It’s safe to say that since the last time we wrote a TON has happened. Well, mostly just one major and life-changing event: the birth of our baby girl! Maeve Nicole Hervey came into this world and joined our family on December 5, 2013, and brought with her an incredible amount of joy. The experience of her birth is one that I will never forget. Hannah and I pretty much just hung out for most of the day after they hooked up the IV and gave her the epidural. When it came time to start pushing (I know this sounds whacko but…) the whole birthing process was very smooth. The doctor came in around 7:00 PM, Hannah started pushing (the nurse told her she was one of the best “pushers” she had ever seen! Hannah was very proud of that fact) and baby girl came about 45 minutes later. She was 7 lbs. 6 ounces and 19 ¾”, so very average and healthy. It’s difficult for me to describe in words what I felt the minute she came out and I heard her cry for the first time - I wanted to laugh, cry tears of insane happiness, and jump for joy all at the same time. It’s a feeling that only parents who have been through the experience understand, because that level of happiness cannot be felt anywhere else in the world or at any time in life (at least for me up to this point in my life). As for her name…
We definitely had a tough time coming up with her name. The name “Maeve” was on our list when we first found out Hannah was pregnant but eventually got lost in the sea of all the other names we had. For some reason, though, that name kept coming into our minds while we were thinking about what to name her. Our initial reaction was to brush it aside since we had a couple names we thought for sure we would go with. I called my Mom and told her the names we had narrowed it down to, and she immediately jumped all over the name Maeve. When the exact same thing happened when we called Xan, we took it as a sign. We wanted her name to have special meaning so we decided to make “Nicole” be her middle name. Nicole is Hannah’s sister who was born severely handicapped and passed away at the age of 4, long before Hannah was even born. When we prayed about the name Maeve Nicole we had such an overwhelming spiritual experience where Nicole’s presence was felt and we received a sound confirmation that that was what we were supposed to name her (the name fits her perfectly, which has been a great relief). When we called Hannah’s mom first to let her know the name we had chosen we all broke down crying and the spirit was so strong it was as if somebody was wrapping us in a warm blanket made of overwhelming happiness and joy.
The birth experience overall was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life and I know it will always stand as one of those experiences I look back on when I’m older as evidence that God is real.
We definitely had a tough time coming up with her name. The name “Maeve” was on our list when we first found out Hannah was pregnant but eventually got lost in the sea of all the other names we had. For some reason, though, that name kept coming into our minds while we were thinking about what to name her. Our initial reaction was to brush it aside since we had a couple names we thought for sure we would go with. I called my Mom and told her the names we had narrowed it down to, and she immediately jumped all over the name Maeve. When the exact same thing happened when we called Xan, we took it as a sign. We wanted her name to have special meaning so we decided to make “Nicole” be her middle name. Nicole is Hannah’s sister who was born severely handicapped and passed away at the age of 4, long before Hannah was even born. When we prayed about the name Maeve Nicole we had such an overwhelming spiritual experience where Nicole’s presence was felt and we received a sound confirmation that that was what we were supposed to name her (the name fits her perfectly, which has been a great relief). When we called Hannah’s mom first to let her know the name we had chosen we all broke down crying and the spirit was so strong it was as if somebody was wrapping us in a warm blanket made of overwhelming happiness and joy.
The birth experience overall was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life and I know it will always stand as one of those experiences I look back on when I’m older as evidence that God is real.
Being a dad is the best. There is nothing better than it in the world. Every day I come home from work to a gorgeous, loving, smiling wife and a beautiful baby girl. What’s better than that? (Hint: The answer is nothing) Maeve is 2 months old now and is cuter and cuter every day (even though I think she looks nothing like me - hey, maybe that’s the reason she’s so cute). I love her with all my heart and can’t wait to see what her personality is like as she gets older.
Some other highlights of the past two months include:
- Having Hannah’s mom (Grammy Holly) come stay with us for a week right after Maeve was born. She was incredibly helpful and made the transition into parenthood a lot smoother for us than if she had not come and we were left to fend for ourselves. She made crazy-delicious food every night - in fact, I think I may have even gained a pound or two while she was here, which is a miracle!
- Having my mom (Grandma Coco) with us for a week right after Hannah’s mom left. Maeve is her first grandbaby and she was SO excited to just be able to hang out with her all day, take pictures, and soak it all in. She also continued the amazing cooking that Hannah’s mom started which kept me in a never-ending state of happiness. We had so much fun laughing, hearing stories about me as a baby (there were some great ones), and enjoying each other’s company. Grandmotherhood looks good on Grandma Coco.
- Hannah’s sister Xan and her husband Spencer flew in from Rochester, New York for two weeks and spent Christmas and New Years with us. It was a rockin’ good time and there was never a dull moment - we get along like two peas in a pod with those two. In fact, I think Spencer and I were separated at birth… We got to show them a few of the sites here in Louisiana, laughed our heads off, Xan took a bajillion pictures of Maeve, and had so much fun.
- While Xan and Spencer were here, Hannah’s mom, dad, and sister Chloe flew in for a few days and the fun continued. We showed them around the town, put together a 1,000-piece puzzle, and somehow managed to survive having 8 people in our two bedroom apartment while having a blast.
- We flew out to Utah for a long weekend in January to bless Maeve and to introduce her to family and friends. We also went to one of my best friend’s, Dustin’s, wedding. The first 20 seconds of Maeve’s blessing were spirit-filled and then she screamed at the top of her lungs for the rest of it. According to my parents, it was payback since I did the exact same thing during my baby blessing.
- P
