Evan Terry Dalton!

The 2nd of August my Mom got a flight into Dubuque. I was SOOO glad to see her! Let's just say I was a cranky 9 month pregos woman before my mom got here! She flew in just before 5, so I took all the kiddos with me and let Ryan stay at work. I figured since I was going to Dubuque anyway, I should run some errands while I was there. So I took the kids to Sam's to do some shopping. After pushing that huge shopping cart, filled with children and merchandise, and then loading it all into the van, I thought, hey I just might go into labor after this! When I got the kids packed back in the van I got a call from Mom. She had made it to Chicago and was getting on her connecting flight to Dubuque. She couldn't believe that we were already there and had already gone to Sam's. After talking to her I decided we had time for one more store before her flight came in. So...I took all 3 kids and my hugely pregnant self to the mall. I know ABSOLUTELY CRAZY, but I did. The worst part was I didn't think to bring the stroller. It's been that long since I took the kids to a mall. (The closest one is the one in Dubuque, 45 minutes away) I NEEDED to buy some shoes for Logan and Kaitlyn, and the only Payless was in Dubuque in the mall. So I sucked it up and we made the trip. I about lost it trying to keep Logan in the store. He was HORRIBLE!! I think he quite enjoyed mommy being pregnant and not as fast as normal! I literally picked out shoes for both kids in 5 minutes. That's all the time I could mange to keep Logan from running out of the store. In that time though I learned that the one child I thought was totally set on shoes, wasn't! The store clerk measured all the kids feet for me and Em's feet were a whole size bigger than I thought! Anyway we got 2 pairs of shoes and the 3 kiddos out of the store and into the van. I wanted to just sit there and cry once I had all the kiddos buckled in. They (mostly Logan) were that bad in the mall. The thing that kept me going was knowing the next stop was to pick up my mom! We made it and after an agonizing wait (Logan climbed up on the conveyor belt into the middle where I couldn't reach him, more than once!) my Mom arrived!! It was so nice to have her here! We got the kids loaded up and drove home. I spent the next couple of hours just talking with my Mom. It was so nice and such a great break from all the craziness! And we stayed up tell 11 or 12 just talking. Ahh, it was WONDERFUL!!

That night, Tuesday morning at 2am I woke up with contractions. I had had a bunch of contractions at night already (I was a 2 almost 3- the reason my mom came up so early anyway) so I thought it could be the same thing. I spent most of the night debating if I should wake Ryan up or not. At one point I did and he said I should just try to go back to sleep. -He just really wanted to sleep! Haha. So I just kept trying to ignore it. I finally decided that if by the time Ryan got up for work, they still hadn't gone away I'd go check into the hospital. About 1/2 hour before then I finally fell asleep. The reason for my indecision was Ryan had a client he had to meet... 3 1/2 hours away! It was an important one that I didn't want him to have to cancel unless I really was in labor. On the other side, I didn't want him to be that far away if I was! Just before it was time for Ryan to leave for his appointment I told him what was going on. I was pretty sure I would have Evan that day, I just didn't know if he should go or not. I asked him to pray about it and see what he felt would be right. He prayed and felt it would be ok for him to go. I was soo nervous when he left! He called about 1/2 way into his drive to see how I was doing. My contractions were still there but hadn't become regular yet, so we both decided he should keep going. My mom and I went to playgroup with the kids. They were so glad to get out of the house and get to play with their friends. By the end of it though, I was starting to get pretty uncomfortable! I had an appointment with my doctor anyway- my regular check up, so I went to that and Mom took the kids home for lunch. I told the doctor what was going on and she said I was probably in early labor, and then she checked me and I was already a 4! My blood pressure was up a little and she was a little concerned. She told me that IF I didn't go into labor that night I needed to come in the next morning. She said to go home and take the kids for a walk and get that baby coming. Then she left and a few seconds later stepped back in. She had just gotten my labs back and my protein levels were up. She said, you need to do everything you can to get this baby to come. So I walked home and called Ryan on the way. He didn't answer, which I knew ment he was in the jail with his client. So I just left a message. I got home and told mom and she was pretty excited for me. We got the kids to finish their lunch and go down for a nap. I DIDN'T take the kids for a walk. I sat and paid bills, got on FB, took a shower, and then went and took a nap! There was no way I was going to purposefully up my contractions with Ryan still so far away! Ryan called as soon as he got out of jail. He sounded a little panicked! I kind of enjoyed that :) He was VERY worried that I would have the baby before he got there. I reassured him that I was going to take it easy until he got here, but also told him he was to come STRAIGHT home! No stopping at the office!

Evan's birth story- there's lots of personal info, so if you don't want to know skip to the end with the pictures :)

About an hour before Ryan was supposed to get home the contractions really started to pick up. I was getting really worried he wouldn't make it! I called him one more time just to see where he was. Then I got everything ready so I could leave when he got home. When he got home a little after 3 we said good bye and walked to the hospital (we live just across the street from it). We walked in and got checked in. I think the nurses didn't really think I was far a long, but when the doctor came and checked me I was a 7! She broke my water at the same time and then after that Ryan and I walked the halls for a little while. Once the contractions got more intense we went to try the jetted tub.
At the beginning of this pregnancy I thought I might try to go natural. My doctor was all for it and thought I could totally do it. I wasn't so sure! After talking with my doctor and my sister and a few others I decided I would give it a try, but if I changed my mind that was ok too. The main piece of advice Julia gave me (she already had 2 natural births) was to relax. She said she didn't with Cooper and was so sore the next day. With Corbin she was able to and it went much smoother. So I just kept thinking about that. I just took one contraction at a time and tried to relax as much as possible. (Here's a TOTAL side note, mostly for myself. What kept coming to mind was in Breaking Dawn how Bella said it wouldn't help to scream, so she just stayed quiet. Hahaha, I know that makes me the HUGEST nerd, but that's what was running through my head! Hahaha)
While I was walking the halls with Ryan he did a great job of helping me keep my mind off the pain. Then when we moved to the tub, he kind of ran out of things to say! I kept telling him to talk to me. When the nurse and Doctor came in I asked them to talk, just talk. About anything. I really didn't care what, I just wanted to be distracted. They did a great job. The contractions started getting pretty intense and I asked for some pain meds. I don't know what it was they gave me, just put something in my IV. It helped to take the edge off, but it also made me REALLY tired. I was glad for it though, cause I could tell even with the pain meds that the contractions were MUCH harder. So Doctor Erin said I should get out and she would check me. Right as I stood up the contractions REALLY got tough! When I made it to the bed, she checked me and I was a 9! She said one more round of contractions and I could start pushing. Up until then I was so calm and thought I could do it. As soon as she said I could start pushing I freaked out! I didn't want to push not at all! I just kept saying no and I didn't want to do it. It was too late for meds, so my doctor wouldn't give me anything. So I started pushing. I was pretty scarred. I was so glad to have Ryan there to hold my hand and comfort me. I just closed my eyes and did what they told me too. I remember just before Evan came that the Doctor had said another nurse came in and I never even saw her cause I kept my eyes closed the whole time. After 13 minutes of pushing Evan Terry Dalton was born! I'm so glad he was a quick delivery. I have no idea how some women can push for so long. He was healthy and beautiful. And right after I had him I thought there is NO WAY I'm EVER doing this again! But the saying is true, it's only been 3 weeks and I think next time I have a baby (3-5 years from now hopefully!) I might do another natural birth. Maybe. I didn't get the euphoric feeling some women get, nor was I super proud of myself. Mostly I was just relieved to be done and that Evan was healthy.
The next day one of the nurses said she couldn't believe when she heard I was a 7 when I came in. She said I was the calmest 7 she's ever seen! I did think that was pretty cool. All in all, I think that the recovery went even better this time around. And while it was painful, the delivery wasn't that bad, but only cause I'm really blessed to have fast deliveries! I couldn't have done that if I was in labor for hours!
Oh AND I am the one who cut Evan's umbilical cord! How cool is that. Ryan told Doctor Erin before we started that he didn't want to cut the cord, so when it came time she gave me the scissors! I never would have thought about it, but I thought that was kinda cool.

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Evan was born at 6:40pm. Only 3 hours after we checked into the hospital! He weighed 8lbs 10oz (He was a big boy!) and was 20 inches long!

Me and baby Evan just after he was born


Ryan Evan and I



With Doctor Erin


Newborn baby Evan