At 5am October 24th, I woke to an odd feeling of tightening. I wasn't sure if it was finally the contractions I was told I should feel or if it was more false labor contractions aka Braxon Hicks contractions. I waited it out but it seemed pretty rhythmic, but not very frequent so I went back to bed. By 8am they were a little more insistent and noticeable so I woke up my husband and told him that his daughter seems to be finally ready. I also sent a text message to my mom (I knew she was at my church's 1st service) letting her know that I think I'm finally feeling the pre-labor contractions.
She left the church and came over and we began to try and decide if it was time to head to the hospital or not. We did some timing and they seemed close together but not consistent. Finally I just called the Labor nurses and they said to keep timing and keep waiting. So Mom went ahead and went home as I promised to call them ASAP if anything changed
Funny thing was, they say a woman will go on a cleaning spree before going into labor, this time though it was my husband cleaning the house, doing the dishes, doing laundry and vacuuming the floors. Anything he could find to keep his mind from allowing himself to get too nervous. The day dragged on and I just wasn't feeling like it was time yet.
Around 7pm the contractions became a little more intense and I called up the nurses station again and they mentioned that with it being my first birth and not being too certain it would be fine if I were to come in and they check my dilation progress, etc. I decided to wait just a little longer and around 9pm finally had George help me pack the car with our bag and the car seat and we headed out to the hospital. On the way I called my parents and told them that we aren't certain and we could be still sent home.
Once we arrived and checked in they said that I was only at 3cm dilated and that wasn't too far and they would check me again at midnight to see if I should go home and rest for a little longer or not. By midnight I was at 4cm and they said I was welcome to stay there overnight. By then my mom had arrived. At this time the contractions had started to hurt and we asked about going ahead with the epidural but they said I couldn't get the epidural until there was a lot of progress.
1:00am I was hurting even more from the contractions and they went ahead and checked me again and I was up to 7cm! Finally they said that it was certain that Eva was on her way and they would send for the guy to put in my epidural. Unfortunately he was the only anesthesiologist at Augusta Health that night and I had to wait an hour more before he came in because he was having to finish up with another patient. Needless to say I was having some trouble handling the pain much less get the sleep they kept telling me to do.
Finally the epidural went in,
I was able to doze for about an hour and then I noticed that I was feeling the pain again. I mentioned it to the nurses and it took some convincing for them to understand that it wasn't just the tightening of the contractions I was really feeling the pain as well. The anesthesiologist returned and mentioned that sometimes on rare occasions the epidural can wear off and stop working so he would have to reinsert it. I was more then ready to be free of the pain.
Dr. Hoover came in not much after and broke my water saying that the pressure was also causing some of the pain. He mentioned to the nurses to let me get some sleep now so I would have more energy when it came time to push. I finally got a couple more hours. they checked me a couple more times through the night, there was just a little more to go, it was being stubborn,the next step would be for me to begin pushing.
Dr. Hoover's shift was ending so Dr. Benefeld took over that morning and Around 7:45am he decided it was time. It was a long process from that point on, at least 2+ hours of pushing. My husband George was there with me, supporting and cheering me on. He got to see Eva's head full of hair before she was born. My mom also was in there and got to see Eva also.
Finally at 10:38am Eva shot out and into the Dr.'s hands. The nurse cleared her airways and handed her straight into my arms. Her Daddy, Grammy and I cried a bit at how beautiful and precious she looked. She wasn't breathing quite well enough for the nurses liking so they had to take her away to make sure everything was all right. Soon as she had everything checked out and given the ok she was handed back to us. Her Daddy couldn't stop smiling as he held her close. She was born at 7lbs even and with a length of 21inches.
On her 2nd day they told me that they were concerned about how much she'd all ready lost. There is a certain amount that all newborns lose in the hospital but her's was a little more then the average. Part of the problem was that once I could get her to latch on she would instantly fall asleep and not eat very well. We tried all kinds of tricks that the nurses told us about getting her to stay awake longer but they just weren't working. This child loved to sleep! Once home her Daddy and Uncle Andrew tried playing the video game Call of Duty 2, to see if all the noises, shooting and shouting would help wake her up so that we could try to get her to eat. She slept through it all, didn't even peek an eye out at us.
When she went to her first doctors appt she'd lost a little more weight and was down to 6lbs. 2oz. We discussed a few possible solutions and we took her home that weekend to try everything. Finally we made the decision to switch to formula and after a day she started taking her eating seriously (There are some reasons that I won't discuss openly that also played into her not being able to nurse very well. Sometimes disappointments happen but through everything just trust that God is there). At her next doctors appointment I won't forget how the doctor tried to make me feel better about my decision and said "Well, I was formula fed and look how smart and handsome I turned out to be!" She had also gained a little under a pound since we'd switched her so we knew that we had made the right choice.
Through out the entire first 2 weeks my Mom was amazing. She stayed with us the first few days and helped us out during the night feedings. My brother was also great with helping out and just being supportive. He'd flown in from Texas just to meet his niece and it was great having him there! Ladies from our congregation also brought over a couple delicious meals for us to enjoy and not have to worry about trying to cook something. While dealing with our newborn. My Dad also helped out with taking care of Eva and letting George and I get some relaxation time. And there there's the uncountable list of friends, family, church members and coworkers who sent well wishes, prayers and even some beautiful flowers to show support and love. To all of these we are truly thankful.
So the latest update on Eva,
Just today, we just took her by the doctors today for one of her check ups and she's now at 9lbs and 6oz! She's taking a 4oz bottle about every 3-4 hours and even starting to have more awake time.
She's all ready changed so much and we see her looking around and trying to figure out this world everyday. She's even started cooing and "growling" and has rolled to her right side a couple times.
She does really well in her carseat as long as her little ladybug bell is there to keep her intrigued until she falls asleep. She's set a pretty nice sleep/eating schedule and George and I are gradually getting very used to all this new stuff. We can't wait to see what all is in store for us as time moves on. We thank God for this blessing!! Prayer does wonders and trusting Him makes everything seem like it will always turn out ok in the end.
