Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Evan's Birth Story...aka Why I will NOT get an epidural again. :)

Ok, I won't give too many details, but still, if you're a guy and you're uncomfortable with birth stories, you might want to clear out. :)

Ella was born on her own timetable--as in, we waited until I went into labor--and I got an epidural and had an ok experience with it. For Evan, we decided to induce labor because of a really annoying insurance thing (he was due the first week of May, and our policy starts over May 1st, meaning we would have to pay our deductible and out-of-pocket expense twice if he was born after that point...something we really couldn't afford). So, on the morning of the 26th, my Mom came and crashed on our couch at 5 am while Ella slept, and we went and checked in to the hospital.

I was already dilated 2-3 and 70% effaced when we went in. I was warned that because we were inducing, labor might be more intense/painful, and also that it might take a really long time. We got settled in a room and finished all the paperwork, then they started Pitocin a little after 7. Very mild contractions started around 7:45, they broke my water at 8:30 and then labor started in earnest. I did really well with breathing and relaxation techniques for awhile and thought about skipping the epidural....boy, do I wish I'd gone with my gut! About 9:45 I chickened out and asked for the epidural. I was at a 5.

They got everything set up, then right as they were doing the epidural the contractions doubled in intensity, I felt a "zing" which they said meant they'd hit a nerve (really, really uncomfortable!), and I had a lot of trouble staying still--these were the worst contractions I'd experienced yet and I really just wanted to move, but I was stuck there on my side.

They said I should start to feel better in about 15 minutes, but 15 minutes later the pain was worse than ever, I was sweating, shaking, thought I was going to vomit, and still I had to just lay on my side instead of moving around like I wanted to. The nurse checked and I was at 7, then the anesthesiologist came to check my "levels" on the epidural. The contractions intensified yet again, and she's poking me asking if I felt it more "here" or "here," and by this point I couldn't say more than one word at a time--the contractions were way too painful to talk through, and there wasn't a break in between them--they had multiple peaks and were one on top of the other. They increased the amount of drug I was getting, but I still wasn't feeling it. The nurse checked again and I was completely dilated, only about 10 minutes after I'd been at a 7! She said I was ready to push, and I was so relieved that I could do something besides lay on my side!! I think I pushed through maybe 5 or 6 contractions. I could still feel pretty much everything despite the epidural being in place. Evan was born at 10:42, only 3 hours after I felt the first contraction--and they'd told me to expect to be there all day! By the time he was born, the epidural had completely numbed my legs--I couldn't feel or move them--but it was at least enough to keep me from feeling the stitches. Later on, I experienced a slight backache and headache from it, and I decided then that I was going to try and go all-natural for my next one! Yes, the pain was intense, but even worse was being stuck lying still on my side for medication that never did help me!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Evan Joshua: "God is gracious; the LORD saves"

I think when we decided on a name for our first baby, we explained our reasoning to most people: she's named Ella after my grandma; Ella means "light" and Christine means "follower of Christ." But I've told fewer people why we picked the name Evan for our little boy.
Strangely enough, when I was a silly high school girl imagining who I would marry and how many kids I would have, "Evan" was one of the names I had picked out (so was Ella). So it made the list of names we were considering, because I liked it. When we were looking through all those names, we found out that Evan is actually a form of the name John--which, of course, is Johnny's name, and means something like "God is gracious." I liked the idea of naming my son after Johnny without actually naming him John. His middle name, Joshua, is one of our favorite Old Testament names. There's probably a more accurate translation, but the name books say Joshua means "the LORD saves."

Here are some more pictures of Evan:

Friday, August 20, 2010

The Story of Evan

About a week after we celebrated Ella's first birthday, we were "surprised" to learn that the Lord was blessing us with another child. Evan Joshua Vogt was born April 26, 2010 at 10:42 am. He was 8 lbs 6 oz and 21 1/2 inches. Now he is just over 4 months old, and he's one of the happiest babies I've ever seen. I feel like if I sit and look at him long enough, I can actually see him growing . . . it's hard to believe how big he's gotten already! He has brought us much joy, and I'm so thankful that the Lord gave me a son.




Thursday, August 19, 2010

Kids are Sinners . . . and Parenting is Not about Me

You know those moments you have sometimes as a parent--when people compliment you on how cute or sweet or well-behaved your kids are? And you say "thank you," or "I know," and you feel so proud of your kids, and comfortable with your life, and you feel like you're starting to get the hang of being a parent?

Beware those moments.

I think I was starting to get a little slack in my parenting--not that I wasn't disciplining or training, but that I was only disciplining and training. I felt pleased with the results when Ella obeyed . . . and that was pretty much where I stopped.

Recently, this thing called sin has reared its ugly head in my home, and for some reason, it shocked me.

If you'd asked me, I would have said, Sure, my daughter is a sinner. So why was I so surprised when she started sinning?

I'm saddened and ashamed to say I hadn't been dealing with her heart, or preaching the gospel to her, or praying for her soul the way I should be.

Anyway, today was another one of those displays, in a very public setting. We were shopping, and I instructed Ella to do something, and she threw an unbelievable tantrum for someone so small. The kind where everyone in the store turns to stare and whispers things like "my kid would never do that," forgetting that their child did the very same thing just last week.

I could have distracted her, or pacified her, or given in to her demands. And everyone there would have viewed me as a better parent because she stopped screaming. But is that the goal? To make myself look like a good parent? Just to avoid the display of the anger and rebellion that is very clearly in her heart? I felt humiliated . . . but raising Ella is not about me.

Parents, let us persevere in prayer for our children, and continue to sow God's Word in their hearts, and be faithful to train and teach and discipline and nurture them! They need Christ!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Ella...from 1st birthday to 2nd birthday

Wow...I can't believe how much changes in a year. It's been over a year since I dropped the whole blogging thing, and in that time Ella has gone from a baby to a toddler, and my son was born, and a whole host of other things have happened.
I decided to start by posting pictures of Ella from her first birthday until now. She turns two on the 27th!!Her first birthday.
Playing guitar with Daddy. (This was when we lived with his parents for a few months.)
December 2009...as you can tell, she's got a passion for her milk!!

January 2010...wearing Daddy's t-shirt. :) And watching the snow with Coda.

March and April:

June or July:



I'll post August pictures after we've had her birthday party.

Back on the Blog-Wagon

I have not posted anything in over a YEAR! Not because nothing has happened, but because life intervened and I was just busy or tired of blogging or what have you.

Back when I used to post frequently, I never really knew if anyone was reading. Most of my posts were about mundane things like making baby food. :) But since the birth of little Evan, many many people have asked "do you still have a blog?" or said "I miss that blog with all the pictures!" So I decided to give it another try.

Now that I have two little ones, I have even less time than before...so I'll probably do a little less writing and more of the "good stuff," i.e., pictures of my adorable little children. First I have to go take some...I usually try to make sure I have decent pictures of both kids from every month, but I am WAY behind on that.