Rooney Jo Russell

 Since our Rooney girl is 3 months old now, I wanted to write out her birth story so I don’t forget all the details. 

My pregnancy with Rooney was my easiest one yet. I found out I was pregnant with her on November 6th. She didn’t make me sick and I didn’t throw up once! I had a feeling I was having a girl because this pregnancy was so different than the one I had experienced with Rocco where I was sick and throwing up all the time. Sure enough I was right! If you know me you know that I have a lot of medical anxiety after everything that happened with my mom. I also had even more anxiety this pregnancy since I had miscarried at 12 weeks right before I got pregnant with her. And lucky for me it was during a pandemic when no one was allowed to come to appointments with you. (Taylor is good at calming me down) Taylor didn’t get to come to one appointment this entire pregnancy! Not even the anatomy scan. The only one he came to was when we paid to have a private ultrasound done to find out the gender. (We also got to bring the kids for that, it was really fun.) Every time I would walk into the doctors office, my heart would start pounding and my blood pressure would sky rocket. I was so scared that something was wrong or I would get bad news again. There was one appointment where my blood pressure was so high, I had to have it checked 5 times before they would let me leave. Yikes. But luckily, all that stressing was for nothing and everything with her was smooth sailing. 

My doctor in Arizona wouldn’t induce me unless I went over my due date which was July 16, even though this was my 4th baby. Every time I went in to get checked I wasn’t progressing at all. I mentioned this on my Instagram stories at some point and an old friend from work messaged me and told me about a “midwives brew” that her and her friends swore by to induce labor. I didn’t really know what to think of it or if I even believed it but after I passed 39 weeks with no signs of labor I decided to give it a try. 

Sunday July 11 we were having a chill day at home. We had watched the Eurocup which Italy had won!! And that evening around 5:30 I decided to make the drink and try it out. My whole pregnancy I kept saying how I was shooting for her to be born either July 10th or 12th since the rest of us have even day birthdays in our family I wanted her to have one too. So I figured if I took the drink that night, and if it worked and put me into labor, she would probably be born the 12th which was a Monday and seemed to be a good day to have a baby. I made the drink which had lemon tea, apricot juice, almond butter, and castor oil. I blended it all together and poured it over ice to drink and honestly the taste wasn’t that bad. It was just a lot to drink so by the time I was done I kind of felt sick to my stomach. We sat down for dinner a little while later and I started feeling crampy. That lasted about an hour and then everything stopped completely and I felt totally normal. I put all the kids to bed like I normally do. Twins first, then Rocco. After Rocco and I read his book together, I got up to go to the bathroom. On the walk back from the bathroom, my water broke. This was right before 10 pm. Rocco wasn’t fully asleep yet so I went into where Taylor was and told him I was pretty sure my water just broke and we needed to go to the hospital. I told him to go sit with Rocco and make sure he fell asleep and to call his friend Brian who said he would come sit with the kids when I went into labor. I went into our room and threw a few final things into my hospital bag and called my sister & dad and let them know what was going on. Luckily Brian was able to head over right away when Taylor called him. He got to our house around 10:30, all the kids were asleep so we set him up a little bed on the couch and headed out the door to the hospital. My contractions started to get strong right before we left the house so the drive there was rough but luckily we were only about 10 minutes away. 

Once I got checked into triage, they had to “test” the amniotic fluid and make sure that’s really what it was before they could admit me. I was dilated between a 3-4 when I first got there and sure enough they confirmed my water had broken and admitted me. By the time they got me settled into my room and got my epidural it was around midnight. The nurse checked me again at that point and I was dilated to a 6. She turned all the lights down, laid me on my side and gave me a little medicine ball to put between my knees. She said it helped to open my hips up to get ready for labor. I had never had that before and it felt nice! She told me to try and sleep and she would come back to check me again in an hour and a half. I was able to sleep but woke up after about an hour and felt so much pressure I knew I had to be at a 10. I called my nurse and asked her to come check me. It was 2:00 am at this point.

She came in the room and checked me while the lights were still dimmed. She said “let me turn the lights on and make sure this is what I think I’m feeling” she turned the lights on and sure enough! It was baby’s head. Then she said “your baby has brown hair!” Haha. My doctor wasn’t there yet so they called him to tell him to hurry up. He said he would be there in ten minutes so all we could do was wait! My nurse was too nervous to even put my legs up in the stirrups because she thought the baby would come out. My doctor ran in by 2:15, put my legs in the stirrups, I literally pushed one time, and little miss Rooney was out. Her official time of birth was 2:21. It all happened so fast! While she was coming out they asked if I wanted to lean down and grab her so I said sure! I had never done that before. Then I just pulled her up to me and she laid on my chest and we got to have skin to skin for awhile and it was so magical. I had never been able to do this with my other babies and I really really hoped I would be able to this time since I knew it would be my last one. The nurses were so nice and just let me hold her and enjoy it for as long as I wanted. Finally I handed her over and we found out she weighed in at a whopping 7.6 lbs- our biggest baby- and was 19.5 inches- also our longest. 

They wiped her down and gave her back to me and we made our way to the recovery room. She kept making this whimpering sound and they were worried it was a sign of distress but when I held her skin to skin she stopped so I stayed awake and held her that way all night. Taylor fell asleep and it was just me and Rooney girl cuddling all night/morning. It was such a sweet and happy experience all around for me. So grateful I had such a good, easy, and quick delivery and that everything went to well and that we were both healthy. She has been the sweetest addition to our family and gets so much love from everyone all the time. I have to tell her siblings to get out of her face about 100 times a day haha. She is so loved! So grateful for our beautiful baby girl. 

Stella and Rome birth story

Saturday November 19 was a very normal day. Taylor works on Saturdays, so Rocco and I slept in and played around the house all morning/afternoon. Taylor got off work earlier than usual, so I gave him a haircut and we headed to Frisco to go to Ikea and get a few things for the nursery. We bought a crib, a crib mattress, and a dresser and then stopped for dinner on the way home. After getting Rocco bathed and ready for bed, I was laying with him reading stories and doing our usual nighttime ritual. I wasn't in any pain or anything but I remember thinking that there was no way I could be any more uncomfortable than I was at that moment. After Rocco fell asleep, Taylor and I watched an episode of Longmire (our current binge watching show) and after it was over Taylor fell asleep. I stayed up late to read my book as I usually do. Around 1 am, I had to get up and go to the bathroom. At this point in my pregnancy, I had to pee about every 10 minutes so this was nothing strange. I stood up from my bed and felt a little trickle run down my legs. I honestly thought I was losing control of my bladder at this point (haha!) so I went to the bathroom as usual not thinking much of it. When I stood up to walk out of the bathroom, the same thing happened again! I thought this was a little weird seeing as how I had just peed. I went back into our bedroom and was changing my bottoms when Taylor woke up. He asked me what I was doing and I kind of jokingly said, either my water broke or I am peeing my pants! That woke him up quick! He sat up worried and I told him that I really thought I was just losing  control of my bladder and not to worry. Then, Rocco woke up and had to go to the bathroom so I got up and helped him and then sat on the floor in his room for a few minutes until he fell asleep again. Every time I would stand up, the same little trickle would happen. I started googling "how do you know if your water breaks?" My water had never broken with Rocco and I had always heard that when it does break, its a big gush. This is not what was happening to me so I was in major denial. I went back into our room and Taylor was still worried asking me if we needed to go to the hospital. I kept telling him no, I'm not in labor and I'm fine don't worry. A few minutes later I had to use the restroom again and thats when all the blood happened and I knew I was in labor or something was wrong. I went out and told Taylor that we better go to the hospital. We started stressing about what we were going to do with Rocco. It was at least 1:30 in the morning and we just moved to Texas a few months ago so the amount of people we know here and felt comfortable calling in the middle of the night is very small. Taylor's cousin Abby lived about a 5 minute drive from us so we called her first- no answer. Then we called her husband- no answer. Then we called a friend- no answer. We were seriously considering just bringing Rocco to the hospital with us and if I really was in labor than well Taylor would just have to wait in the waiting room- when Abby's husband called us back and told us to drop Rocco off at their house. Up until this point I was pretty calm because like I said- I was in denial that I was in labor! I was only 35 weeks and I was positive that I would make it until at least 37 or 38. So Taylor started packing Rocco's overnight back and I was casually getting dressed when the contractions started. They came on fast and they came on strong! By the time we were loaded in the car on the way to Abby's house I was in a lot of pain and was starting to freak out. We dropped Rocco off around 1:45 am and started heading to the hospital. On the way there I called my mom to tell her what was going on and all I could say was "I think I'm in labor!" because I was hysterically sobbing. She said some things to calm me down and then asked to talk to Taylor because I literally couldn't talk. The hospital we delivered at is about a 20 min drive and I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes. Taylor was doing his best to stay calm but he was starting to freak out too. I was so worried that I was going to get there and they were going to tell me that I was past the point of being able to get an epidural. That drive felt like it took hours! So we finally get there and aren't sure where we are supposed to go so Taylor just jumps out and runs into the ER to ask them, then runs back out and tells me to go in there while he parks the car. The lady at the front desk asks me whats wrong and I say "I am 35 weeks pregnant with twins and I think I am in labor!" as I'm holding onto a chair for support because I am in the middle of a contraction. I remember hearing a woman that was sitting in the waiting room exclaim "Oh Wow!!" Taylor runs back in and they start taking us to the delivery ward but first stopped me at a desk and were having me fill out paperwork. Seriously? I am in so much pain right now and you are making me fill out papers?! We finally get into a room and get hooked up to monitors and I asked the nurse helping us if I was really in labor  or if they were going to send me home. (A little part of me still thought they were going to tell me that my water didn't actually break, I was peeing my pants and they were just going to send me home. Also because when I was in labor with Rocco they sent me home twice before they let me stay) The nurse looked at me and said "You are having contractions every 2 mins and leaking amniotic fluid everywhere, you are staying here and having those babies today!" We called our parents and let them know what was going on. I also asked the nurse if it was too late for an epidural and thankfully she said no it wasn't but I would have to wait a while to get one. We got to the hospital about 2:15 and finally got my epidural around 3. At that point I was dilated to a 3, so once I wasn't in pain anymore they left us alone to rest. I fell asleep on and off for a few hours and then shift change with nurses was happening at 6:30. She told my new nurse everything that was going on and before she left the room said that I was probably ready to be checked again. The new nurse checked me and said "wow! you are at a 10! your baby is right here, you are ready to push! I need to go find the doctor!" and left the room. Since I was having twins I needed to deliver in the OR in case anything happened and I ended up needing a C section. (Both babies had been head down at my last couple of apts so I was hoping that was still the case) I was calm at first, but the longer the nurse was gone the more I started to freak out. I wasn't in pain but could feel a lot of pressure and could feel baby A's head and knew I needed to push. The longer she was gone the more I started freaking out and told Taylor to go out in the hall and tell the nurses that I needed to push. Finally they came and got me and started wheeling me down to the OR. (My regular doctor wasn't on call so I don't even know the doctor who delivered me.) The OR was kinda crazy! There were so many people rushing around and yelling stuff to each other and it was so white and bright. I was trying to stay calm and breathe but was seriously freaking out. I was so scared to deliver two for some reason! Taylor was awesome and stayed super calm the whole time and was doing everything he could to keep me calm too. I pushed two times and my baby A, aka Stella Mia Russell (her middle name is after my mom, Maria, which is also my middle name) was out! She was born at 7:29 a.m. and weighed 4 lbs 4 oz. and was 17 1/4 inches long. She came out with a head full of black hair and she was screaming her head off. Taylor turned to me and sad "She looks just like you!" The nurses took her to clean her off and weigh her and everything and then it was time to get baby B out. My delivery nurse did a quick sonogram to make sure that baby B aka Rome was still head down. Thankfully he was, so I could also deliver him vaginally and start pushing. With Rome, I felt like I was pushing and pushing and nothing was happening. At one point, the doctor told the nurse to get him the vacuum. My delivery nurse leaned down and told me that Rome's heart rate was going down so the vacuum was our last resort to get him out or else we were going to have to do a C section. This is when I started to panic. Luckily, the vacuum worked and Rome Fred Russell (named after Taylor's dad) came out with a few more pushes. It felt like forever, but really it was only 12 minutes between the two. He was born at 7:41 am and was a lot quieter than his sister. He weighed 4 lbs. 15 oz. and was 18 inches long. When they held him up I thought he looked just like Taylor! The nurses took him too and while they were finishing up with me they brought the babies by my bed in their little incubators so that we could see them and touch them through the holes in the glass. At that point I didn't realize that they were going to have to stay in the Nicu for as long as they did- I for sure thought we were going to be able to hold them that day! Little did I know we wouldn't be able to see them for a few hours and wouldn't get to hold them until the next day- and that they would be in the Nicu for 9 days! All in all my delivery and recovery with the twins went really well (my recovery was a lot less painful than with Rocco)  even though it definitely didn't happen how I had it planned out in my head. Thats life, right? Now we have 3 beautiful, healthy, and happy kids and everyone is home safe and sound. I never thought I would be blessed with "spontaneous" twins but feel so lucky and happy that we were!

Meet Rocco

Well if you hadn't heard- Taylor and I have a new little addition to our family! Rocco Taylor Russell was born on August 4th, 2013 at 4:25 a.m. weighing 6 lbs 10 oz and was 18 1/2 inches long! He is so beautiful and perfect and we love him SO much. I wanted to type up his birth story for all who are interested and for me to have.

My due date was August 3rd. My last day of work was August 2nd, and I was determined to have Rocco as close to my due date as possible- seeing as I wouldn't be induced until today actually if I didn't go into labor myself (August 12) I only have 6 weeks maternity leave and did not want to waste one of those weeks still being pregnant! So anyway, after work on Friday Taylor and I went to our favorite Thai restaurant and I ordered the spiciest thing on the menu. Then after dinner, we went on a walk and I walked with one foot on the curb, and one foot on the road, so I was constantly going up and down. These are both things I had heard can put you into labor so I thought I would try.

I woke up Saturday morning after sleeping in and Taylor and I decided we wanted to go eat lunch at Costco- I know its kinda weird but we love it- so I went to get ready. That's when I noticed I had been bleeding so I called the doctor and they told me that was most likely a sign of early labor so I should go into the hospital and get checked. At this point I wasn't in any pain or anything but we packed our bags and headed over. Once I got there, they hooked me up to some monitors to monitor the baby's heartbeat and my contractions. I was having contractions but I couldn't really feel them yet. I was already dilated to 3 centimeters from the week before, so the nurse checked me again and let us know that I was still only at 3 centimeters. Since this was my first baby, they won't admit you until you are at least at 4 centimeters. She told us that she thought I would have the baby sometime during the weekend, but that I should go home and come back when my contractions got to about 5 mins apart.

We decided to still go get some lunch at Costco. That's when I started feeling my contractions. I was super uncomfortable but they were still about 8 mins apart. We went home and tried to relax and Taylor kept timing me through all of my contractions. Around 5 p.m., they were consistently 5 minutes or less apart so I thought, great! This is it! And we headed back to the hospital. At this point I was in quite a bit of pain and really really uncomfortable. The same nurse we had seen before came in and hooked me up to the monitors and checked me again. Unfortunately, I was still only at 3 centimeters! They decided to keep me there for an hour and then check me again. At the end of the hour I was still only at a 3 so they couldn't admit me. They told me they could give me a morphine shot for my pain and send me home. I was sad and mad and frustrated, I just wanted to have my baby! But there was nothing they could do so I got my shot and we went home.

The morphine did take the edge off of my contractions and make them more manageable, but I could still feel each one. I laid on the couch for 6 hours. Taylor, my mom, and sister were so great to me and would get me anything I needed and rubbed my back and just tried to help me however they could. I got in the bath at one point cause I heard that makes you feel better and it did help a little bit. Around 11:30 I was in so much pain and my contractions were anywhere from 3-5 mins apart, but I was scared to go back because I did not want to be sent home again! Finally it got to the point where I literally couldn't stand it anymore and I was bawling from the pain. You guys- I swear I'm not a baby and I would like to think I have a pretty high pain tolerance- but I was in a lot of pain that it actually brought me to tears! Poor Taylor I think just felt so helpless and didn't even know what to do. We got back to the hospital around 11:45 and a different nurse hooked me up and checked me. To my relief she told me I was at a "good 4" and asked me if I wanted my epidural. I said YES and we waited about another 30 mins for the anesthesiologist to come. The epidural surprisingly didn't hurt and I literally felt amazing after.

I progressed really fast after that- I was at an 8 maybe an hour later and then at a 10 maybe an hour after that? When I was ready to push, my doctor got called into 2 other emergency c-sections so we had to wait. I wasn't in any pain or anything so it was fine, but I could definitely feel the pressure with every contraction and knew he was right there ready to come out. Finally after waiting for 2 more hours I paged the nurse and told her I really needed to push. She came in and helped me push through a contraction and then told me to stop because the baby was basically out and she needed the doctor! He finally made it and I pushed through 2 more contractions and little Rocco was here.

It was such an overwhelming feeling, when he was out I just looked at him and cried and couldn't believe that I really just had a real life baby come out of me! they took him and cleaned him off and measured and weighed him and everything like that, and finally I got to hold him and it was the most amazing feeling ever, I was so overwhelmed with awe and love for this little boy that I had never met but felt like I had known forever. Having him and Taylor by my side was the sweetest moment I have experienced in this life yet.

We have had so much love and support from our families and friends and we are so grateful! Our little guy is SOOOOO loved by everyone, including us. He just has the sweetest little temperament and spirit and I am so glad he's mine. It's pretty amazing to look at this little human and know that I created him with the person I love most in this world. I'm so glad he is here and that everything went so well. I feel so much love and gratitude.

Here are some pictures from the hospital-

Monterey

At the end of April we planned a little getaway to Monterey, California. It's one of Taylor's favorite spots that he grew up going to and he wanted to take me back there! It was my first time to Northern California and it was beautiful. We stayed in the cutest little beach house that his family always stays in, that was literally across the street from the beach! We went to the aquarium, fisherman's wharf, hiked up Point Lobos, walked along the beach, watched the baby seals, and ate lots and lots of yummy seafood & goodies from the local bakery. We also went to Pebble Beach and I have never seen Taylor more excited about anything. He was like a kid and was taking pictures of everything there. It was cute. Perfect little vacay! Taylor was quite the photographer this trip. Enjoy the pictures from (mostly) his iPhone.