Some nights I lay down in bed completely in awe that at 29 years old Matt and I have been blessed with 4 beautiful children ages 4 and under. Most nights we just collapse from sheer exhaustion! I am continually amazed and humbled at the responsibility and privilege that God has placed on us, as parents to our now 4 children to raise them in the nurture and admonition of The Lord! I'm in awe at how perfectly created our Heavenly Father has made each of our children uniquely different and special.
I still vividly remember the day that I found out I was pregnant with Baby #4. Mason was almost 6 months old and at that time having another baby wasn't even on my mind. I already had a baby, as well as a 2 and 3 year old! I missed my period, although I didn't think too much of it since I was still nursing Mason, I wasn't feeling great, was slightly bloated and just had that sense that I should take a pregnancy test. I remember walking out of my bedroom to the top of the stairs, saw Matt and just said "I'm pregnant." Now don't get me wrong, I was very excited that God had blessed us with another pregnancy but it was very unexpected. I had to tell people fairly early on because I started to show by 8 weeks. I loved the responses I got from people because it was either that they were very excited for us, or they rolled their eyes completely not surprised that Matt and Cammie were pregnant again! At 20 weeks we found out that we were having another little boy. God knew one girl was enough for our family. Mollie will have 3 brothers all protecting and looking out for our little princess!
This pregnancy was by far my most uncomfortable and miserable pregnancy. 4 pregnancies in 4 years took a toll on my body. I had so many aches and pains, especially in my back and hips. Plus, I was completely exhausted from chasing around 3 little ones! This is the point where I get to brag on my husband because he was super Daddy, especially during the last couple months of my pregnancy when he was on summer break and I was miserable. My kiddos and I got spoiled daily by Daddy and he was a huge help with our kids and the house. I think Matt was so glad when I finally gave birth though!
At 36 weeks I could just tell that I was close to having this baby. On Saturday August 8th, we had a busy day. My mom gave me a baby shower that morning, where I was blessed with diapers and clothes from my dear friends and family, and we spent the afternoon at a family reunion. I had been having some random contractions but nothing regular, just exhausted, sore, huge, worn out,....done being pregnant! At 4:00pm, I had a few strong contractions and while in the bathroom at home, my water broke. It was time!
However, after my water broke my contractions stopped. My midwife had me stay home to see if labor would start on its own. Later that evening I ended up having to go into the hospital because my Group-B strep results weren't back yet. They ran a rapid Group-B strep test and did a non-stress test to make sure baby boy was doing fine. My Group-B came back negative and baby looked great, so about 10:00pm my midwife sent me home for the night to get some sleep and to come back in the morning for an induction.
I ended up having contractions throughout the night, but when I got up in the morning to shower, they stopped completely! We got the kids up and ready and my dad took Matthew and Mollie to church where they would spend the next couple of days with Aunt Amy, Uncle Kevin and their cousins. Matthew was thrilled, Mollie cried. I'm so thankful for family who loves our family and kids as their own. Bami came over to our house to take care of Mason there. With everyone set, my mom, Matt and I headed to the hospital to have a baby!
I started Pitocin about 8:30am. I was 3 cm dilated. By about 9:30 am I was having strong regular contractions, 3 minutes apart. Since I have had three previous natural, non-medicated births, I knew that this one would be no different. However, in the midst of painful, intense contractions, I dreamed of an epidural! Throughout the morning I walked the hallways and bounced on the labor ball. Around 12:30 my contractions seemed to really change and I began to feel the urge to push. My midwife checked me and baby was low but I was only 5 cm dilated. Needless to say I was a little frustrated and disappointed with my progress. My labor continued to be hard and intense.
During all of this, we still hadn't been able to decide on baby boy's name! We had decided that it was going to start with an "M" and had a list of about 4 names, but no winner yet. Finally, during labor we buckled down and Matt decided his name was going to be Miles Patrick. I loved it! Miles after my Pa's middle name and Patrick after Matt's dad. Miles Patrick Stevens.
At about 1:55 my midwife stepped out for a couple of minutes to order some food. I had 2 really intense contractions, during which I felt like I had to push again. Since it was only about an hour and a half earlier that I was checked and only 5cm, I was determined that I wasn't going to have my midwife check me again until it was really time to push. I didn't want to be disappointed by my lack of progress again. I decided that maybe I just needed to go to the bathroom (insert, WRONG choice!). Immediately after sitting down, I knew that I did not have to go to the bathroom, but that it really was time for baby, and NOW! I literally had to run to bed, my mom trailing after me with my IV pole. I had to leap into bed, because I had it elevated so I could stand and lean against it during labor. Immediately after getting into bed, Miles was born, self delivered, right on the bed. It all happened so fast he was just laying there on the bed, curled up in a little ball, not even aware he had just been born! My midwife walked (ran!) into the room just as I was delivering. She ran over, grabbed Miles and put him up on my chest. During all this (which was literally about 15 seconds), Matt stood I think in shock at how fast everything just happened. Miles just lay, so calm, perfect, pink, and wide eyed on my chest, not even letting out a cry. The one thing all of us couldn't believe was that Miles had a head full of hair! I always wished I had a baby with hair, but after having three bald babies, I never imagined that #4 would have hair, let alone dark, black hair. We all couldn't stop laughing and smiling at what just happened. I remember feeling so relieved that it was all over and our fourth baby was really here!
Miles Patrick Stevens
Born 8/9/2015 at 2:00 pm
7 pounds, 19.5 inches
He layed in my chest and nursed for about an hour. After that, I got up and dressed and Miles was wrapped up and passed around to an eager Daddy, Gabby and Grandma. Because Miles was 3.5 weeks early, they had to check his blood sugar. He nursed great, but it ended up that he had a very low blood sugar. I had to nurse a bit more frequently throughout the day, Miles had to have his blood sugar checked often, but we were able to steer clear of a visit to the NICU.
Aunt Amy, Papa and the kids came to visit. Matthew said "hi!" to Miles but was way more interested in the present that Miles had brought to him. Mollie was so fascinated with her new baby brother. She didn't want to pass him around and just wanted to hold him and kiss him. Grandpa brought Mason and Banna to come meet Miles too. Mason gave Miles a few sweet kisses on his head and was most interested in the snacks we had for him. The evening we ordered pizza and enjoyed a quiet night at the hospital.
The next morning Matt and I were so eager to get out of the hospital and bring our little guy home. Turns out that Miles had an elevated bilirubin and was starting to develop jaundice. The doctor had us wait about 8 hours to recheck his bili level. His level went up even more. It felt like a long day, anxious to get home. Our doctor felt comfortable with us heading home that evening with plans to return in the morning for another bili check. His bili level continued to creep up but wasn't at a level that required phototherapy just yet. We had an appointment with my pediatrician the next day and had another bili level drawn. This time his bili level went up to the point where we had to start home phototherapy. Miles ended up having to be on the bili lights for 6 days. I'm so thankful that we were able to do phototherapy at our house, but it's hard having a newborn baby you want to love and cuddle on, yet all you can do it nurse him and then put him right back on the bili lights. It also made for a tiring and challenging 6 days, having to try to wake and feed a very sleepy baby every 2 hours. Needless to say, we were all so happy when Miles was healthy enough to come off the bili lights!
Matthew, Mollie and Mason have loved having a little baby brother. Matthew loves to kiss and talk to Miles. He will hold him for a few minutes and then is off to play and explore. Mollie is my little helper. She loves to help change diapers, retrieve a new burp cloth, or grab the wipes. She will sit and hold Miles like she's been holding babies for years. Mason calls baby Miles "Muh". He loves to point at his baby brother and gives him the sweetest kisses and constantly hugs Miles by placing his head on Miles. So far our transition to 4 kids has been wonderful!
Miles Patrick, you complete our family and are so excited to love you, nurture you and watch you grow (but not too fast, okay?). Welcome to this world sweet baby boy!
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