Evie's here!

My precious niece, Evelyn Caroline Johnson (Evie), was born at 2:50 p.m., Friday, December 8. She weighed 8 lbs and is 21 inches long. She's a doll!

I thought some of you would enjoy a play-by-play:





Cristi and Tommy checked in to the hospital at 8 p.m. on Thursday, December 7. At 9 p.m. the nurses started the process to induce her. They were only 'supposed' to have 3 visitors in the room at a time, so Tommy's parents spent the night in the Waiting Room. Grammy (my mom, Leesa) and I stayed in the LDR room with Cristi and Tommy. We played Clue and cards while we waited for the drugs to take affect.

(Tommy and Cristi on their way to the hospital)




I can't tell you how many years its been since I've played Clue. But, that was Cristi's choice....pregnancy cravings are so weird.

(Doula duties are tough!)










The hospital staff started Cristi on Pitosin (sp?) at 7:30 a.m. and that's when things really started kickin'. We had a little scare. The monitor indicated that Evie's head was in the posterior position and if she didn't change positions, the doctor would have to do a C-section. Praise the Lord, she moved!

Around 2:15 p.m., Cristi started pushing and at 2:50 p.m., we finally got to meet Evie!


(Grammy captured our first glimpse of Evie!)












Grr (Evie's Great-Grandmother) could not be torn away from the nursery, so when the time came to bring Evie to Cristi and Tommy, the nurse let Grr wheel her in the room!










Here's a picture of the happy family! I'm so proud of my sister and bro-in-law, they're already great parents!

Doula Liz

I got to try my skills at being a doula last night. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever experienced. I helped my good friends Byron and Cynthia Townsend welcome their new little girl into the world. Baby Girl Townsend (they're still trying to decide on her name) was born November 30 at 11:52 p.m. She weighed in at 6 lbs and 11oz. She barely made it in time to be the Townsend's second baby born during hurricane season...and just in time to wear the "Miss November" onesie a friend gave her.

For those of you who don't know, the word doula comes from the Greek word 'doulas', which means servant, or slave. In the childbirth process, a doula is basically a servant to the mother. My job was to pay attention to Cynthia and to use massage, prayer, and encouragement to help her relax and manage the pain. Some of you reading this may say, "Isn't that the husband's job?" And, yes, Byron did a great job at all of those things. But, the husband also has a hundred other things to do, too. I only had one....serve Cynthia. Cynthia had a water birth which was really incredible. I feel amazingly blessed to have been a part of their special day. Isn't our God amazing?

I'm on the road, so I can't post any pics right now. (I'm in Jacksonville for the ACC Championship) But, I'll try to post some soon. Warning: my blog is about to blow up with pictures of nieces. My flesh and blood niece, Evie, could come anyday and Hugh and Hollie's bundle of joy will be here next week! YEAH!