Everly Mae

She is here!  It was an interesting final 2 weeks around here but we are glad she made it.  If you're not interested in reading about her birth, feel free to skip this part :)

At my 38 week appointment things were looking good and they thought I would either go into labor on my own or be easy to induce at 40 weeks.  At my 39 week appointment I was told I couldn't be induced until 41 weeks.  I wasn't too happy about this because my parents already had their plane tickets to come out and my dad would be gone before she would have been born.  I wasn't too excited about this idea, to say the least.  The week was pretty miserable.  Poor Keith had to deal with me and I'm sure it wasn't fun.

At my next appointment right before 40 weeks the doctor said everything looked good and I could be induced that afternoon.  That was a big relief!  My mom flew in that day to take care of the boys while we were at the hospital and to help us when we got home.  After she landed we went back home, Keith and I packed up and were off to the hospital!

We got to the hospital around 4:30 but couldn't get in a room until around 6.  It was a busy day on that floor!  Keith and I relaxed in the room, watched some TV and felt like we were on a vacation.  It was actually nice having that time to wait!

At 7:30 they broke my water and Keith and I got up to walk around a little while.  There weren't many walking areas and I was hooked up to an IV so we were dragging my pole around.  The pole didn't roll very well and the halls were full so it wasn't easy to get around.  After about 30 minutes of that we went back to the room to get hooked up again and see what was happening.

Keith and I kept watching TV and I felt like nothing was happening.  Around 9:30 the dr came in and said my contractions were about 3 minutes apart but I wasn't feeling anything yet.  Around 10:00 I started feeling them more often and at about 10:15 and I started to keep track of them.  At about 10:45 they started to get more intense and I was having a really hard time trying to stay comfortable.  In between contractions I told Keith to call the doctor so I could get some meds.  The doctor came in and told me as nicely as she could that it was too late for medicine and that I was going to have to finish this without anything.  I was not excited about this idea, but I just kept hoping it would go quickly!  After a little more laboring and doctors and nurses running around the room getting everything set up they had me get back in bed around 11:20 to do some practice pushing.  I pushed through a couple of contractions and after 10 minutes she was here!  It is always so amazing to have a tiny little newborn baby in my arms!  I wasn't able to hold Graham right after he was born and I could only hold Luther for a little bit before they had to take him but I got to hold Everly for a while as she was cleaned off.  It was fantastic!  They finally had to take her to do some tests.  She weighed in at 9 pounds, 1 ounce and was 21 inches long.  She was born at 11:36 pm.

We had quite the team in our room for this labor.  The hospital where I delivered is a teaching hospital so we had a doctor drop in at the last minute, a 3rd year resident, a 1st year resident, a PA student, a nurse for me and a nurse for Everly.  But everyone did such a great job coaching me through and Keith was awesome at being calm and supporting me exactly how I asked him to.

After a little time at the hospital we all went home to start life as a family of 5, with a lot of help from my parents :)  We ventured out once with our whole family for a little bit, but we are enjoying all the help we are getting for now!  When we left the hospital on Thursday she was down to 8 pounds 8 ounces.  At the doctor on Friday she was still the same weight.  We go back again tomorrow for another check and I'm sure she's gaining weight.  She's filling out and eating like a champ.

Graham and Luther both love her so much.  Luther is still figuring things out.  His new word is "gentle".  And Graham loves to hold her whenever he can.  It's fun having a baby around again!