Evan's Birth

Evan Porter Welling has arrived!! He was 6lbs. 12 oz and 19 1/2 inches long at birth. Everything went really smoothly. I was already dialated to a "4" when I entered the hospital. Once the petosin was in me and the nurse could see that I was progressing and the baby was ok I was given my epidural. So the entire process was pretty pain free. I had the opportunity to have both Corey and my sister Heather there in the room with me. The actual birth itself went very quickly in 3 pushes he was out and in the world. (All my kids came out in 3 pushes--amazingly I am a baby birthing machine!!


We were joking around about how goofy the birthing gowns were. This is me posing as if I were wearing a hand muff to keep my hands warm during the birth.


My sister and my father were able to help the nurses give Evan his first bath, my sister laughed and thought it was so appropriate that the knitted hat the nurses picked out for him was camo. Especially since Corey has always been such a big hunting fan.

Daddy and his new little guy

After about an hour and a half after the birth I was wheeled into the O.R. and my OB/GYN gave me my tubal ligation. I LOVE having children and have been blessed with such easy pregnancies and births. However, Corey and I have prayed and discussed it a lot over the course of this last pregnancy and had decided three boys all under the age of three are enough for us. This has been a VERY difficult decision for both of us and we are experiencing some feelings of loss and grief knowing this was our last baby. Most parents spread out having their family over a course of several years 10+ and having had ours so quickly together has been both a blessing and a burden. We are so happy the boys will be close in age and hopefully close in their relationships with one another. But having them so quickly has really worn both Corey and I down. As I have said in the past, starting your family in your early to mid 30's is a lot different than in your early to mid 20's. Our greatest concern is making sure we are being good quality parents rather than the quantity of children we bring into this world.

Several individuals have jokingly or not jokingly pressured us into having more. I would love to have more but I personally feel I have not stepped up to the "plate" as I would have liked and have hoped as a mother. I know that if I try to explain this to others they would disagree and say "you are a great Mom." But it is important to me to feel that I am being a good mother to the children I already have brought into this world. Instead of a frenzied mom who isn't able to give her all to her children because she is burned out all the time. Even though I know in my heart I have reached my limit....is very hard to have put a "limit" on the number of children we will have.