Our Girl!

On Sat, May 29th, we welcomed Evangeline Kate into the world. She was born at 5:01pm, at the Puget Sound Birth Center, weighing 7 lbs, 8oz, 20 in long! And I got to have the water birth I wanted so much. She was born at 38 weeks, 6 days.

This is the link to a sneak peak of her newborn photos!

http://jsheltonphotography.blogspot.com/2010/06/eva-beautiful-everett-area-newborn.html

We also had her birth photographed, since this talented photographer is also a friend of mine :) Here are some of the amazing photos she took:

http://jsheltonphotography.blogspot.com/2010/06/birth-of-eva-birth-photographer.html

Here is her birth story. Warning- it has ALL the details :)

Evangeline Kate, May 29^th, 2010, 7 lbs 8oz, 20 in

I got out of bed about 8:00 am on the 29^th (38 weeks, 6 days), went to the bathroom and had lots of bloody show. I had been having contractions on and off for weeks since we left the hospital (pre-term labor). I knew something was up, but waited to see what happened. By 10am, I had been having more intense contractions, enough that I had to really concentrate thru them, so Ben called the Birth Center. Nicole, our midwife, called back and we decided to labor at home for a little while longer, and then see where things were going. About 10 mins later, she called again. She said she had found out that at my appt last tues, I was 4.5 cm dilated, so she wanted me to come in right away instead! So, we slowly cleaned up, got things together, and my mom came to stay with Oliver. As soon as she arrived, we were out the door. It was a long car ride. I sat in the back so I could move around during contractions.

When we got to the Birth Center, Nicole was there with one of the student midwives, Jaqueline, who we had met a few times before at appts. They had the candle lit that shows there is a birth going on J I labored at the birth center for about an hour before I got in the tub, which really took the edge off the contractions, and pretty soon they were really spaced out, and things were slowing down. I got out of the tub, tried walking the halls, going up and down the stairs, sitting in the shower with the birthing ball. The contractions were still intense, but still spaced out. So, we decided to break my water and really get things going. At this point I was at 5cm. It was really emotional for them to break my water, just like I felt with Ollie. I kept thinking “she’s coming for sure now,” and was nervous for the pain. I immediately felt nauseous and thought I was going to throw up, but just dry-heaved a couple times. The next two contractions were SO intense. I wanted to go in the tub, but they wanted me to wait 20 mins, so she could get lower, but after I went thru the two contractions, Nicole suggested I just go straight to the tub. I felt like I had no idea how else to cope with the pain, so I was pretty happy that I could use the water. I had about 3 more contractions in the tub, and my body started pushing. Ben immediately recognized the noise, and Nicole came in and said she did too. I think we were all pretty surprised it was so soon. She told me to let her know if I felt any burning (head crowning). The contractions were so intense and long at this point. Only a few contractions later, I felt the burning and remember saying “She’s coming!” At this point I was screaming/ yelling thru them to be able to push effectively. I remember reminding myself that I needed to really push to get her out. I pushed thru about 3 more contractions, and her head was out! There was immediate relief. Ben was able to help the rest of her body out in the next push, when her shoulders came out, and then the rest of her body. It was all so fast and intense! Ben picked her out of the water and gave her to me. I kept saying “I did it!” I was so happy and relieved it was over!

When I looked down, I noticed that she was really purple, and Nicole was saying “talk to her, try to get her to breathe.” All the sudden things got serious. They were telling Ben he had to cut the cord (they usually wait a while) and as soon as he did they had her on the floor with a little tiny oxygen mask, pushing air into her lungs, which made her take her first breath. All the sudden she was pink and crying. It felt like forever, even though it was only a minute or two. It was like she hadn’t realized she was out and needed to breathe on her own, because the delivery was so fast.

She is a very calm and alert baby. She took to nursing instantly. We are so in love with her, and its so cute to see Ollie give her kisses and talk to her.