Evelyn Isabel is here!

Please welcome our new baby girl.. Evelyn Isabel.

Evelyn was born on March 12, 2010, weighing in at 6 pounds and 14 ounces. She was 19.5 inches long and cute as ever.

My birth story is still coming together and the more I think about Evelyn's birth, the more it changes. I know I need to just write it out and leave it at that, but I have been so full of emotions and physical stress that almost anything besides feeding and cuddling this baby seems impossible. 

For a rough recap, I went into labor thursday afternoon and in just a few hours Dave and I were packed and on a rush to my parents' house to set up for the birth. My labor was hard and I began to throw up and get extremely nauseous with and between each contraction. It was awful. I was in so much pain, could not drink any fluids, and after about 4 hours of laboring at home, Nancy and I decided I needed to go to the hospital for some fluids and pain relief. Double whammie! I was in so much pain and so nauseous that my contractions were not doing anything besides making me miserable. We got to the hospital and within a half hour I received my epidural and could finally relax. A few short hours later, I was 10 cm dilated and she was coming out. 

The actual birth was wonderful for me. I was itching from the epidural, but in comparison to the nausea and vomiting, it was no big deal. As Evelyn was coming down the birth canal, my bag of waters swelled outside of me into this big opaque balloon. It wasn't until her head was actually crowning that it slowly leaked and Dr. Fitzhugh pulled it away for her to be born. I had no one telling me to push, so when my epidural was sort of wearing off on the left side, I was able to feel my contractions enough to slowly inch the baby out. Nancy and Dave were encouraging me, and Nancy kept saying that I was doing a great job stretching. Once her head came out, Dr. Fitzhugh rotated her enough so that I could reach down, grab her underarms, and pull her out of me to my chest. So amazing! I got to birth my own baby and no one handed her to me! In that moment, nothing about my transfer to the hospital or my decision to get an epidural mattered. I knew we had made the right decisions and I was incredibly satisfied with my birth. 

I do wish that my body would have stayed well during labor. I did not think I was going to get sick, but I did and we had formed this back-up plan of transferring months ago. If I hadn't gotten so sick, I would have been able to breathe through my contractions, focus better, and stay hydrated, ultimately birthing at home like we had hoped. I know I am still a homebirthing mother, despite my transfer. I still strongly believe in what I attempted to do, and will go for another homebirth for the next baby. I feel proud that I decided I was not going to torture myself by staying at home, vomiting, dry heaving, and trying to birth a baby. That birth would have been traumatic. 

I am very much in love with this little being. Although we have had a rough, and I mean ROUGH past week, things are slowly coming together. She is nursing so well and has gained back her birth weight plus some in 5 days. We go back to the pediatrician on Monday to weight her again and check her out. Our doctor, Dr. Tull, complimented me and said that I was doing super with breastfeeding and Evelyn was looking so healthy. That made me feel really great since the night before I wept uncontrollably while my nipples were throbbing and bleeding and the baby was screaming... but that is another post.

I am so thankful for all of our friends and family who have been so wonderfully supportive during my difficult pregnancy and birth. I know Evelyn will be loved immensely by so many people and that our family is so blessed.

~Christine