Introducing Reese Evelyn Starling!

Jim and Sammie and I are proud to announce that Baby Reese is finally here! Reese Evelyn Starling was born on January 7th at exactly 4pm. She weighed 7lb 2oz and was 20.5 inches long. She has a full head of dark hair and dark blue eyes. We love her so much already!

The morning of January 7th was like any other weekday morning. I got myself and Sammie ready for the day and for a doctor's appt. at 11:30. I was noticing some signs that labor would be coming soon and I thought maybe that evening I'd start feeling contractions. I was going to tell Jim when he met me at the appointment that I thought we'd have a baby soon! But little did I know that I was already in labor and that at my appointment my doctor would tell me that I was 6-7 centimeters dialated already! How long had I been feeling crampy? -She asked me. Hmmm...I guess long enough to be that far along! This was actually a secret dream of mine...that I would be halfway through my labor already and my doctor would tell me at my appointment. Who thought that would actually happen?! So she called down to labor and delivery and told them to expect me. As I arrived all the nurses hustled and bustled to get me in my room and they all couldn't believe that this crazy lady didn't know she was in labor. It was very surreal changing into my gown and getting into the bed and hooked up to all the monitors. Last time around I knew I was in labor and my contractions were definitely there and hurting! This time it was just like doo-dee-doo I guess I'm having a baby today. Weird.
Jim called Beth who came to the hospital in record time. Actually, Jim told Beth she could wait a little while to come and get Sammie because Beth had doctor's appts. for her and the boys a little later in the afternoon and would be coming to the hospital anyway. I asked him to call her back and ask her to come right away! If my labor continued as quickly as I thought it would I couldn't handle a crazy toddler in the room with me. Ok, so back to the amazing Beth who showed up in like 5 seconds with Zeke and Deacon. By this time it's lunch time and Sammie hasn't eaten and she is already cranky. Then Zeke shows up and they decide to fight over the glider/rocker in the corner with lots of screaming. Jim and Beth try to get them to knock it off and then Josh comes ambling into the room...all the while my contractions are getting stronger (I'm actually in tune with my body and noticing them now) and the chaos is starting to stress me out! Gratefully, the Walters take Sammie with them out of the room to their doctor's appointments and Jim stays behind with me. I can't tell you all enough how awesome Beth and Josh were and how grateful I am that they were willing to take care of Sammie for three days in a row! It was such a relief to know that Sammie was in good hands while Jim was with me in the hospital.

Ok, back to the story...my contractions started out at 9 min apart and the nurse and doctor were surprised that I had progressed this far with such irregular contractions. They slowly started getting closer together, about 5 min apart. I stayed like this for about 3 hours which was weird because I didn't expect to have time to kill while I was in labor. Sammie came pretty quickly and I thought this one would too. So I got to watch some tv and chat with Jim and try not to think about how hungry I was. Ice chips just don't cut it when you want a real lunch! About 3:15 the doctor came in to break my water and I knew things would happen quickly after that happened. And they did! I started to realize why most people get epidurals because the pain was getting pretty darn awful. But luckily that was only at the end. When your body starts pushing for you, you know its time, and Jim ran out to get the nurse, who ran in and could see the baby's head and who then yelled for the doctor to get her gloves on and to come now! Luckily she did and was able to deliver little Reese after only a few pushes! What a relief that is when you feel the baby slide out and you know that all that pain is over! It was really neat this time around because I asked for them to lay the baby on my stomach right away. With Sammie they took her to clean her up and i didn't get to hold her for almost an hour! So this time was really special because I could see and touch baby Reese right away. What a moment that was. Pure joy and shock that this moment has finally arrived. Whew!

I spent two nights in the hospital and came home on Friday. I just learned that my friend, Holly, gave birth to her little girl on Jan6th and she had already blogged all about it! So that encouraged me to get my act together to share the wonderful baby news with everyone. Hopefully there are a few of you out there who still read my blog since it's been awhile since my last post!Sammie has been an interested and helpful big sister so far! She loves to pat Reese on the head and, well, that's about it so far. She does bring little toys to share with Reese and that is very cute!