Good News Mama!

Evangeline has been home with us for almost a month now (already?!) and we've finally created a routine...it's a "new normal" for all three of us! Currently life consists of drawing up medications, breastpumping, cleaning bottles/breaspumping accessories/syringes, feeding our baby and changing diapers. When Evangeline was born at 6 months gestation, our routine consisted of us going to the NICU for 88 days. It was exhausting and difficult, but it was the only way to see our baby (we can't stress how thankful we are that she's home!) And well, just as we got used to this "new normal," I'm going to have to get used to another "new normal" in about 2 weeks! Why? Because Kevin will be going back to work, since his paid-time off will end soon! Honestly, having a baby is already life-changing as is. But to have a baby with special needs is a lot of work! It's like an overtime job! I always ask Kevin, "What am I going to do when you...

Bye Bye NICU!  Having Evangeline home can be described as two polar opposites. On one end, we as parents are elated with joy and happiness! We waited so long for the NICU Journey to end and we were just so relieved we didn’t have to go back to the hospital! It was such a long process to have to find a parking spot, show our visitor/parent pass downstairs, go upstairs, sign in, scrub up to our elbows for at least a minute, then put everything we are carrying into a pillow case. Every.Single.Day. When you’re in the NICU, you don’t have much privacy either. So once we took Evangeline home, it was such a shock to have peace and quiet. To go to bed and to see her there next to us was such a surreal and pleasant adjustment. And for the first time ever, we heard her snore and grunt and sigh (it’s practically impossible to hear any of the preemies do this in the NICU bc there’s always something going on, whether it be beeping alarms, nurses chatting, or doctors doing their roun...

In the NICU, a surprising majority of the nurses who care over our baby ask us, "How did you choose the name Evangeline? I love it!" We smile because that's a sweet compliment for us as newbie parents. Kevin actually had never heard of the name before, but I first heard it when I was at Pastor Greg Laurie's Harvest Church in Riverside with my best friend Zerah when we were 19. We were surprised at the beginning of Sunday service when they said that they were dedicating a baby to God! I had never witnessed a baby dedication before, and the hope was that the baby would come to saving faith when she became older and eventually get baptized. There were these two happy parents who went up holding the cutest little baby! She was wearing a cute little pink headband with a giant flower and a white dress. I remember the man introduced the family, and said, "This baby's name is Evangeline, which means 'good news' or 'gospel'..how wonderful!" I was ...

When Kevin and I found out we were pregnant, we would talk about and daydream about the day that our baby would arrive. We talked about what we would pack in our bag to the hospital, how we would have an infant car seat ready, what we would do to prepare the nursery...None of that happened because nothing happened the way we expected! In fact, the day before she arrived, we had finally decided a day to have the baby shower and maternity photo shoot! Some things you just can't be prepared for... Kevin and I have been blessed with our daughter, Evangeline,  for 10 whole days (outside of the womb!) She was born at 26 weeks gestation. Ideally, a baby stays inside the womb for about 40 weeks, so she was born premature and in the last week of our second trimester. Her birthday was July 23, 2014 at 7:11 pm at Long Beach Memorial. She is the biggest blessing of our lives and we praise God for her being alive and stablizing in the NICU! So here's the story of the day she was born......

When I first started this blog, I wrote about the highlights of our wedding day. That was a little over two years ago. And now, here I am, about to write about one of the most monumental days in our lives: On Valentines Day 2014, Kevin and I found out we were PREGNANT! I still can't believe it. I really can't. I am now ending off my 13th week of pregnancy, and am technically in the second trimester zone. Because of my PCOS, because of all the blood tests, two of my past OBGYN's told me to that I wouldn't be able to conceive naturally. Honestly, there is something very soul-crushing about being told you are not able to do what every woman should be able to do. I have never prayed so hard in my life...there wasn't a day for the past two years that I didn't pray fervently for the ability to one day bear a child naturally. Well, I can say I prayed for something else harder than that, and that was for my to-be husband. I prayed for my husband since I was 19, the ...