Tuesday, June 26, 2007 5:35 PM - peril's of hose exposure

From: Jacqué Evans
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 5:35 PM
To: Mitchum, Cathy
Subject: RE: Wow's of boy babyhood

poor Izaak... TWICE today he has managed to pee in his own face!
once because we were letting him nap w/ no diaper (one under him and one over him)
to give him "some air" and he kicked his blanket and the covering diaper off and
peed over his own head and showered our shelf of clean clothes... then just now i
imprudently left his little penis uncovered during diaper change and he scored a
direct hit in his own face, including his mouth!!

Monday, June 25, 2007 12:06 PM

From: Jacqué" Evans [mailto:jhodge633@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 12:06 PM
To: Mitchum, Cathy
Subject: Re: How is izaak today?

Izaak is good :) He's starting to pudge up :D he surpassed his "birth weight" yesterday... we weighed him on our shipping scale and he weighed 8 lbs and 1.6 oz. Woot! Yay Izaak!

I am good (went for my "2 week post-partum" - just tad little early) and the midwife says come back in a month for a comprehensive physical and to discuss birth control. My blood pressure is still high and the midwife (we really like her and her attitude/philosophy) wants me to see an actual physician to get checked out for that... even though I never had hypertension before, sometimes stress of pregnancy can throw someone into that category (as a permanent condition), or it could still resolve itself, but she'd like to see me get checked out by a "real" doctor none-the-less.

We need to find a pediatrician/family practitioner for Izaak/me/us. We'd really like to find someone who is at least open if not encouraging of natural healing methods.

Alex just left for work... we miss him already. I don't know if you had time/inclination to read that long email I sent to everyone, but boy I am glad you never got around to doing the solo-spermsicle thing... it is veeery consuming and exhausting taking care of a newborn... no one thing is very difficult but you add them all together and you factor in the sleep deprivation... I know we'll be fine and Alex is only going to be gone for about 5 hours, but knowing I am "on my own" for any/all baby activities (even just being able to go to the bathroom and not worry that he's laying there crying and I can't do anything about it until I get back - whereas before Alex would have gone and picked him up, now he'll just have to cry - not the end of the world I know, but still... *shrugs*)

I haven't driven him anywhere yet, everywhere we have gone Alex has driven and I have ridden in the back seat with Izaak (to adjust his sun shade coverage or "give him the finger" - let him comfort suck on a finger if he gets cranky) - Its funny, but after we talked about it the other day, I got into the front seat with Alex and about 6 blocks later he asked me what I was doing? and that he really thought it was probably best if I got back into the back seat... we did a "Chinese fire drill" (why are they called that?) at the next light and I jumped back into the back seat again... I feel like Alex is a better (more attentive/careful/safe) driver than I am and I am nervous about taking our maiden voyage... though I know I will just have to suck it up and get over that!

Any word from the part time position lady?

How are you feeling?

I know I have told you how all through my pregnancy I was paranoid that something would go wrong and every little mile stone we made was a huge relief and that every little twinge made me worry all over again...

I think the "original sin" boiled down to humanity not trusting God and figuring they could get along without him... and this is is the essence of every sinful thought/word/deed throughout the history of mankind... it is really Satan's only "playing card"... Anything he can do to widen that gap between complete trust and faith in God and our own human nature to "do it our ownselves" (to quote 2 yr old Patrick Harrington) he will try to employ... including whispering words of doubt and paranoia in our ears.

I can't even begin to enumerate the times during my pregnancy (and who are we kidding, even moreso now that he's out!) that I prayed some variation of the following:
"Heavenly Father, protect me from the lies and deceit of the enemy, I ask that you set a hedge of protection around me, my ears, my heart, and my body. I believe in your promises Lord, help me in my areas of unbelief"
(Mark 9:24 Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "[Lord] I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!")
and also
"Satan I cast you out, by the blood of Jesus Christ you are powerless over me, I will not listen to your lies and you cannot steal/kill/destroy the blessings that My God has for me."
(John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; [Jesus came] that we may have life, and have it to the full.)

... not sure how this email derailed into a sermon, but I hope that you can get some relief from your worries and some confidence in God's grace, provision and absolute unfailing love...
(Rom 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.)

The Evans family has expanded! (sent Sat Jun 23 14:38:23 2007 to just about anyone we could think of)

Presenting Izaak Calvin Evans
(seen here at a whopping 12 hours old!!!)

Alex and I are so excited to present to you our newest family member, Izaak (German spelling and means laughter) Calvin (after Calvin & Hobbes cartoon) Evans ('cause we couldn't come up with anything more original than using our own last name).

He was born at 8:04 pm on Saturday June 16th. He was ALMost a true Father's Day gift for Alex, although the proud papa says he absolutely considers his son THE BEST Father's Day gift he could ever get! (which worked out well for me in that I hadn't yet gotten a suitable gift figured out for the "Father to be" - and now he considers himself gifted :D)

Izaak was 8lbs exactly (well, Alex says "not exactly", he was 8.008 lbs, but close enough I say LOL) and 21 inches long when they measured him 24hrs after his arrival (he had quite the little cone-head when he came out, so I think he must have been even longer than that at the outset! LOL; but we think he's perfect just as he was/is/will be). He joined us after a veeerry long process (from 11am Thursday to 2:30pm Monday) which didn't go quite exactly as we had been "planning" for months, but the stellar conclusion of the whole experience is that Izaak is healthy, happy, home and part of our family now, which was the only really important agenda item in "the plan".

I know they sound like "setbacks" or gruesome horror stories, (inductions/ exhaustion/ epidurals/ marathon pushing/ etc.), but God was so with us all the time and we just feel so blessed by the whole experience. We feel like we made good decisions from the choices which were available to us, we didn't rush into anything, but we were careful to take care of both Izaak and my health. Besides which Izaak and I had a crackerjack birthing team to help us out! Words just can't express how much support Alex was during the whole process, both physically (helping ease my discomforts), but also emotionally, he was my advocate and my hero; remembering his support at such a strenuous time still brings tears to my eyes, from moment one I just really knew that he was our protector and champion; Izaak and I are truly blessed! Besides God and my husband there was also an invaluable trio of ladies helping on all sides to make things easier for all of us. Valerie was our doula and she was just wonderful (she's been working with Karen Wells and I would highly recommend her!). Also, my best friend Cathy had flown in from Ohio (hoping against hope that her visit might encompass the birth, which it turns out it did). In addition, the fact that we were in the hospital so long (God is GOOD) also made it possible for my mother to drive in from Idaho and be there in time for the birth. The Midwives and nurses who were attending us (before/during and after the birth) were just great (and we got to know a bunch of them pretty well given how long we were there!)

The Babushka (we're trying to get used to calling her this as it is what my mom wants to known as) has also been here this week helping us out in so many innumerable ways (making meals, running errands, doing laundry, watching Izaak so Alex and I can catch some mid-day shuteye, etc.) all of which has been SUCH a blessing allowing Alex and I time to really try to get our head wrapped around this new life we have with a baby! We were very sorry to see her leave this morning, but she needed to get back home to take care of some work issues.

We're on our own now! Who's bright idea was that???? LOL

Izaak and I are working very hard on figuring out this whole new process of eating, which neither one of us really knows anything about but we seem to be getting the hang of slowly. It was an interesting realization to understand that while we big people eat when we are hungry, that baby didn't have any actual association between the feeling of a need in his belly and then that nursing is the "cure" for that discomfort. But as I say, we are getting it slowly but surely. He does sleep a lot (during the day of course), so I am still watching the clock like a neurotic person to make sure he is getting waked up and fed every 2-3 hours. We have already had one consult with the lactation consultant, and are going for another one this afternoon (please pray that he is getting enough in him during his many snacking sessions, gaining weight and satisfying their concerns; we are certainly working very hard at it!). Nursing is just not as easy as intuition would make it seem. I guess it is a learning process and we're figuring it out, God willing...

Alex is staying home from work this week on paid paternity leave (a very gracious and generous surprise from his boss) and we are so enjoying this time of family bonding. I'm not sure how much good he would be at work anyway given the lack of sleep we have been "enjoying"... Man I just send an extra prayer of blessing to any single parents out there, I simply can't imagine doing this on my own. We're only able to get any sleep at all because we tag-team naps. The nursing by itself feels like a full time job and Alex is soooo supportive and helpful... he will get me something to drink or help with pillow adjustments, even holds his little hands out of the way so we can get "latched" properly and helps me in what feels like the continual efforts to trick Izaak out of sleeping through his meals! And those huge things are so minimal when compared to just having the continual comfort and support of someone who loves you and loves your baby unconditionally.

I know it is silly, but I really did think that the whole "sleepless nights" rumor about newborns was just a euphemism for "not as much sleep as we'd like"... but no... the keyword is "sleepless"... Izaak is just a bit confused about the difference between daytime and nighttime and wants to sleep all day and party all night (Alex thinks he's just going to be a night-owl like his dad, but our Natureopath says that it is completely normal since for the last 9 months he's been rocked to sleep all day by my movements and left to his own devices all night while I slept). Last night was the "best" one yet, I actually got 3 separate 45-60 minute naps in and I think Alex got just a little bit more than that... It may take a while yet, but it does feel encouraging that we are moving in the right direction sleep-wise, and we are being much more successful in discerning his needs/desires so are able to comfort him better when he just doesn't know what to do with himself (he seems to want to sleep, but then wakes up immediately and is hopping mad about it)

I wanted to send this email out right away, but having a newborn around is pretty "all consuming"! I also wanted to get some pictures posted (he really is just the most beautiful baby EVER!) but needed to wait until we got downloads from the various sources. Anyway, sorry it has taken so long, but we did want to give him a big introduction and have posted some of the many (200+ edited for size and content) pictures taken of baby Izaak in his first few moments and days of life on the free Google picture hosting site Picasa (very happy with their service so far):

http://picasaweb.google.com/ajaxtreehouse/BabyIzaak?authkey=KjkOUXEYA6A

Anyway, this has turned into a bit of a book and if I don't send it off soon it will become a tome!
Thank you all so much for your many and continued prayers and well wishes.

Alex, Jacqué & Izaak Evans

Thursday, June 21, 2007 10:02 AM

From: Jacqué" Evans
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2007 10:02 AM
To: Mitchum, Cathy
Subject: Re: How is the Evans family today?

good
tired (someday maybe that wont be the default answer)
last night was our best night yet, but still predominantly sleepless

we both (young mr evans and myself) have appointments this afternoon, scheduled back to back to back from 1:40 to 5:00 - we were hoping to be able to get some extra sleep this morning, Babushka is spending some bonding time w/Izaak (though not sure what the "quality" level of it is as little mr man is sleeping - 'cause the sun is UP you know!)

Tuesday, June 19, 2007 1:21 PM - 3 days old

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From: Jacqué" Evans [mailto:jhodge633@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 1:21 PM
To: Mitchum, Cathy
Subject: Re: How do you feel? How did baby sleep last night?

It wasn't what I'd call "good", but it was much much much better than Sunday night which was BAD.

The traitorous wretched little beetle is sleeping... well, "like a baby" right this minute... IN HIS BASSINET! Why the HELL wouldn't he do that 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 hours ago?????

Different parts are feeling better/worse... the whole re-constructive area is feeling much better, but my whole body feels like I majorly over worked everything... just general achy-ness (back, shoulders, ribs, legs, neck/throat, etc.). I'm alternating advil and tylenol and all that is doing pretty well... The tiredness? ack! We actually both were able to get small intermittent doses of sleep last night (part of the sooo much better night we had). He just doesn't want to sleep in the night time (I think his circadian rhythm is backwards), so in between nursing sessions we tag teamed it holding/comforting/rocking/consoling him while the other one slept

I am feeling better about the whole nursing/latching thing. He is getting better at latching on to both sides , though it is a bit disconcerting to have your child losing weight from the moment he comes out until your milk "comes in".

Archive -ish (snippets and tidbits from various Izaak-centric emails)

Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 3:37 PM
To: Mitchum, Cathy
Subject: Re: How are you, Izaak, Alex?

good good
Izaak slept 3 whole hours in his bassinet last night! Woot!
Alex and I are still tired, but seem to be coming back to awareness of the world around us...


Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 2:25 PM
To: Cathy Mitchum

I'm good, tired, Izaak didn't sleep quite as well last night as he did the previous
night. still feel like we're moving in the right direction, but its an up/down
progress.


Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2007 7:23 PM
To: Melanie Bromley

Izaak is perfect, i am just in awe of him... how he got so beautiful (newborns are never cute!) he is just so sweet, even when he is crying...
and since he is giving every indication of being soundly asleep i am going to sneak in some zzz's myself!

First Tooth!

Woot!
Baby boy is getting his first tooth! We didn't even think that he was "teething"!
Night before last he was just a restless wriggley worm who kept waking and kicking (mostly Mom) and fussing and then going back to sleep again... we didn't think much of it, just figured it was an aberration. But last night he was gnawing on my knuckle and I felt something sharp! Sure enough, on the lower left middle he's got those tiny bumpy teeth nubs poking through his gums. Guess that explains the fussy night, and last night was even worse... sometimes only 30 minutes before waking and fussing and trowing himself about (very comical dramatic body flop/head turn/ back of wrist on forehead ... the whole bit :D) We felt very bad for him :(
Surprisingly yesterday was pretty fuss-free (we'll see how today goes), I guess it bothers him more at night???
I'm going to surf around the internet today and see what wisdom I can glean for easing his discomfort... we have some baby Tylenol, maybe get some baby Ambesol (or however it's spelled)... and find out how long this whole thing will last!