I never thought about recording Evangeline's birth story, but now I'm starting to think that it might be a good idea to have a copy of it for when the details are far more fuzzy, and come less readily to mind. It was such an incredible day, and I definitely want to be able to remember it in the future.
My original due date was April 14, 2014. Husband Orion is in the Service and so my obstetrical care was done on base. I know some women who have had negative experiences in teaching hospitals (both military and civilian), but I place my full faith in their skills. Medical students and trainees need to learn their trade somewhere, and I knew there would always be others who were both more experienced and higher ranking on hand to assist should anything go wrong.
I had been having my weekly checks from 36 weeks onward. I was really hoping Evie would come early or right on time since I wasn't looking forward to any extra time carrying a bowling ball in my belly. At my 38 week appointment, I was already about 1cm dilated and 10-20% effaced. I was ecstatic that there were already some changes. I had quite a bit of pelvic girdle pain during my last trimester and knew that Baby Girl was slowly preparing to make her grand debut.
The first weekend of April was likely to be one of our last together as a two-person family, so Orion and I made the best of it. We went on a date that Friday evening and had dinner and game night with some close friends on that Saturday. Sunday morning I woke up and had some mild discomfort that I assumed were Braxton-Hicks contractions. They weren't exactly painful, but didn't feel great. I remember laying in bed and telling Husband I wasn't sure if it was the start of labor, and that even if it was, the contractions were much too far apart to do anything.
I also went to a baby shower that afternoon. I had already purchased the gift for the expectant mom and figured I had better attend so that gift wouldn't sit around my house forever afterwards (I'm sure glad I went!). Some of veteran moms present didn't think I was in labor since I was in such good spirits. Sure, I was enormous and uncomfortable, but I was
there after all, and conversing with everyone like normal. Some of the women present shared their own birth stories, and I was really hoping I wouldn't end up with an C-section like some of the other ladies.
I returned home that afternoon to finish up some work and was experiencing more mild contractions. I figured they were just stronger Braxton-Hicks, and wasn't particularly bothered. Later that evening Husband and I go to pick up Thai food for dinner. Our anniversary was that coming Tuesday, but since we were both working, we figured we should enjoy our favorite meal together while there was time (ha ha).
In the car, I was in quite a bit of pain. This was around 7:00 pm, I believe. I knew at that point they were real contractions, but didn't believe I was in true labor. We get home, eat our food while watching some T.V. I'm having contractions the entire time and not feeling so hot.
As 9:00 pm approached, I told Orion that he should get ready for bed since he had work in the morning. I told him I would probably be up, since I was already experiencing insomnia and in a considerable amount of pain at that point. His response: "Well, hopefully I won't have to go TO work tomorrow!" He valiantly stayed up with me and timed my ever painful contractions.
Between 9:00 pm and midnight, I'm having stronger contractions that are getting closer together (maybe 3-5 minutes apart). Since I was giving birth for the first time, my NP advised me to wait until the contractions were closer to 2-3 minutes apart, or else they would send me home. I also knew we would have to call Labor & Delivery at the hospital to make sure they had beds open and available.
I tied to sleep and rest between contractions, but as each one hit, I was doubled over in pain and rocking back and forth on the edge of our guest bed. Our own bed was too high off of the ground for me to get comfortable. I started to get really nauseous from the pain and would rush to the bathroom expecting to get sick. Finally around 12:00 am I rushed to the toilet and got incredibly sick. At that point, with both my stomach and uterus contracting horribly, I told Husband to call L&D. I at least wanted to go and get checked out. Technically, my contractions were only 3-4 minutes apart, but the nurse said we could come in anyways.
Man, I was really hoping they wouldn't send me home.
They didn't.
Hallelujah! Well...kinda.
We got to the hospital (after nearly being stopped for a random car check) and they start checking my vitals and putting me in a hospital gown. The nurse placed an IV since I had been throwing up, and they began to monitor both myself and Baby E. I had experienced a few high BP readings during my pregnancy, and that early morning was no different. They were concerned about pre-eclampsia, and so ran some labwork. In the meantime, they began to monitor Baby, my BP, heartrate, and gave more fluids. At this point I was only about 3 cm dilated and 50% effaced.
Unfortunately, my nausea hadn't diminished at all and I quickly found myself attempting to extricate myself from the tangle of cords and tubes in an effort to get to the patient restroom.
It didn't work.
Despite his best efforts, I simply did not make it there in time. (He says he tried to work as quickly as possible, but to me it seemed like an eternity.) I lost it a
gain on the walls, on the trashcan, on the floor in the room AND in the bathroom. Basically anywhere but the toilet. Fortunately it was mostly fluid, but in my rush to get to the bathroom, I managed to completely dislodge my IV and was now also totally disconnected from the monitors. As I'm bleeding from the hand, I tell Orion to grab the nurse on call, who finally believed me when I said I get incredibly nauseated from the pain. My mom was the same way. She threw up while in labor during all of her pregnancies. which is something I inherited from her. Yay!
She quickly scrounged up some anti-nausea meds and put them into my IV line which solved that problem. A few hours of sleepnessless ensue and my lab results finally arrive. Negative for Pre-eclampsia! They decide to check my cervix one more time before sending me back home. The verdict? 5 cm dilated and 70% effaced. The on-call doc comes and goes, "Well, it looks like you're staying! We're having a baby!"
At that point it really sank in.
We. Were. Having. A BABY!!
My baby. My sweet little bug that I had felt kicking and bouncing around for the past several months was finally going to arrive. Reality was finally sinking in and Husband quickly let the family know.
I also asked for some sort of pain relief. I instinctively knew that the next several hours would be grueling, and wanted to get some rest. I received two forms of pain control. One was the initial narcotic to take off the edge; later I received an epidural.
(I know there are many moms out there who are completely against pain medication, but for me it was the right choice. I had some complications that made me very grateful I was numb to the birth process. This is not up for debate. I made my decision and am totally happy with it, as I'm sure many proponents of natural childbirth are.)
Moving right along. The next early morning hours are really a blur. I remember snippets of the doctor coming to check on my progress and the nurses making sure I was comfortable. My main medical team comprised of a midwife, nurse, senior nurse, medical technicians, and on-call attending. The med techs and attending would stop in every once and a while to see how I was progressing. The nurses and midwife were there the most and were AWESOME. Seriously. They were both probably close to me in age, and both still in training, but so so professional. They made me feel very comfortable, answered all of my questions, even joked with me. I have such positive memories of that team.
Finally, around 11:00 am on Monday morning, the midwife tells me, "It's time! We're going to get ready to start pushing soon!" I tell her we have to wait until Husband returns since he had gone home to feed the dogs. He probably could've stayed longer since I had to push for some time, but hey, I wanted him there!
He was great. He arrived just a few minutes later, and stayed by my right side the entire time. No fainting, no freaking out. Just relaxed, calm, and confident the entire time. He wasn't annoying, and didn't make me feel like an idiot even though I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing all the time. It took the better part of two hours to push since I couldn't quite tell when the contractions were coming, but finally around 1:00 pm, we were making some major progress. Instead of holding my breath for two rounds, they were now having me go for three which was exhausting. On top of being tired from lack of sleep, I was also getting over a head cold and suffering from major upper respiratory congestion which made it hard to breathe through my nose, and caused a great deal of pressure in my sinuses.
Evie had slight shoulder dystocia, but the midwife was great and performed a maneuver that relieved the issue. I remember everything finally coming down to a frantic few minutes. All I could think about was how I wanted it to be over since I could barely breathe. I was lightheaded from trying to take deep breaths through my mouth, my head felt like it was going to split. I was pushing through back to back contractions with everyone telling me to "Push! Push!! PUSH! Again! Push harder!" It was encouraging, but also exhausting since I already felt like I didn't have much left. They kept telling me to push and push and I dimly recall the sensation of pushing her body out. At that point, all my emotions came to head and I lost it. I was bawling and sniffling and couldn't push anymore. I didn't even realize it was over until I heard Husband talking in the background saying, "It's over, hon. You did it. She's here! Look at your daughter!" I then realized there was a tiny, warm, squalling baby on my chest (We had requested skin-to-skin contact before they did all their measurements and cleaning, etc) and I began to sob even harder.
It was
the most surreal, incredible, joyful, inexplicable experience of my entire life. Seriously. I couldn't believe I had just given birth to a real baby and that she was ours. Tears just streamed down my face and Husband teared up a bit too, I think. I just held her tiny body to mine while I attempted to settle my wild hormones.
After a few minutes, they took her and cleaned her up, did their measurements, wrapped her back up, and handed her to daddy. She was so tiny and so perfect. Evangeline Annmarie was born on April 7, 2014, at 1:14 pm; she was 8 lbs, 3 oz, and 20.5 inches long.
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| One of the first shots of our Eviebug. |
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| First bath. She was so tiny! |
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| I love her squinty eyes! ^.^ |
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| To be honest, I can't even remember what I was thinking here. "My baby! She's here! Wow, she is beautiful!" (Or something very similar. I was mostly still in shock.) |
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| She looks so big from this camera angle, but she seemed so small to us. She actually lost an entire pound after we went home, so she was only 7 lbs. |
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| First time in daddy's arms. |
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| Be still, my heart! |
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| *sniff, sniff* I miss her tiny body! |
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| Home, at last! |
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| And this, ladies and gentlemen, is my all time absolute favorite image of our daughter as a newborn. This was taken a mere week and a half after her birth and she is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! I even love that you can see a bit of dried milk by the corner of her mouth. This just sums up being a mommy for me. Seeing her sweet face every day and reveling in the glory of her creation. We love you so much, bug! |
