And then there were 4

We welcomed Evan Lewis into our family on January 6, 2010 at 5:12 p.m. He came in at a whopping 8 lb. 7 oz and 21.25 inches. I will copy the birth story that I wrote on an LDS forum I belong to. Before I do that, however, I am so grateful that he is here and healthy. I love to sit and cuddle with him and I will admit that I'm not very good at sharing him. Even Bon has commented that Evan isn't happy unless I'm holding him. I think it must be that way because I am treasuring this babyhood. I regret not holding my other kids more, savoring in their babyness. I regret not making the time for that. Thinking that other things mattered more was a huge mistake. But now is the time I can correct that. I hope that my love for all of my children is reflected to them. I hope that as this new year marches on, that I can be a better mother. I want all my kids to think they are my favorite. Maybe to have them feel like they are the most important and treasured person whenever we spend time together. I know that I fall short of giving them that feeling, but it is my goal this year, to give them the best me I can be.

Here is Evan's birth story. His name by the way, was chosen from a baby name book. I really liked Landon, but Bon wasn't sold on it, so I started going through the book again and liked Evan, so I wrote it down. Bon took to it right away. Lewis, however, was my grandfather's middle name.

We decided to go with induction because I got to my due date (Jan. 4) and there still wasn't anything going on. I was dilated to a two, but by this point I was just frustrated, depressed and very uncomfortable. So we arrived at the hospital on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 at 7:45a.m. Fill out some paperwork and then get to my room. The midwife that is in the group I saw throughout pregnancy was the one that was there to check me and get everything going. She had checked me on Monday and I was a two. And on Wednesday I was still a two. She has really small hands and I just remember that her exams hurt...a lot. lol

So by 8:15, I'm all settled and the pitocin starts. I've never been induced with pitocin for a live birth before, so I didn't know what to expect. I've heard a lot of horror stories about it, but it really wasn't bad for me. My contractions started around 9 and they stayed steady and really weren't that painful. Closer to 11:30 though, I was starting to get nervous because the midwife said she would be back to check me at lunchtime and would probably break my water then. Well, I knew that I didn't want her to break my water without an epidural, so I think it must've been a little after 12, when they started getting stuff ready for the epidural. The nurse brings in a step stool and a chair and Bon and I wonder what is up. lol The step stool is for me to brace my feet on and the chair is for Bon. They don't allow the husbands to stand up anymore because they had one fall and crack his head open and end up in the ER while his wife is laboring away. lol So the closest Bon can get to me is to rub my leg. Needles freak me out to begin with, so I always get really anxious and nervous with epidurals. I was hugged over the pillow and the anesthesiologist is doing his stuff and the pressure in my spine was more than I remember and I started feeling lightheaded. The nurse held my shoulder so I wouldn't fall in case I fainted. But he finished and I laid down and I started having what the anesthesiologist called a vasovagal response. My jaw was shuddering, my left eye was twitching and for the life of me, I could not stop blinking. lol That lasted about 10 minutes before I was back to normal.

But that is when my blood pressure started dropping. The alarm for the blood pressure thing went off several times before she set it to only go off if it dropped below 90 over whatever since my blood pressure is usually 110/60. Well it was still going off. I think the lowest that I know about was 78 over whatever. So she had given me three different doses of epinephrine to make it go back up. This goes all throughout the afternoon. The midwife comes in sometime around 1, I think, and I'm at a 4. She breaks my water and keeps saying..."whoa, that's a lot of water!" I get flipped from side to side about every hour. I felt some pressure at three and the nurse checked me and I was only a 6. Bummer! The nurse comes in at 4 o'clock to help me turn over and pulls the blanket back and says..."that's a lot of bloody show....let me just check you really quick." I was complete!! She decides not to move me (lol) and calls the midwife right away (who was at the office that is like....2 minutes from the hospital.) The midwife says that she'll "mosey on over". lol

They start getting the room ready, the warming table is brought in, the bed is broken down. They move me ever so carefully onto my back and get an oxygen mask on me. The midwife gets there and she starts doing her stuff and working with me. They call the NICU team up to my room because Evan's heart rate keeps decelerating during my contractions. So it goes from a room of 5 people to a room of at least 9 or 10 people in about 5 minutes. And I remember there was this guy that followed some nurses in and he was dressed in khaki's and a sweater and I couldn't see a name badge, so I was thinking...who the heck is that guy? But I later learned he was the NICU doctor. lol (by the time they came in, my legs were up in stirrups. lol)

I was so scared at this point. I didn't want to cry, but I was really close to it because I was tired and really scared for Evan. So, I pushed and pushed. More than I ever have with any other baby. It was so hard! I know I didn't push as long as some women have pushed, but to me it felt like forever. They finally told me that he was coming out face up, which was why it was hard for him to "turn the corner". I saw the midwife cut me a little to have more room. She had been stretching me but I needed more I guess. So I finally get his head out and they tell me to stop pushing. I know they are doing something, but I can't see what, and they are counting. I was so confused. Bon said that he was watching the midwife's face and her eyes kept getting bigger and bigger. When it was all said and done, Evan had the cord wrapped around his neck 5 times!!! They said it wasn't tight, but they had never seen it around 5 times before. I finish pushing him out and he gets plopped up on my belly and he looks perfect. They whisk him away to the warmer right away though, so the NICU team can look him over. He was fine. I heard them say his apgars were good and he just stayed in the warmer content and happy as can be. He just looked around at everyone.

So on Wednesday January 6, 2010, at 5:12 p.m., Evan Lewis Carter joined our family. He was 8 lb 7 oz, 21.25 inches long and just absolutely perfect.