Bili Baby No More

Did someone order the blue light special?

It goes without saying, but Mr. Evan is a BIG boy. In fact, say goodbye newborn sized diapers and "NB" clothes already! The nurses said he's got a pound each in his cheeks :-)

His size was a huge(no pun intended) contributing factor to him having a slight case of the yucky yellow Jaundice. From what I understand, its super common and routine now a days, and not a big health concern. More than anything it's been sort of annoying to deal with, but I really can't complain. We had to stay in the hospital an extra day so that he could stay on the lighted bed. That was a hard day for me as he needed to be continuously on the bed, and could only be taken out for nursing (even then we had to attach him to a bili blanket). And speaking of nursing, we were made to supplement with formula for now, until my milk fully comes in, in order to make sure he is eating enough to get rid of this thing. Praise God though for the "SNS" nursing system, which still allowed me to breastfeed and did not interfere with that latch learning process. Even though we had to start some formula, he was able to get it from the breast(not bottle) right alongside his liquid gold colostrom. Again, how cool is modern technology? Basically, Evan's big job over the past few days has been to eat and poop, eat and poop...this rids his system of the jaundice.

His poor little feet have been pricked to death with the heel sticks and it just kills mommy to see it! Thankfully, they allowed us to go home on the bili blanket. I just hated not being able to take him around the house and snuggle him(esp on his first day hom)-the blanket is attached to a small machine and plugged into the wall so he was basically outlet bound.

Thankfully, our pediatrician declared Evan out of the jaundice woods this morning. His levels were much lower and acceptable for his weight and age-so no more bili blanket for us, yay! :-) We'll take some fun in the sun over that thing any day. We are SO glad to be over this thing.

Our little glowworm...

More pics from the hospital, and coming home

Snuggling with mommy at the hospital :-) Go ahead, melt my heart! Evan's very first diaper...Chris did a great job!

Chris and I thoroughly enjoyed our 5+ day hospital stay-minus the first 3 days and the trauma of a long delivery and unexpected Cesarean section. The nurses and hospital staff were amazing and beyond helpful; I recommend everyone have their babies at Rex! The lactation consultants were priceless, the nurses were so sweet and served us so well, the food-YUM....and on and on and on. Still, as much as we just love Rex, there is no place like home. Coming home as a family of three was as wonderful as I had imagined, and I can't wait to start our new lives together.

Our delivery was hard but absolutely worth it. Likewise, recovery is difficult but manageable; above everything we are so thankful to God for the gift of medicine. If this had been another time or place, having the resources of trained doctors and of advanced surgeries would not have been an option, and both Evan and I may not be here without them. Thank God for C-sections! Thank God for healthy babies and mommies! And, thank God for home!

Welcome Evan Matthew!

Evan is here! I'm posting from the hospital this morning with a short and sweet update on our little guy. We are all doing wonderful and swimming in thankfulness and pride over our new, chubby chipmunk cheeked babe. :-) I plan to write a more detailed birth story later, but for now, here are some pictures of our journey, and a copy of the accouncement email we sent to proudly welcome our little one to the blogging world.

..............................................

Hello world!

We are proud to announce the birth of our first baby boy! Evan Matthew Scott was born on Sunday morning, April 25th, at 3:08am. He weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds 13 ounces and measured 22 inches long, he is a BIG boy! After an induction that did not progress we ended up having to deliver baby Evan via C-section, but both mom and baby are doing great. We are so thankful for your continued support and encouragement during this exciting time and praise God for a healthy baby boy!

With love and thankfulness,
Chris, Rebecca, and baby Evan :-)

On the way in for the induction-our last picture as a family of two.

This is just after we were admited-at the very beginning of our LONG delivery and in excited, happy moods!

One of Evan's very first pictures, just after being delivered via C-section. So cute!!

Again-we can't say enough thanks for all of the encouragement and prayers during this exciting, exhausting, amazing, challenging, new, and precious time. :-)

40 Weeks + 5 Days

and still waiting...

To update everyone who has so kindly called/emailed/fb'd on wondering how were doing and if the baby is here yet...I am still very much pregnant, and all the more anxious and hopeful for a baby soon! We appreciate the prayers and encouragement, and are really hoping for some activity today or over the weekend-right now the race is on between a natural labor and an induced one. Our appointment on Monday and test results will ref that call, so were really hoping to be snugly in the hospital bed with our new little one before Monday rolls around. Until then I'll be walking the pup, inventing more things to do around the house, eating rasberries and possibly working on a cheer to encourage baby Evan out.

40 Weeks + 2 Days

At 40 weeks and 2 days, we are overdue but hopeful. In a nutshell-we had a discouraging doctor's appointment this morning, but are staying positive and prayerful! If baby Evan does not come on his own within this week(and God willing he will!), an induction has been scheduled for Monday night, the 26th of April. Until then we are resting in God's good hands :-)

and feeling more whale-ish then ever!

40 Weeks + 1 Day

Where to start? We had a wonderful, fun, active, busy weekend-oh, and I'm still pregnant!

On Saturday my parents came up and we took Piper and the belly to downtown Raleigh's annual SPCA doggie day. It was a ton of fun with plenty of things going on-live music, Vic's pizza, wonderfull Spring weather and of course a plethora of puppies everywhere! We had also hoped that all the walking would encourage baby Evan to come, but no such luck-0nly sore tootsies! Piper had a blast though and is really enjoying all of this extra walking and attention-he is one happy puppy!

On Sunday we went to Open Door Baptist to stay close to home "just in case" -it was a completely differant Sunday morning experience "sleeping in" and driving to a church just 2 minutes down the road, not to mention not setting up/tearing down. And while it was a bit less stressful getting out the door and a refreshing rest for Chris being able to enjoy worship on the other side of the mic-more than anything we both realized how much we love Wilson and missed it so much-it just was'nt the same and we are so grateful for and blessed by our church. We LOVE Christ Baptist! Afterwards we decided to-guess what-do some more WALKING! We packed up Pipey again and drove down to Cameron Village for a nice lunch out and some more Spring strolling.

In everything we did this weekend we were dripping with anticipation as our anxiously awaited due date approached-and now that's it's come and gone, I feel like our sweet ice cream cone of come baby goodness is quickly melting into a sherbet of anxiety, mixed with a bit of frustration and a lot of discomfort. Over that past few days, we've walked, walked, and walked some more. We indulged the wive's tales with spicy food and speedbumps-more than anything waiting and praying for a baby SOON! Chris even started to have "sympathy contractions" on Sunday afternoon, lol. :-)

Aside from feeling like a whale, I was disappointed that baby Evan did not make his appearance yesterday for many reasons. For one, my FAVORITE doctor happened to be on call yesterday so I was really crossing my fingers-but now it's a gamble. Tomorrow we've got another OB apt-one I'd hoped not to make, and the one where we'll be having the o-so-dreaded "induction" talk. However, I'm keeping positive and still hoping for a natural delivery, and sooner then later! After all, we've waited 10 whole months-what's a few more days?! He could even come today...only God knows. Praise praise praise to the one who holds everything perfectly in His hands-even baby days!

Come on Evan, we can't wait to meet you!!!

The Last Mile

39 weeks behind us, 1 week to go. I've said it again and again, but where did the time go?! Even though these past 39 weeks have flown by, this last one is starting to rollll. Boy are we are anxious to meet our new little guy!

My 39 week doctors appointment this morning was as uneventful as ever-which I can't complain about. I was sort of ready to go at 37 weeks when we got that original full term "green light," but I guess he'll come when he's good and ready-like a ripe apple falling from the tree.

39 week stats:
BP-101/65
Weight gain-2.5 pounds over the last two weeks-right on track!
Baby's heartrate-120's
Milestones-Just making it this far is a HUGE milestone! Dare i say that everything is ready and waiting for Evan's arrival. I know it will come and go in a second, so I'm trying extra hard to savor our precious few last moments of "twoness."

From Mommy, Piper and the Boppy

Dear Evan,

Please get here soon, we can't wait to meet you.

Love,

Your very pregnant mommy, big brother Piper & soon to be favorite pillow.

Easter, Spring Cleaning and more!

This past Easter weekend was a full one-on Saturday our church held its annual Spring Festival and on Sunday we celebrated Easter with a great Sunday service and some good ole' chocolate bunnies! We hold the cross of Christ central and celebrate the greatness of the risen Savior all year round and every Sunday, but Easter always offers a nice pause for extra reflection and thankfulness. We have so much to be grateful for!


At 38 weeks we are so close to meeting our first son(nope, it hasn't quite sunken in yet, and probably won't until we've got him in the carseat on the way home!). A garden of lovely stretchmarks has sprouted over my belly, and my ankles have officially taken a vacation-where they've gone no one knows, lol. At this point I feel like there's a kitchen timer or sorts ticking away somewhere, getting closer and closer to the buzzer-if only I could see it and know how close we are!

Now we are in nesting mode-I want to bring this babe home to a clean house! Chris has been a great help recently as my bending over/moving heavy awkward things skills have all but gone away-who knew dust busting, vacuuming and taking clothes out of the dryer could be something to be taken for granted, lol. In any case I'm glad for the help! Otherwise I think I can confidently say we've got all our T's crossed and I's dotted as best as we can, though I'm sure I'll find room for more "proof reading" in the coming days and weeks until baby's big debut. :-)