"A new baby is like the beginning of all things - wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities."

Well as most of you already know, little Evelyn arrived on Thursday October 8th at 1:48pm, 7 lbs 5 oz, 19.5 inches long. Overall the labor went pretty well, as much as can be expected from being in labor anyway, Mark was amazingly great through it all, I'm so glad I had him! Mom was there too but she just kinda hung out in the corner but that's alright. :) I'm super glad she's here!

(getting to the hospital)

(such lovely attire!)

Boy was I ever relieved when she came out though! She is amazingly wonderful and beautiful and we just love her to bits! She was quite the crier when she came out and when she finally got back to me she was grunting which they said was a sign of breathing problems so they took her up to the nursery where she seemed to perk up but then went pale so they took her up to NICU to be cautious and she's been in there ever since!
(7 lbs 5 oz)

(look at that mouth! I love this pic!)

(first time holding his girl)

(I couldn't believe I was holding my baby!)

(Grammy and Evelyn)

Things just kept going wrong though so they've kept her there. She was breathing too quickly so they had her on oxygen and now a ventilator to keep her on track, then she had low glucose (it's fine now), hazy lungs (on the x-ray, which is clearing up nicely), low blood pressure (that's getting better), and now they think the overall problem to cause all of this is an infection. So right now she's on antibiotics and is expected to stay in the NICU for 7 days. So right now she's very stable, she just needs to get to the turn around point and bounce back to good health!

She's a tough little cookie though and SO CUTE! She's got nice big eyes (her daddy's), a cute little nose, a nice big mouth, LONG fingers and feet, and adorable little round ears. All of the nurses that have dealt with her have mentioned how feisty she is, and she is! I've been spending as much time as I can up there with her and so has Mark. He's been smitten with her from the very first hour, I told him he would but he didn't quite believe me but it happened. :) He's so cute with her! We're both just wanting to hold her right now but can't until she gets off the ventilator, which hopefully should be soon. They are weaning her off of it and she's responding well, yay!

Anyway, I just got home an hour or so ago and we're going to go back tonight to see her. Then we're going to go out to eat with Whit and Richie. So here's some more pics of my beautiful baby. We do want to thank you for all your thoughts and prayers! We really appreciate it and know they are helping! She's really doing good and should recover quickly and hopefully without too much further trouble :)

(Thursday night, the proud papa!)

(Friday morning)

(Friday night)

(Saturday afternoon)

(Look at those long fingers! So dainty!)