Evie Marelle

People say that a son is your heart and a daughter is your soul. It sounds a little silly, but it really has seemed to hold true for me as I have transisted into being a mother of 2 precious children. I just cannot stop singing praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. This is just all too overwhelmingly good for me to process right now.

Lamentations 3:21-24

But this I call to mind and therefore, I have hope. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore, I will hope in him.

I have been praying through this verse as I relearn how to remain alert at 3 AM and choose to truly enjoy that time with Evie as a sweet gift for just the two of us. It has been really nice to have some time set aside for me to really get to know her considering I now am learning to love on two little people during the day. I was nervous about not holding Evie as much as I did David, that she would be in her swing all day long and whatnot. However, the Lord has been really good and has been really merciful with me. So far, we have had two hard nights that were a result of supplementing formula--the poor girl needed to be on some hypoallergenic formula and we had to learn the hard way. Since we have figured out her little system, she has done so well at night--sleeping 3 hours between feedings and going right down after being nursed. We have had a bit of jaundice and have been followed carefully to make sure it did not go to a level where phototherapy was going to be required. Thankfully, her levels are coming down and we no longer need to supplement her feedings--one less step in the whole process now!

David has seriously surprised us. He is such a joy and continues to exhibit such a pleasant demeanor as he learns where Evie fits in around here. He has yet to perceive her as a threat, though I am sure that will come with time. So far, he just loves to swing her, hold her, give her a paci, and watch me change her diaper. I am just trying to really give him some individualized time between feedings whether it is reading or "cooking" or snuggling while we watch a movie. I was worried his feelings would be hurt because I cannot carry him around (I had a c-section), but he has handled it well and likes to sit in my lap and just get hugs.

Thank you all for praying on our behalf. The transition home started a bit rocky--we had some temperature issues when trying to discharge and had to delay coming home a few hours. I was an emotional wreck over the possibility of having to leave her in the NICU. Thankfully, our wonderful nurse did everything possible to help get her warmed up and as soon as Evie showed she could maintain her temp--we were on our way. However, my heightened emotions made for a rocky first 2 days at home. The Lord was so kind to allow our coming day to fall on a Friday. I NEEDED Grant this weekend. I just remember feeling so overwhelmed by being home and just kept wishing I could go back to the hospital where my days consisted of snuggling Evie and visiting with friends and family. Thankfully, I started to feel settled in Saturday evening and things have been really smooth (despite some sleep deprivation).

I guess that is enough for now--more pictures to come I am sure!!