Welcoming Evelyn Justine Call

Evelyn's birth story actually begins the 15th of August. I had a Dr appt on the 15th where Dr Shaw stripped my membranes and totally put me into labor. I am absolutely sure if I'd gone in on Friday or Saturday Dr Shaw would have delivered a baby. There was too much going on that next week for a baby to come. I had to get Amelia and Phillip into school, clean the house, and celebrate Phillip's birthday. We went swimming on the 17th, which helped Evelyn float back up a bit and allowed me to get through the week. Tricky, tricky. Dr Shaw set an induction date of the 27th. Perfect!

I spent a long, hard day on the 26th cleaning and getting ready. Around 9:45 I realized my hospital bag was not packed. After that important task I went to bed. My body was so sore and the baby so low that sleep was not within reach. The kids had a hard night knowing something was going to happen. We ended up with five bodies in our bed before dawn. Amelia was over the top hyper! I showered and drove myself to Sidney Regional Medical Center at 7 am. I watched all the videos, got my IV hooked up, and settled in bed before Justin showed up. Dr Shaw came in before the clinic opened. She took an ultrasound class over the weekend, little stinker "borrowed" a laptop ultrasound device and made sure Evelyn was head down. Then she checked me: still at a 4, -3 station, 85% dilated. Oddly, my cervix and the birth canal were crooked facing towards the left. Spent most of the morning on Pitocin straightening out my crooked nether regions. Darn it. I totally had a bet going that she would be born before noon. My photographer friend Candice joined the party around 9 am. Justin said the kids were very excited and gave him a run for his money that morning (like usual!). This time Justin lightened the mood by playing Bill Cosby's "Himself" track on childbirth. Breathing, Push-push! The pitocin finally started to kick in with labor pains after noon. I sat on a ball and let gravity work. Dr Shaw came around at 12:30. I told her to stay very close! Finally it was go time. The nurses helped me back onto the table. I was dilated to a 9 but she was still at a -1 or 0 station. I don't remember much after my body took over. I remember barfing, closing my eyes tight as the contractions took over, Dr Shaw commanding my attention with her Mommy voice. I remember an oxygen mask on my face and Justin telling me to breathe deep and long. Turns out Evelyn was brow presented with the cord wrapped around her neck. She could not descend without intervention. Dr Shaw got her head bowed enough to attach a vacuum...three times. Each time I pushed she would attach and reattach the vacuum. According to Justin she literally had to yank Evelyn down and out. I hear we were moments away from an emergency c-section. Evelyn's heart rate dropped to 60 and below during birth. My face turned the strangest shade of purple/maroon no human should ever turn as I pushed. I can remember at least 8 pushes with Evelyn's head descending down and out. The worst was when her head was born and I had to wait to push out her shoulders while Dr Shaw unwrapped the cord and tried to get Evelyn to breathe. She was a nice shade of purple too. Finally...she was born. The time 1:07 pm. She tore mommy a new one! I am pretty sure my tail bone is cracked or severely bruised. I can barely sit and stand. My backside hurts like the dickens. I pushed so hard towards my back that about 15 pores around my eyes literally bled. I feel a little closer to how Christ felt, his magnified by thousands. After she started to pink up and recover the nurses let me have skin-to-skin time.

My first impressions of Evelyn: loves to suck her fingers, moans and mewls, has long eyelashes, long toes, did not cry until hours later, and totally gorgeous. Stole our hearts right away. She weighed in at 7 lbs 6 oz. Everyone in the room had a guess to her weight. The Dr in training won the bet at 7lbs 4oz. Her cheeks alone weigh a good chunk! She is 20.5 inches long, 13 inch head.

We were settled in a room by 3:30 or 4. Justin left to spend some time with the kids, feed them dinner, and come by for a visit at 6:30. Phillip told everyone he could that "Evelyn pop out!" He told me upon entering the room, "Mom! Evelyn pop out your bumby?!" Yep! She popped out! Amelia was instant super big sister. Phillip and Everett discovered the bed buttons. Amelia noticed Evelyn's strange belly button and asked if that thing was her vocal chord. Chaos ensued. It was awesome. Candice came back to capture a few photos of us all together for the first time. Everett is not so sure about this tiny baby and his promotion to big brother. He mostly ignores her except when prompted to give her a kiss. He does like to stand next to her humming Twinkle Little Star. Evelyn and I had a pretty good night considering. We both fell asleep at 9 pm. She woke up at midnight and wanted to nurse until 2 am. That kid needs a binky! She loves, loves, loves to suck! I disregarded the breastfeeding expert and gave her a binky. The nurses took her away at 2 am for a bath, photos, hearing tests, etc. By 4:30 am she was all tuckered out. We snuggled to sleep until an awesome 7 am. She whimpered most of the time. I imagine her little head ached from three vacuum attempts. I whimpered from back pain. We were quite the pair.

Justin and Everett spent the morning with us. We totally enjoyed spending time with just Everett and Evelyn. He snuggled right close to me in bed while watching Elmo. That was tender for me and good for him. By 2 pm we were home! Bedtime last night was cra-zay! The kids were tired and emotional. Welcome to life at home with 4 kids. We had a pretty good night with two nursing sessions. She does not whimper so much with her binky and fingers nearby. We feel so blessed! Four healthy, gorgeous kids. How can life get any better? Justin tears up the first time he hears one of our new babies cry for the first time. I cry after during the night with the new baby cradled in my arms and the scents of heaven wafting off the new body and the baby's sweet breathing on my cheek. My mom is coming Friday. We cannot wait for her special visit.