Evelyn’s Birth Story

Since taking that pregnancy test on January 20, 2012 and seeing the positive results, I began praying for a ‘safe and quick delivery’. I also prayed for a healthy baby and a positive nursing experience. Every day I prayed the same prayer. For ten months, I was the recipient of many horrific labor and delivery stories told by women who had ‘made the passage’. The passage from Mom-to-be to Mother. Every time I heard a birth story, I said that prayer. On October 4, 2012, my prayers were answered!

My due date was September 29, 2012. I was thrilled to share my birthday month with my child. But I knew not to hold on to this date. The first baby is often past due. At my 40 week doctor’s appointment I was told I was 3 cm dilated! I considered myself lucky because I hadn’t had any contractions and yet I was making progress. With only 7 cm to go, my confidence in being able to go “natural” grew. But every time I was asked about getting an epidural I replied, “I’m keeping my options open!”
Saturday September 29 came with a wave of excitement. Would this be the day we meet our daughter? We took a long family walk trying to coax her out but I felt no different. Nothing was happening. The next day we took another 2 mile walk. When neighbors asked we told them, “The due date was yesterday.” But I had been walking almost every day of my pregnancy. Walking wasn’t going to make it happen. We began to realize that she was coming on her own time. But when would that be?
Monday night October 1, I went to work. I thought it was going to be “THE” night. I even brought a change of clothes just in case my water broke. Co-workers were amazed I was still working and over my due date. But there was no sign of impending labor that night. No contractions just punches and kicks from my baby girl. I left work that morning wondering if that was my last night for 3 months.
The next two days, I waited anxiously for something to happen. Trying to keep myself occupied, I kept the house in a constant state of cleanliness. My baby girl was coming home to a clean house! The morning of October 4, I was woken up by a Braxton-Hicks contraction but fell right back asleep. This happens a few more times until I am awakened at 8:45 am by a REAL contraction. For the first time, it felt different than the other contractions I had experienced. It felt like a severe menstrual cramp that started in my pelvis and wrapped around my belly to my lower back. I immediately downloaded a contraction counter app on my phone but I never thought “this is it” until hours later. From 9-11 am I lounged around in bed playing on my iPad. Every 4-7 minutes I was interrupted by a contraction. I still wasn’t convinced this was happening anytime soon because of the 4-7 min. time frame. When would I start having contractions every 5 minutes consistently for an hour? My doctor told me to call once this occurred. At 11 am I decided to let Matt know what was going on. It went something like this, “I think I’m in labor. Contractions are every 4-7 minutes. The doctor said to call when they’re 5 minutes apart. I’m not quite there yet.” He said, “Call the doctor, I’m coming home.” At noon, I called my doctor. For the past hour my contractions had been every 5 minutes. She said I had two options. Option A, come into the office to be checked. If I was more dilated she would send me to the hospital. But if I hadn’t made any progress I could labor more at home. Or Option B, go directly to the hospital and hope I was more dilated so I could be admitted. Otherwise they would send us home. I chose Option A. Matt comes home to find me in the midst of a contraction. I was running around like a crazy pregnant woman. It had finally dawned on me that this could be it! So I put last minute items in my hospital bag, plug in my curlers and proceed to put on my make-up. If my daughter was on her way, I wasn’t going to have my first pictures of me with her looking like a ghost with dark circles under my eyes!
While I finish “getting ready”, Matt takes care of Bentley and puts our bags in the car. While putting on my make-up I feel like I’m leaking. Just a small tinkle. Was I peeing or was my water breaking? I couldn’t control it so I knew it was my water breaking. It kept coming. I couldn’t move off the toilet. Finally, Matt says “We have to go now; we’ll bring a towel with us.” He begins taking the curlers out of my hair as I breathe thru another contraction. The car ride to the doctor’s office was around five minutes, I had two contractions. I prayed that there was nobody in the waiting room. Thankfully we didn’t have to wait long before being seen. The nurse weighed me and took my blood pressure in between my contractions. While waiting for the doctor to see me, Matt coached me thru a few contractions. The doctor comes in to check me. She waits as I breathe thru another contraction. When she exams me, she says the baby is really low and I’m 4-5 cm dilated. During the exam my water breaks or the rest of it! A huge gush falls to the ground. She says “Congratulations, you are having a baby today! I’ll call the hospital and tell them you’re coming.”
We make a mad dash to the car, stopping in the lobby for another contraction. In the car, I commemorate the moment by taking a picture of the time. 1:55 pm. We head towards I79. As soon as we get on the interstate the contractions become very severe and very close together. All I can do is scream thru them. All breathing techniques I learned fly out the window. All I could to deal with the pain and pressure is scream! I become so hot; I stick my head out the window. In between contractions, I try to tame my wind-blown hair! In less than 20 minutes we arrive at Magee. It feels like hours! At this point, I think to myself, “I’m either in transition or we’re in trouble because I’m going to need an epidural!” The walk to the second floor birthing center is torturous. Trying not to scream is my main concern. I didn’t want to be ‘that’ woman. In the elevator a contraction began, when the door opens I walk out and lean against a wall and try to refrain from screaming. When it’s over, we walk up to the front desk and begin signing registration forms. Again, I had to stop to breathe thru another contraction. Seeing me this way, the front desk lady calls back to the nurses and says, “This girl’s active!” Seconds later, a few nurses come out of triage with a wheelchair. Hurriedly we make our way to a labor and delivery room. I remember thinking, “Thank goodness they didn’t make me wait!”
Arriving in the L&D room, I feel an overwhelming urge to push. I tell the two nurses this as Matt and one of the nurses strips off my clothes and puts a gown on me. She says, ‘You can’t. We have to check you.” I tell her again, “I have to push!” At this point all I can do is close my eyes and scream. I remember from childbirth class that if you’re told not to push or to stop pushing, to breath by pretending you’re blowing out a birthday candle. This doesn’t work! The pressure and urge to push is overwhelming. The room gets very noisy as more people enter. I hear the nurse page my doctor several times. With my eyes closed, I try to fight the urge. A doctor finally checks me and I’m told I can push. The nurse gives me a pep talk. She tells me how to breathe. To take a deep breath, hold and push for ten seconds, then again until the contraction is over. I put my game face on.
When I feel the next contraction building up I do as she says, take a deep breath and hold my legs back and push. It feels good to finally be pushing and feeling like I am making progress. With each contraction I feel her move closer and closer. At one point, I’m asked if I want to touch her head. I say, “Yes!” It was a moment I’ll never forget. She’s almost here I just have to push her out. With newfound anticipation and excitement, the next contraction I focus and push even harder. With over ten people in the room, my modesty goes out the window. I don’t care how many people are in the room. My focus is on my baby girl. In between contractions I’m told by doctors and nurses how well I’m doing. One doctor says, “You need to come back and teach women how to push.” I said, “Really?” I was just doing what my body wanted to do.
The next contraction with Matt on my left side stroking my arm, I push even harder. I feel a pop! Her head had emerged. My doctor pulls her out and all I can do is stare as tears well up. She is pink and crying! She is healthy. My prayers had been answered. They immediately take her over to the warmer to check her out.
I couldn’t take my eyes off of her as my doctor sews me up. She is beautiful. And she was finally here! When she decided to come, she came quickly! Six hours from the start of my first contraction to her birth! Matt snaps a few pictures of her and brings the camera over to show her to me. I can’t believe how alert and bright-eyed she is. Her eyes are wide open. She is taking in her new world.
There had been no time for Matt and I to tell the medical staff our wishes. That Matt wanted to cut the cord and I wanted skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth. We had only been at Magee for 30 minutes before she was born. I pushed thru 6-10 contractions. At 2:54 pm, our precious daughter Evelyn Rose was born, only an hour after leaving the doctor’s office.
After twenty minutes, my doctor finishes stitching a stage 1 tear. The nurse wraps her up and gives her to Matt. He brings her over to me and places her in my arms. She looks up at me with her bright, blue eyes. Taking me in. I tell her, “Happy Birthday Evelyn. I love you. I’ve been waiting for you.” She seems to recognize my voice. After letting out a short cry, I ask the nurse to help me nurse her for the first time. With some prompting she gets the hang of it. Our special bond grows as I cradle her in my arms. All I can do is stare. She is here at last! She is beautiful. She is healthy. She is everything I imagined.
My Evelyn Rose. My precious daughter. As I write this, she is thirteen days old. Time is already flying. I wish I could freeze time. I want to remember every expression, every smile, every moment. To remember the scrunched face she makes after nursing. The kisses she gives when she’s hungry. Her dry, flaky hands and feet and her tiny little bum. Soon she’ll no longer be a newborn. Hold me! She’ll be a baby then a toddler then a preschooler! I’m looking forward to every stage of development but for now I’m soaking up every coo, every newborn cry, and every grunt as she falls asleep. She’ll only be a baby once but she’ll be my daughter forever.

October 4, 2012

2:54 pm

7 lbs. 3 oz.

21 inches long