On December 7th I went in for my scheduled c-section at 5:00 that morning.  The surgery didn’t actually start until closer to 8 and at 8:25 am we welcomed Evan James into the world weighing 8 lbs 13 oz and 21 inches long.

[I’m documenting this next part just for my own memory]. Everything went fairly well.  I’m notorious for being difficult to put an IV in so of course it took many tries and many nurses to get one in and even then it had to be replaced later that day.  My wrists are still so sore to the touch from that trauma.  The anesthesiologist had difficulty getting the spinal in and it took her 5 tries to do it successfully.  I was at the end of my rope by that point.  She had already given me a large dose of Phenergren since the spinal always makes me so sick.  I was so drugged up that I couldn’t even open my eyes and I was already shaking (another unfortunate thing that happens when I’m given major drugs).  She finally got it in and I still got sick which is incredibly unpleasant when you’re strapped to a table and can’t move.  She pushed another drug and that subsided and we were ready to go.  Apparently, I had some pretty significant scar tissue from having 2 previous c-sections so it took awhile to get going good.  Because of his size the nurse basically put her entire body weight on my stomach to help push him out.  I was much more sore afterward that I remember being with Aiden from all of that trauma but  not nearly as sore as I was after having Owen so it was manageable.  Poor Chris thought I was having a seizure when they let him in the room because I was shaking so violently.  He tried to hold my arm still but it was a lost cause.  They did let him stand up and watch them take him out which thrilled his soul.  Everyone in the room immediately started commenting on his large size. When Chris held him up for me to see I could tell he was mucho grande but had to wait until I was in the recovery room to find out just how large he was.  We found out later the doctor and nurses all placed guesses at his weight and no one guessed that high.  Once Chris left with Evan to go to the nursery the anesthesiologist gave me a very magical drug that immediately caused me to fall into a very deep sleep.  I have no recollection of being wheeled to the recovery room or even the first 53 minutes of my time there because I was so sound asleep.  I also don’t remember being wheeled from recovery to my room. It was fantastic.  One of the unfortunate things of having a c-section is having to lie flat for so many hours afterward so I didn’t get to see the little man until later in the day.

We had lots of fun visitors and Evan had his first visit from his future wife, Neely Kate. As you can see they enjoyed their time together.

The big brothers were very excited but a little unsure of seeing mom in a hospital bed with an IV.

We did our required 48 hours and then were happy to get to go home.  Here’s Evan in his coming home outfit.

Here’s how we spent the next week.  It was fantastic.  I was so sore and he wasn’t quite ready to be in the world yet so we just snuggled and enjoyed every minute of it.

First bath: this was before the screaming began.  He does not like to have his diaper changed or take a bath.  He generally screams until you get his feet snapped into a footed sleeper again.

Evan makes the funniest faces.  He constantly cracks us up!

This is how he spends most evenings. He loves his daddy and if Chris leaves the room he will keep his eyes on the hallway waiting for him to come back.

 

When you have 2 big brothers you  have to tolerate a lot of things.  Owen thought it was great to share the snowman with Evan.  As you can see, Evan was thrilled about it.

 

My all-time favorite funny face!

Evan cried for several days and only seemed to relax at night.  We finally realized he didn’t want to be unswaddled and was happiest when he was completely covered up.  Once we realized that’s what he wanted he has been happy ever since.  Fortunately, after a few days he was more adjusted and less fussy.

 

The next series of pictures are just to document some of his cute outfits and how he has grown.

When he was 8 days old, Heather Graves of SugarCreek Photography, came and did a newborn photoshoot.  It was so overcast that day that the only room of the house that had good lighting was Owen and Aiden’s room.  It was a tight squeeze with all of their junk everywhere but she made it work.  It’s crazy to me looking at the finished product that all of the pictures were taken in their bedroom because you can’t tell that from looking at them.  That was a stressful day because she had strict instructions on setting up the environment and what to do to prepare him for such a long photoshoot. He was fussy off and on the whole time and I had to keep feeding him to try to get him to settle down.  He peed on her and on me at different times and at the end of the 3 1/2 hour photoshoot he had a projectile poop that got all over the props, her camera, her camera bag,…..everything!  We just laid on the floor and laughed and laughed.  It was the only thing we could do in that moment.  Fortunately, Heather has 4 boys of her own so nothing really fazes her.  We got some great pictures that I will be sharing in a future post.

Owen was addicted to the pacifier, Aiden is addicted (still) to his banksie, and Evan appears to be my thumb sucker. We have tried to get him to take a pacifier unsuccessfully and given the opportunity this is what he does.

Brotherly love!

A sneak peek of the beautiful photos taken by Heather.

First date with Miss Neely Kate!

This generally lasts less than 3 minutes before he’s ready to give him back.

When we found out we were having another boy we decided to change up the room decor and bedding since we had used the same thing with the first two and it was dated and worn. I had in my mind what I wanted but couldn’t find anything on the market in a reasonable price range that matched what I had in mind.  Thanks to the generosity of a childhood friend’s mother I was able to pick out fabric and design exactly what I wanted and she made my vision become a reality.  I’m so happy with the finished product and his room is such a bright and happy place!

He is growing way to fast and weighed 9 lbs 1.5 oz at his 2 week checkup.  His hair is fairly light and is lighter than both the other boys was at this stage.  His eyebrows and eyelashes are blonde so I’m curious to see if his hair will stay lighter than the big boys.  We’re hoping his eyes stay blue like Owen’s.  Of course, he has the butt chin like Owen did too.

 

We cracked up one night when we looked over and saw he had his hand raised up in the air in his sleep.  He kept it this way a long time and has done it several times since.  Too funny!

 

 

He has grown so much already!  It’s fun to look back on the pictures from his first few days and see how much he’s changed.  It took Owen and Aiden some time to adjust to our new family dynamic but I’m happy to say we have all adjusted well now and it’s hard to imagine our lives without Evan.  The true test will be next week when I have to go back to work and school starts back and we have to get back into our routine.  We’ve enjoyed these past few weeks of sleeping late and being lazy.  It’s going to be hard to get back to the real world!