Evelyn's Birth Story- Au Naturale…

Evelyn~Our little surprise baby. Once the roller coaster of the first trimester settled down for us, I really started to get excited and enjoy the pregnancy. The aches and pains were all okay with me, because I knew that this might be the last pregnancy I experience.

As the entered the home stretch at about 36 weeks, I started hearing a lot of Induction talk which is the one thing I really didn’t want. I did everything I could to take it easy and correct whatever wasn’t going quite the right way.

Wednesday March 2nd: My 38 week appt-Induction was brought up again and I was told it might be best to induce me the following week. I scheduled another checkup for 5 days later so we could determine for sure if the induction was needed. I left feeling upset but okay--after all, a healthy baby is the ultimate goal. I tried to be optimistic and stay distracted but by Sunday I just couldn’t take it anymore. I cried a lot that day. I felt like my baby and my pregnancy were being taken from me. I was supposed to have at least 10 more days to be pregnant and I didn’t want to cut it short. If this is the last time I get to be pregnant, I want my full forty weeks.

Monday March 7th: After talking with my midwife and having another ultrasound, we decided that induction was still necessary, but it could wait one more week. We scheduled it for St. Patrick’s Day-My due date. I left the office on cloud nine-I was going to get my full 40! I was so thrilled to be able to give my little girl one more week safe inside me. I was happy all week long, even as my due date crept up, I felt at peace. I enjoyed every single hiccup, kick and nudge she gave me. I am truly grateful for those extra 10 days. I needed them so much.

Wednesday, March 16th: A very busy day. Did a lot of shopping and cleaning with my Mom and Jared. I still felt at peace about what the next day would bring. I had decided that induction or not, I had been pregnant for the full 40 weeks and had no reason to feel “jipped.” Every birth is an amazing experience and even if it is an induction, it shouldn’t be counted down to with a feeling of doom and gloom. I felt confident that the induction would go smoothly as I was already 70% effaced and 3cm. I was also having a lot of sporadic contractions on my own. I had a rough few minutes putting Audrey to bed. I rocked her in the chair for the brief 2 minutes that she allowed it and I read her a couple of stories. She is oblivious, and will never remember anything different than having a little sister, but it’s still hard to know that I’ll have to share the attention and time with another somebody. That night Jared and I didn’t get much sleep. I was pretty uncomfortable and had several strong-ish contractions throughout the night.

St. Patrick’s Day 4:30am: BEEP BEEP BEEP. Time to wake up and call the hospital. Hospital says we are all clear to come in at 5:30. We stay in bed for a few extra minutes and then very quietly start getting ready. Today is the day. I went to the bathroom and noticed bloody show--Yup....My body is getting ready to go on it’s own anyway. It is time, and I will be okay. I peek in at my girls still sleeping and think, this is the last time I say goodbye to my “3” kids.

5:30am: We get to the hospital and Jared mentions that we’re parking in the same spot we did when Audrey was born and that it must be a sign of good luck. I tell him he’s crazy and probably really doesn’t remember-but he insists. Then I say-who knows? Maybe we’ll get the same room too-ha ha ha. We sign the papers and sit in the lobby for a little while, facebooking. I am getting pretty nervous-lots of butterflies. Am I really ready? Then the nurse takes me back to our room-524. Audrey’s Room. I definitely felt at home and decided that it was a good omen for the day. I got gowned up while the nurse went to get Jared.

6:30am: Apparently they are low on nurses and several moms are all of a sudden close to delivery which means we WAIT. What is there to do at 6:30am? NOT MUCH! Grey’s Anatomy was on, it helped me calm my nerves a bit. My nurse came in again, promising to get me started as soon as she could. We eat trail mix and drink juice. Remind me again...Why did we wake up so early?

8:30am: My turn! Nurse did her best to start my IV, but my veins wouldn’t cooperate and the one good one she found, she blew through it-that really hurts by the way. Finally at 9am we had an IV and pitocin running. First check of the day-I am still about 70% but now almost 4cm. I was all of a sudden really tired, not to mention extremely nervous again so I tried to sleep for awhile.

10:00am: Pitocin goes up to 6 units per minute. I am having contractions no stronger than what I’d been having all week only now they were coming about every 4 minutes. At 10:30, they up the pitocin to 8 and I decide to bounce on the ball for awhile. I am still so anxious-stomach is churning. I start having a need to concentrate on my breathing during contractions although they aren’t terrible yet. I start to worry about how terrible they will get later on.

11:15am: Okay. These contractions are definitely stronger. Probably about 3-ish minutes apart already. Jared and I are snacking on trail mix and dried fruit wishing we had eaten more earlier that morning. Even though I am nervous, the atmosphere is good. We are laughing and listening to our new soundtrack from Glee. That music has been stuck in my head all week! For some reason its the perfect distraction during contractions-not to mention its good music for hip swaying. Right now I like to stand up next to the bed and rock back and forth when a contraction comes. Jared is doing a great job on the back rub.

Noon: Midwife Christie comes to check up on me. I tell her contractions are definitely getting stronger. She asks if I want my water broken yet. I am torn with this. On one hand, I know things get a lot harder once that cushion is gone....not sure I’m ready for that. Part of me still wants to take out the IV and go home. On the other hand, I could just keep laboring but what happens if 2 hours go by and I haven’t had any changes? Then I’ve spent 2 hours having contractions for fun? Hmmmm..... On the other other hand, I’m getting hungry and would like a real meal so it might be nice to just get the show on the road. And yes, food really is part of the deciding factor here. Christie says she’ll check me and then let me decide. I am now 90% effaced and 5cm. I ask Jared what he thinks.... I really am scared to make the call. He says just go for it. Okay. We break the water and decide to cut my pitocin dose in half--back down to 4.... same as the beginning dose which I figure really isn’t all that much. For the next hour, I want to be in bed sitting up almost indian style-I have no idea why this felt good but it did. I got a heating pad for my back and Jared talked me through every contraction. I tried to interpret each contraction as pressure instead of pain. I really think that made a difference for me. We listened to some quiet music which I actually found really helpful during contractions. I remember being surprised that my contractions were getting stronger even though we’d turned pitocin down-my body was actually doing this! Jared tells me several times what a great job I’m doing. He is amazed at how calm I’m staying. I feel pretty calm, but I’m also still kinda expecting all hell to break loose sometime soon. I’m sure that I’m progressing slowly.

1:30pm: Christie comes in again. I tell her things are getting stronger, but I’m still okay. We decide to do another check and find out I’m 7cm now! She says just let the nurse know when I’m getting close. 7cm.... this should mean that all hell will break loose any second and I’m going to find my “inner crazy place.” Those who’ve had pitocin know exactly what I mean. I am waiting to go crazy, waiting for the self-doubt and panic to set in. I went to the bathroom and had a couple of contractions in there by myself. I coached myself through them thinking, “It doesn’t get any worse than 7cm. I am already here. I can do this. These last cm’s always go by quickly for me...just a matter of time.” Not a whole lot of self-doubt going on right? Then my next set of thoughts was “Why am I not more panicky? Why aren’t these contractions more awful? Am I really in transition? If this really is transition, how will I know when to call the nurses in?” Looking back now, it makes me laugh because my self-doubt registered in a completely different way this time around.

7cm…..

1:55pm: Nurse comes in and wants to check me--Okay. Sure. Whatever. She says I’m 7cm and she’ll probably have the techs come setup for delivery in a few minutes. After she leaves I tell Jared I think she’s lying. He laughs and says she probably just has bigger hands and I probably am farther along. Contractions are coming quickly now, and they really don’t feel like they’re lasting that long. Maybe it’s the pitocin, maybe its because I’m standing up? With each contraction I stand and sway. Jared holds me and rubs my back. He keeps saying “I’ve got you” which is really comforting to me. I can feel each contraction moving lower down my back. I want to sit up in bed again.

2:05pm: Christie comes in. The techs come in. The extra equipment comes in. I find this really encouraging, but also a bit overwhelming. I’m still not sure I’m ready to do this whole thing. Also-can it really be this close? I haven’t even been laboring all that long! Each contraction is getting lower I can feel them moving down my back. There’s a lot of pressure but I’m not feeling pushy yet.

2:15pm: Christie checks me. I’m 9cm now. Jared suggests that I try laying down on my side because that's what helped Audrey get into position and finish up the last cm. I really don’t want to lay down. I just want to sit up. I have another contraction, then decide okay-maybe I’ll give the side thing a shot. I hate laying down. I have another contraction and at the tail end of it feel like pushing! Christie says-okay then, let’s go! I tell Jared I’m not ready to push and I kinda don’t want to. He said something along the lines of, Well....I think you’re gonna have to.

2:20pm: I get in my pushing position and I can see in the mirror that she’s already starting to move down low. WOW-this is really happening....I am really here! I feel another contraction coming on and I push. I slow down for a second....long enough to reach down and feel her head-not quite crowning. I start pushing again and then think to myself “I should slow down or else I will probably tear a lot.” Immediately after that I think, “Ya.... I really don’t like these contractions, and I think I just want to be done. I don’t care what the damage is!” and I PUSH hard! Head is out. Pushed again for shoulders that were a tad stuck, and my lucky charm was born at 2:22pm.

We got skin to skin right away-it was so amazing to hold her little wet stickiness! I ask Christie what the damage is and SHOCKER! Not a single tear! Jared high-fived me after that one. I felt amazing. Evelyn weighed in at an itty bitty 6lbs 10oz, 18in long. My little peanut. She is such a little miracle. We all love her so much already and are so happy she decided to surprise us last summer. It has been a wonderful journey start to finish and I loved all of it.