the birth of Evelina Michelle

Soon after I found out I was pregnant, I predicted that I would go into labor on 8/24, the full moon.  On that day, Scott and I went out to look at our third batch of duplexes, hoping that "the one" would be among them. It was!  We both fell in love with the first house we saw that night.  Our real estate agent gave us the MLS form with the lockbox code written on it and we snuck back over to give it a second look.  I just knew that something was going to happen very soon and wanted to be sure that this was the house we wanted!  We liked it even more the second time.

We stopped at Kerbey Lane for dinner and then did a bit of grocery shopping and a Target run.  I wanted to get some walking in, and it had rained so it was quite a bit cooler (after being 108 degrees earlier that day!)  When we got home, I went to the bathroom and saw a little bloody show.  I ran out of the bathroom and excitedly told Scott "we've got blood!"  We were both so excited!  I never thought I'd be thrilled about something of the sort. ;)  Earlier that day I'd told him that I was jealous of women whose water broke, because at least they knew without a doubt that it was real labor.  I'd been having a lot of contractions, increasing in intensity, for a few days.

Based on the new signs, we thought we should try and go to bed a bit early.  I really tried to sleep but the baby was moving nonstop.  Very strange as she was never that active.  I felt like I needed to get up and move around on the birth ball to help her get into a better position.  I did that in front of the computer for an hour, and went back in to lay down at 1am.  At 2am, I woke with a start.  I felt a bit of a gush and immediately thought it was my water.  I went to the bathroom and saw some more come out, but had myself convinced it wasn't my water because it wasn't really that much.  I went and laid back down and felt another gush. At that point I knew.  I called the birth center and waited for a callback.  They asked me a few questions and told me I should try to get some rest and call in the morning.  Scott heard me on the phone and came out to see what was going on.  We were both really excited -- we were going to meet our baby today!  Or so we thought...

I tried to go back to sleep, but I started getting "contractions" which were just cramps in my back, like a period.  I was feeling pretty anxious, so I lay on the couch for a while (to let Scott sleep) and listened to some hypnobabies.  I drifted in an out all night, but the cramps combined with my anxiety made it hard to sleep soundly.  I finally got about two hours uninterrupted in the early morning.  I got up and called my boss to tell her I wouldn't be coming in as my water had broken, and emailed the real estate agent to tell him that we'd like to get moving on the house.  This was around 8am.

The cramps really slowed down after that.  The birth center called and wanted me to come in to check to be sure that my water had in fact broken.  Scott went and got us some breakfast, we packed up our bags, took showers, and headed there with all of our things even though I knew we'd be coming back home.  They didn't want to do a cervical check as it risks infection, but they did determine that my water was leaking out.  It never really gushed, but remained a slow trickle.  They listened to the heartbeat, took my vitals, and sent me home to get some rest.  Apparently the full moon had encited some craziness as there were four women in labor (not including me) there while we were getting checked!

We left and picked up lunch.  I called my mom to tell her we would probably be having a baby tonight.  At this point it was around noon.  Our real estate agent called back and said he could drop off the applications/forms at our house and pick up the app fee and security deposit.  We headed to the bank to get those cashier's checks.  Our teller was pregnant too and very excited for us.

We went home, ate, and I laid down for a nap. I slept until 2pm, then woke up (even though I could've slept longer) because Michelle the midwife said that she would be calling to check on me at the 12 hour mark.  She did call and told me to get on the breastpump for 10 minutes on, 5 minutes off, for two hours.  If that didn't work, she said she wanted me to do castor oil.  I was not liking that plan at all, and the whole "time limit" thing really made me anxious.  On top of that, the real estate agent realized that he'd told us the wrong company to make our checks out to, so we had to go back to the bank and have them re-done.  Annoying!

I did the breastpump while we watched Raising Arizona.  My contractions started up again, but not very intense.  Around 5pm, the owner of the birth center called to check on me.  She said I sounded exhausted and she wanted me to get some real sleep since fatigue is the #1 enemy in labor.  She wanted me to sleep for a 4 to 6 hour stretch.  I told her I was exhausted and agreed with her.  After that call, I got really frustrated.  I could have slept longer earlier in the day, but Michelle was threatening me with castor oil!  I sobbed for a while; told Scott that this wasn't happening at all like I'd expected and that I was getting scared.  He comforted me the best he could.

We decided to go get dinner and try to relax.  I had the back cramp contractions every 10 minutes through dinner.  We went home and I listened to hypnobabies in hopes of falling asleep.  No such luck.  My sister's flight was arriving at 10:30pm and my friend Crystal was picking her up for us.  This made me anxious, so I couldn't sleep.  They arrived at our place around 11pm, right after Jean (birth center owner) had called to ask me to come in so she could check me out.  Crystal left and we headed to the birth center with my sister.  Jean checked me and I was 2cm and not at all effaced.  "Not in labor."  She offered to give me a shot of nubain for pain, to help me sleep.  I accepted and we headed home.

The nubain made me feel good for a little while, but the contractions didn't stop.  They only got stronger.  At 3am I sobbed in the bathroom for about 10 minutes.  These hurt and I was so frustrated that they weren't even labor!  I just wanted to sleep.  I realized that being so upset would get me nowhere, so I started to use my hypnobabies to get through the contractions.  This helped me sleep in between them, but I woke up with each one.  I managed to stay in bed all night, hoping that the rest would at least do me some good.  Scott woke up for a little while and rubbed my back through the contractions.  I told him that I had no idea how I was going to make it through this and would probably end up in the hospital.  He said NO YOU WON'T!!!

I woke up at 7am to the sounds of my sister making cupcakes, and the strong feeling that I was going to vomit.  Happy birthday to me!  I somehow managed to not vomit, and went out to talk to her about what was going on.  We determined that the nubain probably had something to do with the nausea and I probably needed something in my stomach, so I ate some yogurt and toast.  My contractions kept coming every 10 minutes for the most part, and were getting hard to ignore.  Allie suggested that I try putting heat on my back, and they went out to get me a heating pad and some more depends (great for trickling water!)  I managed to lay down and sleep for an hour or so while they were gone.

The birthing center called while I was asleep, around 10am, and I deliberately didn't call them back.  I wanted to rest and do this on my own time.  I really felt like me and the baby weren't in any danger and that I'd be ok.  After feeling ill all day, I finally got a semblance of appetite for a turkey sandwich.  Scott ran out to get me one.  While he was gone, my contractions started getting noticably stronger and closer together.  Allie started doing counterpressure on my back through each one, which helped tremendously!  I got a burst of energy and excitement.  I finally called the birth center back, and they said they wanted me to come in so they could check me and the baby out.  I told them we'd be by in a half hour, but it ended up being more like two hours.  I labored in the living room while we watched Coraline, taking short naps in between contractions.  It took me a while to eat my sandwich.

When we arrived at the birth center, my contractions were five minutes apart!  This was around 2pm.  They monitored the baby and I for a good hour and all was well.  Michelle came back and wanted to see how she reacted to more intense contractions, so they had me get on the breastpump again.  I hated this entire process because I had to lay down through contractions.  How and why hospitals expect women to labor this way is beyond me!  After the NST, I got another cervical check.  It was awful; I had a contraction during it and sobbed.  Joan the midwife felt terrible.  The good news was that I'd progressed to 3cm and 90% effaced!  All that work the night before was for something!  They also did an ultrasound to check the fluid levels.  Most of the fluid was gone, but there were some pockets there, so they were happy with that.  Based on my situation, they decided to admit me.  This was around 4pm.  I was disappointed to get the smallest room that didn't have a birth tub, but that's just the way things happened with all the births going on.  Allie stayed with me in the room while Scott ran home to grab our things and take a shower.

I labored on hands and knees on the bed while resting my arms on a small ball.  They told me that based on baby's position, hands and knees was probably best.  It felt the best to me, too.  Scott came back and eventually left again to get dinner for he and Allie.  I wanted nothing to do with food.  While he was gone, I decided I wanted to try and sleep.  I laid on the bed on my side, wrapped around my huge body pillow, and fell asleep between contractions.  When one hit, I got up on my hands and knees on the bed and my sister rubbed my back with a massage tool.  When it was over, I laid back down and she put a heating pad on my back and I went back to sleep.  This went on for about an hour.  At one point, Michelle came in and asked what was going on.  Allie told her I wanted to rest, which I reiterated, and told her my contractions were still coming at regular intervals and seemed to be getting stronger.  She seemed skeptical and said that resting was fine, but in another half hour she wanted me to get on the breast pump to get things moving quicker. UGH.

I started to feel nauseous again and decided I was done laying down.  I tried to eat an apple, which took forever since I had to stop for every contraction.  Around 7pm, Jean came in to check on me.  I was fully effaced and a very loose 6cm, nearly 7cm!  This was the best news I'd heard in days!  My sister couldn't believe it.  Neither could I, nor Jean.  I said "so does this mean I don't have to get on a stupid breastpump?!" and she was like "no way! you're doing this fine on your own!"  We never did see Michelle again; her shift was over and Roswitha came in at 8.  The news of my progress gave me a huge burst of energy and kicked things into gear pretty hard.  I decided to get into the shower with Scott for a while and did some squatting during contractions.  They were getting very intense and I started really moaning through them.  Me and Allie were pretty well convinced that I'd be giving birth on my birthday.

After laboring in the shower, I didn't bother getting dressed again.  I labored on the ball, on the bed, standing up, and leaning on a bar in the bathroom.  Things were getting really hard and I thought I must be in transition.  I couldn't have been more wrong.  Things get hazy here, but I believe it was around 11pm when Roswitha checked me and I was only at 8cm.  VERY DISAPPOINTING.  I started to feel like something must be wrong and I'd never get this baby out!  This is when Scott really kicked into high gear and showered me with supportive words through every contractions.  He helped me remember how to breathe, how to stay calm, and assured me that I could do this and he was so proud of me.  At one point, probably sometime after midnight, Roswitha and Charlotte came in to talk about how my cervix wasn't progressing like it should and asked me if I wanted to try an herb to help it relax.  I accepted and took it like a shot (it was gross.)

I labored a lot on the ball after this.  It was pretty rough.  However, I had another span of sleeping in between contractions.  My sister still can't believe that I went from 8 to 9 cm while sleeping in between.  I was even snoring!  I couldn't have done it without her and Scott!  They kept me calm and as comfortable as possible during the contractions.  I tried to concentrate on one contraction at a time and enjoyed the rest in between them.  Around 2am I started getting panicky and said I wanted to be checked because I felt pressure and honestly, if I didn't get this baby out soon, I was going to lose my mind.  Allie ran out and got Roswitha.  She checked me and said I was at a 9+ with a lip and that she could push my cervix out of the way with my next contraction if I wanted her to.  YES, PLEASE!  Let me tell you: having someone's hands inside you during a contraction is worse than any contraction I experienced.  I screamed bloody murder when she did this, but I was finally allowed to push!

There was another woman in labor in the room next to us (and one who had given birth a few hours before), so Roswitha needed to be with her.  She sent Charlotte, a newer midwife, in to help me with pushing since I had such an awesome support system going already.  We started on the toilet so that I could get the hang of pushing in a more "natural" position to do so.  I needed a bit of help figuring it out.  I'd always thought that you were supposed to breathe through the pushing, but I was being told otherwise.  Charlotte and Allie were coaching me through.  I did a couple contractions on the toilet and decided to move to the bed.  Did two contractions on hands and knees, and they suggested I try laying on my side because I was tired and it was hard to support myself very well.  Pushing was the first time I kept my eyes open during contractions.  Focusing on something really helped.  I focused on Scott.  His eyes were dancing; he was so excited that he was about to meet his daughter.  In about four more contractions (just under an hour of pushing), her head was out!  I got to feel it.. SO AWESOME, and very encouraging.  Once her head was out, they told me to stop pushing so that they could rotate her body to eliminate tearing.  I'd prepared myself well for this part, and I quit pushing and did exactly what they told me to do!  Next thing I knew, my pink and screaming daughter was being placed on my chest!

I was kind of in shock, and SO relieved.  Allie and Scott were crying like babies.  It was 3:07am.  They wiped her off as I held her, gently delivered the placenta, then Roswitha (who'd returned just as I was delivering) told me the cord was done pulsing and showed it to me and had me feel for myself.  Scott cut the cord then took the baby after they'd cleaned up a bit and had me move to the other side of the bed.  That was quite a chore!  I couldn't sit up, so Charlotte and one of the nurses taught me how to nurse in a side-lying position.  Evie caught on pretty quick and nursed for a half hour!  I did tear on the outside a little bit (first degree tear), so I gave the baby to Scott while Charlotte and Roswitha got to work on stitching me up.  I got 3 stitches and it took them probably an hour to finish.

Evie never left our sight, which was awesome.  They asked us if we wanted the eye goop and vitamin K; we declined both.  We did opt for the newborn bath, which was done in our room with Scott helping.  She loved it!  After that, they weighed and measured her -- 7lbs, 4.5oz and 20 inches long -- put her in clothes that we brought, and did footprints.  We did some other paperwork things and I finally sat up in bed to eat a sandwich.  I was pretty surprised at the amount of blood and fluids coming out of me, honestly.  It's something I never really thought about when I was preparing for birth.  I had to be helped to the bathroom so that I wouldn't pass out, but I felt pretty great!  I was able to get up and down by myself after that.  They checked me and the baby every hour until we left.  I had a little trouble bringing my blood pressure down, but with all the excitement, I'm not surprised!  Scott left to get food around 8am.  I ate a taco and took a short nap with the baby.  They sent us home around 11am.  I walked up three flights of stairs to our apartment without much of an issue. :)

We had a nurse come check us both out on Sunday and she said that we both looked great.  We opted for the PKU test, which she did then, and I cried just as much as the baby did.  Awful!  I've been a bit sore, which is to be expected, but the baby is nursing wonderfully and I have not had any issues.  She's sleeping wonderfully, too!  My sister has been a huge help to us -- cooking, cleaning, helping out in every way possible.  It's going to suck when she's gone.

Scott is the most incredible daddy I've ever come into contact with.  He couldn't hold her without crying for the first two days, and she brings so much joy to his face!  She looked for him shortly after she came out of me and obviously loves him too.  It's awesome!

The name Evie (E-V) came to me in the shower one day and I knew that was her name.  I asked Scott what he thought of the name and what a longer version could be.  I like Evelyn, but thought it was too common.  He suggested Evelina, which I loved!  Michelle is my sister's name.

Next post will be a picture post. :)