Writing Everett's birth story has been on my mind ever since I became pregnant with him. I always knew I wanted to write about his birth but didn't realize how difficult it would be. It was a day that Stephen and I will cherish forever and I hope to never forget how incredible it was to see my baby boy for the first time.
I had such a wonderful pregnancy with Everett but delivering him was the most draining experience both emotionally and physically I have ever had. It was also the most spiritual experience of my life seeing the tiny baby that Stephen and I created together and brought into this world, starting our beautiful eternal family. Everett is more perfect in every way than I could have ever imagined and has already brought so much happiness to our lives.
Everett's birth story starts at my 37 week check up on Wednesday April 29th. Stephen and I were really hoping that I would be dilated at least two centimeters so that if need be I could be induced at 39 weeks so that Stephen would have some time with Everett before his rotations start. At my appointment I was 1 centimeter dilated and 50% effaced. Dr. Sugarman said not to expect any baby this next week and that at my 38 week appointment we would know more about the possibility of inducing. The next few days Stephen and I went to the botanical gardens, went to the Sandy Springs farmers market, and watched the first two seasons of arrow on Netflix.
On Monday May 4th I woke up not feeling very well. I was exhausted and felt a little sick but at the same time had enough energy to clean the bathroom really well one last time before the baby came. Stephen and I spent the day mostly relaxing and for dinner got burgers at steak and shake. Then we caught up on once upon a time before going to bed. During the show no matter what I did I could not get comfortable. I was more uncomfortable than normal but also 38 weeks pregnant and ready for baby to come any time.
I was always really nervous that I wouldn't know when I was in labor. My doctor and midwife told me that I should call the nurse and head to the hospital when I've had contractions that are 5 minutes apart, 1 minute in duration, and lasting at least an hour. I never really had braxton hicks contractions until my last couple weeks being pregnant so I wasn't even super sure what a contraction felt like.
At about 4:30am on May 5th I woke up with some contractions that felt very different than the random contractions I had been getting the previous couple weeks. These had an extremely low pain to them. I had read just the day before that labor contractions start at the top and make their way down so I was confused as to why all of the pain was just in one spot really low. I didn't bother waking Stephen up even though they were coming every 4 to 5 minutes because I just assumed they would go away after a little while. I wasn't due for 10 more days and I just thought when it was time I would know it. The contractions very quickly became more and more painful and by about 5:00am they were painful enough that I had to sit up in bed until each one stopped. It was around this time that they suddenly started coming right after each other. I was in so much pain during them that I was hopping out of bed, back into bed, sitting on the floor, sitting on the cedar chest, and walking back and forth from the bedroom and bathroom.
These ones were coming every minute or two and lasting about a minute. It was at this point that Stephen woke up from me bouncing all around the room. I told him he should go back to bed because they would probably stop any time now. It was happening all so fast that I was in denial that I could possibly be in labor. I was still waiting for contractions that were five minutes apart lasting for an hour. Around 5:30am Stephen called the nurse. I couldn't talk to her through the pain so he told her the situation. The nurse got our information and said we would hear back from her within 20 minutes to know whether or not to head to the hospital. Less than 10 minutes later we got the call to head in and that they would be expecting us. I was still in denial about being in labor and didn't even want to bring any of our hospital bags that were all packed and ready to go. I also didn't want to be in labor because as silly as it was I didn't have any makeup on and hadn't showered recently.
The drive to the hospital seemed endless. We were so lucky it was still early enough in the morning to beat rush hour traffic but still we hit every single red light on the way there. Every couple minutes my contractions were still coming and every single one made me just about jump out of the car and run to the hospital. When we pulled up to the front door around 6:15am I was facing the seat backwards on my knees holding on to the seat just trying to breathe with the window down to try and get some cool air on me. The security guard immediately asked if I needed a wheelchair. Sitting down was not going to happen though so I told him no thanks and hurried inside to the check-in desk hardly walking straight.
Stephen joined me just a minute later and I couldn't even think straight to fill out the paperwork at the front desk so Stephen took over for me. Right then a nurse came out with a wheelchair and saw me hunched over the front desk breathing heavily obviously in pain. So she put me in the wheelchair and started taking me back to my room. She asked my name and realized I wasn't the patient she was sent out to get but said she wasn't sending me back to the waiting room because none of the other women out there looked as far along as I was. At this point I was having another contraction on the way to my room so I asked if I could walk and the nurse said I just needed to get into bed and get checked to see how dilated I was. She got me right into a gown and into bed and checked me. I was 7 centimeters dilated and 100% effaced. My first thought was oh my gosh I'm not going to get my epidural! I started panicking and begging the nurse to get my epidural started. She said not to worry and that I could still get one. The contractions kept coming and the pain was unbearable. It is impossible to describe the pain other than it was all over my body. Stephen wasn't in the room with me yet so I was holding on to the wrist of one of the nurses. I kept asking her where my husband was. I needed my husband with me. They finally realized that he was filling out all of my paperwork because even though I pre-registered they couldn't find me in the system. Because I wasn't in the system they couldn't start the process for my epidural either. Eventually the women at the front desk who was helping Stephen with the paperwork just asked for all of my id's and insurance cards and said she would figure it all out and that he needed to be with me.
I don't know how long Stephen wasn't in the room with me but he finally came in and helped me get through my contractions while we were waiting on the epidural. The nurse checked me again just 20 minutes after I was at a 7 and I was 9 1/2 centimeters dilated. She told me that I must have a really high pain tolerance with how I was acting but all I wanted to do was scream because I thought for sure now I wouldn't get the epidural and I knew I couldn't do this naturally. The nurse knew though not to ask me again if I wanted the epidural because of how much I was begging for it so just a few minutes later in came the anesthesiologist and put it right in. As soon as it was done I thought to myself now I can get this baby out. About 15 minutes later at around 7:30am I started pushing.
I had such amazing help with my delivery. The midwife who helped deliver Everett had just started her shift when I got there and she stayed with me the whole time. There was also a midwife student, a nurse, and of course Stephen there helping me through it. It wasn't long after I started pushing that the midwife told us Everett was in a posterior position or also known as face up. She told us that if he had been faced correctly I could very possibly have delivered him in the car on the way to the hospital with how fast my labor was. She didn't seem to concerned with his position and thought she could flip him on his way out.
4 hours later I was still pushing and I finally crashed. I became so emotional and just thought to myself that I was done, I couldn't push any longer. My body was giving up on me and I was giving up on myself. It was at this point that the midwife called in the doctor to use the vacuum to get Everett out. Within just a few minutes the doctor came in, told me we weren't using the vacuum, and that I needed to toughen up and we were getting this baby out in one more push. I took a few deep breathes, tried to control my emotions, and gave one more big push with no success. The doctor told me to do one more really good one. I tried my hardest to push with what little strength I had left and the doctor gave me an episiotomy and out Everett came all with one push.
Everett was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen and I wanted to immediately hold him and never let go. He was a perfect 6 pounds 9.5 ounces
20 1/2 inches
and arrived at 11:50am on 5/5/2015
People have told me that the pain goes away after you see your baby but it wasn't true for me. The exhaustion and everything was all still there. But Everett was there too and that was all that mattered. He was all that mattered. Those first moments with him and Stephen were all that mattered. The second I saw him I started crying. The pure love I felt for him was so real and so instant. I was his mom and he was my child. That first time when Stephen and I were together holding Everett is by far my greatest and most cherished memory. I could not have gone through any of that delivery if Stephen wasn't by my side encouraging me and supporting me. I am so grateful for him and have fallen in love with him even more than I thought was possible since he has become a dad. Our lives were forever changed when Everett was born and we couldn't imagine life without such a perfect child. We feel so blessed to have Everett in our lives and look forward to all of the wonderful memories we get to have together as a new family.
I had such a wonderful pregnancy with Everett but delivering him was the most draining experience both emotionally and physically I have ever had. It was also the most spiritual experience of my life seeing the tiny baby that Stephen and I created together and brought into this world, starting our beautiful eternal family. Everett is more perfect in every way than I could have ever imagined and has already brought so much happiness to our lives.
Everett's birth story starts at my 37 week check up on Wednesday April 29th. Stephen and I were really hoping that I would be dilated at least two centimeters so that if need be I could be induced at 39 weeks so that Stephen would have some time with Everett before his rotations start. At my appointment I was 1 centimeter dilated and 50% effaced. Dr. Sugarman said not to expect any baby this next week and that at my 38 week appointment we would know more about the possibility of inducing. The next few days Stephen and I went to the botanical gardens, went to the Sandy Springs farmers market, and watched the first two seasons of arrow on Netflix.
On Monday May 4th I woke up not feeling very well. I was exhausted and felt a little sick but at the same time had enough energy to clean the bathroom really well one last time before the baby came. Stephen and I spent the day mostly relaxing and for dinner got burgers at steak and shake. Then we caught up on once upon a time before going to bed. During the show no matter what I did I could not get comfortable. I was more uncomfortable than normal but also 38 weeks pregnant and ready for baby to come any time.
I was always really nervous that I wouldn't know when I was in labor. My doctor and midwife told me that I should call the nurse and head to the hospital when I've had contractions that are 5 minutes apart, 1 minute in duration, and lasting at least an hour. I never really had braxton hicks contractions until my last couple weeks being pregnant so I wasn't even super sure what a contraction felt like.
At about 4:30am on May 5th I woke up with some contractions that felt very different than the random contractions I had been getting the previous couple weeks. These had an extremely low pain to them. I had read just the day before that labor contractions start at the top and make their way down so I was confused as to why all of the pain was just in one spot really low. I didn't bother waking Stephen up even though they were coming every 4 to 5 minutes because I just assumed they would go away after a little while. I wasn't due for 10 more days and I just thought when it was time I would know it. The contractions very quickly became more and more painful and by about 5:00am they were painful enough that I had to sit up in bed until each one stopped. It was around this time that they suddenly started coming right after each other. I was in so much pain during them that I was hopping out of bed, back into bed, sitting on the floor, sitting on the cedar chest, and walking back and forth from the bedroom and bathroom.
These ones were coming every minute or two and lasting about a minute. It was at this point that Stephen woke up from me bouncing all around the room. I told him he should go back to bed because they would probably stop any time now. It was happening all so fast that I was in denial that I could possibly be in labor. I was still waiting for contractions that were five minutes apart lasting for an hour. Around 5:30am Stephen called the nurse. I couldn't talk to her through the pain so he told her the situation. The nurse got our information and said we would hear back from her within 20 minutes to know whether or not to head to the hospital. Less than 10 minutes later we got the call to head in and that they would be expecting us. I was still in denial about being in labor and didn't even want to bring any of our hospital bags that were all packed and ready to go. I also didn't want to be in labor because as silly as it was I didn't have any makeup on and hadn't showered recently.
The drive to the hospital seemed endless. We were so lucky it was still early enough in the morning to beat rush hour traffic but still we hit every single red light on the way there. Every couple minutes my contractions were still coming and every single one made me just about jump out of the car and run to the hospital. When we pulled up to the front door around 6:15am I was facing the seat backwards on my knees holding on to the seat just trying to breathe with the window down to try and get some cool air on me. The security guard immediately asked if I needed a wheelchair. Sitting down was not going to happen though so I told him no thanks and hurried inside to the check-in desk hardly walking straight.
Stephen joined me just a minute later and I couldn't even think straight to fill out the paperwork at the front desk so Stephen took over for me. Right then a nurse came out with a wheelchair and saw me hunched over the front desk breathing heavily obviously in pain. So she put me in the wheelchair and started taking me back to my room. She asked my name and realized I wasn't the patient she was sent out to get but said she wasn't sending me back to the waiting room because none of the other women out there looked as far along as I was. At this point I was having another contraction on the way to my room so I asked if I could walk and the nurse said I just needed to get into bed and get checked to see how dilated I was. She got me right into a gown and into bed and checked me. I was 7 centimeters dilated and 100% effaced. My first thought was oh my gosh I'm not going to get my epidural! I started panicking and begging the nurse to get my epidural started. She said not to worry and that I could still get one. The contractions kept coming and the pain was unbearable. It is impossible to describe the pain other than it was all over my body. Stephen wasn't in the room with me yet so I was holding on to the wrist of one of the nurses. I kept asking her where my husband was. I needed my husband with me. They finally realized that he was filling out all of my paperwork because even though I pre-registered they couldn't find me in the system. Because I wasn't in the system they couldn't start the process for my epidural either. Eventually the women at the front desk who was helping Stephen with the paperwork just asked for all of my id's and insurance cards and said she would figure it all out and that he needed to be with me.
I don't know how long Stephen wasn't in the room with me but he finally came in and helped me get through my contractions while we were waiting on the epidural. The nurse checked me again just 20 minutes after I was at a 7 and I was 9 1/2 centimeters dilated. She told me that I must have a really high pain tolerance with how I was acting but all I wanted to do was scream because I thought for sure now I wouldn't get the epidural and I knew I couldn't do this naturally. The nurse knew though not to ask me again if I wanted the epidural because of how much I was begging for it so just a few minutes later in came the anesthesiologist and put it right in. As soon as it was done I thought to myself now I can get this baby out. About 15 minutes later at around 7:30am I started pushing.
I had such amazing help with my delivery. The midwife who helped deliver Everett had just started her shift when I got there and she stayed with me the whole time. There was also a midwife student, a nurse, and of course Stephen there helping me through it. It wasn't long after I started pushing that the midwife told us Everett was in a posterior position or also known as face up. She told us that if he had been faced correctly I could very possibly have delivered him in the car on the way to the hospital with how fast my labor was. She didn't seem to concerned with his position and thought she could flip him on his way out.
4 hours later I was still pushing and I finally crashed. I became so emotional and just thought to myself that I was done, I couldn't push any longer. My body was giving up on me and I was giving up on myself. It was at this point that the midwife called in the doctor to use the vacuum to get Everett out. Within just a few minutes the doctor came in, told me we weren't using the vacuum, and that I needed to toughen up and we were getting this baby out in one more push. I took a few deep breathes, tried to control my emotions, and gave one more big push with no success. The doctor told me to do one more really good one. I tried my hardest to push with what little strength I had left and the doctor gave me an episiotomy and out Everett came all with one push.
Everett was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen and I wanted to immediately hold him and never let go. He was a perfect 6 pounds 9.5 ounces
20 1/2 inches
and arrived at 11:50am on 5/5/2015
People have told me that the pain goes away after you see your baby but it wasn't true for me. The exhaustion and everything was all still there. But Everett was there too and that was all that mattered. He was all that mattered. Those first moments with him and Stephen were all that mattered. The second I saw him I started crying. The pure love I felt for him was so real and so instant. I was his mom and he was my child. That first time when Stephen and I were together holding Everett is by far my greatest and most cherished memory. I could not have gone through any of that delivery if Stephen wasn't by my side encouraging me and supporting me. I am so grateful for him and have fallen in love with him even more than I thought was possible since he has become a dad. Our lives were forever changed when Everett was born and we couldn't imagine life without such a perfect child. We feel so blessed to have Everett in our lives and look forward to all of the wonderful memories we get to have together as a new family.
