Beautiful Baby Girl

Late Monday evening on July 26, 2010 a new little person entered our world and our family. With much joy we announce the birth of our sweet baby girl, Devyn Ryan Young. My pregnancy with Devyn had been pretty uneventful up until a few weeks ago when some findings from an ultrasound alerted my midwife that Devyn may have been struggling to thrive in utero. It was decided that conditions were not yet unfavorable enough to justify an immediate delivery. That with a month left to go, any time for her to grow was good. A week later at a repeat ultrasound we found that conditions were still deteriorating, but not enough to justify an immediate delivery. My mind was constantly worrying, wondering if my baby was okay. The not knowing, not seeing her... it was really hard. Four days later they had me come back in for a non-stress test to watch her. Now there was a new problem, a very pronounced heart arrhythmia. They immediately did another ultrasound and saw sudden drastic drop in amniotic fluids and also could not detect her breathing on the ultrasound. My midwife immediately sent me to the hospital where I was induced. They monitored her closely during labor to make sure she was okay throughout the labor and didn't require an emergency c-section. After just about four and a half hours she was born.

Nothing could have prepared me for the love that immediately washed over me for this new little soul I was holding in my arms. She immediately breathed on her own and after EKGs and other tests it was determined that her arrhythmia, thankfully, is most likely going to be one that corrects itself.Devyn is such a little love and a beyond good baby. She does not cry really at all and loves sleeping. We were having a hard time getting her to get motivated to eat, but just last night she turned a corner and woke up on her own when she was ready to eat. Even then she doesn't cry. She just makes sweet baby noises to let you know she's awake. She really is just such a sweet, gentle, little soul. I marvel at her. Her sisters and Daddy are all in love with her too. The girls are all eager to get their chance at holding her or love to just sit and stare at her.

I have had an overwhelming sense of peace since she was born. Finding out we were pregnant when we did and so unexpectedly really shook Justin and I in our bearings. I struggled feeling like I could be a good mother to yet another child right now. But since she's come into my life, I have felt my love, motivation and patience multiply in a way I couldn't have mustered before looking into her tiny face. It has strengthened my testimony that Heavenly Father did not abandon us or heap more on us than we could handle. But rather, He has taught me that out of unexpected things and places in our lives, some of the richest and most beautiful blessings can flow. My life has already undeniably been richly blessed by having Devyn in it. I simply can't imagine this world without her tiny spirit in it.