Introducing Makayla Kathleen Evans

Our little girl is finally here! Makayla Kathleen Evans made her debut on Friday, January 28, 2011. We are so excited to have her here with us! She is the best baby and is so sweet.

The labor story goes like this: Tyler and I went into the doctor on Thursday, January 27 for a regular checkup. My blood pressure was still high and my swelling was worse. Dr. Greenwood basically told us that at 39 weeks, the baby couldn't get any healthier, but I could get a lot worse. He asked us what we were doing the next day (Friday) and said he wanted to induce me. Both Tyler and I just looked at each other in shock. He went to call the hospital and gave us a few minutes to breathe. I was supposed to have a baby shower that night that our neighbors were throwing us, so I thought that would be the perfect way to get our mind off of things until the next day. Well, when the doctor came back he said that the hospital couldn't take me on Friday because they had another induction scheduled. Then he asked what we were doing that night. I was in complete shock! I just looked at Tyler and he looked like he was about to pass out. I honestly don't remember a lot of what happened after that because all I could think was that we were finally going to be parents! The doctor told us to go home and get our things and try to be at the hospital within the hour.

I don't even know what happened after that. We got home, I called my mom, Tyler called his mom, I paced around the house, I called my boss, Tyler straightened up the house, so I paced the house even more, I tried to pack... let's just say I was a mess!

We got to the hospital about 6 pm and they started me on pitocin. This is the very last picture of me pregnant...

 The doctor came back about 10 pm to break my water. The contractions started to get pretty intense. I thought I was a lot tougher than I was. I wanted to wait until my contractions were really bad before I got the epidural, but I only made it an hour and a half before I was bawling from the pain. At 11:30 I finally got the epidural. I was the most scared for the epidural, but it wasn't bad at all and a few minutes later I felt so much better. Tyler and I tried to sleep for a few hours, but it is impossible to get any sleep when the nurse kept coming in every 20 minutes to check on me. At 2 am I was at a 4 and by 5 am I was at a 9. The doctor came back at 6 am and I started to push. I pushed for about 2 hours. The doctor kept saying that he would see how things were progressing after each push, but he started to brace me for the fact that I might have to have a c section. All I knew was that I didn't want that, so I pushed as hard as I could. The doctor finally had to use forceps to get her out. From what Tyler told me, it was pretty scary because the doctor was pulling as hard as he could to get her out. Finally, at 8:05 she was born.

 Makayla weighed 7 lbs, 14 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.

 It took quite a while for the doctor to get my bleeding under control, so Tyler got to hold her for a while. He is such a proud dad!

 Finally, I got to hold her. She was absolutely perfect! Even though the labor and delivery was really hard, as soon as I saw her, I knew she was completely worth it! I didn't even remember the pain as soon as they put her in my arms.

 Her first close up

 This is her first bath.

 She is just perfect!

 Makayla likes to stick out her tongue a lot.

 She already has her dad wrapped around her finger. At one point we were eating lunch and she barely started to fuss and Tyler said, "we need to hurry up and eat, I don't want her to cry." Already Tyler is the best dad. He is so good with her and so cute with her. She's already a Daddy's girl!

 This is her battle wound from the forceps.

 This is my mom and dad holding her for the first time. This is my mom and dad's 10th grand baby and Terry and Craig's 3rd. Terry and Craig were there as soon as she was born, but things were so hectic that we didn't get any pictures of them holding her yet.

 I absolutely love this picture of Makayla. She just looks like she is praying.

 This is Dr. Greenwood. He is the best doctor! He even brought her a blanket for her birthday present!

 I am trying to nurse, but I have to supplement a little bit. This is Makayla's first bottle.

 On Saturday we got the ok to go home. She just looks so little in her car seat.

 When we got home Tracy and Jeremy were there to visit. This is Carson holding Makayla. Carson is so cute with her. He was so excited to see her and kept giving her kisses. He kept asking Tracy when he would be able to teach her things like how to play games and how to walk.

 We were so excited to change her first diaper in her new room. I'm sure we'll get sick of changing diapers soon, but for now it is the funnest thing. Tyler does a great job changing her diaper!

 We got her all set up for her first night at home with her new jammies.

 Tyler and I just love to hold her every chance we get. I don't think that she's been in her cradle that much because we would rather hold her every second.

 On Sunday we had to take Makayla to be checked for jaundice. Her levels were a little high, so she has to be under the lights for a few days. We're just glad that we can do that at home. She has special glasses to protect her eyes. Tyler and Makayla like to sport their cool glasses together!

We love our little family and feel so lucky to have Makayla with us. Every day with her is a blessing and I keep thinking that I just don't want her to ever grow up! I'm sure I'll be one of those parent bloggers that posts a million pictures of every little thing that she does, so check back soon to see more of our little princess!