Meet Evie Arabella!
While I was pregnant, I was fascinated to hear and read about other people’s birth experiences, so while I thought mine would be along the lines of something that I’ve heard before… it definitely turned out to be something quite unexpected.
Miss Evie graced us with her presence two weeks early, at 38 weeks and with a grand entrance on Monday, October 7, 2019 at approximately 2:20AM. So, “approximately” is exactly what her birth time will be as she made a speedy and unexpected entrance into this world on the floor of our master bathroom.
I was only in labor for 4 hours. Never in my life would I have thought that my first born would be happen so quickly…without any drugs, no doctor or medically trained professional on hand, and nonetheless, not at a hospital. Frankly, I did not have a birth plan – my plan was to do whatever was best for the health of my baby and myself. And to think that I stressed over which hospital that I should deliver at to ensure that I would have the best doctors and be at the best hospital, but we never made it there.
My contractions started at 10:30PM, and by near midnight, the contractions were about 13 minutes apart. Leading up to the midnight hour, a number of thoughts raced through my head…from are these really contractions?…they are painful, but maybe they aren’t that painful?…to maybe this is just a false alarm, because this really can’t be happening right now… It wasn’t until it was closer to midnight that I came to terms that this really could be it and I should just call the doctor. I spoke with the doctor on-call and was advised to wait until my contractions were consistently 5 minutes apart for an hour before heading to the hospital. So I figured, sure, why not… I’ve heard the stories of when people arrive to the hospital too early and they end up having to go back home or are just stuck at the hospital for hours, so I’d really rather be in the comfort of my own home until I absolutely have to go to the hospital. Plus, I was pretty convinced that with my narrow hips that the baby would be slow moving out and probably need help through the birth canal or need a c-section.
Very soon after I was off the phone with the doctor, my contractions started to go a little erratic…moving from 13 minutes down to 7 minutes and then dropping to 4 minutes. My husband was convinced that we should go to the hospital right then, but I wasn’t yet. I said let’s take our time cause this is strange and I don’t know what is going on. My contractions then jumped back to 7 minutes and jumped around thereafter. All the while, my husband finished packing up my hospital bag and loaded the car. Then… around 2:00AM, I felt this incredibly strong contraction and then this burst inside of me… my water just broke…OMG.
My immediate feelings right after my water broke was fear, and then rationalized that I just needed to get to the hospital. But, I couldn’t move and was just frozen in pain…I was in so much pain that I didn’t know what to do. My husband was out of the room at the moment and when he got back, he helped me to the bathroom so I could clean up and we could make our way to the hospital. I was in so much pain at the time that I was as crunched over on the floor in our bathroom. Then, the pain wrenching contractions set-in and I was screaming in pain. I told my husband that there is absolutely no way that I will make it to hospital and he had to call 911.
He calls the emergency line and they informed that an ambulance would be on the way. There was a moment of calmness that the pain subsided, but then for it to quickly shoot back up and I could feel this uncontrollable contraction move through the lower half of my body and felt as though her head was coming through. When my husband checked, he assured me that nothing was there. Then, another stronger and uncontrollable contraction waved through my body and I felt her head move through my body. My husband checked and found that her head was actually out this time, but there was an umbilical cord wrapped around her head twice… He quickly calls the emergency line back and they walk him through unwrapping the cord. Then, walked us through the next steps…and with one more push, her whole body was out. She was breathing and blinking. My husband is looking around for towels and wraps, and then places her by me and I see her for the first time and just stare at her in shock… her eyes blinking and mouth making an “O” shape and sticking out her tiny pink tongue….it’s as though nothing happened and she’s just hanging out! Ha.. I sighed in relief that she looks like she’s doing okay and that hopefully this means that we will be okay after all. I suddenly remembered to ask, “what time is it?” and by then, it was already 2:28AM.
Luckily, shortly after, the EMT arrives and they clean her up and cut the umbilical cord. I’m wheeled out of our apartment on a stretcher and eventually holding our baby in the ambulance. They take us to a local hospital in Brooklyn. By 4 or 5:00AM, the usual tests that are run after delivery is completed and we’re settled in a room. All we can keep asking each other is “this isn’t a dream, right?” and “did that really all just happen?”…and it really did.
Welcome to this world Miss Evie Arabella, we already have one special story to tell you one day.
