This is the story of the day Evelyn was born. It's mainly for me to remember the details, though we are almost three weeks post birth and I'm sure there are things I have already forgotten! It's amazing how the events of that day can be so overshadowed by the days and weeks to follow. Hopefully I'll remember at least the important things for both myself and for Evelyn one day.
On April 15th I went in for my final doctors appointment. I was excited that day because I knew I would get to pick a day the next week for her to be induced. My lovely doctor doesn't allow his patients to go past 40 weeks (he's high risk and doesn't want to make a run-of-the-mill pregnancy high risk by going past 40 weeks). During the appointment we decided on Monday the 21st for her induction. As I was checking out, my doctor came up and told me they couldn't get me in for the 21st so it would have to be Tuesday the 22nd. That was fine with me....I'd been pregnant for almost 40 weeks, what was one more day?
Tuesday comes and Ben and I are up at 3:30 in the morning in order to be to the hospital by 5:30. Caleb spent the night at Ben's parents house so that we wouldn't have to take him with us that morning. We got to the hospital a little early (partly because of excitement and partly because I wanted to be the first on the list for the good drugs :)....if it even works that way). They took us to the delivery room and it turns out to be the same room I delivered Caleb in. The nurse came in and got everything started; the IV, heart monitor for Evelyn and contraction monitor. My doctor came in around 6:00 to check on my progress. I was still only 1-2 centimeters and about 80% effaced. They started the pitocin and around 6:30 the anesthesiologist came in and started the epidural. From that moment on, I was relaxed and stress free!
The rest of the morning was pretty uneventful. We were just waiting for things to get going. My nurse was awesome! Her missions to was to make sure I didn't have to push long when the time came. She monitored me all morning and when she realized that Evelyn was still riding high, she had me lay on my left side, then lay on my right, each for about 15 minutes. It didn't take long for her to drop then! Pretty soon, even though I had an epidural, I could feel the pressure of the contractions. It wasn't painful or uncomfortable, just an interesting sensation that I can't really describe. At 10:30 I was ready to go, but the nurse wanted Evelyn to come down a bit more before she called the doctor. Around 10:50 the doctor came in. Everyone got into position and after pushing 3 times for a total of about 30 seconds, Evelyn was born exactly at 11:00. She weighed 7lbs 5oz and was 19.5 inches long.
The doctor handed her right to me and the nurses started cleaning her off while she was laying on me. Ben and I were able to spend a lot of time with her before they took her back to the nursery. Ben then went with her to the nursery while the doctor finished up with me. It was an hour or so later when they brought her back to me. I was already in the postpartum room by that time and soon the room was filled with family. Caleb, my parents, Ben's parents, Ashley and Web were all there for most of the evening. We also had a few friends stop by, Heather with Annalee and Sidni with Eva.
It was a great day in every way possible. First and foremost Evelyn was born, but it was also great because I was no longer pregnant. And if you know me, you know how much I hate being pregnant. I am looking forward to the days, weeks and months to come as Evelyn grows and develops. I am so excited to see how Caleb interacts with her. He is going to be a great big brother!
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