Sleeping Beauty

reverent toes

First Bath

 I guess it's become something of a tradition, but Granna Graham likes to give the the new little one their first real bath.

Big Brother Graham is so very helpful.

Going Home!

 Aunt Kayla took these wonderful pictures of Eva.

All dressed up and ready to head home!

Eyes

Ears

Mouth

and Nose!

Family Visitors!

The Proud Papa!

All the family was eager to meet out newest little lady, but first we had to freshen up a bit.

First the Ragsdales came! Kyle and Erin were expecting their first - a little girl! We were super excited for you to have a cousin your age!

Aunt Erin, Aunt Shelly, Graham, and Uncle Kyle

Aunt Kayla

Brother's Kisses

Big Brother Graham

This outfit and hand made hat and blanket
came from Mimi and Grandpa's kind neighbor.

 

 

Uncle Bo and Aunt Emma

Grandpa Graham

I love his rough hands being so tender.

Your Doula's Birth Story

Evelyn Rose Ragsdale

Born September 13, 2009 at 3:24 a.m.

9 lbs. 6 oz. and 21 inches

Dear Evelyn,

If you are old enough to read this, you already know what an amazing family you were born into. The story of the days leading up to your birth and your birth day is so amazing. God placed you with a very loving, caring family, and I was happy and honored to share in that experience as your doula.

About a week and a half before you were due, I got a call from your mom. She told me she wanted to have a natural VBAC and she felt that your dad and she would like the help of a doula. She had your brother, Graham, by cesarean birth, and after much reading and discussing with your dad, they thought that a doula would be very helpful for them for the birth they desired to have with you. Usually I get weeks to prepare with expectant parents, but these were special circumstances because you were due so soon.

As your "due date" came and went, your mom was visiting the midwives to assure that her pregnancy was still going well and that she and you were fine. Of course, everything checked out and she was given 14 days past your "due date" before the midwives would do any sort of medical intervention.

On Friday, six days past the "due date", your mom had an appointment with the midwives for stress testing. Her cervix was dilated to a four, but you looked just fine and your mom was not in active labor so she went home. At 2:30 that afternoon, I went over to the apartment. Your mom had been taking Castor oil in the previous days, been walking, and was ready for anything more at that point. I worked with your mom for several hours doing acupressure and labor enhancing massage techniques while your dad ran errands and Graham took his nap. Your mom was having contractions and things were seeming to move forward, but when the evening approached, I felt it best to let her rest and try and get a good nights sleep in case labor did come on. I did not want your parents to be too tired for what was ahead.

On Saturday morning, I woke up to find I had not received a call in the night. When I called your mom that morning, she told me she had gotten a good nights rest and that she felt that things had progressed in the night. Your dad, the med student, was checking your mom for dilation. He found her to be looser than the previous day. I told your mom that I would come later that afternoon to work with her more unless her labor started before then. At about 4:00 that afternoon, I went back over to do some more acupressure and massage on her hands and feet. This time not much was happening. The contractions were few and far between and she did not feel as though they were as productive as they had been the day before. Your Nanna and Aunt Kayla arrived at about 8:00pm. They brought over a loaf of bread to bake and the whole place filled with the wonderful smell. Again, I decided that it would be best for her to rest and at 9:00pm I left for the evening with instructions for your parents to take a walk and relax. I know that your mom was trying hard not to become burdened by the time it was taking for you to make your appearance. Until that point, she had been very calm and patient as they waited on your arrival.

On Sunday morning at 2:24am, I received a call from your dad telling me that your mom’s contractions had picked up. I didn't get much information other than they were coming on stronger than ever, but told them I would head over to help them labor at home, and it was their call on whether to head to the hospital at that point. It took me about 10 minutes get dressed and head out the door. I said many prayers on the way. I was unusually calm as I drove down the road in the middle of the night. I had a good feeling that your birth was going to be okay because your parents were allowing their patience and education to dictate their birth decisions. The streets were bare and the rain was falling. The weekend you were born, North Texas had been getting an unusual amount of rain for September. Just as I approached the I-30 to turn left toward the apartment, your dad called and told me they were headed to the hospital. I could tell there was no time for talking and I told him I would see them there. I took a right onto the highway instead of a left and headed to the hospital. I parked in the parking garage, which can be kind of scary at that time of night. My birth bag was in the trunk and I wasn't sure what to take out of it or take the whole thing in. In the days prior, I had been using massage cream and my ipod music and taking notes here and there on a note pad that I kept in the bag. Usually when birth is so imminent, I rarely use anything from the bag. But, I popped the trunk, hurried out of my car, grabbed the bag and got back in my car and locked the doors. I searched for a couple of minutes through my bag before deciding just to take the whole thing in. After all, there is no telling how long these births can last. With my cell phone in hand and my purse and birth bag tucked tightly against me, I headed for the parking garage elevators down to the ground level and into the hospital. I was greeted by a security guard. He asked me who I was coming to see. I said "I am a doula, and I need to get to maternal observation." "A doula?" he replied. Once we got that all straightened out, I was off to meet your parents on the maternity floor. Your Nanna, Dad, and Mom had come in through the ER. I waited in maternal observation waiting room. When I saw your dad behind the double doors I grabbed my things and met him behind the double doors. He rushed past and told me he was headed to the restroom and she was in room 4. I thought I heard room 4, but then I second guessed what I had heard when I got down the hall. Then I heard the moans of a woman in labor and two nurses in the room saying “Estee, don’t push!” I tapped on the door and opened it to be greeted by two voices yelling “move the wheel chair out of the way, the baby is crowning! I pulled the chair into a space in the hall just as they grabbed the bed and wheeled your mom out. As they were running and pushing the bed, they were telling your mom not to push as she held her legs together. I ran with her, leaving Lee behind. I wasn't really sure what to do, but felt she needed me to stay with her. I ran next to the bed and just told your mom to keep breathing and that I was sure Lee would find us. She had sort of a blank look on her face, as in disbelief of what was actually happening. As they rushed her in the bed down the hall, they quickly got the attention of several nurses at their station in Labor and Delivery telling them the situation. About six nurses rushed into the room and I followed behind. We moved off to the side while they got her bed in place and ready for the birth. They pulled up her gown and I could see a little patch of your dark hair. Your Nanna and Dad got to the room and the nurses beckoned us to all come be at your mom’s side. We all squeezed past nurses to get up next to her as she began to push. Your Nanna was at your mom’s head, I was at the left and your dad was to her right. At that point, all I could really do was watch in amazement as your mom gave pushing all she had and with several pushes you made your way into this world.

At 3:24am, just one hour after I received the phone call, your mom was holding you in her arms. She began to feed you right away, and boy, you sure figured that one out fast. Your efforts to breastfeed took little instruction. You spent the next hour or so with your mom as she fed you. Because of some complicated repairs they needed to do with your mom after the birth, they took her back to the operating room at about 4:45am. While she was away, your Nanna took lots of pictures with you and your dad. He was so proud and happy to have you in his arms. Then, the nurse came in to do all the new baby procedures. They weighed and measured poked and prodded before you were bundled tightly and handed off again. At 6:00am , your mom was back. After making sure she was well and doing fine, I left your family to enjoy you and marvel in your amazing birth.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your incredible story. May your life be filled with much love and happiness. You will be such a joy to your family as they watch you grow!

Many Blessings,

Hannah Reasoner, Your Doula

Evelyn's Birth

My Dear Evelyn, 

It was over Christmas break at the Rivendell cabin in Wyoming when I missed my period. Daddy and I had to work to hide our excitement! Within a month, I had to work to keep my belly hidden! I avoided visiting family too much because every time I did, someone would ask. Aunt Kayla, Uncle Bo, and Aunt Emma were especially perceptive. Our goal was to announce our happy news once Uncle Austin got home from his mission on February 9th. During the month of January I started getting really sick. One time and threw up so hard I actually threw out my back! It worked out being a great excuse to give friends and family to explain the look on my face or for not visiting. Grandma Ragsdale insisted I needed some nice new walking shoes and bought me some. Then Aunt Erin set up a massage appointment for me to pretend I was her. That actually didn’t work out because when I went in, they had me fill out a general health form where I felt I should check the pregnancy box. Once I was all undressed and snuggled under the sheets, my masseuse came in and informed me that they had a corporate policy about not massaging during the first trimester of pregnancy. I had told him about my back and he knew I needed some help, so he said, “Look, I can’t give you a full massage but If I work on you for 20 minutes you just need to leave and act like you are really miffed about it. We will freeze your account so your monthly massages don’t expire and this appointment won’t count for anything.” So he did! Unfortunately, I had to call Aunt Erin and tell her why her massage account had been frozen, so she had to keep a secret for a couple weeks!

Finally, Granna and Grandpa Graham flew up to Canada to get Austin and I actually stayed at the Graham house to babysit everyone while they were gone. I wore big sweaters and baggy pants the whole time. When they got home Uncle Austin met your big brother Graham for the first time. (Daddy and I were excited to announce your pregnancy especially because Uncle Austin had left at about the same time during Graham’s pregnancy and had never seen me pregnant.) I had made Graham a little shirt that said “Big Brother” and he was wearing that under his jacket. After dinner, Daddy announced that we had a present for Austin. We stripped off Graham’s jacket and with Grandpa smirking over his shoulder, Austin read it aloud. Granna’s face went from confused to surprise to ecstatic! I unzipped my jacket to reveal a tidy but well developed bump and everyone exploded! There was a lot of “I knew it! I knew it!” from Kayla, Bo and Emma. Grandpa just kept smirking like he had known all along.

The day we found out you were a little girl was a lot of fun. Daddy came to the appointment with me and as soon as the nurse put the ultrasound on my belly he said, “Oh, that’s a girl!” The nurse said, “Well, I don’t know, we’ll see…” and she took her time doing all the other measurements before she finally got down to get a look. And sure enough! We both started crying we were so happy! Then we spent the drive home calling everyone to let them knew to share our “Pink” news.

I had a lot of hopes for your delivery Evelyn. For one, I didn’t want another C-section. I knew that would limit the size of family we could have and I knew it was better for both of us if I could birth vaginally. I think my biggest oversight with Graham’s birth is that I wasn’t educated or prepared in any way. I was determined to learn everything I could this time to give myself the best chance of succeeding. So I checked out every book the library had on the topic; natural birthing methods, VBAC helps and information, and then I also researched the policies and procedures of the hospital so I could know what to expect and what to demand. And then we prayed. The scriptures teach us that Heavenly Father encourages us to do all we can and then have faith in Him for the outcome. So that is what I did. When I was eight months pregnant I changed care providers. I had previously gone to an OB-GYN. She was nice enough, but I never bonded in any way and she was only ever passive and even dismissive about my desires and chances for a VBAC. So I found a group of midwives that worked in a closer hospital. I know I was led there by Heavenly Father. I have noticed through my life that when I need to go a certain direction, He opens it up to be the path of least resistance and things get settled very quickly. That is what happened here. I had called several midwife groups and there was always something wrong: they didn’t accept my particular insurance, they didn’t take on patients already 8 months along, or they didn’t work with VBACs. When I called this group, everything was a go and the gal that helped me on the phone was so nice and enthusiastic. She got me set up quickly with appointments to see all of the different midwives in the few weeks I had left. At my first appointment, I came with a long list of questions. But first, the wonderful midwife named Gloria just sat and listened to the story of Graham’s birth and what I wanted for your birth. Then as I went down my list, she started answering questions I hadn’t even asked yet and everything was what I wanted! She was positive and enthusiastic about my chances and when she checked me I was already dilated to a 1 and 80% effaced. “Oh honey,” she said, “if you are like this at 39 weeks you’ll go into labor!” I came out of there singing! For one, it felt so nice to have someone listen, understand, and want to help me have the birth I wanted. And for another, my body was already doing the things it should have been doing to prepare! They also felt my belly and said that you wouldn’t be as big as Graham’s 8lbs 8oz. We were so excited.

As I researched and read, I had learned about doula’s. They are hard to find and rather expensive but I liked the idea a lot. Then just a few days before my due date, a friend gave me a recommendation for her doula and even called the doula that night to let her know I would be calling. The next day I called and she answered and called me by name! Her name was Hannah Reasoner and she agreed to meet with Dad and I the following night. We both loved her and she gave us a discount since we were three days away from the due date. Hannah was also a masseuse and agreed to try labor inducing acupressure techniques if I went to 41 weeks. Again, we felt that Heavenly Father was very involved in our situation. (Here is Hannah's Story of your birth.)

Hannah Reasoner

The due date, September 5th, came and went, but I was at peace. Somehow, I found a comfortable quiet place with this pregnancy and was content to wait for you. The Wednesday before you were born, I took castor oil and had my first real labor contractions! They lasted late into the night. It was so exciting! I had never felt real natural contractions and found I could deal with them wonderfully. They tapered off eventually though so we went to bed. Thursday I had a midwives appointment and they scheduled me for the fetal stress-testing the following morning to check up on you. Hannah came over that night and I had some great contractions with her working the pressure points. Friday morning I went in and they monitored your heartbeat for 20 minutes. I was having regular contractions but the closest they got were 7 minutes apart. They were also concerned that I might have a slow leak in my sac because I had so much discharge. If that were the case then they would have kept me in the hospital and tried to get my labor going. I didn’t want that, I wanted to labor at home. The nurse let me go home and get packed and pick up Daddy in case we had to stay. Then we came back for the midwife to check me. I was dilated to a 4 but didn’t have a leak so she said to go home and do whatever we wanted because you were coming regardless. Hannah came again that night and again I reacted well to her massage. Saturday morning, daddy checked me and we guessed that I was dilated to a 5 or 6. But, for some reason, I didn’t have as many or as hard of contractions that day as I had been having previously. Hannah came over again at about 4. Granna Graham and Kayla were freaking out that I was walking around at a 5 or 6 and they were an hour away so they showed up around 8pm. I also took some more castor oil after much gagging and griping…but still nothing was happening. Daddy was giving me a hard time because I was complaining about the castor oil so much. “It’s probably not that bad, it’s all in your head, stop making such a big deal out of it…etc.” So in empathy, he took a sip too. Hannah finally left at about 9 and Daddy and I went for a walk. We turned on a movie at about 11pm but about ¾ of the way through I had to pay attention to the contractions because they were picking up. I rolled around on the exercise ball, Daddy used counter pressure and Granna used some other relaxation techniques I had learned about. Then I started to feel nauseous during the contractions and it occurred to me that this was probably the result of the castor oil. So I went to the bathroom and the castor oil did its job. I am pretty sure this is when I went into transition. We called Hannah, (it was 2:24 in the morning,) and asked if she thought we should head to the hospital. She said she wouldn’t decide that for us but that she was on her way. My contractions didn’t stop or slow afterwards so that clued us in – this was it!

Granna suggested we try hydrotherapy with a hot bath. Honestly, I was hesitant because sitting on a hard surface getting soggy didn’t sound all that nice. But I was wrong! It was wonderful. The contractions really kicked it up a notch and yet I was able to deal with them and keep breathing…even though I started making a fair amount of noise. Granna said I was a lioness! I hadn’t let Dad check my since that morning because I didn’t want to be disappointed. But he checked me after about 10 minutes in the tub because I was starting to get a hitch in my breathing because I was feeling the need to push. Dad said, “uh, guys? I think we need to go. I can’t feel how big you are…I can’t feel anything…uh…you’re this big,” and he held his first two fingers about 5 inches apart. “Oh can’t I just stay here?” I moaned. “Nope!” said Daddy as he bodily lifted me out of the tub and we started getting me dressed. Every time a contraction came I had to grab Dad and just hang on him because my legs couldn’t support my weight. We made it to the front door and another contraction came and then my water broke – it sounded like a water balloon hitting a brick wall! I said, “I think that was my water!” “Yeah, I think so!” said Granna. Then Daddy’s urgency doubled. He called Hannah and told her to meet us at the hospital. I remember walking to the car in the rain and saying, “Oh man she’s in between my legs.” I was seriously waddling.

It was pouring rain but we made it to the car and Dad drove very fast and broke all sorts of traffic laws. I, however, was very lucid and calm. I kept saying, “Lee, slow down. Be safe. I’m fine. We are going to make it.” Also interestingly, I only had 2 contractions on the way to the hospital, and that was about 10 minutes drive. My body knew I was not in a safe place to deliver and it totally slowed down. Granna noticed and tried to get me to focus and keep labor going. I knew it would keep going though. I just wanted to get there safely and I was trying to not push because I could feel you in between my legs. We finally got there but they wheeled me up to Maternal Observation instead of Labor and Delivery. I still don’t know why I didn’t protest here, but anyway. All the way in passersby would call, “don’t push!” like it was a hospital greeting. Then once we got up there, the Observation Nurse said, “Hi, what’s your name? And your birthday? Are you contracting?” Wasn’t that obvious? So they started changing me into a gown and Daddy felt the Call of Nature…or rather the castor oil! He dashed out just as the nurse looked under the gown and said, “Oh my goodness!” She held my knees together while she and another nurse grabbed my bed and started shouting at people to move things and get out of the way as they ran to labor and delivery! “She’s crowning! She’s crowning!” I kept asking for someone to go and find my husband because he didn’t know where we were! Then everyone seemed to get there at once. Hannah got there, Dad found me, and Granna got in from parking the car. A midwife walked in and said, “Okay, grab your knees and push!” She tried to massage my perineum but your head was already there. Another nurse tried to put monitors on me but was pushed off (much to my triumph!) Dad pushed his way up to hold my hand and Granna and Hannah came up to my left side. Granna kept talking to me, “Estee, you’re doing it and you’re beautiful! This is what you wanted! And now you get to push – this is the good stuff. This is the fun part. You’re awesome!” She said I was smiling the whole time. And I truly was happy! Happy to have labored at home, happy to have it finally happening, happy to be doing it the way I wanted!! In about 4 contractions you were out. It was 3:24, Sunday morning. You were 9 lbs and 6 oz and 21 inches long.

The first thing I saw was your feet and I said, “Lee! Look at her feet! She’s got your feet!”

You were bigger then we were planning on – your going home outfit came to your knees! 

 

They put you right up on my chest and you latched on and nursed for an hour. I knew they only needed to take measurements and things within the first hour so I said no thank you and held you and nursed you till the hour was up. (You nursed so well you actually brought my milk in the next day.) 

Your upper lip was luscious and delicious!

By that time the O.R. was ready for me too. So I handed you to Daddy and they took me out. 

Daddy's Hand

Because you were much bigger then we were anticipating, because you came SO fast, and because you were my first in many ways, I tore badly. You Evelyn, however, were perfect. You had less of a cone-head then Graham! My perineum actually didn't tear very much, but you tore the left side wall of my vagina as you came down. Whew! So, it ended up that I had to have a spinal block, an IV, and a catheter to get that fixed…some of the things I was trying to avoid! But it actually didn't matter much; I got the birth I wanted. You came vaginally and completely drug free! Many of the nurses were totally amazed and the story circulated. My all natural Vaginal Birth After Cesarean. 

I did it.

Love,

Mommy

Granna Graham