NOAH HAS ARRIVED!!!

Noah is here! On Thursday morning, at about 1:00, Wendy woke up with some pretty good contractions. We were a bit sceptical since our false alarm about 2 weeks ago (see previous posts), so we waited for about 3 contractions, each about 5 minutes apart. It seemed like this was the real deal, so we took off for the hospital. By the time we got there, got admitted, etc. It must have been about 2:00 am. The doctor got there a bit later and said there was no time for an epidural . . . the baby is coming right now. I will skip the details, except to say that it is diefferent without an epidural, and I have the bite marks on my hand to prove it. Noah was born after about 40 minutes of pushing at 3:38 am on Thursday March 26. This picture was taken within 5 minutes of Noah being born.

Noah weighed in at a healthy 8lbs 6oz, thats 1 lb 10 oz heavier than Caleb, and 2 lb 3 oz heavier than Ryan. It must be the Evans cranium giving him all the weight, because he doesn't look that heavy. Wendy said, "If I had to choose to not have an epidural, I definitely would not have chosen to do it with this one." We were happy to get past all the delivery and get to enjoy our new baby.

Noah's length was 19 inches. Since he was in the breech position for a while, his legs like to be rotated up. This picture isn't so bad, but sometimes he looks like when you take a barbi doll and turn its legs up to its chest.

You thought that it was just on tv that women look this good right after giving birth! This is about 20 minutes or so after Noah was born.

So far Noah is very quiet. He wimpers every once in a while and cried right after being born, but that is just about it. He opens his eyes some, but pretty much sleeps all the time.

People around here are pretty hard-core about their Oregon State Beavers. To help ensure that babies grow up Beavers fans, the hospital puts an orange Beaver beanie on them right after they are born. Noah is the first native born Oregonian in the family.

Gramma has been staying with us for a few weeks, helping out and waiting for Noah's arrival. Late Thursday morning, she brought the boys over to meet their new little brother.

Ryan was very interested in the details of what he is capable of, what he eats, what his poop is like, etc.

Caleb loves babies and was very excited to hold Noah. He did a good job of being gentle with Noah and even gave him some kisses before Gramma took them back home.

Noah finally spent some time with his eyes open. He is trying to look tough for his older brothers with his beanie and gloves on.

We are all excited to be a family of five.

Noah Update

Yup, he has a name and we are so ready to meet him. We are now at 37 weeks and counting the days until we get to welcome our newest baby boy to the family.



















After a pretty non-eventful pregnancy Noah decided to add some flair to our lives about three weeks ago when he did a sommersault and became breech. Fortunately, we had a doctor's apointment the next day so we were able to start doing all we could to get this baby to flip before delivery time. Both Ryan and Caleb were early (Ryan at 38 weeks and Caleb at 36 1/2 weeks) so the chances of him coming early were good. If he did not turn, then he would have to come via cessarian section - something we definately want to avoid.


Someone recommended using heat on the outer toe to stimulate an energy point - we thought, why not?









Our doctor recommend an old chinese method called moxibustion. Apparently, women have used this method for a 1000 years to turn breech babies. Basically, it involves a cigar made of the moxi-weed. You point the lit cigar directly above the outside nail of the pinky toe. Supposedly, the combination of the weed and the intense heat triggers an energy point straight to the baby, hopefully making the baby turn. About 40% of breech babies turn on their own, 70% turn using this method, so decided to give it a try over a ten day period.....no luck.













As of our 37 week apointment, Noah was still breeched so we had to resort to Plan B: External Version. On Friday, March 13th, we arrived at the hospital where the doctors attempted to turn the baby externally. It was pain beyond description (I almost bit John's hand!) and I am pretty brusied, but it was well worth it as he turned after three attempts. He handled it great and did not seem bothered a bit.


So I went home to relax for the rest of the day, only to return back at the hospital at midnight. At around 10pm, I started having pretty regular contractions, by 11pm, they were about 7 minutes apart. Since Caleb's delivery was so fast, we excitedly headed to hospital to have our baby. I made some good progress throughout the night. Unfortunately, all things stopped at 5am and we were eventually sent home.

And a wee bit o' family life

Each year, OSU opens its lambing barns to the public to come and see the newborn lambs. Ryan and Caleb had a great time feeding the lambs and their mamas.

Reading with Grama who is here to help prepare for Noah's arrival.

Storytime with daddy - a nightly favorite.

What are big brothers for?!

Mommy and Daddy's birthdays

After 20 months of blank stares for the camera, Caleb finally decides to give the smiling thing a try! He's working on the cheesiness.

Ryan gives the baby snugli a try

Ryan and Caleb help mommy clean to get ready for baby

Watching the Superbowl

Yup, that's a full can of coffee - two days after I steamed cleaned the carpet

Valentine's Day

This was the first year that Ryan really got into Valentine's Day as it was his first time giving his friends valentines. At first, he chose Batman valentines for his friends at pre-school, but when he got home, he realized that the pictures were a little too scarey so he decided to get Power Ranger's instead (he used his own money from his piggy bank!).


The boys also helped get into the spirit by helping me make some Valentine's Day cookies.


Finally, we celebrated with a Valentine's Day party at the Indoor Park where the boys had a blast decorating cookies, making crafts, and playing in the bounce house.