I had posted the day I was scheduled for my repeat c-section after my blood pressure jumped, but I didn’t get a chance to really post an actual birth story.

Evie Eileen was born at 5:50pm on Friday, July 13th. She weighed 6lbs 5oz and was 19 inches long. She was born at 36 weeks 6 days, and she is perfect!

My OB actually asked my husband and me if we wanted pictures of her being pulled from my womb, and we emphatically said yes. My husband got some beautiful pictures of our baby girl being born. It was a wonderful experience. I got to do skin to skin as soon as she was weighed, and she was able to breastfeed in the recovery room. I had gestational diabetes, but her sugar levels were normal.

Evie is now 12 days old, and we are finally getting into a pattern of breastfeeding about every 3 hours and sleeping in between. She is a little jaundiced, so we had to have her bilirubin levels checked, but they are going down. Big brother Nicholas was a little overwhelmed by all the changes, but now he’s starting to show more interest.

This pregnancy was so different from my first. I learned how incredibly important it is to take care of myself physically and emotionally. Because I committed to putting myself first this pregnancy, I had a much better experience. I am excited to have the next 3 months off to care for Evie and focus on getting myself back into shape. I’m going to make the most of every moment.