Evelyn's Birth Story

Even though I didn't document this pregnancy, I want to remember all the details of her birth story.

I had a few false alarms leading up to her arrival, one causing my m & dad to drive in at 3am and miss the Baylor vs Tech game. Sorry. I just kept saying that no matter when she came I did NOT want to miss Nolan's Christmas program at school on Dec 11. So I kept saying she can come anytime except that Tues-Thurs. Ideally is like her to come on Dec 12 (my obsession with matching birth dates). Well, in true little sister form she came on the Tuesday before, so it was looking like I would miss his program.
It all started that Tuesday morning. I woke up with a few contractions, as I had the past few days. Went about my day; taking Nolan to school, utilizing my birthday present from Greg (cleaning ladies come), and getting things done. I was having more contractions than normal so I went upstairs while my house was cleaned & timed them. They weren't consistent so I just thought it was another day of waiting. Went to Panera and grabbed lunch & started to feel like I was leaking. I called my mom & told her I was watching it to are if I had more come & would call my dr. With Nolan when my water broke it was an instant gush. At about 1:30 I went to the bank and left another message for my dr's office as I had more leakage. Called my mom and told her that she should probably start to head my way.
I went to pick up Nolan at 3 and still had not heard back from the dr, I just wanted to go in & have the fluids checked to see if it was amniotic fluid or not. While I was driving home the Dr called and said to come in. I went home to get my hospital bag, just in case & luckily I ran into my neighbor Kelli. I literally stopped my car in the middle of my street and unloaded my kid on her. She was so willing to help & I'm so grateful!
I got to the dr's offic by 3:30 and while sitting in the waiting room the gush came. So when the dr saw me I told her that I had come in to have her check if it was amniotic fluid, but I was sure  my water had broken. She came in, took one look & said "yep you are ruptured." She checked me and I was also already 5 cm! I had to borrow some scrubs to wear while they wheeled me down to labor & delivery admitting.  I called Greg when leaving the dr's offic and he had to get someone to cover his case so he could head over. He got there quickly but had to leave to get a key to our house for my mom.
I got into my room and was hooked up by 6:30. They started my fluids so I could get my epidural quickly. I told them I was about a 4-5 in pain but knew it could change in a matter of minutes, because it did last time. And as I predicted, I had to call the nurse back in to open my IV fluids more so they could  give me my epidural quicker.
My dr was not on call that night, so I had another dr for her delivery. My contractions were still inconsistent so she wanted to put me on pitocin, but at the lowest level 2, just to regulate. Mom and I were worried that would speed things up quite a bit and she wouldn't make it in time.
The  anesthesiologist was from Greg's group and did a great job. I actually remember more of this procedure than I did from last time. There was no CRNA, so I saw him the whole time & he was very good and nice. However, I was already so far along that he had to come back and add more meds because the epidural was playing "catch up" to my contractions.
The nurse checked me after that and said she could stretch me to an 8. The dr came in, no more than 4 minutes later, and said I was at a full 10 and she could feel Evelyn's head. After that everything happened VERY fast. We had nurses yelling in to the hallway asking for the delivery table to be set up right away. My mom still wasn't there but I needed to start pushing. The dr asked Greg where she was & he said "she's in the building." She thought she had left her phone in the car & had to run back (but she hadn't), otherwise she would have been there sooner. Right as mom came in she had to drop her bags and grab my right leg because it was time to push. I pushed 4 times with the first contraction and only once with the second because  my contraction was pushing her out without me doing anything. She came out with her right hand up by her face.
Evelyn Faith Lawler was born on Tuesday, December 9th at 8:28pm. Even though I didn't say it as quickly as I did with Nolan, I did say (on Sunday) that I could do this again :) We have decided I am made for pregnancy and deliveries, as this one was wonderfully easy just like Nolan's. We love our baby girl and our new family of 4!
A special thanks also to our friend Natalie, who came and stayed with Nolan so my mom could be there for the delivery, and at about 32 weeks pregnant herself! Even from her birth, Evelyn is showing us how important it is to have a supportive village around you to help bring your children up in a loving and safe environment. Thank you to our new San Antonio village, y'all are wonderful!

5 months

5 Months

Uniquely you...giggles, smiles, tears, and frowns

Height: Not measured this month

Weight: 20 lbs - 100% surpassed mom's 1 year old weight

Your sleeping patterns are to go down by 8:30 and sleep until between 7 & 7:30...mommy LOVES it!!!

Your eating schedule is a bottle when you wake up, 3 oz of a vegetable & 7 oz of a bottle for lunch and late afternoon, then 3 oz cereal and whatever you will take of a bottle (up to 6 oz) right before bed. You have eaten butternut squash, zucchini squash and sweet potatoes, and you love them all!

Some sounds you make are squeals of laughter and motions you do are finally rolling all the way over or grabbing for anything within your reach :) 

This month you especially like when Lacey (or any dog) pays attention to you. You also love face time with family! 

Your dislikes are waking up from naps & waiting on food. 

Your favorite toys are anything you can get your hands on and your favorite game is peek a boo, and daddy lifting you upside down. 

By the end of the month you are learning how to sit for a second unsupported!

Can't wait to see what you will learn with this next month!

4 months

4 months old

Every day with you brings a new discovery! 

Height: 26.25 inches

Weight: 17 pounds 9 ounces

This month you finally slept a 12 hour span, and multiple times!

You still are eating the same with cereal right before bed but the doctor said we can introduce fruits and veggies :) He thinks you will eventually take two can fully at each feed! 

You have found you voice and your legs! You talk louder at the table when daddy and I talk and you use your legs to bring things to your mouth! You have rolled from your back and front to your sides but not all the way over yet. 

This month you have started to really like your exersaucer. 

Your dislikes are when I stop feeding you, but little have you figured out is that I have a bottle coming after your cereal. 

Your favorite toy is your teething blanket I got from HEB

Just Born

Just Born

Welcome Home! We are so glad you are here!

Height: 20.75 in.

Weight: 11 lbs. 7 oz.

Nolan's sleeping patterns so far are sleeping every 2-3 hours throughout the day and night. 

His feeding schedule is to eat whenever he wakes up. 

Motions he makes are "doing the Nolan" arm movements. And he likes to keep his hand by his head, just like we saw on ultrasounds. 

So far we can tell that you love to be fed and to sit in your swing at GG and Bear's. 

You get upset when you have a wet diaper, which helps mommy and daddy. 

You don't have any favorite toys yet. 

Your major accomplishment we have seen you develop is holding your head up for 5 seconds at a time!

Week in Words

So I've gone from not updating in 3 months to deciding that Nolan is growing up so fast that I need to document it all, because he makes so many discoveries and has major developments each week! I love this blog, its easier than keeping up with writing for a book as our parents did.

So each week, or as often as I remember, I'll put Nolan's "week in words" on here :)

But since this is the first one I've decided to make it his "2013 so far in words"!

January 7th Nolan slept the first time in his own room! Since we got a monitor (or 2) for Christmas I've decided he can sleep in his room.
January 8th Nolan eats cereal for the first time ever! We only put it in his milk to help him sleep through the night again.
January 11th Mommy spends her first day away from Nolan. It was hard but GG had fun watching him  for 8 hours.
January 15th Nolan joined the ladies for his Wita's 89th birthday lunch at Piatta. There were 4 generations at one table.

Janaury 16th Nolan learns Wheels on the Bus and loves doing the arm movements. Had to google to make sure we had all the verses. 

Now we get to the daily notes :)

January 23rd Nolan is found scooting off his jungle gym!

January 24th Nolan goes for a walk with Lacey!

January 25th Nolan lunches again with JoAnna, her mom, mommy, her mom & his future girlfriend (JoAnna's baby, yet to be born)

January 26th we go to Ft Worth and Nolan was great in the car ride. It was the first time we used the travel bottle warmer in the car. 

January 27th Nolan has caught his first cold. Breaking out the humidifier

January 28th Nolan almost turns over from his front to his back!

January 29th Greg gives Nolan a bath for the first time all on his own! And Nolan smelled so good!

I've been bad...here's 3 months of updates

I have been so bad about updating on here, but I have posted ALOT on facebook. But I guess there are some people in the world that still have not joined facebook, April ;)

So Im going to do three months in one post, and then I promise to update at least every month on Nolan and how he's doing, and how we are doing as parents through this new journey.

1 month old 

Sweet and new...you bring joy with all you do!

Height: 21.25 inches
Weight: 8 pounds
Nolan is sleeping 4-5 hour intervals at night
His feeding schedule is 2-3 hours during the day
His favorite game is when I bop on his mouth it makes him smile.

2 months old

Tiny fingers, tiny toes...it's so much fun to watch you grow!

Height: 23.5 inches
Weight: 13.1 pounds
Nolan is sleeping 9 hours at night!!! But not such a great napper during the day.
This month he is eating every 3-4 hours during the day
This month he loves being under his jungle gym, the only free time mom gets!
His dislikes are when he is being held against your chest, because he can't see everything.
His favorite toy is his rattles.
This month he has learned to hold onto things, like his rattles.

3 months old

Eat, sleep, learn, and play...tiny wonders every day!

Height: not measured this month
Weight: 16 pounds! I was 18 pounds at 1 year!
He is sleeping every 6 hours, a step back :( But he is getting better about napping, and he does so on his stomach!
His feeding schedule is bottles every 4+ hours with cereal right before bed! That started January 8th!
This month he loves talking, being social and anyone giving him attention. Papa Bear just sits and talks/sings to him while in the swing for hours!
His dislike is when he does not get fed food in time, just like his daddy was/is ;)
Nolan's favorite toy this month is his taggie blanket.
By the end of this month he learned to scoot while on his back!


Promise the future months will be more individualized and more on time :)

Nolan's Birth Story

Leading up to Nolan's due date I was freaking out because alot of my friends were having almost perfect deliveries, quick & easy, so I figured mine would be long and drawn out. I though I would have to be induced and and push forever then go in for a c-section. And I was not smart and looked at Greg's anesthesiology books at how big the epidural needle is and how far they have to put it into your spine. So I was also freaking out about that, and possibly having an uncontrollable contraction in the middle of it and causing complications for me and the baby.

Man was I wrong! If all of my pregnancies and births went the way it did with Nolan then Greg is in BIG trouble because I'll have as many babies as my body would allow :)

It all started Thursday October 18th. I was having contractions throughout the day, nothing big and not consistent. I was tracking them and would have them every 5-7 minutes for 30 minutes then would get one 15+ minutes later. After sitting at my parents (they didn't want me home alone, just in case) and tracking them all day my mom wanted me to call the doctor just to see what I should do. I called around 5pm and she said to continue tracking and if they get 5 min apart for 1 hour then call her again. I knew that.

So my parents took me home around 9pm. I was tired of answering questions about how far apart my contractions were, but on the way home they began to get 5 minutes apart consistently. But I didn't say anything. I got home and hung out with Greg for a few minutes. I laid down and read my book, all the while continuing to track my contractions. I decided that at 11:30 I would call the doctor again and see what she recommended since at that point I would have had more intense contractions for over an hour. But at 11:23 I felt a pop and knew that was my water breaking. I ran (cross legged) to the bathroom, as to not leak on the couch or carpet. As Im running by Greg, asleep in bed, I firmly told him to get up because it was time since I was positive my water just broke.

He made a quick hospital bag (I told him to do it days before) and we got in the car and drove the 30 minutes to the hospital. I brought a towel to sit on, as to not ruin the seats. And man were people right, contractions DEFINITELY intensify once your water breaks. We arrived to the hospital at 12:15. I told Greg I didn't want to get there before 12, because we would be charged for an entire day.

I was wheeled into one of the last available LDR (Labor Delivery Recovery) rooms available. They were packed that night. My room was the closest to the NICU, where my mom works. My nurse came in and I was checked, only 3 cm still!

I received my epidural at 1:45. I had been saying that I was not going let them have Greg leave the room because I wanted to hold his hand, since I was nervous. But I was in so much pain by the time the anesthesiologist came that I didn't say a thing about Greg staying in the room. Greg said apparently I received a combined spinal epidural. That's the goooood kind. I was always told that the numbing shot hurts like a bee sting. I've never been stung by a bee so I thought it was going to really hurt. It actually felt like a minor pinch! Then I felt a warm sensation into my legs and almost immediately felt a release of comfort.

I was checked again right after my epidural was set and I had progressed already to 6-7 centimeters, and man did I ever feel every bit of that stretching.

After an hour of progressing with the epidural, the nurse had to tell me when I was contracting because I never felt it, they called the doctor to head our way. The nurse started me pushing and prepped everything for the doctor. It wasn't my doctor who came in but Dr. Davis. I really like her too so I wasn't too upset. However, I do wish Patolia could have been there. I pushed for a total of 1 hour 15 minutes and Nolan was out!

Nolan Thomas Lawler arrived at 5:27 AM weighing 6 lbs 11.4 ounces and measuring 20.75 inches long!

My mom was impressed at how well I did with pushing. And they were surprised at how I could move my legs with the epidural but still felt no pain! All in all it was a perfect delivery. It was so perfect that even before holding my little man I said "I could do this again."