My mom flew in from Houston on December 3rd and we spent the next 2 weeks doing "jobs". We completed Evelyn's nursery, made freezer meals, washed and sorted all the baby clothes, and did a lot of playing with Judah. Those two weeks zipped by and I was feeling like I was experiencing the shortest pregnancy on record. When you have a toddler life seems to be in fast forward. They grow and change so much every day that it's hard to keep track with other things in your life-especially a pregnancy. With Judah, I counted down the days and rearranged his nursery a million times. Hah! If only I had known then the mess it would become once life started.
As my due date approached I visited my doctor only to find out that at 39 weeks I was showing no signs that labor was near. So, I did what all crazy pregnant women do, I turned to my "ways to induce labor". I made sure to add some extra trips to the Recreation Center, where I walked, planked, and did my squats. (I do a lot of squats when I'm pregnant, this is because I want to have a natural delivery and Ina May, a natural delivery specialists was quoted saying if you do 300 squats a day you will have a very fast delivery! I figure it's worth a shot and even if it doesn't make labor faster, it does help strengthen the muscles that you will use during delivery. I don't do 300, because I think I wouldn't be able to walk back to my car, but I try to do plenty during my pregnancy.) Along with my trips to the gym I added lots of spicy food (enchiladas, chili, and cajun cabbage). I did pay for the food with countless nights of very painful heartburn! All in all, I was feeling pretty good and really not like I was going into labor any time soon.
My dad was scheduled to fly in on the 16th and my due date was the 17th. He arrived around 1 am on Thursday morning. That same morning around 4:30 I woke up to go to the bathroom and had a very painful contraction. I didn't think much of it because a couple of days before I had about an hour's worth of contractions that only lasted an hour and then fizzled out. These were definitely more painful and lasted longer. I was still in denial that these could be the real thing. I started tracking the contractions on my phone and had to get up and walk around. Around 5 am I was dealing with the contractions and suddenly heard Judah crying in his room. He rarely wakes this early and will almost always lay back down and go to sleep. That day it was a different story, he sat up in his bed and was yelling "mommy!". In between some pretty wicked contractions I went to his room and got him up. My dad had woken up and come to get Judah and Josh got up to help. I told Josh I was having contractions, but I was thinking they might go away like the others had. He looked at my contraction counter and said that he thought these were pretty close together. I told him that we were supposed to call the doctor when the contractions were about 10 minutes, He looked at my like I was little crazy because at that point they were about 1-2 minutes apart. Each contraction was so strong that I had to take it on my hands and knees, this position really does help take the pressure off of your hips and back. In between contractions I was scrambling to brush my teeth and get ready to go to the hospital. I decided to call the hotline for my doctor to let them know we were coming. When the operator answered I couldn't even speak my contractions were so strong. I ran out of the room and gave the phone to Josh. I went to the bathroom because the pressure was so strong. He was trying to answer questions and I was shouting answers at him. My mom came in and brought me my shoes and a water proof pad to sit on in the van on the way to the hospital. Josh started telling me that we needed to go right now and at that point I knew I couldn't move. All of the sudden I had a huge contraction and my water broke. I heard Josh tell the doctor that my water had broken and then he stepped out of the doorway. My sweet mom was there beside me prompting me to breath. She had three natural deliveries, two of which were over 9 lbs. The woman is a warrior. I felt the urge to push and when you feel that you can't not push. In a surreal moment I could tell Evelyn was coming and mom knelt beside me to help. After the second push she was in mom's arms. It was such a rush of physical and emotional relief and at this point extreme terror, because I just delivered a baby in my bathroom. Good thing my mom has good hand/eye coordination! Josh stepped back into the doorway, white as a sheet and told the doctor that the baby was here, then he hung up and called 911.
Little Evelyn Elizabeth was here! She cried very loudly and briefly and then looked at me with those dark eyes and such a perfect little head. After only an hour of contractions, she was here. I held her to my chest in the bathtub and waited for the paramedics to arrive.
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| The Delivery Team- Big Brother Judah, PDaddy, Evie and Nana |
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| This face is pure relief. |
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| I think Josh was hiding his complete shock here. |
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| Judah (22 months) likes Evie for the most part. He calls her by her name and says "aww" and "want to hold you baby." He is a little confused why I can't hold him right now, but he has plenty of good arms with my parents here and Josh. |
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| Josh is a little scared to have a girl but he is such a wonderful dad!! |
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| Evie does not cry very much, just enough to let you know she needs something. It's so cool to finally get to know this little person who has been inside of me. |
Josh and I have been singing Doxology with Judah at night before bed, so I'll end with these words that hold true.
"Praise God from Whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."
Merry Christmas!
Love,
Emily
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