Monday, June 27, 2011

The littlest Burrow

Here is the long overdue birth story of our little Evelyn :-) I can't recommend more highly having a birth photographer. In fact, I can't recommend more highly MY birth photographer and friend Sarah Wise. She took the pictures in this post. I didn't know what to expect from the pictures, but I can tell you I was more than impressed and pleased. There are so many pictures I could add. However, while I am not very modest I also don't want anyone to be weirded out. So, if you want to see more and/or you or someone you know is truly interested in birth photography let me know.

I felt certain the week of Evie's due date that we would go right past it. I saw the midwife on Wednesday and when she told me there was no change from my one centimeter I braced myself for the waiting game. I went out to dinner with some friends and told them how sure I was it would be a while.

That night I had a hard time going to sleep. I fell asleep only to wake up to a contraction around midnight. This was nothing new. Twenty minutes later the same thing happened. This went on for about three hours. Again, I wasn't thinking anything of it. There were many nights previously where I convinced myself baby was coming. But, around 3 am I got irritated by the in and out sleep and just got up. I went to the kitchen and emptied the dishwasher. Around 3:30 am the twenty minutes apart went to ten. Only then did I let myself think it was time. I realized my house was a disaster and started "cleaning". I mean, someone was coming here to watch Lila and I couldn't very well just leave things as is. Plus, it passed the time (and pain) brilliantly.

At 5 am or so I called the doctor's office and spoke to the midwife. She told me take my time, take a shower, and then head on over to the hospital. I woke Seth up, he called his mom to come over, and I got in the shower. From this point on things went really quickly. I got panicky and stood in the driveway waiting for Seth's mom to get here. I had visions of giving birth in my driveway and this may or may not be when I turned into mommyzilla. I'm pretty sure I bit Seth's head off a few hundred times in the 15 minutes from here to Northside.

Once in a room and in a bed the contractions were much different from what I remember with Lila. However, with Lila I was induced and had more back labor than anything else. Birthing Evie taught me what contractions really feel like. The nurse started in on the questions and I again got panicky. I couldn't understand a word she said. I want to say she was Jamaican maybe? Anyway, I'm pretty sure with every question (and contraction) I said "what??" and she had to repeat herself. I began to prepare myself for lots of miscommunication. But, once I got the epidural and really focused on what the nurse was saying we were good to go.


Evie was born just before 10 am. She came very quickly which I couldn't have appreciated more. Right after Lila was born they whisked her away because she wasn't breathing right away. I didn't get to do the whole holding the baby skin to skin and feeding right away. That has always bothered me. With Evie I pretty much pulled her out and brought her up to meet me instantly. It was a completely different experience. There is just nothing more amazing than that moment. Seth was leaning over us and my heart was overflowing with the the fact that our little family quickly and wonderfully became four.


This is one of my favorites. I love how little yet how much you can see.


If I'm being honest I was almost sure we were having a girl. So much so that when she was born I don't remember the "it's a girl!" moment being as prominent as it was with Lila. I guess I felt I already knew. These guys maybe weren't so sure :-)

It was a perfect day. I am so glad I wasn't induced this time. I am so glad that unexpected things happened like my dad being in town. I am so glad that Lila got to have a blast with her grandmothers while we got to take the time to enjoy Evelyn. But mostly I am just so lucky to have two happy, healthy little girls now. Here are a few more of my favorites from the day...



Another favorite...she has no idea just how much these women will teach her.


And of course, our baby meets her baby sister :-)




7 comments:

  1. Well worth the wait! I love you!

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  2. Oh Jana! This would have made me cry if I had not been sitting at work! You are so sweet and I think Sarah Wise will be getting lots of phone calls in the coming months/years!

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  3. Love it! I always enjoy hearing what people's favorites are...thanks so much for asking me to capture Evie's birth for you. It was so special and I was happy to do it!

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  5. So precious! I didn't even notice that I was tearing up reading your post until I tear ran down my cheek. This makes me want to have another baby (especially since I didn't get to experience most of this with Everett).

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  6. definitely worth the wait! great story. i <3 your family.

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  7. i was holding back tears, but they won when i got to the pic of lila meeting evie. so happy for you and your sweet sweet family.

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