Hadley Elaine Evans : Hadley's Birth Story

Hadley Elaine Evans was born on Saturday, November 8, 2014 at 3:34 PM in Mesa, Arizona at Banner Gateway Hospital. She weighed 7 lb. 6 oz. and measured 20 inches long. Giving birth to Hadley was probably the most spiritual and emotional experience of my life other than getting married. She was perfect and I felt so relieved that the Lord had answered our prayers with a healthy baby girl.

Chris and I both wanted a girl. I was surprised that I wanted a girl first, but the thought of seeing Chris with a girl made me want a girl first. We were ecstatic when we found out we were pregnant (I told Chris right away because I was too excited to keep it a secret and tell him some creative way), and we were even more excited when we found out it was a girl. We had already picked a few names that we liked, but Hadley always stuck out the most. Chris came home one day from school and said, "I know what we are going to name our daughter....Hadley." This was before we were even pregnant.

My pregnancy went really well. I didn't get any stretch marks, I only got a little nauseous in the first trimester, and I didn't feel like I wanted to eat the whole world! I consider my pregnancy a real blessing for how smooth it went, but I did workout the entire time and I credit a lot of it to that. My family arranged to fly down to Arizona the day that I was due which was November 5th. I was only dilated to a 2.5 when they got here. My mom was pressuring me to get the baby out as soon as possible so that they could stay for the birth. There was only so much I could do.

The due date passed and every day that passed felt like a week. We tried going to the mall and walking a lot, but I still didn't notice any changes. Finally, on Friday morning my water broke....however, I didn't know it did. I arranged to go over to a woman in my ward's house and have my feet and ankles rubbed to hit the pressure points to induce labor. After that, Jessica, Lexi, and I went to a power pump weight lifting class and I was feeling just fine. On the way home from the gym, I sneezed and a little bit of liquid came out that wasn't pee. It was only a small amount and I assumed it was just normal. Little did I know, it was actually amniotic fluid. The whole day went by and I was leaking small amounts of fluid, but I still didn't think much of it. We went for a really long walk along the canal to induce labor and I did cramp up really badly.

We went to dinner that night at Backyard Tacos with the family and I was having my usual lower back cramps and contractions. We went over to Josh's house and watched some TV. I did notice that my contractions were a little more consistent than usual and they were a little more painful but not by much. Chris and I headed home around 11:30 and we debated going to the hospital since my contractions were getting stronger. We decided to go upstairs, get ready for bed, and see if the contractions would go away if I laid down....fortunately, they didn't. I wanted the baby to come! Chris was timing them and they were consistently 5-6 minutes apart. We decided to go in to the hospital.

At the hospital, the nurse hooked me up to the monitor and sure enough I was having contractions. She said I was still only dilated to a 2.5, but they needed to check my amniotic fluid to see if I ruptured. She came back and said that my water broke sometime that morning and that we were going to have a baby. Chris and I were so excited and terrified at the same time. They took me to a delivery room where I got my epidural, antibiotics (because my water had been broken for so long) and benedryl for the itching that the epidural caused. After I got the epidural, I felt completely paralyzed from the waist down. It was the strangest sensation I have ever felt. Chris would just laugh when I would try to move anything below my waist.

I slept, but Chris did not sleep at all. The drugs had knocked me out and I felt great! Poor Chris couldn't sleep because of all the sounds the machines were making that I was hooked up to. The nurse told us the baby would come sometime in the afternoon. I told my family to go ahead and go to the outlets while I was going through the pre-labor process. When I was dilated to a 10, Chris called my family and told them to start heading to the hospital. My family assumed I would be pushing for a long time since it was my first baby, but sure enough I only pushed for 40 minutes. My parents, Lexi, and Jessica made the birth within minutes. They almost missed it. Lexi was going 95 mph on the freeway to get to the hospital. The nurse said I was a really good pusher, and we even skipped a few contractions so the doctor could get there in time as well.

The delivery went very well and I was surprised how easy it was. Hadley came out and Chris and I were overcome with emotion. We both started crying and I couldn't wait to feel her against my chest. Chris cut the umbilical cord, and they put Hadley in my arms. It was the most tender, emotional, and loving feeling. You are literally filled with so much love for your baby. She did have a very large cone-head from going through the birth canal, but the swelling went down shortly after. She didn't have much hair, but enough for Chris and me. I think she looks like Chris.

After the delivery, they gave Chris and me time to spend with Hadley alone. It was wonderful and a time I will never forget. They took us to our recovery room, and we spent two nights there. Chris went with the nurse to give her her first bath, and Hadley started nursing like a champ. The second night was difficult since she was frustrated that my colostrum wasn't coming out fast enough, but it got much better when my milk came in. We had friends and family come visit, and everyone just fell in love with her. Watching Chris cuddle and love her was one of my favorite moments as well. He was smitten at the very beginning. He couldn't help but cry when she smiled at him for the first time and grabbed a hold of his finger. We finally decided on the name Hadley on Sunday and Chris let me name her Elaine after my mom.

Chris was amazing at taking care of me. The recovery process is not fun at all. You can't really do much since you are in a lot of pain. He had to help me shower and go to the bathroom at times. It was nice to go home where we could be in our comfort zone and I had already improved immensely when we did get discharged. The past few days have been exhausting, but we really wouldn't have it any other way. So far, Hadley is such a great baby. She hardly cries and smiles so much in her sleep. We truly feel so blessed to have her here and to start our own little family. Today, Hadley is 12 days old and has already grown so much. We are completely in love with her...