Introducing Ruby Rosalie Steingrobe

Born Friday, April 12, 2019, 4:28 a.m.

Weighing 7 lb. 9 oz. and measuring 20 inches long.

Overdue. This was my reality just two weeks ago, while my husband and I waited on the arrival of our baby girl. Our due date was April 4th, 2019, which came and went like any other day. By this point, I was showing zero signs of going into labor anytime soon, and it began to feel like I’d be pregnant forever. Thankfully that wouldn’t happen– our doctor had us schedule an induction for the following week, at 41 weeks. And I agreed, though I still hoped to go into labor on my own before then.

But this baby girl had plans of her own. The following Thursday rolled around, and I was still not showing any signs of labor. Anthony and I spent the day doing some last-minute nesting and packing our hospital bags. We were scheduled to be at the hospital at 8:00 pm, where they would begin the induction process. My doctor told us to anticipate a long labor–it could be 2-3 days before we’d meet our baby, and we’d likely sleep pretty comfortably through the first night. So we packed for 3 days, and by that evening, we were comfortably settled into our labor and delivery room.

The plan was to start the induction with up to 3 doses of a drug called cytotec through the night (to get things started), which would be followed by pitocin the following morning. The nurses administered the first round of the drug around 9:00 that evening and would be back to give me my second dose around 1:00 in the morning. The nurses told me to get some sleep, as the next few days could be quite long. But just one hour after receiving the drug, I began having contractions. By 1:00 am, I was having contractions back-to-back, with only a few 2-3 minute breaks between contractions. The nurses checked me at this point, and I was progressing quickly. They decided not to give me the second dose of the drug. By 2:30 in the morning, I was in so much pain that I requested the epidural. This brought only a little relief, but the nurses informed me that I was in transition at this point, and that they wanted me to still feel the contractions. They began to prep the room for delivery, and by 3:50, after just 6 hours of active labor, I began to push. I pushed for just over 35 minutes, and by 4:28 am on April 12th, our beautiful girl was born.

It was a whirlwind of a labor, and nothing could have prepared me for how quickly I’d get to meet my daughter. But thankfully, the delivery went smoothly, and our girl couldn’t have been healthier. We got to take her home the next day, and things have been going so well since then. We’ve settled into a pretty good routine with her, and she actually sleeps really well at night! During the day, she’s a very alert baby and doesn’t like to miss out on any action. This can cause her to get overtired and difficult to settle down at bedtime, but that’s really the biggest struggle we’ve had so far. She hardly cries and is really the sweetest, most content girl. She’s already growing so quickly, and we learn something new about her every day!  We are so in awe with her, and we are so excited for this journey called parenthood.

Ever since we finished her nursery last month, I’ve been dying to show you all! Since we were keeping her name a secret until birth, we decided to unveil her nursery after this time as well (her name is on the wall, after all). Keep scrolling for a tour of the special space we created for her, and for a glimpse at some of Ruby’s first photos. This photographer mama just couldn’t wait to get her girl behind the lens!