I can hardly remember what it felt like to have her kick inside my belly and her labor and delivery is actually a fond memory!

I LOVE being a mom. It feels so normal, almost like it’s what I was born to do. I wish I could say that I felt this way from the beginning. The first month was really tough. It is a good thing that you can’t quit (motherhood, I mean) because I would have quit several times! E.V. had really bad gas pains. She would cry this high-pitched painful cry that I thought would never end. At my one month, follow-up appointment with my OB/GYN, he heard her crying & suggested that I take her to see a chiropractor in town that “specialized in colicky babies.” We left his office and went STRAIGHT there! It wasn’t completely better after the first appointment but it was obvious that she felt better and after a few weeks she was a completely different baby. Drs. Sullivan and Lightfoot at Independence Chiropractors were a godsend!

I am definitely enjoying the age and developmental stage that she is at now but I can’t help but look forward to the next. Each passing day brings a new discovery and joy that outranks or at least ties the day before.

Time definitely flies but Wes and I are loving the ride!

Sorry for the delay in posting this blog. We got home from the hospital this past Thursday and life has been a crazy, wonderful marathon.

But back to the birth . . . it was an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. I checked into the hospital on Monday around noon. Knowing that I wanted to deliver our baby naturally and still not having dilated 1 cm, Dr. Hardey tried to induce labor with the Cytotec pill that we tried the week before. And just like before, I had contractions but no dilatation. Tuesday morning at 4:00, we started Potocin and I started to feel the contractions almost immediately. Dr. Hardey came in at 6:00 am and broke my water. The contraction pains grew in intensity throughout the morning and by noon, they were completely unbearable. It was also discouraging to know that by this time, I had still not dilated past 2cm. Wes and my mom were very supportive and offered many words of encouragement. I am sure that I could not have done even one minute without them. But by noon, we called for reinforcement. . . the anesthesiologist arrived at 1:00. I quickly began to dilate after my body was able to relax. I took a nap and enjoyed the company of visitors throughout the afternoon. At 9:00 pm it was time to push!

We were blessed with really great nurses while at Lafayette General, but one of my favorites was Mel, who was very instrumental in delivering Evangeline. She was very encouraging while I was pushing and was able to manipulate Evangeline into a position that made it possible for me to deliver her vaginally. Dr. Hardey was amazing. His patience with me and my delivery was more appreciated than he’ll ever know. Evangeline had several complications during the birth that should have affected her health. She was swimming in heavy meconium, her head was tilted sideways the whole way out, and to top it off she had an actual knot in her umbilical cord. But after all of this, we were blessed to have a perfectly healthy baby. Words cannot express how I feel. She is a gift from God and I will cherish her day of birth forever.

The good news is our baby is doing fine!  Dr. Hardey ordered an ultrasound at our appointment yesterday so that he could check the fluid.  Everything looks great and he/she is more precious than ever!  We then went across the Lafayette General Skywalk to labor and delivery to try a procedure to “jump start” the contractions.  This process is very conservative.  Simply put, if my body would have been ready to have the baby, labor would have started.  5 and a half hours later, we discover, it was not.  I did have contractions that were 2 minutes apart but they never did hurt and I never dilated.  Not even 1 lousy centimeter!  On the up side, I was able to fill out all my paperwork and get used to the idea of being in a hospital (this was a first for me.)

The bad news is that Wes and I really have our hearts set on a natural, vaginal delivery.  We loved attending the Bradley method classes and are hoping to put what we learned to good use.  Unfortunately, it looks like we might have to resort to making oxytocin (more commonly known as potocin) a major player in this delivery.  I hear that the contraction pains are much more intense when you do this because they don’t come naturally.  Ouch!  I’m not sure if I am strong enough to handle that kind of pain.

I’m not going to throw in the towel just yet.  We go back to the hospital on Saturday morning to monitor the baby and then if the baby is still in my belly on Sunday we check in and do the “jump start” thing again.  If nothing has happened by Monday morning, Dr. Hardey will break my water and we will get this show on the road!

You know, I’ve always loved the saying “patience is a virtue, virtue is a grace, all put together makes a very pretty face.”  This extended period of waiting has definitely tried my patience but if in the end Wes and I “make a very pretty face” it will have all been worth it.