Everett Luke Lamens
March 20, 2016
9 lbs, 2 oz.
21.5 inches
Meaning of his name:
Everett - he is named after Cody's grandfather on his dad's side, which is also Cody's middle name. Everett means "brave and strong".
Luke - Biblical in origin, Luke means "light giving"
I'm finally getting around to blogging! I have a feeling Everett may not get the documentation the girls got. I have a hard time picking up the computer when there's a sweet, snuggly little baby that wants to nap on my chest. Maybe because I know he's our last baby, I want to soak up every minute of snuggles...I know they don't last long.
I love having each of my babies birth stories documented in our blog books and I love how different each of their stories are. Although Everett arrived when any of us least expected it, his timing was perfect and I wouldn't have changed a thing. His c-section was originally scheduled for Wednesday, March 23, in which he would have been 39 weeks, 2 days gestational age. The c-section was scheduled based on the fact that I have extra large babies, and we wanted to avoid a VBAC possibly ending in an emergency c-section. My mom was set to arrive from California on Sunday, March 20 with the thought that she would be with us for a few days before baby was born, help with the girls' routine for a few days, figure out where preschool drop off and pick up was, etc. But I had told everyone all along, that as long as my mom was here, baby could arrive whenever he was ready! On Sunday, Ella and I went to the airport to pick up my mom at 11am. On our way home, we went by the downtown Seattle Nordstrom to pick up a new stroller and had lunch at the Nordstrom cafe. We then stopped at Fred Meyer to pick up groceries before heading home. As we we were walking into the house from the garage around 2:30pm, I felt a small "gush" which I hadn't felt before, went to the bathroom, and felt a bit more of the same feeling. I kept trying to convince myself that there was no way my water was breaking because that's not what my body had done with my previous pregnancies. I called the hospital and they told me to come in within a half hour and to bring our hospital bags just in case. Cody and I both had a "just in case" bag packed, so we threw in a few last minute items, said a quick good-bye to the girls and my mom and headed to the hospital. Once we arrived at Evergreen, they checked me in at the triage area and after a quick check, confirmed that my water did break. It then set in that we would be having baby within a few hours!
They originally wanted to wait until 8pm as I had eaten lunch around noon and they like to have 6-8 hours with no food in your system before surgery. But my contractions started picking up and became increasingly painful. They were happening about every 15-20 minutes when we first got to the hospital, and then quickly started coming every 3-4 minutes. They didn't want me to wait until 8pm because of the pain I was in, so before we knew it, they were prepping me for the c-section and we were walking into the OR by 5pm. Since it was a Sunday, I figured a random on-call doctor would be doing the c-section, but my OB, Dr. Russell, happened to be on call that day and she was at the hospital within an hour of us being checked in. The surgery prep and everything happened so quickly that I really didn't have a chance to get nervous beforehand. With Lucy's c-section, I was shaking uncontrollably the 2 hours beforehand. Maybe because I had been through a c-section before, but this time around I felt much more calm and didn't start shaking until I got the spinal on the operating room table. The surgery happened so quick, and my doctor did an amazing job delivering our healthy baby boy, and getting me sewn back together quickly. They actually pulled down a window of the sheet covering the surgery area when Everett was being pulled out, so both Cody and I got to see him within seconds of his birth (at 5:45pm). He came out with a healthy scream and was fluffed for a few seconds before Cody got to hold him. I love that they let me do skin-to-skin in the OR while I was being put back together. We were then taken to the recovery room with our sweet boy and had a two night stay before heading home. Even though Everett's arrival didn't go as I had planned and expected, I wouldn't have changed a thing. God's timing is so good - everything from my mom being here just in time, to my doctor being on call, to my water breaking showing that Everett was ready, made me feel so at ease and that God's plan was so much better than my plan.
Everett got to meet his big sisters and grandma about an hour after he was born!
Special visitors the next day: Uncle Beau, Grammy and Grampy...
Getting to meet Rebekah in the hospital...
After 2 nights in the hospital, we were more than ready to get home...
Lots of pictures and sweet little memories I want to save from his first 2 weeks or so...
Grandpa flew up from California on Wednesday (the day Everett was supposed to be born!) to meet his grandson...
Meeting Uncle Tom...
And great grandma and grandpa...
First sink bath - of course the girls wanted to help with everything!
First trip to Target!
Everett was loved on and got to meet lots of special friends...
My sweet parents were so nice to help out with so much the first few days, including making the girls feel very loved - my mom took Ella on a special date to get tea (or hot chocolate!) and my dad took Lucy on a lunch date and to get ice cream...
First outing with three kids in the car!
Lucy reading to Everett (in the basket)...
Even though I wasn't up and getting around much the first few days, I wanted to take advantage of time with Cody off work. While in the hospital, Everett gave the girls gift cards to the American Girl store, so we took the girls on a special outing to the store - they both got to choose new outfits for their dolls and Ella got her doll's hair styled...
Ella was so proud to introduce her classmates to her brother at preschool pickup...
So thankful this sweet boy joined our family! I can't imagine our lives without him!
