Evan's Birth Story

Evan is here!!!



 And here is his story:

I woke up on 3/19/12 (my due date) with small contractions. They were about 10 minutes apart but not very strong. Throughout the day I tried walking around the block multiple times to get them stronger, but they eventually faded.

The next day, I woke up to contractions again. But stronger this time. They persisted throughout the morning and got stronger, but still 10 minutes apart. Brian decided to stay home from work, just in case. However, by noon they had stopped. I was pretty discouraged.

We decided to drive over to his parent's house to pick up a few pieces of mail they had for us. While we were visiting, my contractions started again. And this time they were really strong. They weren't consistent times apart. Sometimes 8 minutes, sometimes 4. But after an hour of this I decided we should go home and get our bag and get to the hospital. The worst they could say is go home, right?

We checked into the hospital at 5:00 PM. When they checked me I was already dilated 5 cm and 90% effaced. We had an awesome nurse who was so supportive and helpful during the first 6 hours we were there. (Her shift ended before the baby came, which made me sad.)

At 6:00 they broke my water to help things along. That is the weirdest feeling. Every time I moved I felt like I was peeing my pants because apparently I had a LOT of water. :)

One of the reasons I really loved my nurse was because when she asked if I wanted medication and I said I wanted to try and go as far as possible without it, she didn't act like she didn't think I could do it or that I was crazy. She just said OK and then said she wasn't going to ask if I needed medication from that point on. She just asked if I was comfortable and then suggested multiple things for Brian to do to help me through the contractions.

So I labored on my own for the next five hours. I was feeling pretty good and was able to handle the contractions but I was getting pretty tired because I'd been having them all day. At 10:45 the doctor decided to start me on Pitocin because I was stalling at 7cm. After an hour on the Pitocin, I ended up throwing up after one of the contractions because they were coming even harder than before. I didn't want to "give up" and I cried, but Brian assured me that I had done a really good job and it was totally okay if I wanted the epidural. (I know that getting the meds isn't "giving up". I don't judge any women who get it right away. I was just tired.)

So I got the epidural around midnight. The doctor told me to curl up and touch my knees to my head. I just kept thinking, 'I haven't done that since I peed on the stick!' Then I was having a contraction while he put it in and he told me to just "breathe through it." I wanted to kick him across the room!

After the epidural was put in, I felt the effects immediately. Evan even started to relax, which they didn't want. They kept having to flip me from side to side to keep the contractions going. They finally got me in a good position and then I was able to sleep for a couple hours.

The nurse checked me at 4:45 and said it was time to start pushing. She said first time moms can push for 2-3 hours so I was mentally prepared for the long haul. But I only ended up pushing for an hour. It didn't feel that long though. I think by that point I was just so exhausted that time wasn't really relative.

Evan was born at 5:45 AM. He came out crying and they placed him on my belly for a second and I started to cry. I don't remember it, but Brian cut the cord and then they cleaned both of us up. We both got to hold him and we instantly fell in love.

 He was 8 lbs 10 oz, which was way more than either of us expected! 21 1/4 inches long.

With Funcle Phil

With G-ma & G-pa Walker

 Brian's cousin Jason and his wife were also due five days before us. They ended up having their baby the day before Evan. We were in the same hospital so we requested to have recovery rooms next to each other. She was six days late and her son was 5 lbs 14 oz. Evan looked huge next to him. :)

The new dads with their sons