sided epidural that left me high & dry. My cervix changed from 5.5cm to 10cm in an hour, so I can't blame the epidural... but ouch! After waiting painfully for 35-40 minutes for my doctor to get there I had miss Stella out in ONE contraction! 4 pushes and she was here! Unbelievable! I couldn't have asked for a better delivery. She came right up on my belly, crying & pink, my beautiful sweet baby girl. And my care team was amazing... absolutely the best experience ever. Unlike my ornery Ava, who needed a vacuum to pull her chubby butt out, which brought 8 million people into the room at the time of delivery, Stella came into this world peacefully. Although she screamed & screamed & screamed foreeevvver after she was born. My little firecracker. Stella was exactly one pound smaller and one inch shorter than Ava. Ava was born at 41 weeks, and Stella at 39 weeks + 4 days, so I'd say they are pretty comparable. Eric chose Stella's middle name. Jolie is the french word for 'pretty'. I had given him the duty of picking a middle name and it came down to the day before she was born before he decided on one, but he did it and it's beautiful... just like our new baby girl! And that's a wrap... ;)