Welcome to the World, Little Miss Vada Belle!

I can't believe our baby girl, known as "baby #4" for months, is already a week old!
Thankfully we had a wonderful and fast birth story, and here it is....
Last Monday, on June 18th, I had my scheduled doctors appointment. I was suppose to see Dr. Gilmer, and when I got there they told me that she had been booked up at the hospital all morning and wanted to know if I could come back the next day. I was 40 weeks and 1 day pregnant and I asked if anyone else there could just do a quick check to see if I had dilated anymore from the 2 cm. I was the previous week.  They were able to squeeze me in with Dr. Andrews and she told me I was still only 2 cm., but I had went from measuring 38 weeks from the week before to 35, so the baby had dropped. . . yeah! They at first wanted to hook me up to do a non-stress test, but I told them that I am always at least a week late with my babies, the baby was moving great, and I didn't think I needed to do one. They said that was fine, but wanted me to come back on Thursday to do one, and they were going to make sure everything was finalized for my induction the next Monday. I left there thinking it would still be several days before we met our little one, but was hoping and praying that it would be before Monday and I wouldn't have to be induced. 

40 weeks & 1 day (and I think my only pregnancy picture with this baby!)

Mom had kept the kids while I was at the doctors, so I went to her house to pick them up and brought them home for nap/rest time. Eric got home around 5 that afternoon, but had to leave again to go do some side work. I started having a few contractions while he was gone, but didn't really think much about it because after all, I was only 1 day past my due date! Eric got back home around 8:00pm and we fixed dinner, and while they were all eating I decided that maybe I should go ahead and pack my hospital bag, "just in case," because my contractions were starting to get a little stronger. After everyone got through eating I told Eric he might want to go pack him a bag, and then we got the kids ready for bed. While trying to get them ready I was having to stop whatever I was doing because my contractions were definitely getting painful, and it was quite interesting to watch their faces while saying, "Mommy, what are you doing? Why are you just standing there like that? Mommy, why aren't you saying anything?" I can remember Eric laughing and telling them to leave mommy alone for a minute. :) We finally got them ready, brushed their teeth, said prayers, etc. (it seemed like it took forever!), and Eric and I sat down at the computer to try to think of some baby names (yes- we wait to the last minute for everything!).

The kids giving the baby kisses right before we put the them to bed around 10:15pm. I had a good feeling we would be heading to the hospital sometime through the night.

While we were sitting at the computer desk I had another contraction and Eric says, "Wendy, that was at least 45 seconds long and seemed painful, should we go ahead and call your mom?" I told him no, that we'd wait until they got closer together.  Immediately after I said that I felt a pop and said, "Oh crap. My water just broke." It was exactly 10:30pm, I grabbed my phone and called my mom to tell her to come to my house, and that she might want to come fast. Eric started throwing our stuff in the truck, my parents got to our house, and we were rushed (more like pushed!) out the door by my dad who was saying, "We're not having a baby here!" ha! With the other 3 I had to have my water broke at the hospital, even though I went into labor on my own with Ansley & Elsie and was at 6 cm. when I arrived at the hospital.  Once my water was broken with the 3 of them though, things have always gone pretty fast so that is why we were all in a hurry.  Jackson was still awake and comes running out the door looking very worried, and we told him that we were going to the hospital and in the morning he would get to meet his new baby brother or sister! On the drive over to the hospital my contractions were getting even closer together, but Eric did a great job of not breaking the speed limit. . . too much. I think at one point I saw him going 70 in a 45, but he was passing someone and I was in the middle of a very strong contraction, so at that point I didn't even care. I was getting nervous about the whole labor/delivery process, so I had asked him to say a prayer on the way there, which helped calm me, a little. We got to the hospital at 11:00pm, got checked in, and got to our room. My contractions at this point were very strong, very close together, and I can remember my whole body shaking. Our nurse, Lisa, who was AMAZING, asked if I wanted an epidural, other pain medication, or nothing at all. This is always a tough one for me because with Jackson my epidural didn't work, with Ansley I had nothing, and with Elsie I got the epidural but it never did fully work because I got it and continued to progress fast that it never could catch up. My contractions at this point were super painful and as soon as I was coming off of one another one would be starting, and I looked at the nurse and said, "YES!" She said she was going to check me real fast, and then call the anesthesiologist to come on up. When she checked me I was between 6-7 cm. It was 20-25 minutes after she had called him and I had still been having non-stop contractions and she said she wanted to go ahead and check me again- this time I was at 8cm. The doctor on call, Dr. Gilmer, was in the room at this point and she checked me.... 9 cm. Finally the anesthesiologist came in and the nurse says, "Do you still want the epidural?" I can remember thinking that it would be ridiculous to get one at this point, but my body was shaking uncontrollably, I was having no break at all in between my contractions, and I just thought what if I have to push for a while??? So, yes, I still wanted it. Right about the time he gets it in and going Dr. Gilmer says I am at 10 cm. and it was time to start pushing! My epidural though slowed my contractions down instantly to where they were only coming every 5-6 minutes, but it was wonderful because I could actually breathe! After about 8 sets of contractions and pushing, the baby was here at 1:54am. Dr. Gilmer put the little one on my belly so we could see if it was a boy or girl, and of course the cord was in between her legs so I couldn't see. Eric moved the cord and says, "It's a girl!" I held her, Eric cut the cord, and then they had to hand her over to Dr. Zimmerman, the pediatrician, because like my other 3 kids there was meconium when my water broke, so they just wanted to suction her out real well and check her over. 

It's a GIRL! Right after baby Vada was born.

(Eric and I laughed because on the time stamps from this picture and the previous picture, the one where the kids were kissing my baby belly, it was less than 4 hours!)

The doctors checking out our sweet precious baby

They suctioned her out, she looked great, and they handed her back to me and she was already rooting and trying to suck on her hands. The nurse asked if I wanted to nurse her, and baby girl instantly latched on. Eric went out into the waiting room to tell my mom to come in and he said it was very odd to walk into the waiting room and to see only her, because with the other 3 we had a waiting room full of people.  She finished nursing and then daddy got to hold his baby girl for the first time:

Look at her looking at her daddy!

It was just a few minutes later that my dad came in and then we were all busy trying to think of a girl's name!  The nurses brought the scales in to weigh and measure her at this point and she was 7 pounds, 8 ounces, and 19 inches long. The smallest of the 4!

          7lbs. 8 oz. 19 inches

My mom had left the hospital around 3:30-4:00am (I think??), to check on the other 3 (my sister, Jessica, had come up and stayed while my parents came to the hospital) and dad and I went through TV shows, Bible names, names of people we knew, etc. trying to think of girl names while Eric was sitting up in a chair snoozing on and off (he had been up since 5, so it had been almost 24 hours he had been awake). Eric and I were pretty sure that if the baby was a boy we were going to use the name Graham, but we seriously had nothing for a girl's name! Dad left around 5 (I still had no clue of a name for baby girl), and I rested (notice I wrote "rested" and not "slept"!) for an hour or two. I knew that maybe one of the kids would be awake at this point and was so excited for them to come to the hospital, so I called mom to talk to them. Mom was going to wait until they got to the hospital before letting them know if they had a baby brother or sister, so once they woke up and heard the baby was here, they were ready to come meet him or her! I hope I never forget how excited they were, especially Jackson with his little red "Jackson" backpack on paired with a huge grin, when they came into the hospital room.  He ran to the bed and said, "What is the baby?" We said, what do you think the baby is, and of course he said boy. I shook my head and told him no, it was a girl. He put his hands over his eyes and buried his head into the bed for a few seconds trying to fight back the tears. He never did let one shed and then he looked up and said, "Mommy, you have to have one more baby and it will be a boy!" Right after that he asked if he could hold her and decided it was perfectly okay that he was mommy's only little boy!

 Jackson holding baby sister #3!

Ansley as first was very quite, but I think that she was just concerned as to why I was sitting in that strange bed. She soon wanted her turn to hold the baby and instantly became known as the "baby hog." She didn't want to let her go and would almost start crying when we would make her hand the baby over to others that wanted to meet her. She was already my big helper!

Ansley takes her role at being the big sister serious!

Elsie wanted to hold her from the second she saw her and kept saying, "Baby! Baby! Look at the baby!"

Elsie is now a big sister! Kisses for her baby sister.

 

Our family of 5 easily adjusted to a family of 6!

 

We had so many wonderful family and friends that came to visit with us and meet baby Vada in the hospital, and she slept through almost all of the excitement! :) We loved having the company and loved that everyone was helping us try to decide on a name! My sisters and cousins spent quite a while with us looking through baby name books (which is just way too overwhelming!), list of names on different websites, etc. By Tuesday night we had a list of 4 names, first and middle, that we were debating on.

 

You know when baby girl didn't want to sleep, though. . . Tuesday night. She decided that she wanted to stay up all that night and let mommy and daddy pull another all nighter, for the second night in a row! I told her that it was okay, but let's get out of this habit very soon! Maybe she was just wanting to stay up and hear what her name would be???

Wednesday  morning they asked if we wanted to go home that day, and I think Eric and I both had answered "YES!" before they could even get the entire question out. My doctor came and released me, and then the pediatrician came by to release Vada (who was still baby girl at the time) all before 10:00 am.  The pediatrician said that he does not like to release babies until they have a name, so he wanted us to decide on a name before we could go home. He left and I looked at Eric and said, "just choose one"! He always says I am the indecisive one (which is very true), but when it comes to names for our kids he is equally as indecisive as I am. :) He said that he honestly didn't care, so I grabbed a pen and wrote down the first name on our list, Vada Belle, onto the birth certificate papers. I've always loved the name Vada ever since I watched "My Girl" when I was little, and Eric and I had it on the list of names when we were pregnant with Ansley and Elsie, so I decided it was time to finally use it. The night before when my cousins were helping us think of some name choices, Eric had said "Vada Belle" and we all thought it sounded cute together... so that is where the Belle came from! (Ansley was excited that her favorite princess was in her baby sister's name- ha!). We gave the paper to the nurse so they could make it "official," and we were more than ready to take our Vada Belle home. 

Ready to go home!

 

 She looked so tiny in her car seat.

When we got home Mom, Jessica, Tiffany and her girls were at the house playing with the other three, so Vada had a wonderful crew welcoming her home:

Once we got home daddy and Jackson went down to work in the garden for a little bit, Elsie of course ran to play in the creek but Vada and I decided we would take it easy for a day or two, and Ansley stood over us just watching over her baby sister.

 

 

Then we came in and it was time to get ready for bed.

 Vada's first night home! Wednesday, June 20th, 2012

At bedtime when we were saying our prayers, of course all the kids included Vada Belle when we asked them what they were thankful for that day.  That night, I was so thankful for the smooth and fast labor and delivery, the great doctors and nurses that helped bring Vada into this world, my wonderful & supportive husband that helps me get through everything, my mom, dad & sisters that help take care of the other 3 kids so that I don't have to worry for a second if they are alright or not, all of our family and friends that came to visit or called to say congrats on our newest little angel, and most of all for this:

 My 4 little, precious blessings!!!