...watch out, Luna Lovegood...
Monday, May 23, 2011
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Evan's Birth Story...aka Why I will NOT get an epidural again. :)
Ok, I won't give too many details, but still, if you're a guy and you're uncomfortable with birth stories, you might want to clear out. :)
Ella was born on her own timetable--as in, we waited until I went into labor--and I got an epidural and had an ok experience with it. For Evan, we decided to induce labor because of a really annoying insurance thing (he was due the first week of May, and our policy starts over May 1st, meaning we would have to pay our deductible and out-of-pocket expense twice if he was born after that point...something we really couldn't afford). So, on the morning of the 26th, my Mom came and crashed on our couch at 5 am while Ella slept, and we went and checked in to the hospital.
I was already dilated 2-3 and 70% effaced when we went in. I was warned that because we were inducing, labor might be more intense/painful, and also that it might take a really long time. We got settled in a room and finished all the paperwork, then they started Pitocin a little after 7. Very mild contractions started around 7:45, they broke my water at 8:30 and then labor started in earnest. I did really well with breathing and relaxation techniques for awhile and thought about skipping the epidural....boy, do I wish I'd gone with my gut! About 9:45 I chickened out and asked for the epidural. I was at a 5.
They got everything set up, then right as they were doing the epidural the contractions doubled in intensity, I felt a "zing" which they said meant they'd hit a nerve (really, really uncomfortable!), and I had a lot of trouble staying still--these were the worst contractions I'd experienced yet and I really just wanted to move, but I was stuck there on my side.
They said I should start to feel better in about 15 minutes, but 15 minutes later the pain was worse than ever, I was sweating, shaking, thought I was going to vomit, and still I had to just lay on my side instead of moving around like I wanted to. The nurse checked and I was at 7, then the anesthesiologist came to check my "levels" on the epidural. The contractions intensified yet again, and she's poking me asking if I felt it more "here" or "here," and by this point I couldn't say more than one word at a time--the contractions were way too painful to talk through, and there wasn't a break in between them--they had multiple peaks and were one on top of the other. They increased the amount of drug I was getting, but I still wasn't feeling it. The nurse checked again and I was completely dilated, only about 10 minutes after I'd been at a 7! She said I was ready to push, and I was so relieved that I could do something besides lay on my side!! I think I pushed through maybe 5 or 6 contractions. I could still feel pretty much everything despite the epidural being in place. Evan was born at 10:42, only 3 hours after I felt the first contraction--and they'd told me to expect to be there all day! By the time he was born, the epidural had completely numbed my legs--I couldn't feel or move them--but it was at least enough to keep me from feeling the stitches. Later on, I experienced a slight backache and headache from it, and I decided then that I was going to try and go all-natural for my next one! Yes, the pain was intense, but even worse was being stuck lying still on my side for medication that never did help me!
Ella was born on her own timetable--as in, we waited until I went into labor--and I got an epidural and had an ok experience with it. For Evan, we decided to induce labor because of a really annoying insurance thing (he was due the first week of May, and our policy starts over May 1st, meaning we would have to pay our deductible and out-of-pocket expense twice if he was born after that point...something we really couldn't afford). So, on the morning of the 26th, my Mom came and crashed on our couch at 5 am while Ella slept, and we went and checked in to the hospital.
I was already dilated 2-3 and 70% effaced when we went in. I was warned that because we were inducing, labor might be more intense/painful, and also that it might take a really long time. We got settled in a room and finished all the paperwork, then they started Pitocin a little after 7. Very mild contractions started around 7:45, they broke my water at 8:30 and then labor started in earnest. I did really well with breathing and relaxation techniques for awhile and thought about skipping the epidural....boy, do I wish I'd gone with my gut! About 9:45 I chickened out and asked for the epidural. I was at a 5.
They got everything set up, then right as they were doing the epidural the contractions doubled in intensity, I felt a "zing" which they said meant they'd hit a nerve (really, really uncomfortable!), and I had a lot of trouble staying still--these were the worst contractions I'd experienced yet and I really just wanted to move, but I was stuck there on my side.
They said I should start to feel better in about 15 minutes, but 15 minutes later the pain was worse than ever, I was sweating, shaking, thought I was going to vomit, and still I had to just lay on my side instead of moving around like I wanted to. The nurse checked and I was at 7, then the anesthesiologist came to check my "levels" on the epidural. The contractions intensified yet again, and she's poking me asking if I felt it more "here" or "here," and by this point I couldn't say more than one word at a time--the contractions were way too painful to talk through, and there wasn't a break in between them--they had multiple peaks and were one on top of the other. They increased the amount of drug I was getting, but I still wasn't feeling it. The nurse checked again and I was completely dilated, only about 10 minutes after I'd been at a 7! She said I was ready to push, and I was so relieved that I could do something besides lay on my side!! I think I pushed through maybe 5 or 6 contractions. I could still feel pretty much everything despite the epidural being in place. Evan was born at 10:42, only 3 hours after I felt the first contraction--and they'd told me to expect to be there all day! By the time he was born, the epidural had completely numbed my legs--I couldn't feel or move them--but it was at least enough to keep me from feeling the stitches. Later on, I experienced a slight backache and headache from it, and I decided then that I was going to try and go all-natural for my next one! Yes, the pain was intense, but even worse was being stuck lying still on my side for medication that never did help me!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Evan Joshua: "God is gracious; the LORD saves"
I think when we decided on a name for our first baby, we explained our reasoning to most people: she's named Ella after my grandma; Ella means "light" and Christine means "follower of Christ." But I've told fewer people why we picked the name Evan for our little boy.
Strangely enough, when I was a silly high school girl imagining who I would marry and how many kids I would have, "Evan" was one of the names I had picked out (so was Ella). So it made the list of names we were considering, because I liked it. When we were looking through all those names, we found out that Evan is actually a form of the name John--which, of course, is Johnny's name, and means something like "God is gracious." I liked the idea of naming my son after Johnny without actually naming him John. His middle name, Joshua, is one of our favorite Old Testament names. There's probably a more accurate translation, but the name books say Joshua means "the LORD saves."
Here are some more pictures of Evan:
Strangely enough, when I was a silly high school girl imagining who I would marry and how many kids I would have, "Evan" was one of the names I had picked out (so was Ella). So it made the list of names we were considering, because I liked it. When we were looking through all those names, we found out that Evan is actually a form of the name John--which, of course, is Johnny's name, and means something like "God is gracious." I liked the idea of naming my son after Johnny without actually naming him John. His middle name, Joshua, is one of our favorite Old Testament names. There's probably a more accurate translation, but the name books say Joshua means "the LORD saves."
Here are some more pictures of Evan:
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