BEN'S BIG BELATED BABY BLOG!!

Julie and I are thrilled to welcome Bailey Elise Evans into the world!! She arrived at 11:14 am on Saturday July 19th, after 33 hours of intense labor and, finally, a successful C-section. We had decided to try to have as natural a childbirth as possible and, to that end, availed ourselves of some Bradley "husband-coached childbirth" classes. This made for a very interesting hands on and profoundly participatory birthing experience for myself as well as Julie. In spite of our best intentions, sometimes life has other plans, and because of some extenuating circumstances, after many hours of labor, we were left with no other option but to have a C-section. It may not have been the optimal situation, but when a healthy baby and a healthy mother are the necessary outcome, one's perfectionism flies right out the window. I have never been so proud of anyone in my life as I was of my wife for those 33 hours - I was literally moved to tears by Julie's courage, strength, and unbelievable focus during what became a very long and intense labor. What a truly amazing woman. Never have I been so in love...never, that is, until little Bailey showed up.Bailey arrived as 6.85 pounds and 19 1/2 inches of life-changing wonderfulness - we are completely smitten! Holding a newborn in your arms as she falls asleep on your chest to the sound of your heartbeat has to be one of life's most sublime pleasures. People always said, "Just wait. Having a child will change your life." I always believed them, of course, but there really was no way to wrap my mind around the depth of that change and the capacity of my own heart to leap out of my body with love until I cradled that piece of soft innocent magic in my arms for the first time. Then I got it. It just hits me like a wave - completely heartbreaking love every time I look at her. I know there'll be many more life-changes to follow from parenthood, but I swear I could spend the rest of my life in a rocker with my tiny baby girl and be in absolute heaven.(Also, our apologies for the belated announcement, but the C-section made life a little more interesting and even less restful than we had anticipated. We've just returned from recovery in an internet-free hospital and have each had a total of about 14 hours of actual sleep in the last seven days...literally. Julie and I had no idea that after 3 days of zero sleep you actually start hallucinating - now we know.)That said, enjoy these pictures from Bailey's first couple of days. Lots of love to all the YERTians! And now....sweet slumber.....delirious with joy and sleeplessness,Ben & JuliePS - Julie's breastfeeding right now, or I'm sure she would have written this blog. Poor thing is a nursing machine :).