Nick and I welcomed our precious daughter Evangeline Claire to the world on Friday, December 3rd at 7:40 p.m. We are already in love with little Evie! (Pronounced E.V. - not eh-vee) She came a little early, and the way she arrived was a pretty big surprise. I'll post more pictures in another post so if that's what you want to see, you can stop reading. However, I'd like to document the labor/delivery process so I'm going to write about it here. If you keep reading from here, kudos to you!
Nick and I went to my regular doctor's appointment on Thursday, and that's where the fun started! During a regular internal exam, I started to bleed pretty heavily. Then I passed a big blood clot and started bleeding even more heavily. Needless to say, Nick and I were pretty terrified at that point. My doctor remained calm, but left the room to consult with the hospital and another doctor, and they decided pretty quickly to send me straight to the hospital to begin an induction. The doctor thinks that I had an infection in my cervix (tmi - so sorry) that caused all the bleeding, and that the bleeding wasn't going to stop anytime soon.
I was really disappointed to be induced, as I had hoped to have a completely natural birth experience, but I was also very anxious due to all the bleeding. Nick and I went across the street to the hospital, and I had started my induction with Cytotech by 5:30pm. We alerted our parents to head on out to Clovis, and hunkered down for a long night of labor. This whole process happened so quickly that we didn't really have time to let anyone else know what was going on, and because I was bleeding so profusely I didn't have the energy to be talking on my phone or even texting so I apologize to those of you who felt out of the loop! Nick was a huge help, and incredibly supportive every step of the way. He dealt with all of the doctors and nurses, and asked questions when they wanted to do something that wasn't in-line with our birth plan. I can't imagine having to go through such a scary experience without him.
From the time I was induced, I labored 19 hours before I broke down and got the epidural. I was really disappointed to cave, but after all the bleeding and the energy required for 19 hours of labor I needed some relief to make it through the rest of the process! We had 7 more hours of labor with the epidural (that's 26 hours of labor if you're counting), and then Evie finally arrived after only 20 minutes of pushing at 7:40. My parents and Nick's mom were able to be there, and the moms were a big help during the delivery (thanks, guys!) Overall, it was an exhausting but ultimately joyful experience,
Evie was 6 pounds, 13 ounces and 19 3/4 inches long. Her apgar was 8/9 so she was great, even after all the bleeding and super-long labor. So far, here's what we can tell about her looks. She has a ton of dark hair, Nick's eyes and nose, my mouth and chin, Nick's long, skinny arms and legs, and my long feet. She started nursing like a champ right away and has continued to do so ever since! I was really nervous about this so I'm so glad it wasn't a big struggle. So far, Evie has a great temperament, and pretty much only cries during baths or when we have to wake her up to eat. We are very lucky parents!
More pictures to come tomorrow, I promise.
