Evie's Birth Story

SHE IS HERE! Our little Evie bug has arrived . . . six weeks early!

And here's how it happened . . .

When my husband and I found out I was pregnant, we were shocked to say the least. We were told by doctors that we wouldn't be able to have kids naturally. So what did we do? We packed up our SUV and started traveling across the country. We did this for two years; living in Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Florida, and Colorado. It was when we were living in Colorado that we found out I was pregnant. It took a few months to wrap our heads around this and accept that we would need to change our travel lifestyle. We headed back to our home state, got a year-long apartment lease, accepted permanent jobs, and waited for our daughter's arrival.

Throughout my pregnancy, the doctors did not have any health concerns for me or my daughter. The doctor who did my anatomy scan even described us as "disgustingly healthy." We felt very grateful that our daughter and myself were healthy and expected to have a normal delivery such as my midwife delivering our baby, skin-to-skin time immediately after birth, my husband cutting the umbilical cord, and breastfeeding soon after her birth. Well, we didn't get any of these things. In fact, I did not even get to hold my daughter until she was over 24 hours old.

At 33 weeks pregnant, I went to the eye doctor to try to get as many appointments out of the way as possible before baby girl's arrival. When I was there, they took my blood pressure, and I noticed the numbers were higher than normal. So naturally, I called my midwife, explained the situation, and she asked me to come in, so they could recheck my blood pressure . . . and sure enough, it was still elevated. She decided to have me monitored for a few hours, checking my blood pressure every 15 minutes. Because my blood pressure remained high, I was transferred to a different hospital that had a NICU in case they needed to deliver our baby girl early. I spent Monday night and Tuesday in the hospital where I

received a steroid shot to help baby girl's lung development, continued monitoring of my blood pressure, and an ultrasound to check on baby girl's development. My husband was with me every second and was my constant companion and advocate. I have never been so grateful to be married to a nurse! On Tuesday night, we received a pleasant surprise at almost midnight; they were letting me go home! I had to continue monitoring my blood pressure at home as well as scheduling extra prenatal appointments to keep an eye on baby girl.

Two days later, I went in for one of my extra prenatal appointments. My midwife checked on baby girl and took my blood pressure. It was still high, but not high enough for me to be readmitted. However, that did not last long. That same night, I was feeling very uneasy. At first, I assumed it was just nerves. They had diagnosed me with preeclampsia and told us that I would not be able to go longer than 37 weeks, so we knew baby girl would be coming early no matter what. We hoped she would have a few more weeks to grow and get stronger, but at 34 weeks, I couldn't shake that uneasy feeling. I woke up my husband in the middle of the night, and we headed straight to the hospital. I had taken my blood pressure that night, and the numbers were higher than my doctor wanted. I was readmitted to the hospital about

3am Friday morning. At first, they continued to monitor my blood pressure to determine what the best course of action would be. Since my blood pressure remained elevated, the doctors decided to induce me. Before the induction, I had to start "mag" or magnesium sulfate to prevent me from having a seizure due to the preeclampsia. Being on mag was probably one of the hardest parts of my delivery, because it made me feel like I got hit by a train. I felt nauseated and had a difficult time remembering details, focusing, having conversations . . . my brain felt like it was working in slow motion. If you ask my husband, he would tell you that I have probably asked him more than 10 times what happened during this weekend, because I still can't remember specific details or the order of events. The doctor started me on magnesium sulfate Friday morning and started my induction that evening. It took two doctors, multiple attempts, and two different methods of induction, but we were finally on our way. By Saturday morning, I was about 3cm dilated, but we had to change course once again. Baby girl was having decels because the umbilical cord was wrapped around her stomach. They explained the situation to my husband and I and quickly wheeled me into an OR for an unscheduled C-section. She arrived at 9:35am, weighing 4lbs 3 oz, and 17 inches long!

I don't remember much of the actual delivery. I remember being taken into the OR, getting the spinal tap, laying down, and then next thing I knew, a nurse was showing me my

daughter. I remember seeing her for a couple seconds, and then my memory goes blank until I woke up in recovery. I still get emotional thinking about my daughter's delivery. The C-section doesn't really bother me; the memory loss does. I can't remember hearing my daughter cry, my husband holding her, my husband kissing me . . . I don't even remember seeing my husband in the OR at all. I had to remain on mag for 24 hours after my delivery which meant I wasn't able to see my daughter until the next day, because she was down in the NICU. I've never been so grateful for Wi-Fi as my husband made multiple trips back and forth between my room and our daughter's room so I could Facetime her.

Sunday morning arrived, and I was being transferred to the post-partum floor and could finally see my baby girl! My husband wheeled me down to the NICU before we checked into my new room, so I could see her. She looked so tiny. I don't know if it is because I am a first time parent or because she was a preemie, but I swore the nurses were going to break her. I spent the next few days recovering in the hospital and spending as much time as I could down in the NICU holding my daughter. After five days in the hospital, I was allowed to go home, which made for a very bittersweet day. I was excited to be able to sleep in my own bed and relax in my own home, but my daughter was not coming with me. She had to

remain in the NICU, which was one of the worst feelings I have ever experienced. No mama should be going home without her baby. For the next month, I continued to recover and spent every day visiting my girl in the NICU. All of our nurses and doctors were absolutely amazing, and we were very grateful for their patience, knowledge, and compassion. We were also very blessed that my husband works at the same hospital, so he was able to see her on his lunch break and come over to her room straight after his shift ended. It was a physically and emotionally exhausting month, but we made it, and our girl is now home, healthy, and thriving!