Evan's Birth Story

To Celebrate the halfway mark of NICU Awareness Month (September) I wanted to share my sweet baby Evan's birth story! I wrote this to keep in his baby book 10 days after he had been born. I didn't want to forget anything! Everyone has such different birth experiences and I'm so grateful for my story and my healthy baby boy. 

07-10-2021

My Sweet Baby Evan,

I love you so much! I’m sitting in the NICU, holding you, as I write this. Your birth story!

Monday, June 28th, was your 32-week ultrasound. Because of your kidneys, we were getting your ultrasounds done at a high-risk pregnancy clinic in the hospital, Maternal Fetal Medicine. Your ultrasound went well. We left with the plan to ultrasound you at 4 weeks, 4 months, and then at 12 months; just to make sure your kidneys didn’t get any bigger. Your right kidney was measuring at 8mm, and your left at 6mm. They’re supposed to be under 7mm but aren’t considered high risk until 10mm. It’s called urinary tract dilation. I was a little salty at the ultrasound because you wouldn’t show us your cute face. You were head down, but your face was turned inward (away from my belly button). That night your dad and I went to a ward pool party. I went down a “water slide” a few times, but I’m almost certain that it was not a rough enough ride to have induced labor. 

I woke up at 4:30 on Tuesday (6/29) in a ton of pain. I didn’t know if I was in labor, experiencing Braxton Hicks, or if you just didn’t like the hot dog I’d eaten at the pool party. The pain would come and go, but I didn’t think it was contractions because they were so close together. I thought contractions were supposed to start out slow! I took a warm bath to try and ease some of the pain. It also helped to walk around (I had to carry a squirt bottle with me when I did this because Sweet Pea would attack my legs) and to do calf raises while holding on to the bathroom counter. It was not a particularly pleasant morning. By the time your dad woke up around 8 I was feeling a lot better. I was only having 2-4 contractions an hour and they were a lot less intense. However, when I used the bathroom I noticed that I did have some bloody discharge. I called your grandma Bake and she told me to just call Dr. Lunt’s office. I did, and while I waited for a call back (they didn’t answer right away) I sent your dad off to work. I told him that I was feeling well enough to drive myself to the hospital if I needed to go in and get checked. Before he left he gave me a blessing. Sure enough, Dr. Lunt’s office told me to go get checked out. I quickly ate some cereal, grabbed a book and my phone charger, then headed into the hospital. 

Walking into the hospital I remember thinking, “How exciting! This is where I’ll come when I have the baby!” I got into the triage room and everything was looking good. Your heartbeat was good and I wasn’t having any contractions. Then they checked my cervix. I could tell that the nurse wasn’t quite sure what to think, so she went and got the hospital doctor. When the doctor checked my cervix she told me that I was dilated to a four. She also used a speculum to look at my cervix and saw that I had hourglassing membranes; which basically means that my water could easily break.  They were surprised that I was dilated since I wasn’t having contractions, but my contractions picked back up after I got checked. 

The doctor let me know that I was getting admitted so I called your dad to let him know to come over. Luckily he works across the street from the hospital, so he was there quickly. Before your dad got there I got a shot of steroids in my butt to help your lungs develop more quickly. When your dad got there the NICU doctor came and talked to us a little bit about what to expect if you came. The NICU doctors are super cool. This Doctor was a super tough-looking guy with a big beard. He told us that at the age of 5 babies born at 32 weeks are no different from babies that reach a full 40 weeks. 32 weeks is the magic number because the last trimester is really just about packing on fat and getting more nutrients. I felt a lot of peace knowing that you were most likely coming early, but also that you were going to be just fine thanks to the amazing NICU team. 

After talking to Dr. Erick Ridout about the NICU your Grandpa Jensen came and he and your dad gave me a blessing before I finished getting admitted. The rest of that day and the next I laid in my hospital bed and took medicine to ease my contractions. They wanted to keep you inside of me for 48 hours so you could get the full effect of the steroid shots that they gave me (one when I got admitted, and one 24 hours later). Grandma Bake drove down after I got admitted and stayed until today (7/10). I am so grateful that I was able to have my mom with me through this. 

The first night your dad stayed at the hospital and slept with me. I was hooked up to machines and your heartbeat was a constant noise in the background. Your dad didn’t sleep well (he probably slept for half an hour all night), so the second night I sent him home and my mom stayed and slept with me. Your dad also went to work during the day, otherwise, he would’ve gone stir-crazy in that hospital room! Shantell, Brekkon, and Roze came to visit on day two of the hospital stay. They brought me a bean burrito from cafe sabor - which I was craving all the time the last few weeks of my pregnancy and since you were born haha. The doctors took me off of constant monitoring before I went to bed the second day (6/30), so it was a lot quieter and easier to sleep. The plan was to just monitor me periodically throughout the next day. 

On Thursday (7/1) I woke up, went to the bathroom, put some deodorant on, and ate a little bit of breakfast. I noticed that I was having some more "painful" contractions, but nothing like I had experienced on Tuesday. A little before 7 Dr. Lunt and the nurse came in to check on me. They got me hooked back up to the monitors and Dr. Lunt asked to check my cervix. I hadn’t had my cervix checked since I got admitted because they didn’t want to accidentally break my water due to the hourglassing membranes. When Dr. Lunt was checking me he said, “there’s nothing there.” The nurse and my mom and I all kind of looked at each other confused and he said, “you’re at a 10.” Wow! All the sudden it was go time! Grandma called your dad and told him to hurry over. He had just woken up for the day about 10 minutes earlier! Dr. Lunt got an ultrasound machine to check your positioning and we found out that you had moved and were no longer going to be coming out vaginally. Your cord had prolapsed (moved between you and your exit), and you were sideways in my belly. Dr. Lunt let us know that it was time to prep for a C Section. Your grandma called dad again and let him know to hurry because we were having a C Section. The room got busy as they prepped me to go and your dad arrived with perfect timing. He gave me a blessing and then put his outfit on so he could join me in the delivery room. 

The scariest part was when they wheeled my bed away to take me to the C Section room. Your dad had to stay behind while they finished getting me ready and I just wanted him there so bad. I had no idea what to expect and I was so scared to get my spinal anesthetic. I was shaking a lot because I was scared, but I had the most wonderful nurse that morning and everyone else was wonderful as well. The nurse had me sit up and curl my back for my shot. She had me hold on to her and held me while they gave me the anesthesia. Luckily the shot didn’t hurt much. They gave me a local anesthesia, then gave me the spinal anesthesia. After that, they laid me down, draped me, and started prepping. Soon enough your dad was able to join me and I heard, “Dad do you have your camera ready?” I hadn’t even realized that they had started! A couple seconds later you were born! 8:00 am. Your dad took pictures as you came out and I heard you cry! I didn’t know if you were going to cry or not since you were so early, but you had an APGAR of 8, then five minutes later you had an APGAR of 9. Because you were doing so well they even brought you over and showed you to me. Your dad went with you to the other room while Dr. Lunt sewed me all back together. Your Grandma and Grandpa Jensen and your Grandma Bake got to see you and dad for a second as you were wheeled to the NICU. 

After my surgery was done I had to rest until the anesthesia wore off. It was funny to not be able to move my toes. After you got set up in the NICU your dad came back to check on me and stayed until I could get into the wheelchair to come visit you. I got moved to the mom-baby unit and tried to rest/nap so I could feel good enough to come see you. Eventually, I gave up on napping and decided that I had rested enough. I went down to see you and it was so nerve-wracking to hold you! I was so happy to get to do some skin-on-skin time with you, but you had so many cords! You had an IV in your head, a nasal cannula to help open up your lungs (though you didn’t need any oxygen you good boy!), and a feeding tube in your mouth (after they got rid of your nose cannula the feeding tube got moved to your nose). You also had wires attached to monitors to keep track of things like your heartbeat, your oxygen levels, etc. When I was holding you your little body was so warm that I overheated! I started feeling sick, so I had the nurse put you back in your incubator then your dad took me back upstairs to rest. 

When I got back upstairs I realized I was definitely going to throw up. I looked around for a puke bag but they didn’t have any in my room! I tried to ask your dad to get me the trash can but threw up in my mouth mid-sentence, which resulted in me pointing and snapping at the trash can and your dad being very confused. He figured it out though and then I threw up all of the apple juice that I’d drunk before visiting you (I was on a liquid diet for a bit after my surgery, then moved to crackers, and on from there). We went back and visited you again that night and dad did some skin-on-skin with you while I sat next to you both. That was the first real moment of quiet that we’d had together and I just loved it. I fall more and more in love with you every time I watch your dad hold you. 

Love you!

Mom