I realize I have been the WORST blogger so today I decided to get caught up! I started writing this post back on February 8th but somehow never posted it - so here it is!
Cassandra Joy Evans is finally here!!! The last week has been more exciting, life changing, and simply simply amazing than any other week of our lives thus far. February 4th (our due date) we went in for a doctor's appointment. I was a little disappointed Cassi hadn't been born yet, and even more disappointed when our new doctor (our old one went out on maternity earlier than planned) told us our due date should actually be February 10th. I had dilated to a 4 though so that was exciting news. Ben asked her about doing a membrane sweep and she said we could do that and that it has a 50 to 60 percent chance of working. I had heard of so many people it hadn't worked for so I didn't know what to expect. Ben sent me home after the membrane sweep with strict instructions to walk, walk, walk that baby out! So, I walked to the Gateway mall to buy Ben some new clothes and then walked back and then I walked an hour on the treadmill. I didn't really feel too different than normal but then all of a sudden I started having strong contractions 3 minutes apart at around 8:40pm. I called my mom after about an hour of these contractions to ask her if they sounded like labor and she said yes and to get to the hospital fast! I wanted to wait a while longer to make sure, but Ben convinced me to go to the hospital. By the time I got to the hospital my contractions were so strong I was pulling Ben down to the ground by his hand since I could barely stand. They checked me as soon as I arrived and I had dilated to a 5 - I was in labor!
The rest of the labor went by faster than I thought possible. I briefly thought about not getting an epidural, but after being warned of the pain I decided to go for it and I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad I did. Did I mention I'm glad? Oh, I did? Well, let me tell you again I'm SOOOOOOOOOOO in love with epidurals. Oh my goodness, it was fabulous. As soon as the epidural kicked in I felt great and Ben and I slept/watched a movie until they came in to check my cervix again. My mom had thought I'd have a fast labor, and I think it would have been even faster if they'd come in and checked me earlier. By the time they came in I told them for the last hour or two I'd been feeling Cassi pushing down. They hurried and checked my cervix and realized it was time to push!! They raced to get everything ready and in the minute it took them to do this Cassi had already started to push her way out and they could see her hair (which is GORGEOUS by the way). We had ten minutes of happy pushing and out came beautiful, happy, strong, amazing Cassandra Joy Evans. They put her on my tummy and then on my skin and she just sat there staring at me. She cried a tiny bit when she came out, but once on my skin she was perfectly quiet and just kept staring me in the eyes. It was the sweetest few minutes. Ben then followed nurse Jaime around as she took Cassi's measurements and got her ready. I couldn't ask for a better husband or father. We are so happy and life is just more complete now that we have baby Cassandra Joy!!
Cassi and her daddy
Cassi at the hospital with flowers from Marilee
Cassi looking at me when they first laid her on my chest
Our first family photo!
Cassi after her first bath
Cassi's first time at church and wearing the dress we bought for her on our honeymoon
Cassi after being cleaned up after birth
