Evelyn is 1 Month Old!

I can not believe that our precious baby has been with us for over a month already. She has certainly been a great blessing to us. We can't imagine our life without her!



Evelyn Rose Adcock, You are a beautiful and sweet baby and your Momma and Daddy adore you! We are so excited to see what the future will bring. We love you Evie!

Evie's Birth Story

I knew Evelyn was going to be a February baby. She was originally due on January 29th (my mom's birthday), but throughout the pregnancy the baby always measured either right on time or a week late. So I wasn't concerned when my due date came and went. I actually did experience some of what I thought were contractions on the due date but they may have just been a figment of my imagination, and if not they were just extremely light. On Monday, the 31st, I had an appointment with my midwife and I was checked for dilation of the cervix. I was 1 cm dilated and had a really soft cervix. Things were moving in the right direction and we were getting excited. We had a few things around the house to get finished, so I wasn't impatient. Putting the crib together, packing a bag for labor, and getting a few sewing projects done were on the list. At the appointment on Monday we set another appointment for Thursday, the 3rd, to have a NST scan done. We did discuss that I could begin a few natural induction techniques and that if I didn't have a baby in my arms by Thursday, we could step those up. I headed home to wait for baby to arrive.

On Monday night and Tuesday morning, the winter storm of the decade decided to arrive instead of the baby. The roads iced over, temperatures dropped dramatically and cabin fever set in! For about 3 days the temperature never got above 25 degrees, which meant the ice on the roads wasn't melting and pregnant Laura was stuck at home. This was not ideal. Justin and I tried to take our minds off the fact that our baby was not here yet or even on her way, by watching movies, going to the mall to walk around, or just sitting around the fire. All those projects that I mentioned before, they got accomplished on Day 2 of the snow-in. Thursday came and since there was still no baby, we headed up to the birth center to have the NST scan done. Baby's heart sounded great and she passed with flying colors. I was re-checked and had dilated another ½ inch. My midwife gave me some herbal supplement that could help labor get started. We made another appointment for the next Monday to have another NST scan done. She told me that I didn't need to worry but if I hadn't gone into labor by 41 weeks 5 days, that they would transfer my care to an OB. This was not our desire, so we made it our goal to have this baby before the “deadline”. I did my best not to stress out, but when you feel like you are racing against the clock every day, it gets a little nerve racking.

On Friday, we got yet another hit of winter weather, this time in the form of 6 inches of snow. By Saturday the temps had started to warm up a bit. Thank goodness! I needed to get out! We went to an auction and lunch with some friends and then headed to church that night. The talk at church was of the Super Bowl the next day and the question was whether I'd make it to the party or not. I was hoping not! I had been having some small contractions for most of the day so I was optimistic that a baby not a football game was in our future.

On Saturday night around bed time, the contractions got more intense. I started experiencing some back labor and I really wasn't feeling the contractions in my abdomen at all. They were about 10-20 minutes apart throughout the night. On Sunday morning we got up and I decided to call the midwife and let her know that contractions were coming consistently. She told me to stay active, eat something, drink fluids and call her back by noon to give her a status update. Justin and I went to Target to walk around and just get out of the house for a few minutes. I had a few contractions in the store but nothing major. We got back to the apartment and I decided to cook us a pot of soup. If baby wasn't going to show up today then at least we'd have something to keep us warm! I was still having extreme back labor and the contractions were anywhere from 6-8 minutes apart at times and 10-12 minutes apart at times. It was a bit discouraging to not know where exactly we were in the process of labor. I thought the back labor was horrible but the contractions themselves were really not that awful. Our midwife called to check and told me to call back when they were about 5 minutes apart and had been that way for an hour. After I got lunch ready, I sat down on the couch for a few minutes and dozed off a bit. I was exhausted from being up all night. Once I did this, the contractions again spread way out. This was disappointing to us because we felt that we had been making progress. We got up and took a walk around our apartment complex. Walking helped things get going again. When we got back I decided to get in the shower and the warm water pressure was heavenly on my back! I took about a 50 minute shower and ended up having 11 contractions during it. It was time to head to the birth center!

We got there around 5 and our midwife checked my dilation. I was at 4 cm, 100% effaced, and the baby was at the zero station. Pretty good news but I knew I still had a way to go. The midwife admitted me and the we headed upstairs to get to business. I found that exercise ball was comfortable to rotate on and then we the contraction got worse, I'd lean on the bed while Justin put pressure on my back. I also labored on all fours and walking up and down the stairs for a while. We knew we wanted to get in the birth tub at some point but not too early because it could slow things down. After a couple of hours of laboring, I felt closer so I had the midwife recheck me and I was at 7 cm. Great progress for just a few hours! It was also in the safe zone to get into the tub. The warm water was awesome for the back labor, but I still needed Justin to squeeze my hips together during the contraction. At some point in the tub, I felt the urge to push and wanted to be checked before I began pushing. The midwife was out of the room at this point and only the nurse was there. She told me to just go with what my body told me, but I was still uncomfortable pushing until I was checked so I just kept laboring.

About 15 minutes later the midwife came back and she checked me and I was 10 cm dilated and ready to push. Now came the hard part, at least for me! Pushing was some of the most exhausting work I've ever done. We started pushing around 11 on the 6th and it was quite a process. I began pushing in a squatting position in tub. While pushing in the squatting position, my water finally broke. The baby wasn't moving down very fast in the squat so we switched to me leaning back with Justin sitting behind me and the midwife and nurse in front of me bracing my legs. I did make some progress but I was getting so tired so after a while the midwife suggested we get out of the tub to try and move the baby down faster. Once out of the tub I pushed for 3 contractions in a squat while holding onto the bed post. This position was effective but I still needed to try something different. We got into the bed and I had Justin on one side holding one leg, the nurse on the other holding the other leg and my midwife in front of me checking the progress of the baby. It took about 5 more pushes and we got the baby's head almost out. The pain and pressure I felt at this point was the absolute worst of the day. Up until now I had pretty much labored in silence barely making a noise and all of it had seemed really bearable. Not anymore! I was yelling loudly and I just wanted to be done. Justin was amazing in supporting me, telling me that yes I could finish this and that he was so proud of me. That gave me the strength to push through and with one more contraction her head came through. After that the body slid out with just a small push and my baby was in my arms! It was time to find out whether I had been carrying a boy or a girl these last 41 weeks. I took a peek and announced to Justin, “It's a girl!” She was so alert and aware and just looked at Justin and I as we looked at her. We were and are completely in love!

We let the cord pulse until it stopped and by then my mother-in-law had come upstairs to join us. She was able to cut the cord, a job Justin didn't want! I delivered the placenta without even pushing and the midwife told me I only had a small skin tear that wouldn't require a stitch. We spent some time bonding with our new baby girl and giving her a name, Evelyn Rose. After a while, the nurse and midwife came over to weigh, measure, and check her out. Evelyn Rose, born at 12:47am on February 7, 2011, weighed 6 pounds and 3 ounces and was 20 inches long. She is a perfectly healthy baby and we are so blessed by God!

Meet Miss Evelyn Rose Adcock!

It's a girl! Our beautiful little lady was born on February 7, 2011 at 12:47am. Evie weighed 6 pounds and 3 ounces and was 20 inches long. She is absolutely perfect and we are so in love! God has blessed our little family!