We welcomed Eva Lorraine into the world October 23, 2008 at 10:48 pm. She was seven pounds and one ounce and was nineteen and one-half inches long. We are so excited and so blessed.
Labor and delivery went well in retrospect. It never feels easy or fast while it is happening. On Thursday I had a normal day. Luke was actually at day care so I was finishing up my to do list. I test drove cars big enough to hold a double stroller, went out to lunch with Dave, trimmed the bushes, cleaned the house, and organized the closets. When I picked up Luke I felt some contractions, but I thought that was normal when you are lifting a toddler while pregnant. I made dinner and was planning on taking Luke trick-or-treating in downtown Hartland. Dave was going to meet us at 5:45pm. He called to say he was going to be there at 6:00pm and then he called saying he was going to be there at 6:10pm. Now during this time I was feeling contractions every 4 minutes but I didn't know if it was real labor. I thought it could be when Luke started breathing along side of me while he was eating his fish sticks. I called my sister around 6:05 and asked her if she was home and able to watch Luke. She was actually right at the middle school and she said she could be there in 30 minutes if I could wait that long.
When Dave got home he ate dinner and packed his bags and we decided it was not a night for trick-or-treating. Dave called his parents so they could pick him up from my sister's at 8:00 pm and take him for the next two days. As I was packing, cleaning up dinner, and holding Luke the contractions got to be two minutes apart. I was a little nervous but felt good once we got Luke taken care of. Once in the car the contractions were back to 4 minutes apart and then they progressed back to 3 minutes while in the hospital.
I was admitted once we filled out the paperwork. They were very busy so they said, "Make yourself at home. Since you are still smiling I think you are going to have your baby on the 24th and they walked out of the room." That was the last time I saw that nurse. She was busy with someone else, so I got the head nurse to take care of me. She was an excellent nurse; just the person I would want to help me deliver.
The contractions were worse then I remember with Luke, but I know you are supposed to forget all the hard parts of labor. One of my patients told me to do the "hula" during the contractions and that helped with about one of the contractions. I started at 3 cm when I was first arrived at the hospital and then progressed to 6cm. I asked for the epidural because my water had not even broken yet. The doctor was doing a c-section so he was delayed in coming, but I got to have the effects for about one hour before starting to push. During this hour we called my mom and dad and let them know the state of the events. My doctor arrived at 10:30 and I thought I could try to push. Since the hospital was so busy there were only three staff in the room during the delivery. It was a very laid back delivery. I pushed for about three sets and couldn't really feel anything, but then we had our beautiful baby. I was thrilled that everything went well and that I finally had my girl. (Nine months is too long to wait.)
The name Eva is from the Latin name Eve. It is derived from the Hebrew name meaning "life" or "living one." It conveys that God created woman special, significant, strong, beautiful, and having an irreplacable role in God's creation. Lorraine is my grandmother's name, my mother's middle name, and my middle name. We wanted to continue the tradition for 4 generations. We also wanted to honor each of those women in the process.
My mother and Eva.
My cousin Erin and Aunt Jill.
My sister-in-law and brother and their son.
My sister and her kids. Those who are missing from the photos are Luke, my dad, and Dave's parents. Things were a little crazy when Luke came to visit. Just put it this way, it was not a photo opportunity. He just held onto Dave and wouldn't look at me or his sister. Once I put Eva down and held him, then he just put his head into my shoulder and still wouldn't look at his sister. The rest of the time Luke spent in the play room and running in the hallway.
Luke loved building a snowman that was bigger than him. His main contribution was adding carrots to the torso in all different positions. Dave and Luke built the snowman in the driveway because the snow was too deep in the yard. Dave then had to carry the snowman to the back patio.
Eva and mom are both outfitted by Walmart.
This is Luke's new smile where he is actually trying to smile. It is not as cute as the spontaneous smiles he has, but it makes my heart go out to him because he is trying so hard.
My two favorite men.
Dave really wanted a train under the Christmas tree for Luke. So after they went to five stores they came home with this train set. Luke loves it. Dave likes it too, but he had to add a muting mechanism over the speaker that says "All Aboard, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding." He used a little foam to buffer the noise and then covered it with duct tape.
I thought it would be cute to take a picture of Eva in the garland. The picture did not exactly turn out how I thought it would but I still like her in her "Babies First Christmas" sleeper.
Well, life finally seems possible with two children. Luke has discovered that having a sister isn't too bad. He is acting like himself again. I have been enjoing the love two children. Eva and Luke look at me and love me in such a wonderful way. I have no desire to do much for myself anymore. I just like spending time with them. Dave and I are discovering how to get a few things done while having two kids that want to play. Eva has been the nicest baby so the transition to two children has been better than I had expected in many ways.
Here is Eva with Great Grandmother Evelyn (95 years old). Grandma loved the visit from Eva, her 19th great granchild.
Eva loves to smile and interact.
Luke on Halloween. He went trick or treating with his cousins but he was actually scared by some of the kids costumes. He liked looking at the pumpkins at every house. He still asks to wear around his dinasour feet.
We welcomed Eva Lorraine into the world October 23, 2008 at 10:48 pm. She was seven pounds and one ounce and was nineteen and one-half inches long. We are so excited and so blessed.
My mother and Eva.
Nana came to watch Luke and they had a great time running through the leaf pile. Once Nana came, Luke thought of every reason for me to leave. He said... "Mommy go to work, mommy go to church, and mommy go to store," and he pushed me out the door. It is great to know that he loves my mom. These actions are especially significant because he has always cried when I left from when he was 8 months to 2.5 years, so I am glad he can leave me without crying.
Luke loves anything with wheels so he loved his trip to the fire station. He rode in all the trucks and inspected the hoses and gages. We went with my 94 year old grandfather who couldn't resist buying Luke a fire helmet.
