Letters From Me, To You: Evie's Birthday

Hi.

I used to think I would never share a birth story. But now... after much debate, I've decided that I don't know how to withhold information.

J's due date was June 4th, and the days leading up to it were making me think that we would not be having a due date baby. However, the night before, I went to Molly's to watch a flick, and I noticed that my Braxton Hicks contractions were getting stronger and more frequent. I prepared to head home and she told me she'd pray that we would need to go to the hospital later that night or the next morning.

Let the timeline commence:

11:45 p.m.-12:30 a.m. - I timed the contractions after Jered got home from work and told him they seemed closer together than normal. We were both in bed and asleep by 12:30.

1:30 - I woke up with a contraction that was so painful it made me sit up in bed and rock back and forth. For half an hour I just sat up and grabbed Jered's arm each time one hit.

2:00 - I asked him if we could get up and watch a movie or something because I had a feeling we needed to time them more carefully. He continued to try to sleep, and I timed them for another half hour.

2:30 - I texted my mom and told her we would probably be heading to the hospital within the hour. Jered and I got up and finished packing. Jered did a few things around the apartment, like taking out the garbage. He also came back to wherever I was whenever he heard me start having a contraction, because by this time they were becoming extremely painful, usually bringing me to my knees.

3:30 - Jered took me out to the car, stopped at the gas station to get himself some coffee and donuts, and drove to the hospital, where I had to sit on the curb during a contraction on our way into the building. We got inside and started checking in, while I silently loathed the night nurse who took her sweet time as I wanted to die on the other side of the counter.

4:00 - A very nice nurse told me that if I said I was feeling "fine," I was going to be sent home. Jered held my hand through the contractions and as she checked me and assured me that I would most definitely be staying at the hospital and heading to a room very soon. (And I thanked God and felt validated in my pain because I had stuck it out for so long!)

4:30 - We settled into the delivery room, and they gave me some medicine to dull the pain until the anesthesiologist could get there to give me my blessed epidural.

5:00 - I sang the praises of modern medicine and sent epidural selfies to a few people. It kicked in almost immediately and I could no longer tell when I was having contractions. Amazing. The nurse told us to relax, so we did. We napped on and off for the next two hours and watched the sun come up.

7:00 - The epidural had caused my contractions to slow, so my doctor came in and did something to re-speed up the process. (Again- epidural=awesome because I had no idea anything had happened.) We continued to relax and wait for Mom and Dad to show up.

8:00-10:00 - Mom and Dad got there and stayed to hang out until things got started. Molly and the girls stopped by to see us too, until they were all sent to the waiting room. Our nurse gave me Pitocin and had to up the dosage a few times to get the contractions going strong again. I started feeling contractions again, and our nurse said we were going to start pushing soon.

10:15 - Pushing began. For the first hour, I didn't even break a sweat because I couldn't tell I was doing anything. Jered played classic rock and folk rock music on his phone for us.

11:00-12:04 - Painful contractions came back and started what was quite possibly the hardest hour of my life. (I am fully aware that I had it much easier than a lot of women, and I have absolutely no idea how anyone could do that naturally. My hat is off to you ladies.)

12:04 - Jered said, "It's a girl!" And I cried and cried and cried in disbelief. I was getting a girl. A baby girl with hair.