Labor of Love: Evelyn's Birth Story

We thank the Lord for giving us another beautiful baby! Evelyn Kate was born Wednesday, July 27 at 10:13 p.m. Here is her birth story.
Last Wednesday I woke up after having contractions off and on through out the night, mostly just whenever I rolled over. I thought nothing of it because I'd been having them for days/weeks. I got online to order some items I thought I'd need once the baby was born and when I noticed they would be delivered on August 5 I thought to myself, "that should work. Baby should be here right around the same time."
The morning progressed and I continued to have contractions. I texted Ben to let him know just so that he would keep his phone on him in case things started to really pick up. He texted back, "Do you think it will be today?" I wrote back, "I don't know." I certainly wasn't confident that I was going into labor. I figured I was probably just experiencing more of the same and that it would still be a few days. I certainly wasn't going to sit around waiting so I mopped the floors on my hands and knees, scrubbed the tubs, cleaned the toilets, washed all the dishes, finished the laundry, cooked up some chicken for enchiladas for dinner that night and baked cookies. By about lunch time the contractions were coming much more frequently and quite a bit stronger. At this point I couldn't continue to work during them, so I would just pause, breath through it and then continue on once it passed. Once I put the kids down for naps I began to work a little harder to get things done because I began to think that I may end up going to the hospital after all. I still wasn't completely convinced I was going to the hospital though because it was at this time that I texted a friend of mine and made plans to go to her house after dinner that night to sort through our left over garage sale items.
At 3:37 p.m. I began to write down each time I had a contraction so that I could keep better track of them. They were 3-4 minutes apart. About a half hour later I decided to text Ben and let him know how close they were. He never texted back. I assumed he didn't get my text but he later told me he did but since I didn't ask him a question he didn't think it needed a response. So he just kept on working. He makes me laugh . . . now. I also called my mother-in-law since she lives a good half hour away. I told her she didn't need to come yet but just to be ready in case things started to pick up. She happened to already be in town so she was close. Once she heard how close my contractions were she thought I should just go to the hospital. I really didn't want to get there too early though I knew I needed to be there 4 hours before delivery so that I had enough time to get the antibiotic for the beta strep I tested positive for.
The kids woke up from their naps and Owen quickly became visibly concerned when he saw me. My contractions were too intense to be walking around during them so every time I had one I had to sit down, close my eyes and breath. In between contractions I tried to comfort him but I could see the worry on his face. I told him it was going to be okay and that it was time for our baby to be born. He stayed by my side the whole time rubbing my face and kissing me. Aubrey continued to run around playing and periodically glanced my way long enough to ask me to read her a book.
I did eventually get a hold of Ben. He was supposed to stop and get his hair cut on the way home from work so we discussed whether or not I thought he had time to do that. I figured he did but I wasn't sure I wanted him to because I thought it would be helpful to have someone there with the kids while I labored. But then again, I really wanted him to get it cut.
Our texts back and forth went like this:
Me: "R u stopping to get your hair cut?"
Ben: "Yes"
Me: "Not at the bad place, right?"
Me: "What time will you be ready for dinner? I'm supposed to go to Sabrina's after dinner if I don't go to the hospital."
Me: "Maybe you should come home."
Me: "R They cutting yet?"
Ben: "Yes"
Me: "Thank God! Hurry!"
Ben: "On my way."
Me: :)
During all of this I had called my mother-in-law back who was in town shopping. I told her Ben was going to be a while because he was getting his hair cut and asked if she could come over. She said she would be here in 45 minutes. Ben got home and packed us all up so we were ready to go when his mom arrived. We were out the door almost immediately. Owen started to cry and I kissed him and tried to reassure him that everything was going to be alright.

This picture was taken about 24 hours before Evelyn was born. Right before I went to bed on Tuesday night I told Ben to snap one more picture "just in case baby comes tomorrow."

We arrived at the hospital and were put into a room shortly after 6:00 but I wasn't checked until 7:20! I was dilated to 5 (to my disappointment) but I had two residents checking on me and had not been seen by the actual doctor so I tried to comfort myself by thinking, "They're just residents. They don't know what they're talking about. Surely, I'm further along!" My contractions were now about 3 minutes apart and 70-90 seconds long. Around 8:30 p.m. I got in the jacuzzi tub to labor. I had never done this before but I really liked it. I was feeling so much pressure and knew I was progressing quickly and really wanted to be checked again but the nurse said that the on call doctor would not be checking me at all for dilation until 11:30 p.m. I couldn't believe it! I told her I wanted the baby out by then and she said that it probably wouldn't be until the middle of the night when I gave birth. I had a contraction so I wasn't able to respond but again I thought to myself, "NO WAY! This baby will be born long before the middle of the night!" I got out of the tub around 9:30 p.m. At 9:50 or so I asked to be checked again since I had only been checked that one time and never by the actual doctor. I was still told to wait until 11:30. I told my nurse (who was great by the way) that I was close and that I wanted to be checked, but again was told there was no reason to check me. She walked out of the room and I felt (and I swear I heard) a pop. But I felt nothing. I asked Ben to come look and see if he could see any water anywhere. He could not. He went back to eating his sandwich from Jimmy Johns that his brother had dropped off for him and I went back to focusing on my labor. He tried to whisper words of encouragement to me, but I couldn't stand the smell of his sandwich and I asked him to back up. I hate to admit this but I actually said to my husband, "Get away. You stink."
Almost immediately I heard and felt another loud pop and this time water gushed out everywhere! The pressure was intense. I rolled over to find Ben and whispered, "Help." He was enjoying his sandwich and did not hear me. So I tried to speak louder, "Get someone." He went out and got the nurse who confirmed that yes, my water did indeed break. It was 9:52 p.m. I then said, "Can I please be checked now?" My sweet nurse said, "Sure, I can check you." If I would have been in a more chatty mood I would have said, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME? You could have been the one to check me this entire time?" But instead I continued to breath deeply and listened to her say, "Oh. You're fully dilated and ready to go." Those words were music to my ears. I knew I wasn't delivering in the middle of the night and I wasn't waiting until 11:30 to be checked either. I told her I was going to push and Ben said he wanted to run to the bathroom first. He has done this with all three deliveries! So he went to the bathroom and my nurse told me I had to wait for the doctor to arrive. Two residents came in but I still couldn't push until the actual doctor came in. I'm not sure how long I waited but it felt like an eternity. As I was waiting to push I noticed my hands. They looked like the hands of a cripple and I could not move my fingers. It was the strangest feeling! I wanted to be able to hold on to something, but I couldn't. My hands simply would not work.
I asked for a mirror and began pushing. The doctor told me to not push so hard and that I needed to slow down and give small pushes. This is very hard to do, but it didn't last long. I pushed for 11 minutes and our baby girl was born at 10:13 p.m.

Our baby girl was immediately placed on my chest. The hospital has a policy that I love - the baby is not to be cleaned, weighed, measured or anything until after she has laid on Mommy's chest for one hour. It was a precious time.

Our baby girl went without a name for over 12 hours! She weighed 7 pounds 15.4 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. She has lots of dark thick hair and fingernails that already needed to be trimmed.

He looks exhausted, but don't be fooled. All he had to do was cut the umbilical cord! I hope I don't sound critical when I joke about Ben eating his sandwich or using the bathroom when it was time to push. He is a wonderful husband and very attentive to my needs. I honestly don't feel like I need him to do anything for me in labor so I wasn't at all displeased with him. He's great!

Such a proud daddy! He loves his girls!