Due Date

It seems a little surreal that Evan wasn't scheduled to make his appearance until Monday, May 24. It seems like he has been part of our family forever and we are so thankful for the extra 10 days we have had with him!

He has been a pretty laid back baby so far. He is my first to not have to go for extra checks for jaundice. He is still sleeping a lot and is great at night, just waking up to feed and then going right back to sleep. I am praying this continues as he starts to wake up more. When he is awake he does preferred to be held vs sitting in a swing or bouncy seat. I think he still likes the warmth from a human touch.

His brothers are in love with him completely. Grant has turned into a great helper and has rescued us from many diaperless moments. Colin loves to kiss on the baby and try to make him laugh. My prayer for them is to become great friends with one another. We are still dealing with some typical acting out from them both as we transition to a house of 5 but we are already seeing some great adjustments being made by them.The boys in their customized big brother shirts. Evan had one too but by the time I got to take pictures he had already made a mess of it with a diaper change. Ahh, the joys and realities of life with a newborn:-)

And onto the fun stuff - the birth story!! I am usually the type of Mom who is ready to get the show on the road and have the baby but this time was different. I was scheduled for induction on May 17 and was content to wait it out and have everything in its place. On Thurs, May 13 it was a humid night and we got the baby pool out for the kiddos along with a neighbor. Our cul de sac was filled with preschoolers hopping in out of baby pools and running back and forth between houses. It was a great night just to hang out and chat and started feeling my first contractions around 5:30ish. They weren't painful and didn't mention anything until we got the kids down for bed. Thankfully between the heat, water, and running around both kids were down and out by 7 pm.The boys that evening, having no idea they would meet their baby brother the next day!

After putting the kids down, Kurt came downstairs and said he wanted to mow since they were asleep so early. Still not sure this was it, I asked him to wait so we could time the contractions. Sure enough they were 12 minutes apart but not painful at all. We decide we needed to get people in place in case this was the real deal. I called my dear friend Sarah and let her know she may need to spend the night. She agrees and is so good to also bring her 5 year old with her and they have a slumber party at my house.

Its 9ish, Sarah is here and we pack the car to head to the hospital. The contractions are not at all painful and suddenly I realized I haven't had one for about 30 minutes. Yikes. What to do now??? After much prayer and finally having another contraction we decide to go ahead and head in.One last pregnancy shot at 38 weeks and 3 days before we leave for the hospital.

When I arrive, I am already at 4-5 cm and 80% effaced, progress from my earlier check on Tues that week. So although the contractions aren't painful they must be working. The hospital agrees to keep me - what a relief. Its 10 pm and I give my Mom a call saying this is the real deal but that it is most likely going to go slowly and to plan to drive over in the morning (she lives 200 miles away) but not to expect to hear from me for awhile.

We walk the halls for an hour. Felt good to get some exercise in and work off some adrenaline. Still NOT painful at midnight. So, here is where the fun begins, I get into the birthing tub. Oh my, if you can you MUST labor in the birthing tub. It is wonderful (as wonderful as anything in labor can be anyway)!!!! I get in at midnight and start the first painful contractions close to 1 am. I feel them for about 15 minutes and decide maybe I should get an epidural (I have gone natural for my first two but wasn't against trying the epidural this time). The nurse wants to check me before the epidural and I agree. In less than 30 minutes I was at 7-8cm and 100% effaced - transition baby!!!! So instead of doing the epidural we opt to break my water and 19 (PAINFUL) minutes later my beautiful son Evan arrives at 2:19 -sunny side up. It was a beautiful labor - each one seems to get better than the last and since it happened so quickly it was hard to believe that I was DONE with labor. I call my Mom who is shocked to hear I already had the baby:-) I had a great experience with my midwives (Seven Hills) and Mercy Anderson. In case anyone is looking for a good midwife practice, I can't say enough how much I like/love this practice.Proud Daddy and Mommy taking our new son home!!