Evelyn Nancy Thompson

It has been a week since our sweet Evelyn joined our family! She was born 2/13/19 at 1:06 pm. I planned to be induced with her on the 13 since mine and Nick's parents were coming into town. The few weeks leading up to her birth I was already dialated to a 3 and then a 4 a week before her birth, so my anxiety was eased that being induced might mean a long, hard labor for me if my body wasn't ready. We went in to the hospital on the 9 (saturday), because I thought I was leaking fluid. They checked me and hooked me up to the monitors and everything was fine, I wasn't leaking. It was nice to go because we found where to park and were able to visit L&D before I was actually induced. The morning of the 13 we woke up at 5AM since we needed to be in L&D at 6AM. We left a little late and ended up getting there about 6:20. We had to wait a little bit and were finally put in our room around 6:35. Our nurse was Mandy and she was really great. She hooked me up to the contraction and baby heart rate monitor, and started me on pitocin around 7:15AM. Pretty quickly I started to feel contractions, and I started dilate. When she checked me right when I first got there I was about a 4.5 and 90% effaced. After I was hooked up to pitocin things started to go really quickly! Dr. Laraway came and broke my water around 8:45AM, and at right after I asked for the epidural. The contractions were getting pretty intense so luckily the anethesiologist came right away! He had me sit on the edge of the bed and bend over as much as I could. At that point the contractions were SUPER painful. Nick was so awesome as I was getting the epidural done. He put his head down close to mine and told me how great I was doing. When the anethesiologist placed the first time he asked me if I had any ringing in my ears or if my heart started to race. Both happened. He and the nurse both said that had only happened about 4 times the whole time they had worked there. He placed a second time and it worked! (I was so nervous that it wasn't going to and I would have to labor without an epidural). The epidural kicked in and I didn't feel a thing. It was nice, but I didn't necessarily enjoy that half my body was numb. It was wierd. Things kept progressing after that, I was dilating about a centimeter an hour. At 10:19 I was dilated to a 6.5. Kate, our birth photographer, got there around 10:30 so we just hung out and chatted with her for a while. By 11:45 I was dilated to a 9! By 12:30 I was fully dilated and pushing! I was in shock that I had progressed so quickly. Pushing was probably the hardest part. I did 3 sets of 10, and by the time I had done the third set I thought I was going to puke. It was so hard to push while under anesthesia! They told me how but I really couldn't feel how hard I was pushing. It was SO HARD. Near the end they had me doing a 4th set and I was SO tired. It was encouraging near the end when I could tell the nurse and Nick were getting excited and telling me to keep going. At one point Nick told me that he could see her hair and it was brown like mine :) Finally after 45 minutes Evelyn was born! I remember how emotional I felt and how hard I was crying. The doctor pulled her out and she had the chubbiest cheeks! I remember thinking that she looked like a pretty chubby baby. They put her on my chest but she was pretty limp so they had Nick cut the cord quickly and then they took her over to the other side of the room to get her crying. As soon as Nick cut the cord she was crying. They had the NICU team in there because I have OI and they wanted to make sure she was okay. She was perfect! She weighed 8 lbs 8 oz (The originally said 9 oz but I guess they were wrong) and 18.5 inches. It was an amazing feeling to finally have her out of my body. I guess I tore quite a bit so the doc was stitching me up for about an hour while I held her. Having a baby is no walk in the park, that's for sure! I am so grateful though that my labor was so quick and that everything (minus the tearing) went smoothly. They transferred me to the mother and baby room a while after her birth and it was nice just to have it be Nick, Evie, and I. It was a little piece of heaven. I told Nick to go home the first night to sleep in our bed and get some rest. I loved the one on one skin to skin time I got with Evie. She is such a sweet little girl. I love how she calms down when I hold her. Breastfeeding has proven to be difficult, it's super painful and my nipples are cracked and bleeding and scabby. The first couple days I don't think we were feeding her enough because she didn't poop or pee for 48 hours on Friday and Saturday. She had her first well child check on Sunday and her bilirubin levels were pretty high, so we had to have her on jaundice lights on Sunday night. It was awful. We couldn't swaddle her so none of us got very much sleep. We took her back Monday to get tested again and they were still a little high but had decreased significantly, so they told us to keep her on the lights for about 12 more hours and then come back to get restested on Thursday. We opted out of doing the lights because it was so hard. She has been peeing and pooping like crazy though so we aren't worried.

We decided to find Cooper a new family because the last few days have been really hard with him wanting and needing attention and we are so focused on Evie that we couldn't give him the attention he needed. Nick told me to ask Jenny, the lady who watched him over Christmas, if they would be interested in taking him. She was thrilled! She said they were thinking of getting their own dog and  her family talks about him daily. They keep saying they need to find a "cooper". It couldn't have worked out more perfectly! The thing that was hardest for me is that Nick was SO sad. He called his dad after we talked to Jenny and when he came back to the living room I could tell his eyes were really red. That night we were in our room and I just held him and he sobbed. I've never seen him so sad. After Jenny came and got him yesterday we had a good cry together. Nick is doing okay now that he knows that Cooper is much happier with Jenny's family. She has an 11 year old son that attached to Cooper alot I guess when they watched him over christmas. He will be Cooper's best friend and Nick knows that.

Week 37

Pregnancy is getting more and more uncomfortable but Evie is healthy and growing alot! It's hard to breath sometimes because she is pressing on my lungs and when I don't drink enough water my heart starts to race and I feel out of breath. At my last appt the doctor said she weighs over 6 lbs. I was able to set a day to get induced- Feb 13! Mom, dad, Blake, and Vickie are all flying in the 12. Dad, Blake, and Vickie are leaving the 17 and mom will stay until the 22. I can't believe we will have a baby in 2.5 weeks!

Yesterday Nick and I went to breakfast at cracker barrel and it was really nice to have some quality time before the baby comes.

Week 33!

I can't believe little Evie will be here in 6-7 weeks! Time is honestly flying. Nick and I spent the last two weeks in Texas with our families. It was so fun! All my siblings were together for the first time. Little Bobbie is so cute! She makes the funniest facial expressions and has such an attitude. All the siblings pitched in to get dad a Traeger for Christmas and he was so surprised! It was a great Christmas.

Being 33 weeks pregnant now I feel so huge and uncomfortable. Evie moves around so much and I can often feel what I think are little hands and feet portruding out of my stomach. I feel like I waddle every where now. We can't wait until she is here in our arms!

Week 30!!

I am 30 weeks this week! I can't believe we are going to have a little one in our arms in 2 months. This pregnancy has seriously flown. We went to Texas for Thanksgiving and I finally realized I don't need my nausea pills anymore. I ran out so I wasn't taking them as often and I was fine. I've been fine and feel completely normal ever since! Little Evie is growing so much and I feel her moving all the time. She loves to roll around and she loves hanging out in my sides. My back has really been hurting the last couple weeks and I'm pretty sure I tore a muscle to the left of my sternum. It's been sore for the last few months but a few nights ago I rolled over in my sleep and felt a really sharp pain. Ever since then it's been really achy. I'm also getting more fatigued. I told Nick that I am going to be in shape for my next pregnancy because having an achy body is no fun :( I am so excited to meet this little girl!

Week 25

Last week we got my results back for the OI test. They came back positive! They found a change in one of the genes they were testing. This means that each of our children has a 50% chance of having it too.  It will be interesting to see which ones get it. I'm hoping the doctor will let me do a natural birth, as opposed to a c section. I really don't want a c section.

I'm getting bigger by the week! By now there is no mistaking I look pregnant. This weekend is my baby shower at grandma hall's house. Vickie, Blake, and my mom are all flying in. It will be a fun weekend!

22 weeks

This past monday we had our 22 week anatomy ultrasound, where they checked all of Evelyn's organs to make sure they look good and they are developing normally. The sonographer spent about 1/3 of the time on her heart, and said it looks perfect. Everything else looks perfect too! The only thing he noticed is that she has a SUA (single umbilical artery), which means her umbilical cord only has a vein and an artery, as opposed to 2 arteries and a vein (or 2 veins and an artery, I can't remember which it's supposed to be). He said that when they see this usually it's accompanied by heart problems or other problems. He went over her heart two more times and said it looks absolutely perfect, so he is not worried. At first Nick and I were a little nervous, but the more research I did the more I found that it's not a big deal and most babies are born perfectly healthy, just a little on the smaller side. Some mom's are induced a little early as well, as some babies growth slows down at the end of the third trimester. I am hoping that between her SUA and my (maybe) bone condition I will be induced early and not have to go all the way to 40 weeks. This week we see the doc on wednesday the 24 and he will tell us what he thinks about the SUA.

This past week was the first week people started commenting on my baby bump! It's fun to finally look pregnant. Evie moves around soooo much. She loves to move around when I lay down to sleep at night, and often anytime I am sitting I can feel her poking around. Feeling her so active eases my mind that the SUA should be concerning.

The test for my OI ended up costing only $250! Seriously such a miracle. I went and got my blood drawn on Friday, so we should know in the next few weeks if I have it or not. Lauren (the genetic counselor) said that there is a 90% accuracy rate with this test. I can either get a positive, negative, or I'll get a result that basically says that they couldn't tell either way (I hope it comes back positive or negative).

Week 20!

Last week I hit 20 weeks pregnant. We are officially half way through this pregnancy! Little Evie is growing so much and she loves to move around. I feel her all the time. Nick can feel her now too! The next 20 weeks seem like an eternity and I can't wait till I am holding her in my arms.

I had an appt with another high risk doctor since our insurance changed. When I got there I told the nurse I didn't need an ultrasound and I just needed to talk to the doctor about getting a pre authorization for genetic testing. The doctor (a woman) was SO awesome! She came right in and told me what she thought the mix up was and that she new I needed to talk to her genetic counselor. That's exactly what I needed! I had to wait a little bit to see the counselor but when I finally met with her she had all my notes from when I met with the genetic counselor at the U in 2011 after I broke my ankle. She was so efficient and kind! The best part is that she thinks the test will only be $250, instead of $10,000 like I was told when I called the U, and I can get it done right there with her at UVSH in Provo. Okay seriously PLEASE let it only cost $250. Fingers crossed. I just want to know if I have this dang disease or not!

Conference weekend was this past weekend (I'm now 21 weeks prego :)) and it was so awesome! Church structure has been reorganized to 2 hours of church instead of 3. The Church is moving to a more home study base instead of just at church. I think it will be awesome and felt strongly that this will be another tool to fortify our homes against the forces of evil. Nick and I have been arguing about whether or not I should keep going to school after Evie is born. I feel (felt?) like I should and Nick really thinks I shouldn't. I was hoping for an answer during conference but I didn't feel strongly one way or another. Yesterday the thought of withdrawing from school made me sad and anxious. I talked to mom and she told me to follow my gut. But today I prayed and felt peace about staying at home. So I'm really confused. When I look at the logisitics of it I find my self frustrated often at my internship and the way the program is run. Nick and I are paying a lot of money out of pocket, and last week there was nothing to do at my internship so I left early 3 days in a row. Not good. Today I found out through my co worker that one of the birth mom's we are working with had her baby. No one told me. I felt frustrated. And then I am supposed to be working on a 20 hour project with an intern at head start and I haven't heard anything from her so I emailed her today and found out we have a meeting at 2:30. I'm starting to doubt if I'll even get my 20 hours with this project so I emailed my professor to ask if I can find another project. I'm starting to feel better about staying home and taking care of Evie next semester. But I don't just want to do it because that's what Nick wants me to do. I want to do it because that's what I ALSO feel is best for our family. I don't want to feel like my husband said no so I am not doing it. I don't want to feel oppressed. But I just don't know and I feel frustrated with the whole situation.