Arrived Friday July 8, 2011
2:38PM
9 lbs. 8 oz.
23 1/4 inches long
We have absolutely LOVED having little Evelyn in our family from the second she was born. She is a little sweetheart and immediately can melt your heart with her little squeaks or when she looks at you or simply by her touch. It's been so fun getting to know her. Her favorite thing in the whole world is to be swaddled and held. She hates having wet or dirty diapers. And she's already a huge fan of the binkie (much to Ally's delight). :) She's an amazing sleeper, both during the day and at night. So far she's only been waking up once a night to eat. (Knock on wood!) I'm totally dumbfounded because my other three have been terrible night sleepers until 6 months! Crossing my fingers...
So here's Evelyn's birth story (for posterity's sake)!
The last few weeks before she arrived, I was miserable. Hot, tired, swollen, achey, headaches, backaches, thirsty all the time, having to pee all the time, suffering from bad allergies and just plain ol' huge. In fact, the day before I had Evelyn, someone had the nerve to ask me if I was having twins! That's how big I was. My doctor scheduled my induction date for July 18th which was 5 days before my due date. This was a terrible day to be induced. 1. Simply because it felt so far in the future 2. Janelle was supposed to fly in from Utah that day and would have to be picked up at the airport and 3. My parents were leaving the next day for Rexburg for my brother's graduation from BYU-Idaho so we would have been on our own with the other 3 kids. Unfortunately there was nothing I could do about it except hope and pray she would come early!
On the 3rd of July, Kyle, Janelle, and Spencer flew out to Utah for Kyle's sister, Hillary's wedding on the 6th. Kyle gave me strict instructions of no spicy foods, no walking and no jumping on the trampoline for the next few days. Haha! So I basically sat around waiting for him to get home. I was having contractions off and on throughout the week, but nothing regular. I spent the 4th of July hanging out with my family, lounging in the pool and eating ice cream - because it was simply too hot to do anything else! On Tuesday my mom and sister took me out for an early birthday present of getting pedicures and out to dinner. Let me tell you, pedicures were the absolute best present I could have ever gotten! It felt SO good!!! Thank you Mom and Dad. :) Wednesday I REALLY started nesting...got my hair cut, packed mine and the baby's hospital bag, totally cleaned my room, made a baby bracelet... And Thursday morning Kyle and Spencer were on their way back from Utah! I'd made it! That morning I took it upon myself to get this baby here. I walked a mile in the morning which definitely got some painful contractions going (even though they stopped once I sat down). Even after a mile, I was ready to keep going even though it was getting extremely hot outside. So I grabbed my sister, Emily, and she, Ally and I headed to the mall to walk some more - this time in the air conditioning. :) We walked the entire upstairs and downstairs of the Willow Bend Mall which got some more contractions going (yea!), and then we had to leave to go pick up Spencer in Denton so Kyle could work.
The rest of the day I was pooped. I kept having irregular contractions but wasn't too worried about it because I'd been having them all week. Poor Kyle got home from work and was pooped from having to wake up at 3:30 that morning to get to the Salt Lake airport on time, fly back to Dallas, drive to work, work until 5:00pm, and then drive home. We took it easy...ate dinner, watched a little tv and then both of us went to bed exhausted. That night started out like any other night, I kept waking up every 2 hours to pee, I kept having contractions, I tossed and turned never getting comfortable, etc. However at 5:00am I woke up and felt a gush of water. Thinking I had totally just peed on myself, I rushed to the bathroom and the gush kept on gushing. I was totally elated my water had just broken! My water broke with Janelle but it was just a trickle and I really had no idea it had happened, so this time was fun knowing FOR SURE this baby was coming today! I grabbed a towel and stuck it between my legs and went to wake up Kyle. He didn't believe me at first! But I finally convinced him and we made a scramble to throw last minute items in my bag, grab the camera, grab an extra towel and then get in the car. I called my doctor to let her know my water had broken (who I obviously had woken up and felt kind of bad about), but, well, that's what they're there for, right?
A 20-minute ride and 2 soaked towels later we made it to the hospital and they wheeled me upstairs to labor and delivery. They got me all checked in and I was there to have a baby! I can't even tell you how happy I was to be there. They took all my vital signs, put in an IV and then left me to hopefully progress on my own. I had to be induced with all three other kids (even with Janelle because I never went into labor on my own), so to actually have the chance to start on my own was exciting. I progressed through the day from a 3 to nearly 6 cm. All by myself, no pitocin or anything! By the time I made it to that 6, I was ready for an epidural. I could have pushed through I think fairly well without it, but there was no way I was going to push my huge baby out without anesthesia. My ultrasound the week before guessed she was already 8 lbs. and probably more, so I figured she was at least in the 9's by then. Sorry, no 9 lb. plus baby was getting pushed out naturally. That's just how I roll. Plus I didn't want to wait too long and then not have the option of getting an epidural, so I opted for it then.
The thing I was most surprised at was how much better and manageable my contractions were without having to be on pitocin. I had never known any different before, so it was nice to experience things a little more naturally this time around.
I got the epidural at about noon and was able to get in a little nap. They did end up having to give me some pitocin after the epidural because it slowed my contractions down a little. But I didn't care, because I already had the happy drugs. :) My mom came up to the hospital that morning to be there for grandbaby #6's birth, so I sent Kyle out to get lunch and for a break. He still got back pretty quickly. :) At 1:30 my grandpa surprised me and showed up for a visit. It was fun to see him and get a little bit of a distraction. At 2:00pm I felt a drop and some major pressure. So I called the nurse and she came in to check me (after my Grandpa had left). Surprise! I was at a 10! She called my doctor, got me all ready for pushing and then gave me strict instructions to not push until my doctor got there! Good thing, because my doctor got there and I pushed for a maximum of 5 minutes and there was our brand new daughter!
All 9 1/2 lbs. and a whopping 23 1/4 inches! We were all stunned at her height - particularly the nurses and my doctor. I was talking to my doctor afterwards and I could tell she was relieved that this baby had come early. She was exactly 2 weeks early and had she gone to term who knows how big she could have been!
We spent the rest of the day in recovery getting to know our new little princess. We had a super hard time with her name. We had a list of 6 names that we liked but as we went through them we just couldn't find (or agree) on the one or combination of two of them that "fit." :) We had Grace, Hannah, Erin, Elisabeth, Evelyn and Chloe on our list. Fortunately by about 8:00pm we'd mulled Evelyn Grace or Grace Evelyn around in our heads enough that we finally felt we had the perfect name. She was almost Grace, but we both naturally felt like Evelyn was her first name. I liked the name Evelyn when we were pregnant with Annelyse, but it never really caught on with Kyle. I still really liked it this time around, but didn't bring it up since I thought Kyle didn't like it very much. So one day a few months back I get a text message from him saying, "What about the name Evelyn?" Really? I just laughed. School and work has really taken a toll on him. :) In Hebrew Evelyn means "life," obviously after Eve which we really liked. And I have loved the name Grace since we were pregnant with Janelle. I figured this is our last baby, she's a girl, I better use it! Grace means "Grace of God," which we also really liked. So that's how we got her name. And I love it. So I know it's perfect for her!
So that's Evelyn's birth story. It was a long, hard road being pregnant, but I would do it all over again for her. She was worth every single second of it! We all love her to pieces and can't believe she'll already be a week old tomorrow! I love you Evelyn Grace!
So here's Evelyn's birth story (for posterity's sake)!
The last few weeks before she arrived, I was miserable. Hot, tired, swollen, achey, headaches, backaches, thirsty all the time, having to pee all the time, suffering from bad allergies and just plain ol' huge. In fact, the day before I had Evelyn, someone had the nerve to ask me if I was having twins! That's how big I was. My doctor scheduled my induction date for July 18th which was 5 days before my due date. This was a terrible day to be induced. 1. Simply because it felt so far in the future 2. Janelle was supposed to fly in from Utah that day and would have to be picked up at the airport and 3. My parents were leaving the next day for Rexburg for my brother's graduation from BYU-Idaho so we would have been on our own with the other 3 kids. Unfortunately there was nothing I could do about it except hope and pray she would come early!
On the 3rd of July, Kyle, Janelle, and Spencer flew out to Utah for Kyle's sister, Hillary's wedding on the 6th. Kyle gave me strict instructions of no spicy foods, no walking and no jumping on the trampoline for the next few days. Haha! So I basically sat around waiting for him to get home. I was having contractions off and on throughout the week, but nothing regular. I spent the 4th of July hanging out with my family, lounging in the pool and eating ice cream - because it was simply too hot to do anything else! On Tuesday my mom and sister took me out for an early birthday present of getting pedicures and out to dinner. Let me tell you, pedicures were the absolute best present I could have ever gotten! It felt SO good!!! Thank you Mom and Dad. :) Wednesday I REALLY started nesting...got my hair cut, packed mine and the baby's hospital bag, totally cleaned my room, made a baby bracelet... And Thursday morning Kyle and Spencer were on their way back from Utah! I'd made it! That morning I took it upon myself to get this baby here. I walked a mile in the morning which definitely got some painful contractions going (even though they stopped once I sat down). Even after a mile, I was ready to keep going even though it was getting extremely hot outside. So I grabbed my sister, Emily, and she, Ally and I headed to the mall to walk some more - this time in the air conditioning. :) We walked the entire upstairs and downstairs of the Willow Bend Mall which got some more contractions going (yea!), and then we had to leave to go pick up Spencer in Denton so Kyle could work.
The rest of the day I was pooped. I kept having irregular contractions but wasn't too worried about it because I'd been having them all week. Poor Kyle got home from work and was pooped from having to wake up at 3:30 that morning to get to the Salt Lake airport on time, fly back to Dallas, drive to work, work until 5:00pm, and then drive home. We took it easy...ate dinner, watched a little tv and then both of us went to bed exhausted. That night started out like any other night, I kept waking up every 2 hours to pee, I kept having contractions, I tossed and turned never getting comfortable, etc. However at 5:00am I woke up and felt a gush of water. Thinking I had totally just peed on myself, I rushed to the bathroom and the gush kept on gushing. I was totally elated my water had just broken! My water broke with Janelle but it was just a trickle and I really had no idea it had happened, so this time was fun knowing FOR SURE this baby was coming today! I grabbed a towel and stuck it between my legs and went to wake up Kyle. He didn't believe me at first! But I finally convinced him and we made a scramble to throw last minute items in my bag, grab the camera, grab an extra towel and then get in the car. I called my doctor to let her know my water had broken (who I obviously had woken up and felt kind of bad about), but, well, that's what they're there for, right?
A 20-minute ride and 2 soaked towels later we made it to the hospital and they wheeled me upstairs to labor and delivery. They got me all checked in and I was there to have a baby! I can't even tell you how happy I was to be there. They took all my vital signs, put in an IV and then left me to hopefully progress on my own. I had to be induced with all three other kids (even with Janelle because I never went into labor on my own), so to actually have the chance to start on my own was exciting. I progressed through the day from a 3 to nearly 6 cm. All by myself, no pitocin or anything! By the time I made it to that 6, I was ready for an epidural. I could have pushed through I think fairly well without it, but there was no way I was going to push my huge baby out without anesthesia. My ultrasound the week before guessed she was already 8 lbs. and probably more, so I figured she was at least in the 9's by then. Sorry, no 9 lb. plus baby was getting pushed out naturally. That's just how I roll. Plus I didn't want to wait too long and then not have the option of getting an epidural, so I opted for it then.
The thing I was most surprised at was how much better and manageable my contractions were without having to be on pitocin. I had never known any different before, so it was nice to experience things a little more naturally this time around.
I got the epidural at about noon and was able to get in a little nap. They did end up having to give me some pitocin after the epidural because it slowed my contractions down a little. But I didn't care, because I already had the happy drugs. :) My mom came up to the hospital that morning to be there for grandbaby #6's birth, so I sent Kyle out to get lunch and for a break. He still got back pretty quickly. :) At 1:30 my grandpa surprised me and showed up for a visit. It was fun to see him and get a little bit of a distraction. At 2:00pm I felt a drop and some major pressure. So I called the nurse and she came in to check me (after my Grandpa had left). Surprise! I was at a 10! She called my doctor, got me all ready for pushing and then gave me strict instructions to not push until my doctor got there! Good thing, because my doctor got there and I pushed for a maximum of 5 minutes and there was our brand new daughter!
All 9 1/2 lbs. and a whopping 23 1/4 inches! We were all stunned at her height - particularly the nurses and my doctor. I was talking to my doctor afterwards and I could tell she was relieved that this baby had come early. She was exactly 2 weeks early and had she gone to term who knows how big she could have been!
We spent the rest of the day in recovery getting to know our new little princess. We had a super hard time with her name. We had a list of 6 names that we liked but as we went through them we just couldn't find (or agree) on the one or combination of two of them that "fit." :) We had Grace, Hannah, Erin, Elisabeth, Evelyn and Chloe on our list. Fortunately by about 8:00pm we'd mulled Evelyn Grace or Grace Evelyn around in our heads enough that we finally felt we had the perfect name. She was almost Grace, but we both naturally felt like Evelyn was her first name. I liked the name Evelyn when we were pregnant with Annelyse, but it never really caught on with Kyle. I still really liked it this time around, but didn't bring it up since I thought Kyle didn't like it very much. So one day a few months back I get a text message from him saying, "What about the name Evelyn?" Really? I just laughed. School and work has really taken a toll on him. :) In Hebrew Evelyn means "life," obviously after Eve which we really liked. And I have loved the name Grace since we were pregnant with Janelle. I figured this is our last baby, she's a girl, I better use it! Grace means "Grace of God," which we also really liked. So that's how we got her name. And I love it. So I know it's perfect for her!
So that's Evelyn's birth story. It was a long, hard road being pregnant, but I would do it all over again for her. She was worth every single second of it! We all love her to pieces and can't believe she'll already be a week old tomorrow! I love you Evelyn Grace!
4 comments:
this story made me laugh :) I am so glad things went so smoothly with her birth. You deserve it! and we are so glad Evelyne finally came. Her name is perfect! we are excited to meet her in December, but she'll be all grown up by then... ahh!
Yea, I am so glad that everything went well! Congrats! When you are feeling like company let me know, I would like to come see you.
Congrats, she is beautiful!
I'm so glad that everything went smoothly for you! I love birth stories, and this one gives me hope that maybe my little guy will decide to arrive two weeks early. I won't get my hopes up too much, but a little. :)
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