Welcome Ethan!

Welcoming with love the newest member of our family, Ethan Mark. He was born Saturday April 11 at 8:32 pm, weighing 7 lb 6 oz. We already can't imagine our lives without this sweet baby!

Ethan's Birth Story:

Saturday afternoon: After a month of occasional pre-term contractions, I passed the 37 week mark and now the contractions are coming more regularly. When they became closer than 10 minutes apart, I called the doctor and he sent me to the hospital - STAT!

Thank goodness we had just finished getting things ready for the baby at home. We quickly packed the kids bags and Mom and Dad came to pick them up. They were thrilled about getting to spend the night with Grandma and Papa! Hannah kissed my belly goodbye one last time and said, "See you soon Baby!"

Our last picture as a family of four:

Mark and I arrived at Northside hospital and got checked in. Our minds were racing but we were feeling peaceful. It helped that we have been through this before and knew what to expect. Secretly I wondered if I was just imagining this was really finally happening and hoped they wouldn't send me back home.

No mistake! I was very much in labor. When they hooked me up to the monitors, we could see the contractions were now 3-5 minutes apart and I was quickly dilating. They prepped me for the surgery and the on-call doctor came in for my delivery (my OB was unfortunately unavailable). Everyone was in good spirits and we had fun joking around with the nurses and doctors.

The c-section went relatively smoothly all considering. Unfortunately, as sometimes happens with repeat c-sections, connective tissue had fused my bladder to my uterus in a higher-than-normal position. When they began the operation, they accidentally cut into my bladder. This complicates my recovery a little bit, but it should heal just fine with time.

Additionally, the doctor said that my uterus wall was very thin, meaning that I was at risk for uterine rupture. Uterine rupture is extremely serious for the mother and fatal more than 50% of the time for the baby. We thank God that He kept us safe from this especially since I labored before the delivery. The bad news is that I am at even greater risk for uterine rupture with a subsequent pregnancy, no matter how long we wait or how well I heal. For this reason the doctor said that I should absolutely not have any more pregnancies. We felt pretty sure that this would be my last pregnancy before receiving this news, but I mourned the finality of it. At the same time, a huge peace has washed over us as we celebrate that our family is now complete and that God has blessed us so richly with three healthy children.

8:32 pm: Baby is born. Sweet joy! He had a little trouble breathing at first so after a quick cuddle, we had to send him off to the transition nursery for 6 hours of observation.

11:00 pm Mom came to the hospital to meet Baby. What an amazing lady - she had already fed Hannah and Adam, served in the evening services at church, and put the kids to bed. 

Mom and Mark get a sneak peak of Baby in the Transition Nursery while I am in the Post-Op Recovery room.

Baby is breathing well and doing great. They transfered him up to the nursery on our floor and eventually he got to come to our room. Holding him is one of the most wonderful things in the world.

Easter Morning: After our long night, we get a teeny tiny bit of sleep. We've been trying out our name finalists on the baby and now we know the one that fits him uniquely and perfectly: Ethan Mark. We rejoice in our risen Lord and in our sweet baby Ethan!

Mom and Dad bring the kids to meet Ethan before going to church. Hannah couldn't be any prouder of her new brother!

She is a fantastic big sister. She waits patiently to hold Ethan and then talks softly to him. Ethan already knows each member of our family by their voice. As he opened his eyes, he studied Hannah's face intently.

Adam meets Ethan. He squeals with delight and reaches out for Ethan very gently.

 He loves babies! 

We are now a family of five!