Gavin Lucas Ely

Ryan and I received the best Christmas present of all last year, our son, Gavin Lucas Ely. He was born December 2, 2008 and we are incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful baby!

Before I talk about Gavin, I do feel the need to talk a little bit about the miscarriage we had before him. When Ryan and I decided we wanted to start a family, we became pregnant right away in December 2007. It was the same time that my brother, Jon, and sister-in-law, Julie, were also expecting. Julie, was pregnant with our niece, Hannah, and having numerous complications with her pregnancy. We decided to keep quiet about our news until we had the first ultrasound and saw the heartbeat. Julie ended up delivering Hannah 10 weeks early on January 21, 2008. We were all excited yet incredibly worried about our little niece who was now in the NIC Unit and just trying to survive. I really struggled at this time watching my brother and sister-in-law going through this difficult time and knowing we would soon have our own news to announce. It was an especially hard time because I didn't want to steal their spotlight in any way.

A week after Hannah was born, I had my first ultrasound and there was no heartbeat. We knew I would soon have a miscarriage. We decided to tell only our parents at that time and deal with everything on our own. I had a harder time with it than I let anyone know. It helped me get through every day that I heard Hannah was improving in the hospital. Our parents were also incredibly helpful with their prayers and just being there for us to talk to during this time. I know everything happens for a reason and I feel this experience has taught us that there are no guarantees in this precious life and God does have a plan for each of us but it might not be the same plan we see for ourselves. Thankfully, Hannah was released from the hospital after several weeks and is a thriving one year old whom we love dearly.

The next month after we had the miscarriage, we found out we were pregnant again. This time we told our parents right away and waited to tell everyone else until after we heard the heartbeat. There was a heartbeat! We told the rest of our family and although everyone was sad to hear about the miscarriage the first time, they were thrilled to hear that we were pregnant again.

I decided to paint a mural in the nursery which took quite a bit longer than I thought it would. I am no Picasso, that's for sure! I had a rough pregnancy from a 5 week battle with extreme morning sickness to being on bed rest for 4 weeks towards the end. At 7:05 pm on December 2, 2008 Gavin was born and changed our lives completely. He weighed in at 8lbs 2oz and is now a hefty 14 lbs. Below are some pictures to show how much he has grown and changed over the past 3 months. Enjoy!