"baby Eveyln is here" Updated with details and pic

Megan_e_rice · June 2014

I will edit with the long version when I get on to a real computer but here is the short version : Evelyn Zalona born on Friday the 13th at 10:42am. 7lbs 3 oz, 21 inches long.

Extremely Long version: On Wednesday June 11th I had a membrane sweep done at my 39 week appointment but after 24 hours with only a few braxton hicks I knew that it hadn't worked. Luckily for me though, I work at a clinic directly across from a midwife. Her and I had been joking about her delivering my baby at work (she even lent me her yoga ball to bounce on at my desk). During lunch a few more coworkers made comments about her being ready to deliver at the office and she looked at me and said "well I don't have any patients until 2, want me to do another sweep?" HECK YES! I was already dilated to 4 and 90% thinned out so I knew it would be soon anyway. By 3:30 I noticed that my "braxton hicks" were happening at least every 17 minutes apart if not closer together. By the time I left work at 5 they had remained pretty consistent but still not painful so I drove my spouse to her work (she starts at 5:30) but decided to stay close by just in case. I stopped by a local shop and began to wander the aisles with my 2 year old, the contractions were now about 8-12 minutes apart and making me slow down my walking out of discomfort. Around 8pm I started to call my family to let them know that they should probably start getting their bags together and making arrangements for the dogs (they live 5+ hours away so I knew I had to let them know early). At 8:30 I picked up my wife from work (her coworkers practically shoved her out the door) and we called our friend to meet us at our apartment to pick up our 2 year old. Around 10pm my contractions slowed down so I started walking the halls of my apartment building and then headed over to the McDonalds a few blocks away for an ice cream cone. My contractions kicked back in and another friend of mine came over to help distract me. We went back to my place and watched Grey's Anatomy while timing my contractions. I slept in 8 minute increments from 1am-2am before giving up completely on sleep. I had reached a point where I didn't even want people to talk to me or touch me during a contraction so I knew it was time to call my doctor. She gave me the green light to head out to the hospital so I grabbed my bag, called my photographer and headed out the door. When we arrived at 3:30 I was dilated to 5-6 with 1 minute long contractions coming every 5 minutes. After checking us in and answering a few questions about pain management (get me the epidural!) they started an IV and told me that the anesthesiologist would be in shortly. About 10 minutes later one of my nightmares came true when the nurse came back in and said that unfortunately the anesthesiologist was just about to head in to a c-section and would not be available to give me an epidural. She offered me fentinol instead. I held back tears while my friend and photographer tried to cheer me up by telling me it was a wonder drug and that both of them had tried it with their previous pregnancies and it was great. Thirty seconds after being administered the drug I felt like I was drunk, the room started floating and I could see why they had both recommended this. And then the most amazing thing happened, the anesthesiologist walked in to the room and asked if I was ready for my epidural! Apparently he had a few moments to spare and agreed to place my epidural before he went in to do the c-section. Let me tell you, getting an epi while under the influence of fentinol is AMAZING. I barely felt it and I was able to hold still so much better because of it taking the edge off my contractions. Soon the pain was completely gone and I was actually able to relax. Fast forward a few hours and my family arrived after driving through the night to make it to the birth in time. Around 10am the nurse checked me and had me do a few pushes to see if I could bring the baby down in to the birth canal more, apparently I did well because she had me stop and started getting the table set up for me to deliver. On my left was the photographer and my mom, and on the right was my wife, and my friend and somewhere near "the action" was my sister and the doctor, it was crowded to say the least. They set up a mirror and everyone laughed at the look of horror that was on my face when I saw the reflection, I mean I knew what it would look like but I don't think I was really prepared. After only 3 contractions of pushing, Evelyn Zalona made her was in to the world. She was 7 lbs 2.8oz and 21 inches long with a head full of dark hair. She was perfect.