The birth of "Our Little Bird" ~ Our "Life" ~ Our Evelynn

Well, Evelynn was very determined to get here as soon as possible :-) I had worked full-time as a sonographer up until a week before she was born. I had to quit work earlier than expected because I was contracting so much from being up and down on my feet all day, pushing patients around the hospital, etc. My early symptoms of pre-eclampsia were acting up and the doctor told me to start at least modified bed rest to keep the contractions down and in control.

On Sunday, March 1st, after spending almost a week in bed I felt better than I had in many weeks and was feeling like a new person. I went to church and enjoyed the services there and then after taking a nap at home I realized that I was beginning to contract regularly. By midnight they contractions were coming every three to four minutes so I suggested to Matthew that I thought this was the real thing. We were at 36 weeks gestation and the doctor said after 35 weeks they don't do anything to stop labor if it starts. So, a little bleary-eyed we headed into the hospital where we were informed that I was only dilated to a one (possibly two) and so by three o'clock in the morning I was sent home, with a painful bump on my bum from a shot of morphine, to wait until I was dilated to at least a four. I was a bit frustrated because I had really thought this was the real thing.

Well, come to find out, it really was the real thing. After moaning and groaning through the pain for another twelve hours the pain got to be too much. The contractions ranged anywhere from ten to three minutes apart but I didn't care anymore that they weren't as regular as before. Something had to be done. We had a doctor's appointment scheduled for 3:30 that afternoon for the doctor to follow up on my pre-eclampsia symptoms and we were on our way to that appointment when I turned to Matthew and told him that we just needed to get to the hospital. When they checked me again I was dilated to a four (Woohoo! They couldn't turn me away this time! :-) and just then my water broke. Through the pain I was almost giddy with excitement that we were finally going to see our little girl.

Matthew and I hadn't taken any birthing classes.....although I made him suffer through watching some on-line videos of a variety of birthing options and experiences. His response to those videos was one that involved grimacing and "ooooh, yuck"ing so I wasn't quite sure how he would respond to watching his own daughter being born but so far he had been fantastically supportive making sure I was comfortable and asking if there was anything else he could do.

We were lucky enough to have a fabulous nurse who was helpful in everyway and made our experience a truly peaceful and great delivery.

The contractions were definitely getting stronger and Matthew did a great job of providing counter-pressure by pushing on my bent knees while I was contracting which greatly helped me to breath through the pain. They started coming faster and closer together so I opted for an epidural and Matthew opted to step out into the hall so he didn't have to see the needle. Yes, my big strong giant is horribly terrified of needles :-) I told the anesthesiologist that he must have numerous women fall in love with him every day because of how much relief you feel after getting an epidural. He laughed and I sighed happily as my lower half relaxed. He dosed things perfectly too because I never was completely numb, could always feel my legs from the knees down (it was just a little tingley) and there was just enough to knock out the pain but I could still feel what was going on.

Either I got too relaxed or something, but the contractions started slowing down and spreading out. After being given a small dose of pitocin things really got moving and the next thing we knew, the nurse was having us do a practice push and then saying, "Ok, ok, you can stop now, I need to get the doctor." He came in with his resident and about three or four pushes later we were holding our little girl. Matthew got to cut her umbilical cord and it was the most amazing thing to have her against my skin.

Matthew was amazing through the whole thing and was fascinated by it all. He couldn't stop smiling and was excited to cut her cord. Evelynn came out with an Apgar score of 9 but then couldn't seem to breathe very easily so they took her to the nursery for two hours. I had told Matthew beforehand that if they had to take her away that he was going to go with her no matter what so that she wouldn't be alone. He went off to the nursery and it wasn't until two hours later that I was able to see her. That was a VERY LONG two hours.

Finally our little family was back together and I got to see my beautiful little girl and laugh that she was sporting a very lovely mowhawk for a hair-do. We can't believe how much hair she has. It started out a really dark brown but has lightened up some in the past couple of weeks. She got her Daddy's skin coloring for which I'm grateful and his ears as well. I think the only thing that I donated of my genes are her feet and toes. Matthew has always given me a hard time about my first big toe being shorter than the second toe (he says that technically makes it NOT the big toe)....We laughed when we saw her feet on ultrasound because even then we could tell that I had passed that physical trait on to her. I told Matt that when she was born he would love her toes no matter what and think they were the cutest things ever. I was right! :-) He's commented many times on how cute her feet are!