Meeting some of the family...

big sis tillie...ok, so they had already met, but i felt like this picture would help show how amazing tillie is doing with evan. she was very excited to meet him, and has adjusted beautifully to the new family dynamic. she will come up and sniff evan's head, and if he leaves the room for a diaper change, she always has to go too to make sure everything is going ok :). she was nervous at first when he would cry, but now she doesn't bat an eye. evan also has never flinched once when tillie barks.

great-uncle jerry

grandpa jeff

uncle phil

Evan LOVES his bouncer!

The Dr. limited my stair usage to two times a day, and since our bathroom is upstairs, and I need to stay hydrated, Evan and I have been spending some great quality time upstairs! Today, he was resting his weary head in his bouncer! I'm wondering if they make these in adult sizes since Evan has his days in his nights a bit confused, I could definitely relax and kick back in a bouncer for a bit.

What's in a name

So, until right before his birth, Bret and I were actually leaning towards Landon. THEN, I emailed family and friends and asked them to guess our baby's name, weight, length, bday and birth time. And, one of the name suggestions from my Grandma Shirley was Evan Jeffrey. I emailed Bret to tell him her guess because he had actually thought about Evan as a potential several months ago. After it was brought to our attention again, Bret and I seriously started to consider the name. And as it turns out, we are very traditional at heart ;).

Evan, is Welsh for John which has strong family ties to my mom's side of the family. My grandpa's name was Donald John, my great-great grandpa's name was John, my uncle's name is John, and I have a cousin name John. Evan is also one of Bret's closest friend's name. Jeffrey is Bret's dad's name. So, Bret and I were won over by the fact that Evan Jeffrey would represent the people that mean the most to us, both sides of our families and our friends. So, thank you Grandma Shirley for directing us to such a strong, solid name for our baby boy!

Hello World!

After approximately 34 hours of contractions (17.5 hours of regular contractions), Evan was still posterior, and Bret and I, along with our Dr., decided that c-section was the way that he was going to come into the world. We welcomed our 8.07lb, 20.5in beautiful baby boy into the world on March 22, 2009 at 1:15pm. Here are some pictures (ok tons) of his first few days...

39 week appt.

So, we have had progress! I'm trying not to get that excited because I know that even though we have progressed a bit that doesn't mean that I will have the baby sooner or later. BUT, today, I was at least 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. I am measuring perfect, and the baby's heartbeat sounds great. So, we will see what his thoughts are about making his grand entrance ;). The Dr. did say that I could schedule to be induced at least a week after my due date today, but Bret and I are going to wait and see. If we make it another week and he still hasn't come out, then we will more than likely schedule the induction at that appt.

We'll keep you posted! The next appt. is March 27...HOPEFULLY, we do not have to keep this one. Keep sending the baby "can't wait to meet you, so why don't you come out already" thoughts!

Officially ready for baby!

Here are the final touches (until Baby Boy Govert has a name) to the nursery...BOTH the sailboats and the side table were custom made by Wayne Shaffer's busy wood shop. The paint job on the boats was by Bret, and if anyone knows someone that is in need of some pretty blue paint, let us know! We ended up with a gallon (only wanting/paying for a quart).

so, now we are officially just waiting...and waiting...and waiting for this little guy to make his grand appearance.

Seriously? It can't be THAT comfortable!

SO, we had our 38 week appt today, and as Bret said "that was really anti-climatic". AHHH...The Dr. said she thought I was maybe dilated a bit over 1 cm which is progress but at a snail pace! She tried to remain upbeat by reminding me that I could be 1cm+ dilated today and holding my baby tomorrow. So, I'm going to go with that thought! We will see! I am just sooooo ready to meet this little (hopefully he is still little) guy, and I know that he can't be comfortable right now. Everyone needs to think baby labor thoughts because I think he needs a little encouragement from people outside the womb right now to help him decide it is time to come out!!!!

The next appt. is on March 20, but I am hoping we don't have to keep it ;). St. Patty's day would be a very cool bday :).

37 week appt.

The Dr. was FULL of compliments today at my 37 week appointment, she told me my ankles look fantastic and that I have a great pelvis! Apparently, I won the genetic lottery and got my mom's and grandma shirley's great birthing genes!! The Dr. was really happy to hear that both of them had "easy", non-eventful labors, and she would expect me to have the same.

The appt. also started out with the usual questions about the baby moving, how I'm feeling and if I'm having any contractions. I responded to the contraction question, that if I was, I didn't know because I didn't really know what to be feeling. Then, the Dr. had me lay down to listen to the heartbeat and start the exam. RIGHT when I leaned back, my belly got really hard, and I jokingly said, "I have NO idea what he is doing right now". The Dr. responded, "you are having a contraction". I found this quite amusing because I guess I have been having the warm-up contractions (aka Braxton Hicks) quite frequently in the past few weeks, but I thought it was the baby pushing out on my belly or curling into a ball. So, along with the frequent Braxton Hicks contractions, I am also dilated 1 cm. WOOHOO...1 cm down, 9 cm to go :)!!! She didn't mention any effacing, so we still have 100% of that to go!

The next appt. is March 13 in the am with my favorite Dr. that I haven't been able to see since the very first appointment. Keep thinking effacing and dilating thoughts!