Evelyn Marie

From the very beginning, Evelyn was constantly surprising us.  The fact that we were even pregnant with her in the first place was a shocking yet beautiful surprise in itself!  I never thought I could conceive on my own, but God showed me first hand that it was possible and gifted us this beautiful little miracle.  

The pregnancy was somewhat normal: I grew as she did, but spent every day nauseated.  I was pooped from pregnancy and caring for two other little ones, but every time I would get a chance to see her scrunchy self...

...I was in Heaven.

Our doctor was amazing throughout my pregnancy!  Having very premature triplets, this time he decided he would be keeping a much closer than normal eye on me and make sure I could keep this baby cooking as long as possible!  I have to say, although I was nervous it was nice to know I had weekly doctors visits to make sure little miss thang was doing ok!  

The little 'surpriser' did try coming at 31 weeks and again at 32 weeks.  

Good news: doctor got me right into the hospital and a couple shots later and some monitoring and I was back home.  

Bad news: I ended up being put on bed rest for those last couple months....

But the BEST news: I remained pregnant with Evelyn for the most amount of time in all my pregnancies- 38 weeks exactly!!  This is the last picture of she and I as one a couple days before I got to hold her in my arms instead of my belly;)!

With things going smoothly those last couple weeks of pregnancy, Pete and I decided it would be beneficial to prepare some meals to pop in the freezer {thanks to some excellent advice from my amazing momma-friend, Jen}, because lets face it: this was NOT our first rodeo and we knew we would be so tired that first little while with a new baby....

 Two hours later we had 13 meals ready to go in the freezer.

Jen~ thank you for the incredible idea.  We are still eating off their yumminess.

 A couple days before the SCHEDULED C-SECTION {oh man just the thought of things being planned was music to my ears;)}, my amazing sister, Anna, decided to spend the last few days of her Spring Break with our crew so she could enjoy time with the soon-to-be big sisters and be there to help while Pete and I were at the hospital... can we say lifesaver?!

 Aunt Anna is in nursing school and brought with her some fun goodies for the 'wanna be doctor' to play around with... no kidding Harper played with this stuff for two straight days- ha!

So, on March 6, 2015 I got up like normal, tidied the house a bit, showered, dressed, and loaded my overnight bag in to the car to go have a baby.  Talk about surreal.  My other children came all on their own.  I wouldn't have it any other way, but gosh... I'd be lying to say there aren't many perks to a scheduled delivery- it was wonderful!!

We got to the hospital around 10am, got all checked in and I changed and we just hung out until the surgery scheduled for noon.  Although I was starving, Pete and I spent the last few moments of pregnancy watching Modern Family on the iPad and listening to her beautiful and healthy heartbeat on the monitor, waiting for our turn in the OR.

Then, at 1:00 I WALKED {another surreal moment} for the last time pregnant into the OR to welcome  my little munchkin.  Pete gowned up and met me in there, armed with his phone to capture the first moments with little Evelyn.

To say she came out screaming would be an understatement.  She was screaming her head off and I tell you what- it was an incredible sound!!  With my other deliveries, I had been on lots of medication for various reasons and just don't remember much of those first moments.  I was very clear with this one I wanted to be as aware as possible and boy was I- it was an amazing feeling to know the moment your little one is born and hear the incredible cries of new life!  Our doctor held her immediately over the partition for Pete and I to see {little bloody-ha}, but so cool!!! 

In the hospital we delivered they kept Evelyn with us the whole time- amazing!  After Evelyn was born, I started to get pretty shaky and anxious so while I 'chilled out' and they closed me up, Pete carried Evelyn to the recovery room where I joined them shortly after.  Pete held Evelyn within the first minutes she was was born and never left her side; even took a precious video of her enjoying her Daddy while I was still in surgery.  In the recovery room Evelyn got to be right by my side- amazing!!

 At 7lb 1 oz she was the biggest of our babies at birth and the most feisty- hehe.  She took to breastfeeding like a champ and loved her pacifier from day 1.  She's the only one of our children to really cry, but I guess she thinks, "Look, I'm the third girl here- I gots to let my wants be heard:)!!"

We don't seem to have any problem though, being right there for her whenever she needs something.  She is precious and being the last little munchkin for us, we are soaking up all moments with her.

 Harper and Maggie meeting their littlest sister for the first time.

Harper was in HEAVEN!  She was so stinkin' excited and jumped right up to hold her.  

As I keep saying, it was incredible to have a planned delivery.  It was wonderful to have BOTH sets of our parents in town to help with the girls and be there to visit with us in the hospital- thank you ALL for coming!!  After a couple days of observation in the hospital we went home to begin raising 3 of our kiddos!

 Someone enjoys her time with Daddy:):):)

 Evelyn at 1 week old... loving being swaddled and of course her nummies {pacifier}.

 And Nana came!!!!  Oh how we love our Nana time around here and she came to help so that Pete could head back to work.  The big sisters enjoyed their time with Nana just as much as Mommy and Evelyn...

Thank you for everything, Mom.  I can't believe you were here for her birth and then turned BACK around and came back for the second week- amazing- and we appreciate your help so much!!

 What we have learned quickly about Ms. Evelyn

Her loves: being swaddled, a pacifier, nursing, walks outside with the stroller, the Ergo baby carrier {thanks Jen;)}, sleeping in the swing, and being held.

Her dislikes: lying alone, being hungry, burping, her car seat, dirty pants, bathing, and did I mention being alone? ;)  She's got a voice and you hit any of those dislike moments and you will know it- haha!  I guess I'll never have to question if she's unhappy- love her!

She is quickly morphing into a Harper look-a-like.  Harper at 5 weeks on the left and Evelyn at 5 weeks on the right just after a feeding.  Got to love the milk-drunk stooper...hehe!

My favorite.  A baby curled up on my chest.  I could go hours like this and truly accomplish nothing... I know I have duties, but I'll get to them eventually- right?!  She won't stay little for long.

Not the best picture, but enjoy the shot of she and I together- she's so tiny!

 April 6, 2015: She's 1 Month Old!!!

Loving our precious addition to our family so much!!!  She's perfect and although she looks similar to her sisters, she is for SURE her own little person and we love it!