WELCOME EVELYN ROSE
Well guys, She's here!! At 6:03 PM on April 8, 2017, Evelyn Rose Lopez decided 37 weeks was plenty long to bake and made her appearance. In spite of all my apprehensions about motherhood and having an infant, I can now say that I haven't felt so completely content since my honeymoon. I know exactly where I am supposed to be, and who I am, and it feels AMAZING.
While I'm sure more about being a mom and how I make that a part of my identity without losing who I've become over the past 32 years, today what I want to share is my birth story.
G and I woke up to our alarm at 7:15AM on Saturday April 8th with plans to host a garage sale that day. After my usual "It's too early for life!" complaint (it wasn't, but still!), I rolled out of bed and stood up to help G make it before we headed out to put up signs. As my feet hit the floor and I straightened up, there was suddenly a huge *gush*. I ran to the bathroom, and sure enough, my water had broken!
I was slightly confused, since I had no contractions, and haven't even had braxton hicks since my pre-term labor scare at week 31, so I called the nurse to see if I really had to come in, or if we could just go ahead with the garage sale! lol. The nurse said I had to come in, because if my water had broken, Evie would be here one way or another within 24 hrs, but I didn't need to rush.
And that's how the most ridiculously laid-back trip to the hospital began. I showered and washed my hair, then G and I finished packing, set the dogs up, called our dog sitter, and went to Starbucks for breakfast. After that was the easiest drive to the hospital we've ever had, thanks to Saturday morning and no traffic. To top it all off, I still had no contractions, so we talked, and listened to an audiobook, and just enjoyed the excitement of knowing our little girl was almost there.
It wasn't until we were checked in around 10:15 that the fear and panic began to hit. They wanted to start me on Pitocin, which was something I had vehemently opposed as being the beginning of an emergency C-Section all through my pregnancy. We asked if we could wait, but by 11:15, I was technically 4 hours in and still not contracting, so we started the pitocin, and I put in my request to have the anesthesiologist know that I would be wanting an epidural. After 3 hours and dilating to just 3 cm, we upped the pitocin and I was prepped for my epidural. Y'all know I HATE needles, and am terrified of anything being left in my body, so I was so scared I started ugly-crying and shaking at the thought of the epidural. I was convinced the pain would be excruciating. But it wasn't. In fact, the IV in my hand hurt worse than any part of the epidural.
Once that was in place and G came back into the room, I fell asleep and slept hard until around 4:45 PM, when contractions were so strong they woke me up. My nurse was sure I still needed a few hours to dilate, but after checking me found out that I was fully dilated and ready to push! She called the OB, we set everything up, and after pushing for just 45 minutes Evie was here!
G held Evie to help her little 5lb 15oz self breath and regulate body temperature while they stitched me up. My best memory of that time is still the sound of her crying going silent when she heard her daddy's voice. *all the feels*
It still surprises me how easy the whole process was, especially after how afraid of it I had been all through my pregnancy (come back on Friday! I'll talk more about that then).
Now I'm just enjoying life as a new mom with the prettiest little girl and two full weeks of my husband being home.
And I'm so glad to not be pregnant any more!!
