Stela Marie Crane

i feel like everything in this delivery process was a first. it was a first for me to feel fake contractions so early on. it was a first to reach, and pass, my due date. it was a first for me to be in a place where i don't fully know the people.

stela, here is your story.

monday, oct 7th
no contractions. i had a docs appointment that afternoon and i was going to ask dr. hook to move things along so i could meet you, and more importantly so grandma crane could meet you! she had been in lubbock since saturday, patiently waiting for your arrival. so, i was at about a 5 and dr. hook said you were so ready to come in to the world. i checked in and was settled in my room by 5:30 pm. so far, we weren't too impressed by the hospital (they made us wait a very long time).

to make up for it, my nurse, yvette, was amazing. spoiled me rotten and kept me so informed. i wanted to take her home with me. dr. hook was there almost every step of the way. she broke my water, which was a raging river of death (a first for me too).

unfortunately there was a complication with the epidural. my worst, worst nightmare. ok, my worst nightmare is your dad dying, so maybe not my worst. anyway, i'm deathly afraid of needles, so this happening was just really scary to me. a "wet tap" happened. which is when they accidentally go in too deep (like a mili of millimeter) and fluid starts to leak. he had to go in and do an intrathecal epidural. which means i had to have it in 24 hours. worst thing ever. sorry, i'm being dramatic, but it was really awful. anyway, he said the side effects would be headaches. i thought to myself "that's not too bad, i can live with that." i had no idea what was in store for me.

back to happy story. i was facetiming my mom and got off the phone with her at 9:56 pm. stela, you were born at 10:10 pm. that's how fast you came! i barely even pushed twice and you were out. it was amazing. you were beautiful, and perfect, and we just wanted to snuggle you. you weighed 7 lbs 7 oz, a perfect weight. 19 and 3/4 in long. we didn't actually have a name for you just yet. for some reason, it just wasn't coming to us. dr. hook said it was her number #1 easiest delivery of all time. good job baby girl. you are already competitive and like to be the best and set a record.

to say the least, stela, despite all of my fears, and all of my past tears of having children so close together...looking at your gorgeous face and feeling your incredibly strong spirit, we couldn't help but instantly fall in love with you. funny how that happens.

sofia and lucas are obsessed with you. sofia wants to hold you all the time and is always concerned about whispering just in case you're asleep. lucas screams his head off when you leave the room. he throws himself on the floor and throws whatever he has in his hand until you come back. cute, but annoying. he also likes to poke every hole in your face, sorry about that.

recovery has been hard. i had to be readmitted to the hospital because of my epidural problems. i don't want to go too much in to detail because i don't want to relive it or remember it. just google it, and you can read about the side effects :)

i warn you now, i will be posting about the overwhelming amount of help i have received. i feel like every person deserves their own blog post, seriously, the Lord has blessed our family more than we could have ever expected. stela marie, you are definitely one of those blessings. welcome to our little family.