*I'm going to preface this post with a couple of things. 1) Some of this post will be repetitive from previous entries, but I want to have it all in one post to make it easier to go back and use to make a photo book later. 2) I LOVE LOVE LOVE looking at my kids when they're sleeping, so there are tons of sleeping Evie pictures. Then again, though, that's pretty much all they do in these early weeks. :) 3) Because we were at the hospital for such a short time before Evie arrived, we didn't have time to bring our camera in from the car, so all the pictures we have immediately after Evie was born were taken with Ryan's phone. You may, therefore, notice those pictures are somewhat blurry. Anyway, on to the post...
Evangeline (pronounced Evangelynn) “Evie” Grace Bishop
Your daddy and I chose your name around Thanksgiving 2010. We were only a couple months pregnant at that time, but we were both convinced that you were a girl. Evangeline means "good news, gospel or messenger of good news" and we pray that you will one day be a bearer of the good news of Jesus Christ! We have always loved the name "Grace" and pray that it will one day, Lord willing, serve as a reminder of God's grace in your life. We have been saved from so much, and we pray that your name will be indicative of the life you will live.
You were born on Friday, June 24 at 2:08 am and weighed 8 lbs 0 oz, were 21” long and your head was 14" around. From what I've seen online, that put you around the 70th percentile for weight, the 93rd percentile for height and the 70th percentile for head circumference. You arrived 3 days past your due date. I actually went into labor after scheduling an induction appointment at my checkup earlier that day. I'm so thankful you decided to come on your own! On Thursday, I woke up having contractions that continued throughout the day. They were somewhat regular, but not very strong. When I went in for my weekly prenatal checkup at 5 that afternoon, Dr. Cawley said I was dilated to a fingertip and my cervix was still thick and posterior. I was discouraged and was feeling like we were never going to meet you. I told Dr. Cawley, though, that I figured we would see him again over the weekend, if not the next day.
Sure enough, around 10:30 or 11 on Thursday night, my contractions started getting stronger and more regular. They started out about 8-10 minutes apart but then went to 3-5 minutes apart. At that point, your daddy started loading up the car. (Your daddy, by the way, did such an amazing job taking care of me and getting everything together so we could go!) Anyway, we had been hanging out at home figuring I had quite awhile before you would come since I hadn't dilated just a few hours earlier. However, my contractions quickly went from 3-5 minutes apart to 1-3 minutes apart. We scrambled to wake up your sleeping brother and drop him off at a friend's house, and then it was off to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 1:30am, and you were born 38 minutes later!
Thankfully we live in a small town because we (and Dr. Cawley) barely made it as it was. The anesthesiologist didn't get to the hospital until after you were born, so I'm thankful my labor and pushing were so short! I needed to have an antibiotic administered through an IV to protect you as I delivered you, and the last of my antibiotic finished just as you came out. It was such a stressful situation because I felt panicked that we wouldn't finish the antibiotic on time and that Dr. Cawley wouldn't make it. I vividly remember telling the nurse (in a panicked way), "She's coming...I need to push!" (I found out after the fact that the nurses didn't really think I was in labor when I arrived at the hospital because I was still fairly calm. I don't know if that affected anything, but it sure didn't feel like things around me were moving fast enough. When we arrived at the hospital, I was dilated to a 6, then 5 minutes later I was an 8 and then 5 minutes later I was a 10. I was progressing so fast, and yet they kept telling me not to push. Praise the Lord that Dr. Cawley made it just in time because you came out after only 2 pushes! You were so beautiful and healthy! I believe your APGAR scores were a 9 and a 10.
Sweet Evie, I can't believe it's already been a month since you entered this world! You have been such a joy and such an easy baby, just like your big brother was. You are a great eater and have been gaining weight quickly. When we left the hospital, you weighed 7 lb 12 oz, having only lost 4 ounces from your birth weight. When we went in for your 2 week checkup 1.5 weeks later, you had already gained 1.5 lbs from when we left the hospital. At that checkup, you weighed 9 lb 4 oz and were 21.5" long, which put you in the 81st percentile for weight and 88th percentile for height. Dr. Reed doesn't do a well checkup between 2 weeks and 2 months of age, so I weighed you on our scale at home on your 1 month birthday, and you were 10.8 lbs (assuming our scale is fairly accurate). When I looked online, that weight puts you in about the 75th percentile.
There were a few nights when we first got home from the hospital that I would sleep on the couch with you in my arms for a couple of hours between the middle of the night feedings. You seemed to just want to be held for those couple of hours, but you've done exceptionally well sleeping ever since then. I had been setting an alarm at night to wake you after 4-5 hours, but once we heard you were gaining weight just fine, I started setting my alarm for 6 hours after the start of your last evening feeding. Ever since then, you've been going 5-6 hours between feedings at night and even started going 7 hours the night before you turned one month. What a blessing it is that you're such a great sleeper too!
We usually have you sleep on your tummy (propped up on a small tummy time pillow) during the day and then swaddle you on your back at night. We were able to use receiving blankets to swaddle you for the first 1-2 weeks, but after that, you got too strong and we switched you over to your SwaddleMe blanket (a velcro swaddle blanket).
You're a content little girl and usually only fuss when you're hungry or if you need to burp. You developed baby acne at around 2.5 weeks, which had gotten pretty bad but seems like it's maybe starting to clear up now.
You wore Newborn diapers and clothes for your first month, but I'm sure you'll move up a size in both during this next month.
You don't seem huge on your pacifier unless it's time to eat and I'm not able to feed you right away, and even then, you'll only keep it in your mouth for a little bit.
Evie, you're just like Caleb in so many ways--looks, eating, sleeping, your apathy toward a pacifier...however, you, unlike your brother at your age, seem to really enjoy your baths. You cried during your first bath at home and then proceeded to go to the bathroom all over your towel afterward (like Caleb did). Ever since then, though, you've just sat there and not fussed.
You've begun to make more noises when you're awake, and we've gotten glimpses of your "sleep smiles." We're eager to hopefully see some real smiles and hear lots more fun noises next month!
We all love you so much...especially your big brother. He often wants to hold you so I can take y'all's picture, kiss you, attempt to carry you and will usually ask about you when we wakes up. He calls you, "Ebie" at this point and just the other night as we were talking, he said, "Ebie. Pitty (pretty)." So sweet! I can't wait to see the two of you interact more as you get older.
Sweet Evie, you are an absolute joy! We love you and can't wait to see what next month holds for you!!
(Click
here to see more pictures of Evie's first month.)
You started going 8+ hours between feedings at night at 5.5 weeks. At this point, you typically eat around 8:30 am, 11 am, 2 pm, 5 pm, 8 pm and 11 pm. Your daddy (and Caleb) tried giving you your first bottle this month, but you weren't having it. You didn't fuss, but you also didn't want anything to do with that bottle...hopefully we'll conquer that challenge soon.
You make me laugh with your Stevie Wonder act. That may sound bizarre, but when I'm holding you against my shoulder, you'll often move your head back and forth against my shoulder like Stevie Wonder. You'll even lead with the top of your head and drag your chin like he does. You will sometimes do this back and forth for 1-2 minutes.
You started smiling on your 6 week birthday. You are a very happy baby and are typically the most smiley after your first morning feeding. I usually don't have to work hard to get you to smile--I usually just say, "Hi, Evie," and a huge grin comes across your face. I often intentionally try not to look at you when I'm feeding you because sometimes when I do look down at you, you'll stop eating just so you can smile at me.
Something I realized recently is that through your smiles and the joy in your eyes when you look at me, I can tell you love me. It warms my heart so much to watch you smiling and cooing at me. What a precious girl you are, Evie!
