(Better late than never)
Evangeline Harbison Sideris
April 20th 2015
5:41 PM
5 lbs 12 oz 18.5 inches long
How we came up with her name > Nicks Grandma was a super important woman in his life and her name was Eva Harbison. We really liked the name Evangeline but knew it was too long so we named her Evangeline Harbison but took the front end of her name and call her Eva after his Grandma!
Birth Story
So we found out half way through our pregnancy that Eva had a two vessel umbilical cord. Which can mean a whole array of issues that could have been wrong with her. Long story short, we were referred to a genetics doctor, had ultrasounds every week, what seemed like a million Non Stress Tests and prayed a whole lot and she came out healthy! However, during our last ultrasound at 37 weeks, our doctor told us she had quit growing and that she was getting the eviction notice. Nick had been in Chicago during that ultrasound with plans of flying out of there to speak at a very large event in San Diego that Friday. I ended up calling him in tears because I knew he wasn't going to be able to attend that and because I was scared out of my mind. Having an induction is great for my type A personality but also very bad for my type A personality. Nick flew back home and we finished a few last minute to do items and headed to the hospital on Saturday. It was like checking into a hotel. The nurse was all "Right this way to your room. Here is your fancy gown. Get comfy, you may be here awhile." So, they gave me Cervidil at 8PM and I fell asleep. At 3 AM I started to have contraction. The contraction came on like a freight train, coming every two minutes. Our nurse Sunday ended up being the worlds oldest and grumpiest nurse around. She checked me around 4PM and I was only dilated to a 3. That was a heck of a lot of work to only be dilated to a 3. The nurse was trying to pressure me into an epidural and Pitocin. Nick and I decided to wait until the next nurse and Doctor came back on to discuss what the next steps would be.
7 PM Enters the greatest nurse and Doctor. My contraction started to slow down to 10 minutes apart and we decided to try and rest until morning to move forward. 9AM we started Pitocin and within minutes my contractions started full force again. They were only a minute apart so they had to slow the Petocin down at one point. I was checked again at 1PM that day and was dilated to a 6. I was in so much pain and exhausted at that point. Nick and I were nervous that the doctors were going to want to do a C-Section if things continued moving slowly. (Henry Ford has a high C-Section rate) So, we discussed getting the epidural and brought the anesthesiologist in to go ahead with it. Oh boy, best decision I have ever made. I will never try and be a hero again. I ended up falling asleep and an hour later had the doctor break my water. Within minutes I felt the need to push, half hour later we met sweet Evangeline.
Here are a couple funny stories throughout our time at the hospital.
Nick and I took a walk around the unit to try and get things moving faster Monday morning. He held my IV as I walked slowly. Every time I had a contraction I would stop and hum (like they teach in birthing classes). One time I stopped and started humming the Star Spangled Banner! (What the heck? I have no idea where that came from!) I look over at Nick and he stops and puts his hand over his heart. I had a mixture of laughing and crying going on. He said, " You know how patriotic I am!"
During delivery there was a whole NICU team in our room for Evangeline when she arrived because of all her issues. Well during the time I was pushing I could see one of her nurses standing in the corner just smiling and laughing away. I said at one point, " I am going to throw something at that lady. What is she laughing about?" Oh boy! Maybe its because I kept yelling, "Holy mother of Mary!"(No, we are not Catholic) , " I can feel the ring of fire!", or "Holy S###!" (When I saw her dark hair)!
After we met our sweet girl, all four of our parents came to meet her. Tuesday we had my grandparents, sister, our friends Hilary and Jordan and the Collias side come visit. After five long days and four long very expensive nights at our hotel/hospital we took our sweet little one home.
Here our some pictures of Evangeline's first few days!
