First Appointment for Evelyn

So my little lady had her first ped. appointment today.
I was worried she wasn't getting enough milk - but she is!
She is 9lbs 1oz now (up 6 oz) and 22 inches (up 1.5 inches!)
Everything is looking good, and Doc says that he thinks that she'll grow out of the "reflux" issue in the next couple weeks.
So that's great!
We tried a bottle a couple days ago, and it was a total No-Go.
But we tried again today, and she took it with no problem!
So, I've begun the joyfulness called pumping.
I am going to attempt to breast feed her 90% of the time, and bottle feed 10%, while pumping a couple times a day as well.
It's in hopes that when I have to leave for longer days shooting weddings, or doing what ever really, that she'll be able to take a bottle.

Ethan would not take a bottle - nope, not ever.

And I was attached at the hip with the boy for at least 7-8 months before I was able to leave him for more than 2 hours.
I hope the situation is different with this one.
Not that I WANT to leave her, but with Ethan it wasn't necessary, and with her, it is.

One thing we did find out is that she's homozygous for Factor V Leiden.
That's the blood clotting disorder that I have.
But, I only have one gene, and she has two.
It was dissapointing to hear. I didn't want her to have to deal with it.
But, unfortunately she does - and more so than I do :(
One fortunate thing is that it's not usually a problem until puberty - so although we have to go to a hemo-specialist for a consult, it most likely won't effect her for a while.

God is good!

So, I can't even begin to explain how blessed I am!
This is not to brag on me or my family, but how awesome God has been to us in our recent lives.
I am so thankful!
Evelyn has pulled out of her rough birth beautifully!
(we suspect some reflux issues, but in comparison to what some parents have to go through - I'll take it!)
I have been recovering so well!
We have amazing people supporting us, bringing junk food, clothes, meals, giving us their beloved first clothes from their children, and so much more!
I've found a Bible study (thanks to Kasey!) I'm comfortable in.
Karl has finished his beautiful "fixie" bike - and can finally ride it!
And two things I've been really excited about - I got couches for my living room!
(have a beautiful one, just moved it to the other living room)
AND a DISHWASHER! It's not hooked up yet - but, I hope that it works well!
I would love a working dishwasher!
Oh, and Ethan is turning out to be such an awesome big brother! We were worried how he'd take it, and he's taking his new role beautifully. He's already asking to hold her, hug her, and he comforts her when she cries by patting her..
Ohhhhh my boy, how I love him. Never mind he calls her "doggie"...
In fact he's currently running around in a dirty onsie (that dad put him to bed in from yesterday) with 4 wheat crackers hanging out of his mouth, humming joyfully with a huge snotty nose (teething) and I can't get enough!
So, Thank YOU Lord! I know there is a time for blessings, and a time for trials, and I am just so thankful to be in His blessings right now!

She's here!

What an amazing few days we've had!

Evelyn Dee Lorene was born April 11 (Karl's Birthday!) at 12:12pm via C-section.
She was 8lbs 11oz and 20.5in long.

Evelyn's Birth Story:

We were a planned C-section, so we arrived at the hospital at 9:30AM as instructed.
We had 1/2 hour of monitoring, and they did all the appropriate blood work, etc to prepare.
We were scheduled for 11:30AM, and actually went in to the OR on time.
I received a spinal, which was way more painful than I expected, and was immediately laid down and "strapped in".
Unfortunately they didn't have the leg compression machine ready so I got to lay there in my birthday suit,
completely paralyzed, and super uncomfortable (spinals are not comfortable feeling FYI) until someone got it, 30 minutes later.
At 12:00, Karl was brought in to the room, and they started surgery.



At 12:12PM Evelyn was born.







She was not doing well transitioning from in-utero-life to oxygen.
Her first APGAR was 5. (1-3 is barely hanging on, 3-5 if NICU, 6-7 is OK, 8+ is great)
She would not start a good breathing pattern, and I remember her being blue from head to toe, with purple hands.

I kept asking "is she okay" and no one would respond. I looked at Karl for some reassurance, thinking maybe with all the drugs I was on, I just wasn't understanding/seeing well.
My biggest fear was confirmed, Karl looked at me with a horrified face and wouldn't say anything.
I heard them say something along the lines of "she's got 2 minutes to perk up or she's going to NICU"
Karl literally turned white, and was 2 seconds from passing out and falling over.
The nurses had to get him a wheel chair.
Thank GOD - she started to breath with oxygen.
They suctioned her out so many times, and patted her back to get her to puke fluid, and had the oxygen up to her face....
It was so scary.
Finally she started to turn pink and respond.
They kept working on both her and me, and then sent us to the recovery room what seemed like forever later.
I had some problems with hemorrhaging so it took a while.



I wasn't able to hold her in the recovery room at first.
It was so hard on me emotionally.
They had to keep monitoring her, and using oxygen to keep her levels up.
I got to touch her feet after what seemed like forever,
and didn't actually hold her until she was already a few hours old.


They explained to us that there was no way that she was more than 37 weeks gestational age.
She was born covered in vernix, and downy hair - something that is a trait of a 37 week-er.
Thank God that they didn't take her any earlier, because had they - she might not have done very well.
I think it was God's perfect timing that made all the difference.

She pooped all over me when we were skin to skin (to regulate her temp), which lightened the situation a bit.
My parents were able to visit in the recovery room, and help us transition back to our room.

All I can say is she is so perfect and I couldn't be more in love.
Like Karl said: "I got to experience the best day of my life again, for the second time".
First, obviously being Ethan's birth.
I love my children so much, and this whole experience has made me realize it so much more.




(shows some of the crazy-feeling of all the visitors, monitoring, etc)

Our few days in the hospital were great! Everyone kept telling us we were their favorite couple to work with.
I don't know if they were lying or if they tell everyone that but it was nice to hear!
My recovery is 1000% better than it went with Ethan.
We've been sleeping great.
Karl's been amazing.
The baby is perfect! Since she's a little "early" she does nothing but sleep, but I'm okay with that!
Ethan is a great big brother already!
And everything is wonderful!










I am so thankful for everyone that came to visit!
And especially thankful to Kasey for stepping up when we needed her and taking Ethan over night.
She got the cutest pictures I've ever seen of my boy!

Oh - and can I say, IT FEELS SO DAMN GOOD TO BE UN-PREGNANT!

They're Mature!

So, I have been on pins and needles all day waiting for test results on baby Evie's lungs....
Finally they're in..
And they're MATURE!
Hallelujah!
We are having our baby girl tomorrow morning!

If you were wanting to visit at the hospital,
we will be delivering at Spectrum Downtown.
I would imagine anytime around dinner time Friday,
or Saturday/Sunday would be fine.
If you could - call before you come to make sure we're decent :)

Playing at the Park

Ethan had his first experience at the park the other day.
We walked the opposite way that we normally would on the trail by our house,
and it lead to an elementary school that's only like 3 blocks from us!
We didn't even know it was there!
He totally loved it.
So we went back yesterday with Abbi and Tate, and it was such a blast.
He is totally a Master Walker now.

We have love ducks that live in our "pond" (suppose to be a pool) out back.
They're so cute, and I love watching them swim around all day.
I will post some pictures of them later :)

I have my amnio tomorrow morning -
I was really hoping to go in to a spontaneous labor beforehand,
so that way I wouldn't have to have it.
But it doesn't look like that's happening.
Then baby girl on Friday morning!
(assuming all goes well)
If her lungs aren't mature and we have to wait, I just might die.

So, today could have been the best day of my pregnancy so far,
or the worst.
And for a while there I thought it was the worst...
But, thanks to the Lord (and always having a great plan!)
it turned out to be Okay.
I woke up at 3:00AM having contractions.
I didn't realize it at first, I thought I had to pee really bad or I had a kidney stone moving.
I woke up about 5 times before I "woke up" enough to realize what was going on.
So, I sat up, cleared the fog - and realized that with the pain my stomach was getting hard.
So, it clicks and I'm like crap - contractions!
So, I start timing them and they're 3-4 minutes apart until about 3:45,
and then they start coming every 3 on the dot.
So I wake Karl up and tell him I think I might be in labor, and that we should at least pack
our bags just incase.. We had yet to do that.
So we're timing them as we're packing stuff up and they're coming 3 minutes still.
So we wake up Karl's parents, drop off of the boy, and I notice they're still coming but they're not hurting anymore....
I contemplated turning around, but I figure it's 4:45AM, I've gotten everyone up, I might as well go now.
So, we go in to L&D - I'm still contracting but not painfully.
They check me and I'm 3cm, 80%, -2 station (last check 2cm, "ripe", floating)
So they call the Doc and see if he wants to do the section.
He said since I'm not considered "full term" for 2 days, he wants to wait it out...
The monitors are still showing about every 4 minutes, until they put me on my side.
Well, they instantly dropped to every 10, but were coming with some pain...
I laid like that for about 1/2 hour-45 minutes... hey stayed the same.
they check me, say there's not much change, to take an AmbienCR
and said to go home.
They suspected I was in early labor, and figured if it were going to pick up anytime soon,
I'd go home, get some sleep, and come back in active labor.
Well, I go home, go to sleep (not before being incredibly ridiculously high for 20 minutes)
wake up, and the contractions are still every 10-15 minutes. (hours later)
They've been like that all day.
I thought I was going to lose it.
I was so happy thinking this morning was the last morning of being pregnant,
and wanted to cry when they said to go home....
I thought it was going to be the worst day yet.

But, it turned around.
Karl stayed home from work.
I got a lot of really good sleep.
He got me McDonalds Breakfast.
We went on a walk,
did some yard work (yeah I actually like yard work in moderation),
played with Ethan outside (ball, "sledding" on grass, riding his toddler bike, etc.)
Got our bags packed,
got the back of the truck cleared out,
picked up some fire-wood to have a fire,
and now we're about to have some pizza.
Karl is even doing the dishes as the oven heats and I type!
I spent most the day in the sun and it felt SO good.
It was exactly what I needed.
I'm not particularly happy about it -
but today made 1 week seem more manageable IF it consists of a few days like today.
(*minus the whole stalled labor, and getting sent home thing)

Still have high waters...

So, due to my waters staying high, and the incredible amount of pain I've been in...
(mainly because there's too much water/baby in me, and she's sunny side up causing me SI Joint pain)
my mid-wife was lobbying for me to move my c-section date up.
I can't even tell you how happy that made me.
Well, apparently the doctors agreed only if there was a time-slot open.
And well, go figure THERE ISN'T.
UGH!!!!!
I got that bit of news today and it literally almost made me cry.
I want my body back so badly.
So, we have 9 days, and 7 hours until our C-section.
Most moms would probably be counting down the hours until they "get to meet their baby"...
I'm counting down the hours until I get to have my body back, and not feel like I'm going to die all the time!
I know that sounds horrible, and don't get me wrong, I can't wait to meet my baby too...
but until you've experienced this unrelenting pain for days, and now weeks on end... you just couldn't understand.
and to add to my misery - I'm almost positive I have either a kidney stone or kidney infection starting up. FUN!
So here's to the last 9 days and 17 hours of pregnancy for me for a LLLLLOOONNNNNGGGGG time!

Oh, and here is hopefully the last picture of my baby in belly.
It was taken at 35 weeks.
Can you imagine if I went to 40 or more!?