Yes, that was two months ago and now she has chubby legs and loves to coo. But, I am already feeling nostalgic for the day she was born, those wide newborn eyes, squished nose, and the hours that turned to days of holding and feeding and shooshing. Instead of the anticipation I felt for the next stage with my other babies, I am almost sad to see her get older because she will most likely be our youngest child. That and her birth was amazing and the first couple of months have been wonderful.
I know this is long. But I had fun remembering.
I know this is long. But I had fun remembering.
Evie was officially 9 days overdue; her original estimated arrival date was August 5th. I had convinced myself she would be born earlier, maybe end of July. No reason, just decided it. So when August 5th came and went with absolutely no signs of labor, I already felt like she was never going to arrive. During the week after her due date, not only did I feel really good, I did not have a single contraction. Not even the Braxton Hicks contractions I been experiencing a lot leading up to the due date. At my doctor's appointment on her due date, I was 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced. A week later (August 12) I was 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. I saw a different doctor on the 12th, and she explained how subjective determing effacement is. I tried numerous things that people suggest can start labor, including having the membranes stripped twice. My conclusion is that these methods do not work (unless it is truly time for baby to come) and are a waste of time.
During the 9 days after her due date, I tried not to complain because I had decided against an induction and to wait for labor to begin on its own. I believe there is no right way for a woman to have her baby, and elective inductions work well for most if not all people who choose this route, but I felt very strongly about not being induced unless it was medically necessary. My main reason behind my strong feelings to not induce is related to Theo's difficult labor and delivery and an injury he sustained at birth that I associate with pitocin use and "forcing the issue." Labor was not induced with Theo, but when things were not "progressing" as the doctor wanted, they started the pitocin. My current doctor has assured me that my experience with my first baby would not be repeated and that the correlation between the difficulty Theo and I had and the use of pitocin was not related (he says it has more to do with his position right before he was born), the physical therapy and a future surgery for Theo has been enough for me to not want to find out.
What made me even more determined to not undergo induction was that my obstetrician's nurse tried to tell me that labor must be induced on Monday, August 9 because I would be 4 days overdue and that could pose risks to the baby. When I pressed her to explain the actual risks of a 4-day overdue, healthy pregnancy, she sad that is would just be better because my doctor was going out of town and would not be back until the following Monday. She said that if I were not induced and had not had the baby, that would put me over a week overdue by the time he returned and she did not want me to "slip through the cracks." When I asked exactly how I would slip through the cracks (I was imagining a hugely pregnant woman and a tiny crack in the floor), she said she just meant that I would need to see one of his associates instead and have a couple of non-stress tests done while I waited. Okay, I said.
The biggest disappointment about being overdue was that Karlie was not there when Evie was born. I was so excited for all of us to be together and had not considered that she would not be here! She returned to Indiana on Saturday, August 7 (so the induction would not have happened anyway) to get ready for her big return to school for her senior year. She started her senior year on August 10th!!! She has no idea how much I enjoyed her company in the couple of weeks before she left. Because I was taking it easy, we enjoyed some quality down time and she even went on a 4-mile walk with me a couple of days before the due date. She let me ramble on about her important stage in life, blah, blah, blah. Come to think of it, she went on a similar walk when I was due with Nora.
Early morning on Friday, August 13th I had a few strong contractions that faded. Later that day, I had very short, irregular, uncomfortable contractions. Terry and I took the kids out for Chinese food and I started having painful, still very short, contractions during dinner and decided to go outside and walk around. And frankly the food was making me sick. It was hard to decide how far in labor I was because the contractions were so short (strong, but short). I didn't think such short contractions could be real. Terry took Theo and Nora to Target for a special blanket Theo had been wanting to buy the baby. Adrian and I went home and soon after returning home, the contractions were getting intense.
Early in my pregnancy I had decided that I would stay home as long as possible while in labor. I prepared myself with a lot of reading up on different relaxation and pain management techniques but unfortunately did not do much practicing. I found that what little I had done was helpful though. By 10 p.m. the contractions were amazingly intense and increasingly close together, but still short. Of course this was the only time in a week I had really been alone in the house, so I called Terry and my in-laws to let them know things seemed to be moving along. Hurry! Anyway. . . we finally hit the road for the hospital at midnight. While in the car, the contractions began coming one on top of the other and I told Terry I thought things were starting to happen fast. He decided to speed and was pulled over by a police officer, which was very exciting for him. The cop did not give Terry a ticket and followed us the rest of the way to the hospital.
Early in my pregnancy I had decided that I would stay home as long as possible while in labor. I prepared myself with a lot of reading up on different relaxation and pain management techniques but unfortunately did not do much practicing. I found that what little I had done was helpful though. By 10 p.m. the contractions were amazingly intense and increasingly close together, but still short. Of course this was the only time in a week I had really been alone in the house, so I called Terry and my in-laws to let them know things seemed to be moving along. Hurry! Anyway. . . we finally hit the road for the hospital at midnight. While in the car, the contractions began coming one on top of the other and I told Terry I thought things were starting to happen fast. He decided to speed and was pulled over by a police officer, which was very exciting for him. The cop did not give Terry a ticket and followed us the rest of the way to the hospital.
When we arrived at the hospital I was 8 + cm dilated and things were moving along quickly. What surprised me was that my contractions were never longer than 30 seconds, and most were less. I always thought they had to be much longer. Apparently not if you've had other babies. The anesthesiologist showed up during transition and enticed me with a spinal (a one time shot of anesthesia in the spine ). Go for it, I said, if I can sit still! As soon as he finished (which took a little while because of my squirming), the nurse said I was fully dilated and I could tell Evie was ready to be born. I did have some numbing for the delivery. My nurse had been wonderful and helped a lot with coaching me during the contractions, especially through transition.
Here we are talking with the wonderful nurse. I think she was telling the story of the couple that asked for the placenta and made it into a shake. Evie was born about 15 minutes later.
My sister Callie and sisters-in-law Ashley and Ellen were also there for moral support. It was fun having them there!
My doctor was a comedian (my regular doctor was still out of town) and kept saying thinks like, "you are going to have to push again because this is not a small baby!" and "wow, she has broad shoulders (and she does)!" etc. She weighed 9 pounds, but I fully expected a bigger baby the way he was going on and on.
Less than an hour after we arrived at the hospital, our little baby was born! She is amazing!
Less than an hour after we arrived at the hospital, our little baby was born! She is amazing!
