Baby #3 has Arrived!

And its a BOY!!!

Evan Michael Phillips
Born at 10:07 am on August 11, 2011
6 lbs 10 oz
19 1/2 inches long

Oh my...to say I am in love just doesn't cut it. What a wonderful and blessed day we had yesterday ~ Zach and I welcomed our SON into the world!

So let's go back to Tuesday and recount all the events leading up to Birthday!

Tuesday, I had my 39 week appointment where I got checked for progress. I was 1cm dilated but still very thick. After the appointment, cramping became more noticeable, as the midwife told me it might as a result of my exam. I knew differently because this was exactly how labor started with Zoe. Some spotting and cramps....everything was the exact same. Wednesday morning, the spotting continued and cramps became a little bit more uncomfortable. I decided it was time to head to the mall. My sister and her girls just got into town, so they met me there to stroll. Cramping continued, spotting became heavier and more full of mucus and I knew the ball was rolling! Wednesday night, I headed to work from 8-2am. Starting at about 8:45, cramping turned to contractions and I started timing. At work, contractions were 7-12 minutes apart and very manageable. I finished at work and headed home....sleeping was not in the cards. Once I got home, contractions started coming every 2-3 minutes. At this point, I knew I needed to be consistent with these type of contractions for 2 hours before calling the help nurse. 4am rolled around and I was still contracting 2-3 minutes apart. I called the nurse and they said to come on in.

We arrived at the hospital around 4:30am and we were signed in and put into a room. I was checked upon arrival and I was only 1.5cm dilated....to say I was disappointed is an understatement. I was just plain sour about it. To think I had the whole labor process to go was overwhelming. They decided to keep us 2 hours to see if I would progress before sending us home. Around 6:30am, I had progressed to 3cm...great leap in the right direction. We were admitted and labor was definitely in full swing at this point. The baby had to be monitored after being checked, so I ended up staying in bed for about an hour...I was already so tired from no sleep. I was able to rest in between contractions and that ended up helping so much. I labored for the next 2 hours on the bed and by about 8ish, I was 5 cm...another great leap! At this point, I was in so much pain. Labor this go around was in my hips and moved to my bottom, rather than having back labor like last time. Transition definitely was around the corner and the contractions were almost unbearable! But I knew it was the home stretch. I labored on the exercise ball...it helped for a little while and then tried standing, but that didn't go quite as well. At 9:30...I was ready to call it quits...the labor pains in my bottom were ridiculous, my water still hadn't broken and I was just plain exhausted. I asked for our midwife to come in and check me again to see my progress (I do really well knowing numbers and how much further I need to go) before making any decisions to get iv meds. I got checked and I was 8cm and my water started trickling. We decided to go ahead and break my water and immediately baby was ready. Unfortunately, my cervix was not fully thinned yet and in order for me to push, it needed to be gone. I had to go through about 5 more contractions...all with an intense urge to push...to allow the cervix to fully thin. I pushed for about 25 minutes and out popped our Baby Boy! We could not believe it. Even though we both felt like it was a boy, finally meeting him was so amazing! Let the waterworks begin! And we FINALLY decided on a name.

Zach went out and told our family that "Evan Michael had arrived!" We are so blessed to have such amazing families. Zach's parents headed up early yesterday morning in order to make it in time for delivery. My parents, my sisters, nieces, my grandma, my uncle and Ms. Brenda were all able to celebrate Evan's arrival with us! Zoe came in first so we could introduce her to her little brother. She was beyond precious with him saying "baby" and giving him kisses. She touched every little part of his face and was smiling so big. We had a huge delivery room, so everyone piled in for pictures, tears and hugs and kisses. Days like these I will never forget!












We were moved to our recovery room and the visitors started arriving! Sometimes I need to pinch myself to believe how blessed we are by our friends, who are really our family. Evan was more than loved on his first day of life! Ms. Alyshia, The Williams' Family, Aunt Kimberly, Uncle Cory and Carson, and Mr. Don all came to see the latest addition to the family.









We had a good first night. Not much sleep, but more because I just stared and stared...Zach slept fine (don't they always). We look forward to heading home sometime today and getting settled in to our new life!