Update on Evelyn

Evelyn is doing great! She still sleeps a lot, but when she is awake she is fun to interact with and she shows a lot of expression on her face. Also, she finally seems to have a more regular sleep schedule, which is wonderful news for Mom. Kelly (Rachel's Dad) flew in yesterday to meet his first grandchild and he'll stay with us for the next week. Rachel's mom, Wendy, will also continue her stay until next Wednesday. We are glad for the chance to have so much family around and they've been a great help to us.



Here are some more pictures of Evelyn.

This is what she looks like after a continous assult of camera flashes. Woah!

Eva's Story

Little Evelyn Kate entered this world on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 2:53 pm. This is her story.

Tuesday morning I woke up at three with contractions. I tried to completely ignore them because the last seven or eight nights have all been the same story. Wake up with contractions, realize they are exactly five or seven minutes apart, time them for a few hours and then suddenly have them stop... I just wanted to get some sleep. These contractions, however, slowly began to get stronger. I decided to wait until Logan woke up to tell him (I wanted him to at lest be able to sleep).

We woke up at our normal time and instead of going off to school and the gym like we normally do we were off to the hospital. Upon arrival, my contractions decided to stop (I am glad I went to the childbirth classes because I found out that this is a normal occurrence).

...I have decided that when our kids have babies they will laugh at the ridiculous equipment that we used. More specifically, the crazy wires and straps that are used to monitor the baby's heart rate and the contractions. The nurses strapped me up to this lovely machine to check on the baby and me. A normal baby heart rate is about 125 to 150 beats minute, but while the nurse was monitoring me the baby's heart rate dropped to 65. The nurse became worried and quickly got orders to start me on pitocin to hurry up the delivery.

The pitocin worked quickly and soon the contractions were pretty consistent and about 3 minutes apart. Eva started to struggle when the contractions came closer together. The doctor ordered the pitocin to stop because she wasn't handling it well and she came in and broke my bag of waters to hurry up the labor. A short time later the doctor ordered my epidural just in case a C-section was necessary.

Dr. Shagauat was a very wonderful doctor. Her C-section rate is the lowest in the entire hospital. She promised me that she believed in doing everything possible to avoid a C-section. I knew I was in good hands.

Eva's heart rate dropped again soon after the epidural was given. The doctor rushed in and said that it looked like we would have a C-section. It was at this point that I lost it. I was having a difficult time accepting the idea that this may be necessary. The doctor realized that I had just had an epidural and that a change in heart rate was normal. She decided to wait a little bit longer and monitor me carefully.

I would recommend an epidural to anyone... I was extremely relaxed and very happy.

Eva started struggling again about an hour and a half later. Her heart rate dropped and the doctor and nurses could not bring it back up. Dr. Shagauat then called an emergency C-section and suddenly I was surrounded by eight new faces. Someone threw scrubs at Logan and told him to follow us as soon as he dressed, and then we were off! The doctors practically ran down the hall to the operating room and then it began. I have never seen such organized chaos. I had someone cleaning my stomach, attaching all kinds of monitors, putting medication in my epidural, adding something to my i.v., throwing up a curtain to block my view, and scrubbing up.

Less than five minutes after entering, the doctor announced that she was making the incision. I was very calm about the decision to have a C-section and I felt comfortable with it. I am relieved that I had an hour and a half to think about and accept that possibility. I believe that I would not have had a good experience if I had the C-section earlier. I have to say that even though I was calm, it was scary to have everything happen so fast. I could tell that it was a true emergency.

Evelyn Kate was born healthy and happy at 2:53 pm on Tuesday. We immediately knew why she was having problems with the contractions. The umbilical cord was wrapped twice around her neck, once around her lower body and in between her legs. Later, Logan told me her arms and legs were blue. Scary. I am glad I didn't know that at the time.

When I first heard her cry it seemed very surreal that she was my baby. Everything happened so fast and I took a quick minute to adjust. When they placed her in Logan's arms everything was perfect and my heart just melted. I don't regret having a C-section for one minute since it ensured Evelyn's healthy arrival.

When she came out we barely heard a peep out of her. She didn't cry at all, but she made enough noises for us to know that she was ok. The doctors and nurses all commented on how big her eyes were. For the next two hours she was wide awake and looking around at everything. Eva came out knowing exactly what she was supposed to do for breastfeeding. She took about two seconds to latch on perfectly and she was on each side for twenty minutes. She has been doing great ever since. Breastfeeding is something I have been very nervous about, but she knew exactly what to do and helped calm her mother's nerves. :)

Evelyn is a calm baby and she loves looking around at everything and at everybody. She is healthy and extremely happy.

Logan is going to download some pictures and post them below. Grandparents are asking for more and we are more than happy to provide them.

She looks like a troll doll in this one. All she needs now is big, colorful hair!

I was actually the first one who got to hold her. Lucky me!

You'll notice just a little bit of newborn rash on this one up on her cheek. She actually got it pretty bad on her back and tummy. The doctors say it doesn't irritate her, and it will go away soon.

She sleeps a lot, so we thought we'd represent that by putting a lot of pictures up of her sleeping. I will post more "awake" pictures later. Also, this is the first outfit she wore that was not from the hospital. I think you'll notice a lot more color in the pictures from here on out.

Introducing the newest member of the Hazard Clan!!

I did't want to do another blog post without some news of the baby so I've sort of been putting it off for a while. Finally the big day has arrived. So without further ado, we'd like to introduce the newest member of our family- Evelyn Kate Hazard.


When she came out she whimpered just enough to let us know that she was okay, then she just calmly assesed her new surroundings with her big, beautiful eyes. She was 7 pounds 5 ounces, and 19.5" long (I don't really know what these numbers mean, but most people like to know).


I've always told Rachel that I think all babies look alike- sort of like wrinkled up peanuts. Well, I still think that is true for every baby except for our little Eva- She's Beautiful.


Rachel is doing great as well. She still can't move around quite like she used to, but she's happy (who wouldn't be), healthy, and on her way to a quick recovery.

More pictures to follow. Here's just one more of the two most beautiful girls in the world.

Wicked is a great show!

It has been a fabulous week! At the end of the week we decided that we have officially done everything on our to-do list before Baby came. That means that we are now, more than ever, ready for her to just hurry up and get here, especially since Rachel's due date has officially been changed to the 10th, which was yesterday! It’s exciting to think that in just a little while we are actually going to meet this little person who is going to change our lives forever.

One of the immediate changes that will take place once this baby comes is that Rachel may not be able to take me to school every morning at 7:00 any more. We don’t live far from the school (about a mile and a half), but it is still far enough to cut a significant chunk out of our mornings if I had to walk. The solution to this problem was me getting a new mountain bike! I’m pretty excited about it, because it’s a pretty nice bike (Schwinn Moab) and my other one got stolen as we were moving in last June. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to use it if it snows a lot, but it should be perfect for just about any other kind of weather. Also, it is sturdy enough to handle some of the trails around here, which should be fun.

Another key event of the week was our date-night on Wednesday. We went to a very nice Italian place to eat, then went to see the play Wicked. It was so good! The music was awesome, and the story was enchanting. The actors did a fantastic job of making the whole thing fun, and I found myself so mesmerized that I forgot I was even sitting in a theatre. I guess Broadway plays are one of the perks of living in (or at least near) a big city.

Here is my new bike.

Here is an advertisement from Wicked. I'd reccomend this show to anyone!

Here's a shot from "Defying Gravity," the finale of part one of the play.

We were "Tagged"

So, I guess we were "tagged." I wasn't sure what that meant until I read the instructions. It's basically like a get-to-know-you survey. I actually think the "tagger" wanted Rachel to do this, but I figured I might as well put my info in as well. You know, to help people get to know me and stuff. So, here it is.

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago
1. Lots of rock climbing and kayaking and skiing. I had just gotten my driver’s license and I could finally plan my own trips in my old Toyota pickup truck.
2. Lots of tennis
3. Of course I was going to school, trying to understand the relevance of what I was learning. Looking back, I can now see that some things just aren’t relevant, and that busy work is just a dismal fact of high school.
4. I was on the debate team at school. That brought a lot of fun experiences including my first “relationship.” Not much of a relationship now that I look back on it.
5. Building forts at Mill Hollow, an undeveloped area near our house, and pretending I had to “survive” in the wild. Some people think that this is a little childish for a 15-16 year-old. I say that those people are boring and I feel sorry for their children.

5 Things on my to-do list today
1. Go to school
2. Eat lunch with Rachel at institute (a church-sponsored lunch)
3. Stop by the Library and get a book on bicycle maintenance so I don’t ruin my new bike
4. Clean the house while Rachel is gone tonight (Shhhh- Don’t tell her- It’s a surprise)
5. Watch “Lost” with Rachel

5 Snacks I enjoy
1. Frozen Pizza
2. Frozen Pizza
3. Frozen Pizza
4. Frozen Pizza
5. Frozen Pizza

5 Things I would do if I were a Billionaire
1. Buy a lot of frozen pizza (you know the cheap red-box kind that don’t really taste like pizza? Yum!)
2. Pay for school and buy a business afterward (yes, I would still work, because I love it)
3. I’d indulge a little and buy a truck (To be more specific, I’d get a black, 4-door Toyota Tacoma with a slight body lift and a roof-rack)
4. Give the bulk of my money to someone, (or some organization) who has more influence to do good with it than I do
5. Try my best to never let my children know that I was wealthy. They’d still have to work through school. We’d still be normal.

3 of my bad habits
1. Starting new books before I’ve finished the one I am currently reading and then taking forever to finish either of them
2. Apparently I swallow funny. Rachel is sure to let me know when this happens.
3. Writing in this blog (or doing other non-related activities) while I should be paying attention in class (Like right now)

5 places I have lived
1. Merced, CA- This is where I grew up
2. Rexburg, ID- I went to high school here
3. Parana, Brazil- Missionary work
4. Provo, UT- My life changed here when I got married
5. Cleveland, OH- Current residence

5 Jobs I’ve had
1. I flipped burgers at Burger King
2. I worked way too long at a phone center taking surveys during High School and into college
3. I had an awesome job at BYU working “on call” as a janitor. Basically, this meant that I got paid $8/hr to go about my normal day (classes, rock climbing, hanging out at home, etc.). I only got called in to work a couple of times each month. It was a perfect job for a busy student.
4. Researcher in a molecular biology lab- this was also a perfect job because I loved it and it helped to open doors to the future
5. “Computer guy” at Staples- I don’t know why they hired me as I know very little about computers. If anything, this job taught me not to trust so-called computer guys.

5 Things people probably don’t know about me
1. I consider myself an expert at shooting rubber bands off my finger
2. I love to turn the radio up really loud and sing along when I’m driving by myself. Especially classic rock/metal with lots of screaming, or country with a heavy twang
3. I play the guitar
4. I actually enjoy most musicals, and some “chick flicks”
5. I really want to buy a motorcycle one day and cruise the countryside

I guess we are supposed to tag someone else so they have to do they same survey. I think I'll leave that to Rachel if she decides to get on here and fill in her answers.

Week of Parties.

It’s been another great week. I was doing sealants all week, which means that I had no classes, no homework, and no stress. Also, I was done every day by noon or earlier, which meant that I had a lot of free time to read or play racquetball or whatever.

Unfortunately, this was a very busy week for Rachel, so we still didn’t get to hang out a whole lot despite my laid-back schedule. Rachel worked all week at a big convention thing downtown. It was for the government, and it was all very top-secret. She had to go through all kinds of security checks and take “secrecy oaths” and everything. Really, it seems a bit excessive to me, but I understand why confidentiality is important.

Anyway, Rachel worked long days, every day. By the end of the week, she was so overtaken by the specialized terminology that she would mix it into her everyday conversation- like when she thought she was having a “transaction” instead of a contraction.

On Saturday, Rachel had her baby shower. We are so blessed to have friends here and Rachel had a lot of fun socializing and talking with the other women about babies. I think there must be some kind of womanly connection that guys will never really get, because even though I am her husband, I think she could talk about babies on a more intimate level with a perfect stranger who happens to be a woman. This isn’t because I don’t try- it’s just that I’m not “one of the girls.”

Also, we went to a Superbowl party on Sunday. The game was actually more of an excuse to get together for a party, since nobody there cared a whole lot about the outcome. Most of the girls sat in the dining room and talked while the guys watched the game. Again, we are very blessed to have good friends here.

Here are some pictures of Rachel’s shower.