And now enter Evangeline Elizabeth...

So if you haven't noticed, I've taken a bit of a blogging hiatus.  There have been a few little interruptions at our house lately, and though they are caused by the tiniest of packages, it's amazing the waves of unpredictable and uncertain this little gift can create :-)

But right now, my precious little bundle is sleeping soundly and Mommy is finally prioritizing her poor, neglected little blog in order to officially introduce her to you.

As you know from my previous post, our dear Evangeline Elizabeth decided to delay her entrance into this world by almost a week (five days to be exact)!  Compared to her right-on-time older sister (I went into labor on my due date), we knew in utero that this one is not taking after her Type-A, perfectionist of a mother.  No, this one has inherited the chill, no-reason-to-hurry-unless-fleeing-from-a-disaster outlook of her Daddy.  And though her laid-back approach to entering this world nearly drove her mother to a state of psychosis, I could not be more grateful now that she is here, still chill, still calm, still the easiest, most laid-back baby of all time...well, at least compared to her high-maintenance, high-strung Drama Queen of an older sister (I wonder which parent she took after??).

I'm a time-line kind of person, so I think that's how I'll map out this particular birth story, for those who dare to tread through the nitty-gritty specifics as most women love to do...

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

At my 40-week appointment the Friday before, they, out of pure protocol, put me "on the books" for an induction on my 41-week mark, which was Friday, October 5.  The OB assured me it wouldn't come to that, but it was office policy to not allow a woman to exceed 41 weeks.  He did agree, however, to "naturally induce" me, according to my wishes, by only breaking my bag of waters (as opposed to immediately administering Pitocin, a scenario I was trying to avoid).

I was devastated to be leaving my 40-week appointment still pregnant but shared my OB's confidence that she wouldn't actually continue to bake that long.  I mean, come on.  A week late??  This was my second child, and I wasn't late with my first, so that just can't happen, right?

Hah.

I woke up Wednesday morning with one thought in mind: Oh my word.  I might actually be facing an induction!  While I am certainly not against induction for medical reasons, I did not consider the purely arbitrary "you're 41 weeks" as an actual medical diagnosis.  I have had several friends who went 42 weeks in a perfectly healthy manner, with uncomplicated, natural deliveries.

And come on, I was walking around town almost 5 cm dilated and 80% effaced!  Shouldn't she be practically falling out by now??  I really felt like labor should be absolutely imminent, and, since my body had already proven it could go into labor on its own, I was really hesitant to mess with the natural process if it was not medically indicated.

Thankfully, another OB at the same practice agreed to squeeze me in on Wednesday afternoon for a "biophysical profile," which is where a technician examines the baby via ultrasound for six points of, shall we say, healthy occupancy.  Well, Evangeline passed all six points within ten minutes of the test's start (they allow for up to 30 minutes for a successful "pass").

I was thrilled.  My induction could be postponed, and I could continue on naturally...and then I had the actual consult with the OB.  She checked me and said, "Whoa!  Your bag of waters is really bulging!"  Translation for those who have never given birth: woman, your water is about to break!

Andrew and I had talked beforehand about the technique of "stripping membranes."  We were against it in my case unless my body had already naturally begun the labor process.  To us, now that I was a good 5 cm and my bag was bulging, we felt it was an okay time to strip my membranes to "encourage" the process along.

I was still uneasy about it, so I questioned the OB (who happens to be a D.O. and slow to administer interventions).  She quickly said, "This only works if your body is already ready for labor. It will not work if your body is not ready."  That sealed the deal for me.  I wasn't messing with the natural process.  Was I giving it a nudge? Yes.  But if nudging it naturally meant avoiding an unnatural induction, so be it!

And you must understand, my body had been in a state of pre-labor for three weeks now.  Every. single. day I was having regular, rhythmic, and often quite strong contractions.  Sometimes these episodes would last for hours, sometimes less.  If I didn't have a husband who can perform cervical checks, I would have been at the hospital numerous times, only to be sent home because of false labor!  My stomach literally ached from all these contractions.  So I knew my body was ready when my water finally began to bulge.

So Andrew and I spent Wednesday afternoon walking our tails off at a nearby park.  Lots of contractions, as usual, but nothing that intensified.

And no breaking of water.

I went to bed that night more than a little exasperated.  I seriously have membranes made of steel.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Woke up wet.  Just like with Esther. I knew I was leaking amniotic fluid, and my doctor-husband confirmed it.  But what to do?  No painful contractions, though plenty of the other, obnoxious kind.  We decided to wait it out and see if my water would fully break on its own.  We set a deadline for 5pm, and then I would go in (since it's considered an infection risk to the baby to leak amniotic fluid for more than 24 hrs.).

I walked.  Squatted.  Literally jumped up and down with my two-year-old to music.  I even did deep lunges around the perimeter of the playground while she played.  Thank God no one was taping this part of the saga!

Then Andrew texted.  He had heard word from my OB that he didn't like me walking around with a leak and wanted me to come in.  Instead of angering me, I felt relieved.  Almost 24 hours had passed since my membranes were stripped and still no water breakage--I had a feeling it just wasn't going to happen on its own.

So I went in around 3 pm and was shocked to learn I was already between 5 and 6 cm dilated!  They admitted me fully into the hospital by about 5pm, but I was still feeling good.  My OB wanted to give me time to continue on naturally (bless his heart), so I walked around, chatting it up with the nurses, the anxious grandparents waiting outside other hospital doors, and even had Esther with me the whole time as she toted her baby doll around proudly.  I couldn't believe I was in labor.  This was nothing.  Piece of cake.  Hah.

At 8 :15 I finally had to ask my OB to artifiically break my membranes.  It just wasn't happening and contractions weren't picking up on their own.  As with Esther, I just knew that my body was waiting for my water to break.  So he complied graciously, commenting on how thick my bag of waters was (like I didn't know that?!).

I'm not kidding you, it was ten minutes later when I felt like I had been hit by a freight train.  All those puny contractions I had been enduring for weeks suddenly stepped aside for the mammoth, this-is-going-to-kill-me kind to take over.  I was breathless at how intense my labor became in such a short amount of time.  Whoa!

I vaguely remember my OB coming in at some point to tell me that it was past the point for pain meds.  Almost every time they checked me, I had progressed a centimeter.  That's how intense the contractions were!  About five minutes after he left, I was sorely missing that pain med opportunity!  They really revved up and I got to that stage of labor where you are trying to convince all the people around you that no, you really can't do this, this baby will have to be pulled out!

Thank God for my coaching team.  I was surrounded by my sweet husband, amazing mother, and wonderful midwife friend, Lisa, who literally grabbed my face and said, "Jess, you can do this!  You are doing it!"  Lisa was so instrumental in those few moments, getting me to change positions severeal times, helping me know the kind of pressure I should be feeling before pushing, and in general encouraging me, along with my mother and husband.  I could not have done it without those three faithfully ministering to and encouraging me!  Oh, and Lisa's little baby, Naomi, quietly and contentedly slept in the background the WHOLE time--incredible!

Finally, the awful, intense urge to push came.  And what do they tell me to do?  NOT push.  Yeah, right.  As if I can possibly control the overwhelming tides of contractions, expelling my baby from my body.  It cracks me up they even bother telling women not to push.  First, we can't help it.  Second, at that point in labor, we're beyond courtesy and will not listen to you anyway.  And that's exactly what I did.  I shouted, "I have to push!  I'm pushing right now!"

And just four quick, though excruciating, pushes later, little Evangeline was born at 11:48 p.m., a mere 3 1/2 hours after my water broke.  I'll take that any day over my first 13 hour labor with two hours of pushing, thank you very much!  She was 8 lb. 4.9 oz. and 20.5 in long.  And complete with thick, auburn-colored hair!  I think we have a red head, y'all, and I'm not quite sure where it came from!

There is so much more I could say about this labor, about the spiritual lessons learned, the emotional toll it took, etc.  But I think we're all sensing this post is far too long as is and those lessons can be posted another day :-)

So there you have it.  The entrance, at long last, of Evangeline Elizabeth Becker.