With Evy, I had so many people telling me that firstborn babies typically come late. So, in my mind, I was expecting to be pregnant past 41 weeks with her. She ended up coming 3 days BEFORE her due date, so we were a little caught off guard. Miles’ story was the opposite. I knew other moms who went into labor with their second child way before their due date, so once I hit 37 weeks I was on high alert ALL.THE.TIME. Every night before bed, I would get teary: wondering if this would be the last time I would tuck Evy int0 bed as an only child, wondering if this would be the night that we would be driving to the hospital in the dark, wondering if we would be meeting our son the next day. Needless to say, I was on edge, emotional, and exhausted those last few weeks!

The days continued to pass and on the day before my due date I started having faint contractions. I didn’t have natural contractions with Evy, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but these got stronger and closer together as the day progressed so I felt we were on the path to delivery. Then, at 2am the pain started waking me up. I timed the contractions and they were consistently 15 minutes apart for about 2 hours. I hesitated to call our moms in case this was a false alarm. I resolved on having ONE more contraction and then I would get up to start getting ready for the hospital. I waited 15 minutes and nothing happened…then 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes and still nothing. After an hour, I went back to bed feeling discouraged.

I woke up on the morning of my due date hoping that things would get rolling again. The anticipation was killing me! Unfortunately for my morale, nothing happened all day. We watched the Super Bowl that night (let’s be honest, mostly for JT and the commercials) and I told B that I was going to stay up to watch “This is Us”. He encouraged me to go to bed instead since I was up all night before. I obliged and we got to bed about 11pm. Once again at 2am, contractions woke me up, but this time they were much more intense and MUCH closer. I immediately started timing them and they were already 5 minutes apart, so I woke B up and we started gathering our hospital bags. Within 10 minutes, the contractions quickly moved to 3 minutes and 2 minutes apart. At that point, we were a little nervous that this baby was going to be born at home! Bradley’s mom came to our house to be with Evy while she slept. We held each other and prayed before leaving for the hospital. We got there about 3:30am.

My birth plan with Evy was to try and do it naturally, but that didn’t happen and the epidural was my saving grace. I went into this birth knowing that I wanted to go that route, so once I was checked in, the anesthesiologist hooked me up. Unfortunately, the epidural only took to half my body. They tried to even it up by giving me more medication, but that just made my left side to become even more numb. I was able to stay comfortable, but I still felt most of the contractions and definitely felt a lot of labor.

Epidurals usually slow labor down, so we were surprised with how quickly things progressed. I was 9 cm dilated around 6:30am, then there was a shift change with the hospital staff. I could feel every contraction and was in a lot of pain so we got the nurse to come check me again at around 8am, and she said we were ready for delivery! After pushing through 3 contractions, Miles Oliver was brought into this world at 8:12am.

We kept his name a secret throughout the pregnancy, which inevitably drove our families crazy. As with naming Evy, we wanted our boy to have a meaningful moniker too. We had Miles chosen for a boy before we knew Evy was a girl, so when we found out we were having a boy this time, the first name was an easy choice. Miles means “soldier” so we chose the name Oliver to go with it, which means “kindness or peaceful”. We hope our son lives up to his name in his life and becomes a soldier of kindness.

Here’s our birth story told by the wonderful images of Courtney Malone Photography. I can’t sing her praises high enough. I told her she captured the true essence of Miles’ birth day and we will be able to relive these emotional moments forever, thanks to her.

The shift of emotions and feelings when giving birth is amazing. My body was telling me that I couldn’t give anymore, but my head was saying “you can do it! Keep going!”, and then once all is said and done, my heart became overwhelmed with pride. What was just a loud and chaotic moment of pushing, suddenly becomes so serene and peaceful. Everyone is in awe of the new life being witnessed.  We had NO idea that baby boy would be this BIG!! My belly was measuring right on track the whole time and doctors said he would probably be a little bigger than Evy since he was a boy. They didn’t say he would be over 2 pounds heavier! We all were shocked when we saw how much the scale said he weighed. I was a 9lb 10oz baby too, so I guess he’s taking after his mother! And then, as if my emotions weren’t raw enough, my in-laws brought Evy in to meet her baby brother. Oh, my heart! Holding my two babies in my arms for the first time is one memory I will never, ever forget.

Our family is immensely grateful for all the prayers and support you have offered us as we adjust to this new chapter of life.