Grace Evelyn was born on Thursday, December 15th, 2005 at 4:20 p.m. Here is the birth story ...

The birth was amazing and I would have done it in a heartbeat again if I could!  I seriously mean that!! 

We went in Wednesday night (Dec. 14) to begin the process.  They put in the Cervidil and then I tried to get some rest, but I didn't get much.  At 6 a.m. Thursday they woke me up to take out the Cervidil and let me shower and get ready for the big day ahead.  They started the pitocin at 7 a.m. and the contractions began right away.

I got my epidural at about 10 a.m. and that was great ... it was just the right amount of medicine because I felt no pain, but wasn't completely numb.  My midwife came in and out to check on me and visit with us and our family.  Later in the afternoon the real fun began ...

At 4:00 p.m. Diane, my midwife, checked me and I was only at 6 cm. Diane was not pleased with that ... she didn't like how slowly she thought that I was progressing.  We talked about how Little Buttercup's birth went the same way ... seemingly slow progression and then all of a sudden she was there.  I told her that I didn't like the look on her face and asked her if she was concerned.  She said no (after the birth she told us that the look on her face was because she was praying as we were talking!!).  She asked me to bear down with my next contraction to see what that did to my cervix.  She was pleased with that... 

So she sat down and chatted with a friend of ours that had just arrived (Diane delivered her as well).  Then I began to feel pain ... I said that I felt a contraction and felt like something was "between my legs".  There were 2 nurses trying to find the baby's heartbeat with the monitor and neither could find it.  They kept looking at each other wondering what to do, but little did they know that the baby was no longer where  they thought she was ...

Again, I felt the next contraction hard, so Diane checked me and ... she announced that we were ready to have the baby! It was 4:10 p.m. and I went from 6 cm and 90% effaced to complete and the baby already coming down in about 10 minutes.  They got everything ready and I pushed 3 times and Grace was here!  We laughed and cried and laughed some more during the pushing ... it was truly a glorious experience!

Then everyone asked her name (we had kept it a surprise) and we announced "Grace Evelyn" ... Grace because the Lord gave us that name ... He taught us so much about His grace over those past 9+ months ... and Evelyn after my mom (who will never get over that!).