We were happy and surprised to meet sweet Faye Adele on May 12, 2014. 6 lbs 6 oz, 19 in long. She definitely wasn't the Jed Wayne we were expecting, but we adore her and love that she surprised us!
It started on the night of May 11. Aaron and I put the kids to bed and sat down to play a game. I was having contractions throughout the game, but didn't think much of them since I thought I'd have had the baby weeks ago. I suddenly thought, "These contractions aren't going away - maybe I should time them." 7 minutes apart pretty consistently. So we got ready for bed and laid down and started reading. I was sure they'd go away once I laid down. They didn't. Now less than 6 minutes apart. Hmmm...
Aaron fell asleep since I was sure I wasn't in labor. :) By the time I realized I probably was I tried to go to sleep, but every time I got almost asleep a contraction would come and wake me up. At about 1 am they were about 4 minutes apart and painful enough that they stopped me from walking all that well, so I woke up Aaron and we went to the hospital.
They hooked me up to monitors and checked me - I was dilated to a 4! An hour later to a 5! This was it! They took us to our room and then Aaron and I walked the halls... or maybe raced the halls... between contractions. My doctor came in about 4 to break my water. I was dilated to a 7 and still completely in control pain-wise. He told me, "We'd better break your water and get that smile off your face. People don't feel like they get their money's worth if they are still smiling when they deliver."
Well, I kept smiling for maybe another 45 minutes. But it went downhill fast from there. Pretty typical for me. 20-30 minutes at an 8. 15 minutes at a 9. 5 minutes at a 10. Aaron was a great coach again this time... but I was out of control! I couldn't keep my cool like I did with Izzy. I think it was because with Izzy I didn't know what was coming or how bad it would be, so I could keep my cool and just keep going. This time I knew EXACTLY where it was going and how bad it was going to hurt. I felt myself getting so anxious between contractions that the next contraction was almost a relief! Instead of bearing through it, I found myself whimpering in pain.
I had 1 pushing contraction before the doctor got there and I told the nurse (probably not nicely) that I was pushing on the next contraction whether or not the doctor was there. Waiting is not for drug-free deliveries. Luckily he got there just in time. Then I had this long (it was probably a minute, but it felt like the biggest rest ever!), calm moment right before the last big contraction. Which is apparently just what I needed. I pushed like I've never pushed before and out baby came. About 6:30 in the morning.
I started mumbling to Aaron, "what is it? what is it?" and in the commotion, he looked down and saw swollen baby parts, umbilical cord, and blood and declared - "It's a boy!" At which point the nurses said, "Check again, dad!"
It was a girl! We were completely shocked! Not disappointed. But definitely shocked. Aaron initially thought it was a girl, but I was convinced it was a boy (because it felt like my pregnancy with Van and not like my other girls) and I managed to convince him as well.
We hadn't even really talked about girl names! The only name we had talked about for a girl was Faye. So we toyed with that for 24 hours and decided it was a good fit. As for a middle name... we started digging around in our family history to see if we could find anything to go with Faye. My great grandmother was Alice and her mother was Adele. We liked those two best and decided that since Faye is plain, that Adele dressed it up a bit. Made it sparkle.
She was just a tiny 6lb 6oz. We weren't expecting her to be big. She was measuring small my whole pregnancy since I had a two vessel cord. But she was perfect! Completely healthy! And she never really lost any weight and ate like a champ from the beginning so she gained pretty well.
Needless to say, we were thrilled with our little surprise! She's so sweet and tiny and cute and everyone loves her! Welcome to the crazy Wilkinson clan, little Faye!
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| in labor, still smiling |
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| but before I knew it I was feeling more like this... |
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| ahhh, she made it! (and it's over! no more labor!) |
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| I kept telling Aaron at the hospital, "You have a lot of daughters." |
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| In love |
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| giant mouth like her mom and her oldest sister |
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| tiny baby smirk |
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| She looks so different from our other girls!! |
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| Everyone meeting baby sister for the 1st time. |
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| Izzy was so excited to hold her - it was so sweet! |
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| When Van held her he said, "I have to protect my sisters." Yes you do, little man. And it's a big job - you have a lot of sisters! |
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| Another little sister for Emery. |
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| Grandpa loves babies. |
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| 1st photo as a family of 6. That's about how family photos go these days... :) |
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| Grandma K meeting her tiny girl. |
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| Grandma T and her 20th grandchild! |
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| She sleeps with her mouth open and has since the minute she was born |
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| Auntie Bekah (8.5 months pregnant) came to meet Faye, too. But Bekah is Izzy's favorite and she wanted Bekah to hold her instead. |
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| Grandpa K's 20th grandbaby. |
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| That's a much bigger nose than the other girls! Don't worry - she's already grown into it! |
