And Then There Were Four: Hello Ms. Evie

After 19 hours of labor on August 2, our family of three (we count Lucy) turned into a family of four when Evie Rae Benson made her big debut at 8:49 AM. It's been a rough few weeks waiting for our little girl to come. For three weeks prior to her due date, Justin and I anxiously awaited her arrival every night only to have the excitement stamped out when we awoke the next morning having slept fantastic... and still pregnant.

Then Evie's due date came and went. Either I made a very comfortable home that she just did not want to leave or she's coming out with attitude. I think it's the former. 

Physically, my body could do this for another month. Evie has been such a smooth pregnancy with only mild aches and pains along the way - signs that things are progressing and that there really is a baby in there. Mentally, I gave up a while ago. The mental exhaustion of waiting for the sign that I need to rush to the hospital was driving us insane. 

On August 1, 2017 after having missed Evie's due date (subsequently Harry Potter's birthday and my brother-in-laws), we decided we weren't waiting anymore. At my doctor's appointment, we had Dr. Breitenbach strip the membranes so that the amniotic sac was no longer supported inside the uterus, but instead rubbing against the cervix. 

If Evie doesn't come out on her own from this, she's being evicted on Friday by induction. Immediately after Dr. B stripped my membranes my whole body felt different. My uterus felt very heavy and left me with extreme backaches for hours that I just couldn't get to go away. 

Suddenly I realized this is happening! The backaches and cramping were super uncomfortable but made more bearable knowing that each one that gets closer to the next means that Justin and I could be heading to the hospital. 

At 8:00PM we decided we better go get things checked out. I did not want to miss my chance at the epidural so we put Lucy outside, grabbed our hospital bags and drove to Ashley Regional Medical Center. When we showed up at the OB department, one of our friends was on duty as the nighttime nurse and she got us set up with heart and contraction monitors. They confirmed that the backaches I'd been having were, in fact, contractions. I progressed slowly over the next few hours - the backaches going from sore to serious. 

To help promote labor, the nurses had Justin and I power walk around the hospital for 20 minutes. It helped but still left us with the decision of 1) staying at the hospital, moving forward with getting IV's and the epidural, and potentially having Dr. B break my water, or 2) going home to labor a bit more, potentially making the labor stop. We'd waited for this ay long enough, and regardless, Evie would be joining our family on Friday so we decided to stay and get this done!

After having gone through labor (mine was primarily back labor), I have a newfound respect and admiration for women who have natural births - something I could never see me being able to do. 

The nurses moved us quickly to a delivery room to get set up with the IV and epidural. Those of you who know me know how I feel about needles. And it's not good. I tried not to think about the large needle piercing into my flesh where it didn't belong when they stuck it into my forearm. I tried to think less about it when that vein exploded and they had to re-stick it in my other arm. And the effort it took not to curse when they stuck it in my hand, forearm (again), and elbow had all failed was immense. 

My hatred of needles coupled with the increasing back labor over that hour had me digging my nails into Justin's hands and all but yelling at him to walk me through relaxing during each contraction. Poor guy - I did warn him that my pain tolerance was low.

Finally the IV stuck in a vein in the crease of my elbow and the anesthesiologist arrived to give me the epidural, which I was so desperate for. In an attempt to be funny (that just came out angry), I said through gritted teeth, "It's not going to take you six tries to get the epidural in is it?"

The anesthesiologist assured me it wouldn't. But it did take two.

The epidural relief that came through my numbed body after being stuck with needles 10 times was worth it all. And the rest of the delivery was a breeze. I kept myself pretty well loaded on anesthesia - every time I started to feel a contraction, I'd give myself another dose not wanting to ever feel that back pain again.

Eventually the time came for me to push, which was only accompanied by mild cramping in my glutes. Each time the nurse told me to push, I did and watched Justin's face. He looked so in awe as the doctor pointed out Evie's dark hair and what part of her head was showing. 

I kept pushing, the progress slow maybe from my use of the epidural, and swelling started to set in the longer Evie's head sat in the birth canal. Finally we consented to using a vacuum and withim seconds my baby girl was no longer inside my stomach but laying on my chest squirming and crying as the nurses worked to dry her off. I started to talk to her like I'd done almost every day during my pregnancy and she immediately stopped crying like she recognized her mommy's voice!

I was only vaguely aware of the doctor finishing up his job as my sweet girl stared up at me. I'd often wondered how I'd feel in this exact moment: Would I cry? Would I look at her and see a stranger?

As I looked at her, all I thought was how happy I was that my Evie had made it, and how natural it was to have her here with us.

The first week of being parents has been more challenging than I'd thought despite the many warnings I'd received, but I know that no matter what challenges we face during this chapter in our lives, Heavenly Father wanted Evie in our family and He will be with us every step of the way in raising her.

I'm so grateful to be this sweet girl's mommy and to start our family off with her.