My sweet baby boy, Carter Evans, arrived on Friday, August 10! Weighing in at 9lbs 3 oz and 21". We have been super duper thankful the last 5 days, and we LOVE having this little man be a part of our family. So, here's the fun details of the last few days...
At my 39 week appointment, we scheduled an induction with my doctor for the 10th. I was so ok with scheduling that because I was SURE that baby would come within that week. I trusted that my doctor knew what was good for us, so I trusted her confidence in an induction after due date. During that week, I expected something to happen every single day. When Aug 8 passed, I was getting more and more anxious and praying praying praying that labor would start. The morning of the 9th rolled around, I was even more anxious, just praying I would go in to labor that day. I thought my water had broken in the night, but wanted to wait it out to see what happened. I just wasn't sure. BUT, I did not want to just sit around all day and think about it. I got a text from Lisa that morning asking what I wanted to do the last day of being a parent of one. So, I planned to make the most of it. My sisters and my mom met Annabelle and me for breakfast, and we planned to have a girly day. Breakfast and a little shopping. While at breakfast, I was led to believe that I was in fact leaking some fluid. So, I called L&D, and they wanted me to come in to triage to find out for sure. Alas, it was not my water. Still not sure what was happening, but it wasn't what I thought. bummer.
(When I walked in to L&D, I saw the nurse that I had when I had Annabelle. I LOVED her, and have thought about her many times and how she made my birth experience with Annabelle so calm and peaceful. I told her how happy I was to see her, and was so excited she was there! But, I got sent home, so wondered if I would see her the next day or not.)
As I was going to bed the night of the 9th, the day before scheduled baby day, I was in tears with Craig about what to do. Should we skip it and keep waiting? Should I go? We prayed about it, and Craig felt very confident that it was the best thing to do. So, the morning of the 10th came, and I woke up after a night of irregular, but good contractions. That morning, they kept coming, and were becoming pretty uncomfortable.
We arrived at the hospital at about 6:15 or so, and admitted right to our room. I was prepped with an IV of just fluids, and then waited for my doctor to arrive. I continued to feel uncomfortable and was actually happy about that. Around 7:15 or so, my nurse walked in. It was MY nurse!!!! I was so excited I just wanted to hug her. She said she saw that I was there when she came in for her shift and called "dibs" on me! YAY! I almost cried a little. She was there with me till 7 that evening, and again, made my day SO amazing. One of the many gifts from God that day. He cares about these small things, y'all. Anyways, my doctor soon came in, said I had made some good progress on my own and then we started the process of helping this labor move along.
My nurse came in at least every hour, and checked things out, and she was very happy with how things were looking. A couple hours passed, and we got the oh so wonderful epidural. ahhhhhhhh. It was a peaceful time, and my family was around to hang out for the morning. It was nice, and easy. My dad took Annabelle back home to our house for a nap, and then I remember at about 11, I was at a 7, and they were still waiting for baby to come down a little more. I assumed I had a couple hours left. A little before noon, my family had decided to go get lunch. By 12:15, I was calling them to tell them that I was ready to push! The whole process progressed very quickly! I know this is a lot of information, but at one point, the nurse had told me to stop pushing, and she held my knees together. Ha. It was only for a minute while we were waiting for my doctor to make it in! It was kind of funny. He was coming fast. Once she got there, he was out within minutes. Total push time was probably about 20 min. I think. He arrived at 12:40, placed immediately on my chest, then taken to get cleaned. I wanted to hear that first cry, and as soon as I did, I was so excited!! I asked if he was ok, if he was breathing ok, if he looked good, and wondered when I could have him. They knew I wanted him as soon as they would allow it. I waited only a little bit, and within 30 minutes, I was feeding him. My sisters and my mom came in during that time, too. I felt so much peace and overwhelming joy! I kept staring at him and snuggling him. I finally had my little man in my arms! YAY!
Saturday morning came very quickly, and I was "ready" to go home. Well, my body may not have been quite ready, but we were ready to be in our home, with our 2 sweet kiddos. We were discharged that evening at about 5. We came home to a nice lasagne and my very helpful family, who took great care of our daughter and our home while we were gone. It felt SO amazing to come home and have 2 kids. Once dinner was over, and everyone left, I felt like Craig and I were on cloud 9. We were ready for some peaceful rest. Which was a little restLESS for mamma. ;)
To: Craig and Katie
From: God
I would never ever ever change the experience we had with Annabelle! I am so equally thankful for each experience. This one seems like it has just been perfect. Perfect labor. Perfect delivery. Perfectly healthy baby. I take NONE of this for granted. NONE of it. The fact that I was able to snuggle and feed him after 30 minutes of life. The fact that he stayed in our room overnight with us. The fact that diaper changes and feedings were all up to US. The fact that we came home after only a little over 24 hours after delivery. I am at that point again, where I am so thankful that I don't even have the right words to express that thanks. Words do not do enough. I went to Paris. And I will say it is just as beautiful and enjoyable as Holland. I would go to both places any time!
Waking up at night is exhausting. But, I am just thankful that I CAN wake up with Carter at night. I want to soak it all up. I really do. This newborn stage does not last long at all. These kiddos grow up so fast, and I want to love something about every stage. This little boy stole our hearts in a way we did not expect. I wondered if I could love something as much as I love our sweet Annabelle. Then, God puts a love in your heart that you can't even imagine and never knew existed. How can our hearts grow any more?
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