In honor of Evan's 2-week birthday today, I thought I would write about his birth before the details slip away from my poor memory. Here it is:
In the early morning hours of Sunday, January 3rd, I remember rolling over in bed and hearing a "pop". I immediately knew that my water had broken and I jumped out of bed. The water gushed out onto the floor. I shouted "oh! This is it!" and Lance later said that the shout nearly sent him jumping to the ceiling. I remember feeling very excited and a little nervous about what might happen next. I washed off a little in the shower and called the doctor's office. We were told to head to labor and delivery. After Amma and Papa arrived to spend the night with Benjamin Lance and I were off to the hospital, eager to meet our baby.
Because it was so early in the morning we had to enter through the emergency room. They wheeled me up to L&D. Once in L&D we met our nurse, who was quite a character. I started having mild contractions and Dr. Cherry decided to give me a small amount of pitocin to get labor moving since I was only 1-2cm dilated, was only having mild contractions, and my water had already broken. In a few hours I really began feeling those contractions. I told the nurse that I might want an epidural but I didn't think I needed it yet. Dr. Cherry warned me that it might take 45 min to get the epidural and that the contractions could get much worse. So, I decided to take her advice. She was right! I thought I could barely make it through the next hour that it took the anesthesiologist to get to our room. The contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and were very painful. I managed to remain fairly calm by deep breathing. Typically a shy person, it felt a little strange moaning and groaning around people I barely knew. Once I got the epidural things calmed down and I was able to relax. I was even able to doze off a little bit here and there.
The labor was not without complications, needless to say. I had to lie on my right side because Evan's heart rate would sometimes drop dramatically after a contraction. I was also given an oxygen mask to help Evan manage the stress. I was dilating steadily at about 1 cm per hour. We were both feeling hopeful that things would progress to a natural delivery. I remember Lance setting up his laptop so I could watch football and a DVD of Julia Child's cooking show. Finally, when I reached 9 cm, things stalled just as they had with Benjamin's birth. We waited a little longer but it was clear that my body would not cooperate and Evan had not come down further in the birth canal. I felt at peace when Dr. Cherry and I agreed that it was time for the C-Section. I had known it was a significant possibility and I was tired and ready to meet our baby.
Before I was ready to head to the OR, Amma, Papa, and Benjamin came in our room to say hello and to say a prayer. I was only slightly nervous, much less so than with the first C-section. I had been there and I knew how it all went down, and this made things much easier than the first time around. In only what seemed like a few minutes they were ready to pull Evan out. He did have a cord wrapped around his neck and while the doctors were focused on unwrapping the cord, Lance announced that Evan was a boy! Like his daddy, he peed on those who delivered him from my womb. They brought him over to me right away and I will never forget laying eyes on him for the first time. I was overcome by how beautiful and perfect he seemed. Lance and I both remarked how much he looked like Benjamin! I was so happy that I wasn't even bothered by having to stay by myself in the OR while they sewed me up.
As soon as I was in recovery, Lance was able to be with me and Evan while he nursed for the first time. It went so well, he was a natural nurser! Once Evan got his bath we all met with the grandparents in our postpartum room. There we got to introduce Evan Roddy Vaughn to his loving family. It is true what they say, the most important thing is a healthy baby no matter how he/she enters into the world and whether or not he/she is a boy or girl! My beautiful Evan was finally with us and he made us a complete family of four.
This is the 4th week of our new life with Evan. It is going pretty well so far, with the expected up's and down's, twists and turns. The biggest struggle is trying to figure out how to put/keep Evan asleep for his naps. It is an all too familiar enigma and one I
Although our visit went well, it had been a tough day. We hadn't gotten enough sleep and I was still battling postpartum hormones. Benjamin fell down the stairs when Lance and I were preoccupied. It was very scary for all of us but thank God that he was o.k.. That set us all on edge and mommy and Benjamin were both crying. Later that afternoon Evan was having difficulty going to sleep and I began to worry how on Earth I was going to take care of Evan and meet Benjamin's needs at the same time. Lance reminded me to put it in God's hands and to relax. He suggested that we go out to dinner just the 3 of us. We packed Evan up in his car seat and he slept through the whole meal. I felt almost human again sitting in a restaurant and enjoying a meal. We thought of how different our lives were now as compared to when we were still single. The thing is, you can't even compare the two! It is an entirely different universe.
