Evan's story

Our lil pork chop (as he is affectionately called by my little sister) is already two months old (now three months, I started this a month ago!), so I thought I'd better write down his birth story before I forget. It is a total blur in my mind right now, almost like it didn't really happen....really the first month of his life is a blur, and we are definitely glad it's over! The first two weeks with him were rough, he had his days and nights mixed up and didn't sleep well at night...but big brother Emmory did of course and was up in the morning ready to go. Thankfully my parents stayed with us and helped out so much, I honestly don't think we could have survived without them. However, looking back two weeks of no sleep isn't really so bad, because he has done really well since then, and sleeps all night now.
Anyways, on to the story. I love birth stories, because each one is so unique, and I think it's fun to hear all the different experiences that people have, so I want to record mine so I can look back on them and remember. This experience was so different than Emmory's. With Emmory I basically had no action until the day I went into labor. I didn't dilate beforehand, and I didn't have Braxton Hicks contractions until a few days before I went into labor. Because of this my labor with him was REALLY long. With Evan, I started having Braxton Hicks probably halfway into the pregnancy, and continued to have them until I went into labor. I also dilated 2cm beforehand, and had a few nights of contractions where I thought I was going to go into labor, but then they stopped. Two nights before Evan was born, I had contractions throughout the night. I was able to sleep on and off, but I was pretty sure that by morning they would become more regular and stronger, and I'd go into labor, but as soon as I got up, they stopped completely. Then that night, Mark and I started watching our Office DVD's, and I started having contractions again. At first it was just one every episode, which last about 20 minutes, but they were stronger than they had been the night before. I didn't really get my hopes up too much, since I had already had a few false alarms, but they started coming faster and stronger. Then I started having a lot of "butt pressure" as I called it. There was just a ton of pressure down there, not at all like it was with Emmory, and the contractions started getting stronger and more intense. They were about 5-7 minutes apart when I was sitting down, but when I was standing up  and moving they were 2-3 minutes apart. We started to get things ready because we were pretty sure this was the real deal. Around midnight (I think) I decided maybe we could lay down and try and get some sleep, hoping that the contractions would let up or slow down when I did that....well that didn't happen and I ended up getting up shortly after, but left quietly hoping Mark could still sleep. I got something to eat and sat in the chair in the living room breathing through contractions, but I don't think I was out there for more than 30 minutes when I had to call for Mark because it was getting really intense, and I was feeling so much pressure. After a while of him being out there with me he called his mom to come over so we could go to the hospital. The contractions were so painful on the way to the hospital that I decided I was getting an epidural right away. It took a while to get up to the floor and get checked in because I kept having to stop for contractions. Finally I got checked in, found out I was 6cm, and got moved to a room. All I wanted to do was get an epidural, and waiting for the IV and fluids, etc felt like forever. I progressed another cm, got the epidural, and then all was well. It was a really good epidural, I could still move and feel my legs but I couldn't feel any pain at all. I had to get antibiotics in me before he was born, because I was beta strep positive (I think that's what it's called), they really wanted to get two rounds in me, but they have to be four hours apart and I was progressing so fast they didn't think it was going to happen. However, since I got the epidural, things were able to slow down a little, and they were able to hold me off by waiting to break my water until they got the antibiotics in me. So we basically just waited four hours until I could get the second round in, trying to get some sleep (since it was the middle of the night), but were pretty unsuccessful in that. Once the second round of antibiotics were in me, they broke my water, and within an hour of breaking my water they checked me and I was fully dilated. I started pushing and within 30 minutes Evan was born! And when he was born he gave everyone a surprise, as he came out looking up at the ceiling instead of facing down. So that probably explains all the intense pressure I was feeling, and why it seemed more painful than the contractions when I was in labor with Emmory.
I am so thankful for the safe delivery of Evan with no complications, and a really good epidural :)