life as an ostovic

Dear Tori and Stephen,

Your mom told us how much you enjoyed seeing the pictures of Evan and Jackson on our web site, so I thought I would post these pictures of your mom visiting with Evan for you to see. (It was so much fun to see your mom.) Both of you are very good friends to Jackson and we cannot wait for you to meet Evan and become his friend too!!

with love,Derrak and Melanie

P.S. We heard you wanted to see a picture of jack too, so here are two from when he met Evan for the first time.

Hey everyone. We have more pictures for you to check out. Just click here to see them.

derrak

Evan Michael Ostovic
born July 23, 2007 @ 4:21am
8 pounds 6 ounces
21 inches long

(Click on any of the pictures below to see a larger version.)

After many attempts to get the labor process going (including a visit with the midwife Sunday afternoon) the only results were painful contractions 5 minutes apart that were not dilating Melanie at all. She had been steady at 1.5 cm the past three days.

Late Sunday night (or rather very early Monday morning) the contractions had become so intense that we called the midwife who suggested that we head to the hospital for more monitoring. As we expected labor was still not progressing.

It was 2am and with a c-section already schedule for 8am, we had two options. 1. take some pain meds a sleeping pill and wait, or 2. have the c-section right then. The only advantage to waiting was the potential for rest. However Melanie was quite certain that she would be getting none no matter what. So we went ahead and had the c-section then. Melanie went into surgery around 4am and Evan was born at 4:21am.

The surgery went like clockwork and now we are doing very well recovering in the maternity unit.

Some observations:

1. The initial poop still looks like you could tar the parking lot with it!
2. He is very sweet and does not cry much at all.
3. He is very cute, as you can see.
4. Many people initially think that he looks like his big brother. What do you think?
5. When you text message 30 or so people, you get a lot of text messages back. (which is good)
6. We are blessed to have so many great friends and family.
7. Wireless Internet in our hospital room is Awesome!!!!
8. When you have not slept much it is easy to switch numbers. This is why the 30 or so people you sent text messages to think that he weighs 6 pounds 8 ounces instead of 8 pounds 6 ounces.

Well that is it for now. I will keep posting things in the coming days. Tomorrow looks to be exciting because Jackson is going to meet Evan for the first time!!!! Give us a call or drop me an e-mail if you would like to visit, we would love throw Evan in your arms and share him with you.

Derrak

Well, we have been hoping that Evan would have come by now, but he just will not co-operate. So, Melanie has a c-section sceduled for very early Monday morning! They have allowed her to go 1 week past her due date still hoping that Evan would come on his own, but with the previous c-section for Jack they are cautious to let her go any further. Every day that Evan gets bigger inside Melanie, the risk that her scar will rupture increases. This of course is very bad usually resulting in infurtility. So, unless Evan decides to come on his own today, he will be joining us tomorrow via c-section.

Although we were hoping that he would come on his own, we are very excited to know that we will meet him tomorrow!!!

Soon there will be pictures of Evan to share with you.

till then.

Derrak

To say that we are ready for Evan to be born is a serious understatement. Melanie has cleaned every inch of the house, and I have painted almost every wall! The nursery is ready. Jack is moved into his new room. Now it is just the waiting game. (Due date is July 17th) We are hoping that Evan begins this process on his own because if not we will have to have another C-section just like with jack. The good news is that Evan is in the right position, which he was not in as of a week ago.

It seems like everyone around us is pregnant too. Tim and Suzanne Cooper were due on July 10th (No news yet), and other friends of ours, the Sadliers, are due a week after us. It seems everyone around are having babies!

Derrak

P.S. If you click on the picture above you will see a bigger better version. : )

I have been seeing a lot of people walking around wearing shirts with this image on them. It has happened enough to make me wonder about them, so I asked. Turns out this is a movement of people who want to make a difference in the lives of people who struggle with addiction, depression, and cutting. It all started with the story of a girl named Renee. (She would carve into her arms with a razor blade) A small group of young adults wanted to love and support her in her efforts to recover, so they started TWLOHA to raise money to give her a leg up. It started with Renee but is now about so much more.

One of those young adults, Jamie Tworkowski wrote a story about Renee. This is the story that inspired the movement. You can read it by clicking here or going to the link at the upper right corner of this page.

It is so amazing and inspiring to learn about how these young adults are making a difference in the lives of people who cannot help themselves. It makes me wonder what kind of a difference I could make if I only made myself available.

derrak

Here is the web site: http://twloha.com.