Emma comes over to play!

Emma Neumann and her mom came over to play last week. Emma was well behaved, as usual, and Evan actually did pretty good for his first play date. It was so fun! Emma is nine months now, and has a wonderful personality and the cutest hair I have ever seen. She is absolutely adorable. I'm beginning to think arranged marriages aren't such a bad idea...


Evan and Emma when Annie, Emma and Becky came to visit us in the hospital, 7.28.07

Here's my girl! This picture of Emma was just too cute not to share. She looks so comfortable!

Evan is four weeks old!

Yesterday we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Novek's to celebrate some birthdays. Evan's Aunt Tracy bought him a delicious cake from Brachelor's bakery here in town - Yum! Happy birthdays to Katarina, Victoria and Grandpa Rex!

Here Evan is, lounging in his Boppy with his new pacifier! Its see-through, so you can see him sucking on it through the plastic. Its hysterical - he looks like a little goldfish! Too cute.

Father and son on the couch watching Sports Center. As you can see, Evan gets his love of football from his mom...he's sleeping right through it.

Evan and Grandma Irvin - day one of the pacifier. He's such a happy baby now - why didn't we try this sooner?!

Evan's Great-grandma Nelson came to visit yesterday morning. Grandpa Nelson and Aunt Karla came, too, but we haven't gotten those pictures uploaded yet.

Grandma Novek feeding Evan at the party yesterday.

Evan was FOUR WEEKS on Friday. Where has the time gone? I feel like I haven't been home more than a week or two. I am so sad to be going back to work in a couple of weeks - what am I going to do without my little cuddle-bug all day long?

Video of Evan and his hand

Hooray! I figured out how to make videos! Luckily it didn't take too long. Evan doesn't give me much of a chance to play around on the computer. Evan is a big fan of sucking on his hands. He just got his first pacifier on Thursday from the nurses at Fairview. Even in my belly his ultrasound pictures show him sucking on his thumb. Anyway, the morning after he was born the doctor swaddled him up tight after his exam, and he was a bit fussy because he couldn't get to his fingers. Here is a short video showing him getting his hand back. Make sure you have the sound turned on - that's the best part.

Oh, and since I figured out how to post videos I thought I would attach the video of Evan's birth, too. If you scroll down to the August 1st post I attached it to the middle of the page.

As of Thursday Evan has gained three pounds since birth. He weighed in at a whopping 11 lbs, 3 oz on 8.23.07. It is amazing to me that he is already four weeks old! I can't believe it! He has changed so much since last month. His sleeping schedule is still erratic and unstructured, but his eating habits have gotten much better since we introduced the pacifier on Thursday. Now he eats when he is hungry (about every 2-3 hours) instead of whenever he wants to suck on something (about every 30 minutes!) That has made a huge difference for the BOTH of us! I can actually get off the couch! Its wonderful. Oh, and he just started smiling at people two days ago. This whole "baby" thing is getting more and more fun by the day...

Some good pictures of me and Dad...

Me and Dad in an adorable outfit from "Aunt Mickey." It was finally cool enough to wear some of my cute new clothes instead of my onsies. The heat wave is over, for now!

Me taking my first bottle! It took me a while to catch on, but by Sunday afternoon I had it down.

Funny Face! It looks like dad is squeezing my cheeks too hard, but I actually just have a LOT of extra cheek. I've been eating good and its paid off.
That's all for now. Evan Nelson, signing off. (Isn't is amazing that I already know how to type and blog and I can't even walk yet?)

Evan's first big family get-together at the Walters Family Reunion this past Sunday

Evan "standing up." Boy, is he strong!

Evan and Grandma Irvin (8.3.07)

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Evan is doing really well. We had his first official doctor's appointment this past Monday and he weighed in at 9 lbs., 12 oz! He sure is a good eater. He also grew and inch and a half since birth. I think he's gonna be a big boy! He should be - he eats every hour and a half for 30 minutes a pop. The doc said he looked healthy and was doing well. We couldn't be happier.

Some more pictures of Evan!

My first picture! I'm only 20 minutes old. Dr. Deck just handed me over to daddy. Mommy was downstairs getting fixed up so I had to wait a while to see her.

My first bath - 15 hours old! Mommy was a little woozy, so the nurse did it instead. And I didn't like it very much.

I love my fist! Now mom knows why I had the hiccups all the time in her tummy... (Saturday)

I like to power lounge with my arms above my head. (Saturday)

Me and mom - Day One, 12 hours old (Saturday morning.) She looks a lot better in this picture than she did the night before...

Grandma Novek and me - 2 days old and my first day home!

Daddy and me - 2 Days old (my first day home.) I like to pull out his chest hair! Daddy lets me 'cuz I'm cute.

Sound Asleep - 3 Days Old

Power Lounging - 4 days old

EVAN JEREMY NELSON has arrived!

He arrived at 9:05 pm on Friday, July 27th, 2007.

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We have lots of pictures but will have to post them later. Evan is hungry and mommy has to go!

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Here is a video of the night Evan was born. Don't worry - all the footage is of Evan AFTER the delivery. Thank Grandma Novek for the video and the great commentary from her and Grandma Irvin!

The Birth Story:

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It was quite an ordeal for both mom and baby (and Daddy!) If you want the grisly details give me a call. As for the long and short of it, I labored at home with Jeremy for the most part and went into the clinic to get checked out on Friday at 3:30 pm to "see what was going on." When we got there I was dilated to 7 cm so they wheeled me upstairs and gave me a room. The grandmas arrived a short time later and we walked the hallways for an hour or so.

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By 8:30 pm or so when Dr. Gruenwald checked me again I was only at an 8.5 with contractions 3 minutes apart so she decided that my water needed to be broken. Well, apparently breaking my water did the trick because within 10 minutes I had gone from a calm 8.5 with tolerable contractions to a screaming mad woman who was yelling "I want an epidural, I want an epidural!" Apparently the anesthesiologist was out to lunch, because she didn't answer any of the pages from the doctor. She arrived about 15 minutes later and by then Dr. Gruenwald checked me and said "Nope, no epidural. You're already at 10cm and YOU NEED TO PUSH!"

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So, we pushed. After about five minutes the hustle in the room got really confusing and all I could hear them say (I was in a lot of pain and had my eyes shut throughout this entire process...) was something about the "cord being wrapped around his neck" and about "losing the baby's heartbeat" and "We've got ten minutes to get this baby out!" At this time I was told that they were rushing me downstairs for an emergency C-section. The doctor told Jeremy he needed to stay upstairs which really freaked me out! I pretty much lost it at this point. They had me push the entire time down there (which was probably a two minute elevator ride, tops, but it felt like forever) and all I could keep thinking is "Why are you having me push if his cord is wrapped and I'm getting a C-section?" When we got downstairs the room wasn't ready, and I think my screaming scared everyone because the nurses were all tripping over each other. Someone stepped on my IV and it came out of my hand and all I could hear was "Where's Carol?" "Where's the scalpel?" and "Hurry up!" (VERY SCARY.) But then I heard "Emily, the baby's heart rate is back up and we need you to push." And then I heard Jeremy's voice and opened my eyes. He wasn't allowed to be "close to the action" but it made me feel much better to see that he was there.

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After five or so more pushes and a trip through the "Ring of Fire" (that one's for you, Staci!) baby Evan came into the world and cried his little heart out! I was so happy to hear him cry! After all of the hustle and bustle he still managed an Apgar of 8 or 9. They checked him out, brought him over to me (so wonderful) and then gave him to his Dad to bring upstairs while I got stitched up. It was painful but so, so worth it. I think we'll have ten more...just kidding! We are just so happy that he is finally here! We couldn't be prouder new parents. Welcome to the world, Evan! P.S. A big "thank you" to Jeremy, Mr. New Dad, for being so great throughout the stressful birth process! We are both so relived that it is over and Evan came out healthy and happy! And as a side note I am SO glad he is home with us for two weeks. He is a big help and Evan loves his "daddy time." He's got that special "bounce-and-pat" walk that Evan seems to love!