Welcome Evan!

Evan Dauernheim was born at home today, November 7 at 3:53 am. Yeah, I know, that messes up the baby pool something awful. There was some concern about some liver tests that they did based on Lisa itching a lot, and they decided to induce early to avoid any complications that could have affected the baby’s health. The good news is, it worked! Midwife Susan broke Lisa’s water at 8:15pm, and Lisa started feeling some contractions about an hour later. We all tried to take a short nap before the heavy stuff started. Lisa didn’t get much rest, and woke me up around 1:30am having some pretty steady contractions. The noise eventually woke Ellie up around 3am. She was really good through the whole thing, and only freaked out a little bit when Mom was screaming really loud. After some good pushing, baby’s head came out nice and slow, and Mom got to hold the baby immediately after lying down in her own bed. Home birth was everything we had hoped it would be. Ellie even helped me cut the cord. I’m exhausted right now, so it’s off to bed for me. Here’s some pictures for now.

Early on, just after being induced. Looking sorta happy that the itchiness will be over soon.

Laboring a bit. Trust me, it got more intense.

Our stellar team of helpers, starting with Margaret, our doula who was at both births.

Best friend ever, Mary Beth, who got Ellie to sleep until 3am. She also distracted Ellie through the hardest parts.

Birth assistant Lori, and midwife Susan, hard at work.

Baby Evan’s first picture! I’ll be sure to take plenty more, like when it’s actually light outside.

Evan and mom. Aren’t they the cutest? Evan latched right on to mom, and has been eating like a champ. That birth thing is hard!

So, officially, you can still enter the baby pool. We’re throwing out the date/time since it came before the entries were due, but we will still judge on length and weight. If you think you can guess based on those pictures, feel free to send in extra entries. Mom and baby are doing well and resting, unlike Ellie, who is keeping me up all day apparently.