On February 18, 2021 we welcomed our fourth and final GIRL!! As with all of our pregnancies, we did not find out what we were having – they were complete surprises! So when we had Freya I was sure we were having a boy the entire time. I read all the old wives tales with most things pointed to a boy, especially the heart rate. I was so confident, I would find myself often referring to her as a he. So needless to say, when she was born I was surprised we were welcoming a baby girl.
Then we found out (shockingly) we were twins. This pregnancy again I was confident one was a boy. During pregnancy (and even now) our twins are two totally different personalities! So when I was carrying them, Baby A (Edie) was very active with a high heart rate so I was sure she was the girl. My baby B (Lena) was more chill and relaxed, hidden up by my ribs with a much lower heart rate. Yup, that is for sure our boy! So imagine my surprise when they announced we had two girls!
Have you heard of the pencil test? This is where you place a needle with thread into the eraser of a pencil. You then place the pencil over the person’s wrist and it will indicate how many children you will have and what sex they will be. Well we had tried this once when I was pregnant with Freya and it was wrong. We were told that if you do it while you are pregnant that it won’t turn out right. So we tried it again after the twins. So according to the pencil test we were going to be having one final baby and it would be a boy. I know I have said this every time, but I was convinced we were having a boy. Not because of the pencil test necessarily, but because of how this pregnancy was from the very start. From shortly after I found out I was pregnant, I suffered from terrible migraines and often felt sick to my stomach. I would be laid up for the entire day in bed, which is hard to do when you already have three toddlers at home. Towards the end of pregnancy, I was miserable, my entire body just ached. I often found it difficult to walk, let alone take care of three very active toddlers. So as my due date came and went, I was very anxious and ready to have this baby.
So on the day our beautiful baby girl was born, she also turned out to be as stubborn as the rest of our kids. Being as I was trying for a VBAC after the twins, I had to go into labor naturally this time. They really couldn’t do much to induce me, which made me nervous as I did not want another c-section. However, I started with contractions at 2:30 that morning and they continued until they finally became stronger at 5:00am. At that point in time I contacted my midwife and said I think it’s time. We headed up to the hospital and it was indeed the day we were going to have our baby. I labored all day with her – she would settle into the birth canal and then scoot back up again. We played this game all day long. Finally at 1:30pm they broke my water and it was time to get down to business. By 5:48pm, Junie Lynn was born weighing 8lb. 8oz. I remember being so excited to know what we had that she was barely out, the cord wasn’t cut yet and I had already asked repeatedly what we had. Needless to say, when my husband announced girl, I was truly shocked this time. I thought, with this pregnancy being so different and with the result of the pencil test, that we were going to have that boy. However, God had different plans and knew that Junie would be the perfect last piece to our family puzzle.
