Our little miracle has made his arrival! We are beyond thrilled and overjoyed to have our little bumblebee in our arms. He is everything I expected and more. I absolutely adore this little being.
Just like everything else in our lives, there is a wonderful story behind his arrival. It was a day full of chaos, stress, fear, and anxiousness, but it ended with our boy in our arms. That's all that matters. It will take me a few posts to tell his story because of all the wonderful miracles that were intertwined to bring him here. This first one I'll talk about the week prior to his arrival.
I didn't realize as we were going through it, but so many things were starting to come together so that we could have everything prepared for Evan to join us. The first thing was the car seat. My mom and I were discussing what we needed before the baby was born since we weren't having any showers until after his arrival. She wanted to get him his car seat since it's kind of a necessity! My grandma and mom both went in on it I ended up ordering it for them because I'm a sucker for deals and could get them a better price by using my own card. The car seat was delivered to us within a week before Evan being born. We had ordered it early, since he still had a month before his due date. I am SO thankful we had that little twinge of urgency! We could have bought him a car seat from the store but the one we had picked out is only available online. Not to mention, once we realized he would be making an early appearance, things got a little crazy.
Another crazy happenstance was my urge to get the nursery done. Brian and I had discussed earlier in the pregnancy how hard it was for me to be in Lillian's room. We had both went in there and set it all up perfectly and arranged her things so meticulously so that it would be ready for her. Later, we had to face the empty room that no longer held her things and that was truly devastating. In this pregnancy, it was hard to see that room as anything but hers. I didn't want to face it at all and was insisting on having family come over to help with it AFTER Evan was here. Well, for one reason or another, I started feeling like it was okay. I kept thinking about the possibility of working on the nursery and finishing it before I had him. We made the phone calls and asked our family if they would like to help out and be a part of putting his room together. So, the last weekend we had before Evan's birthday, we spent the day moving furniture, decorating, arranging, and cleaning his room. Seriously, the very last weekend! The only things that I had left to do in the nursery was to find some curtains and to finish wall hangings with my grandma. I went crazy looking for the perfect curtains. We finished the nursery set up on Saturday and then I dragged Brian around town looking for curtains on Sunday morning. I was so tired from tromping around 3 different stores with my 45 extra pounds of baby that we didn't even go to church that morning (shhhh, don't tell my pastor). I was REALLY discouraged, though! I even got online and looked for some and was pretty perturbed when I had no luck. So, I used my plan b and called grandma! Grandma is so handy! I asked if she would take me to a fabric store that week and we could find some material that I liked and just make the stupid things (I was a little aggravated at that point). Of course, she was happy to help me out and the following Tuesday (3 days before he was born) we did just that. I ended up finding some really cute fabric, and it was on sale. We also bought some flannel to make some burp rags since it was super cheap and I had only a couple. We didn't completely finish the curtains that day but I was happy that I had something that I loved, and we were almost done with them. My urge to finish the nursery was a little strange since I was not even 37 weeks along and prior to then, I insisted on waiting to do it until after I had him. Crazy!
Okay, now go back to Saturday... The same day we worked on the nursery. That evening I scheduled to have our maternity pictures done with a good friend of ours who has done our pics for quite some time. She has taken our pictures for numerous occasions including family, senior, engagement, wedding, new house, gender reveal, and even our little girl's funeral. Every time she's given us such treasures that are irreplaceable. I hadn't made it to our scheduled date for maternity pics with Lillian. We were one week shy of doing them. I really wish we had scheduled them just a week sooner. But, with Evan, we had them scheduled for when I was 36 weeks along. I measured about 2 weeks ahead, so I really looked like I was ready to pop! The photo shoot went sooo perfectly and I about cried when I saw the shots she got. Amazing! Once again, this was not even a week before Evan was born (only 6 days prior). I'm so incredibly thankful that we got those pictures done in time! I really would have been disappointed to miss another one of my opportunities to document my pregnancy.
Now I'm going to fast forward to the day before I got the call that it was "go time". I'll explain more about why Evan was born early in my next few posts but right now I'm focusing on the day before. It really is bizarre! So, on Wednesday I woke up on a mission. I had decided that I should go to the store and get a few meals to bake and freeze. Usually, going to the store is an ordeal for me. I have to get online and check the sales and coupon matchups, then make a list, find my coupons, and get everything organized before I go. This time I didn't worry about that. I just found a couple recipes that I could fix for an easy freezer meal. I ran to the grocery store, well run isn't really an appropriate word for it. Okay, I waddled through the grocery store and grabbed a few essentials, including a "0" birthday candle. I had seen an idea online where you get a little cupcake for baby's "birth" day. The cashier kinda looked at me funny when I checked out and asked, "So, who's turning zero?" I just pointed at my belly and he laughed at me. I later went home and made two recipes and stuck them in the freezer. It was a little tolling since being on my feet was really hard on my back, but I managed. I relaxed until Brian got home and apologized for the lack of dinner. I had been busy all day but still had to make dinner for that night. He is so understanding and laid back, he didn't even mind. The funny thing is, the story isn't even over. The crazy part is what I did that night!
I was so exhausted from going to the store and cooking all day that I had collapsed on our over-sized bean bag chair. Brian was sitting with me, playing a game, I'm sure. I turned to him and asked him, "Are we ever going to pack our hospital bag? We have nothing ready." As exhausted as I was, I heaved my fat butt upstairs and started going over our list. We went back and forth to different rooms and got some of the stuff put into our duffle bags and diaper bag. After we got the majority of our stuff organized, I ended up in the nursery. I sat in the rocking chair and teared up. I had the realization that the baby we'd bring into this room wasn't our little girl. I had to have a moment to just let that go. Brian came in and saw me in my exhausted, hormonal upset and held me. It was like I had to have closure that night before I went to bed. I eventually collapsed in bed that night after a very long day of being productive. That was the last night we had together at home before our little man would join us. I am so thankful I had some sort of drive to kick things into gear. I had a little voice telling me that I thought he would be born early but I had no idea that he would be 3.5 weeks!
This whole post are the things that happened a week or less prior to baby bumblebee's appearance. What a week!
The next few posts will be a clearer explanation of what brought about his early arrival. It was a scary and nerve-wrecking few days but, as cliche as it may sound, it was so worth it. Here's our little guy for your viewing pleasure.
Evan Scott Bayes
Born September 27, 2013
7lbs 10 oz
20" long
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