Thursday, September 4, 2008

Jesse Ray Pevehouse

My heart is overwhelmed!!! My cousin Eric and his wife Whitney, welcomed Jesse Ray Pevehouse (pronounced P V House) Wednesday evening. He weighed 8 lbs 4.5 oz. Jesse is so adorable. Whitney and Jesse are doing fine.

Bryan and I have a house full and it was a very long day for Bryan between work and last night but I kept Bryan up until nearly midnight last night talking about my day and all that transpired. And then I woke up at 4:00 this morning (it's 4:45 now) thinking about the new baby and just how I could communicate my heart in a blog post. I even had a hard time trying to tell Bryan without crying or getting flustered or just babbling!! So don't say I didn't warn you.
I know so many of you prayed for me yesterday and leading up to yesterday and GOD was there! I had a great peace. I was so blessed to have Katie stay with us. Her presence soothed my heart and took my focus off myself. She is such a wonderful child. I took her to school yesterday morning and then picked her up around 12 noon to head to the hospital. Her mom wanted her there to be with so much of the family that had come in for the delivery. It is the neatest feeling to drop a little child off at school. I loved it!! My heart was just bubbling over at 9:00 yesterday morning. My day was to get even better!!!

My cousin Eric and I have shared quite some times together; some great and some not so great and I consider Bryan, Eric, and I pretty close. Eric stayed with us for nearly a year while he was in Officer Candidate School. When we were younger, Eric and I were fairly close for cousins. We would write back and forth and share many thoughts and feelings. I know Bryan and I both think of him more as a brother than a cousin. I am so proud of the wonderful job Eric has done. God has blessed him with great things over the past 2 years. This morning I remembered this picture of Eric and I as children and I had to post it with these others. I love how it displays the process of life and our family.
Mid 80s


September 3, 2008




Yesterday, prior to Whitney's delivery, Eric called me over to the side. I can still see the look in his eyes and he asked me if I would want to be in the room with he and Whitney once the baby started to arrive!!!!!! This caught me entirely off guard!!! And of course, as I tried to respond to him I cried like a nimcupook!!! Earlier in the week I had mentioned how I was so thankful to be a part of my sister's delivery process because I will not experience that process myself. I was trying to encourage him for his time to come telling him He will have joy unspeakable and there was nothing too queasy about it!! Eric remembered me saying that and he wanted to offer me another opportunity if I wanted to. This was the most remarkable, generous, unselfish, most loving act Eric did for me. I will never be able to put into words or communicate to he and Whitney how I felt and still feel. Eric can become a very private person. I had no idea he was going to ask me that yesterday. I just didn't expect it and I was not about to ask. That is such a sweet, precious time for a couple and for them to allow me to be a part of that is just amazing. The only people in that room was Eric, Whitney of course :), myself, the Dr., and the nurses. I was so afraid family would be upset I was in there but Eric said he was calling the shots and it was his call.

I stood by Eric's side as they prepped Whitney. The feelings, electricity, adrenaline in the room was amazing. Eric stayed very cool and calm the entire time. He didn't make light of anything. Externally he seemed very balanced. I had every intention of standing right by his side and he was at the far top of the bed. I told him to scoot down a little though so Whitney could see his face. As the moment drew nearer, the nurse said one of us had to help hold her leg and Eric looked at me and said he would rather stay where he was at. I totally was not prepared for that. I had never been that close with my sister. But I did my job and looked at Whitney's face and tried to focus on her, the monitors, and Eric. I want to respect some of their privacy so I do not want to go into too much detail. This was amazing for me. I did not expect at all to be that much a part of the process and I could feel in her muscles and expression how hard Whitney was working. This is not something anyone just does for fun (unless you are a nurse) and I know this was a chance of a lifetime for me. Being with them I think will help me each time I struggle with not having the physical experience myself. I can relive these moments with them. I feel so much more connected with Whitney. Almost as if a bond was formed in that room between she and I and I mean that quite seriously.


My cousin has grown into an amazing man! I am so proud of him! He has been great to his wife and he is wonderful father. I loved hearing him talk to Jesse. He held him like a pro and was so loving. I could write on and on about how he looked, how is eyes looked when Jesse was born, what he said immediately after the doctor "assisted" Jesse out, how Eric lovingly treated his step-daughter Katie, the sweetness in his voice, the loving encouragement to Whitney during the hard labor, how he was on a coffee diet the entire day and didn't eat anything because Whitney couldn't and on and on. But I know this post has to end sometime. It is early in the morning but I will try to attach some pictures. I didn't get a good picture of Bryan because it was crazy and crowded before we left but you should have seen the HUGE smile on his face when he saw that baby boy!!!!


God is so very good to me. I am so undeserving of the wonderful blessings and opportunities He gives to me. I praise Him this day for yesterday! When my heart was heavy on Tuesday He knew, He knew what He had in store for me on Wednesday!!! Hallelujah!!!

I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed being there!

I helped Katie buy some flowers for her mom to give to her before Jesse was born. Katie was pretty excited to finally be a Big Sister. She said she had been a little sister for a long long time and now she will finally be the Big Sister!!The Pevehouse Family -- September 3, 2008

Eric and his brother Jared

Eric and His Parents

My wonderful, patient husband, Bryan!!!!

21 comments:

Candy said...

Oh, Julie! I just don't even know what to say!!! How awesome! What a great story of God's love! I'm so happy for you! :)

Angela said...

What a great day you had. You WILL forever be bonded with them and that baby. You will always be able to say, "I remember when you were born!" I think that is so exciting!

Thanks for sharing your day with us :)

Guyla said...

Julie, I am so glad you were able to share in this experience with your cousin in such a special and unexpected way. Thank you for sharing this! I have been praying for you all week. Love ya!

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a wonderful experience. I am so glad you were able to be there for them on such an important and amazing day.

Melissa said...

Julie, that is so amazing!!! What an awesome day. I'm so glad you were able to experience that. That's pretty cool Whitney was comfortable with it too :)

Megan L Hutchings said...

Oh Julie...what a GREAT day and what a GREAT post! Like you said...He knew exactly what your heart needed!

The family pics are GREAT!

Faith said...

Oh Julie! I have tears in my eyes and I am just so thankful for the amazing ways that God worked in your life the past few days. I am so glad that you felt His peace and joy and happiness! Your excitement is jumping of the page! It just blesses my heart to read this. I am so happy for you!

Thank you for your precious prayer, that is exactly what we are praying for too...if not the complete picture, then at least part of it so we will know which way to go. God is so good! Thankful for you!

Betsy said...

What an amazing experience!!! You are so blessed to have gotten to share this with your cousin! I don't think there is ANYTHING in the world more awesome than the miracle of life!!

I am still praying that you will get to experience this in some way before too long!!

Laura said...

Oh, Julie!! What a GREAT opportunity for you! I'm so glad you got to experience that moment with the ones you love!! (I still think you're the best "Aunt" in the world!!)

Megan said...

Julie this was such a great story. What a neat experience to have! I love that picture of you and Eric when you were little. You look the exact same!

Jessica and Eddie said...

I was in the room with my sister when she had Jos & Grace. It's an amazing and beautiful experience. I know you are thankful you got ot witness it again. You guys have been in my prayers. Hope you have a good weekend.

Jessica and Eddie said...

I was in the room with my sister when she had Jos & Grace. It's an amazing and beautiful experience. I know you are thankful you got ot witness it again. You guys have been in my prayers. Hope you have a good weekend.

The Hickmans said...

Girl, I am bauling like a baby! We were all praying for you and I am overwhelmed at how God blessed you. He truly is amazing!

Lindsey said...

What a beautiful post straight from the heart! God Bless YOU!

Jared said...

HI Julie...I am so happy that you were able to have that experience. I am so glad that we were able to see each other and chat. It was such a special time for all of us. I can't wait til the next time we all get to hang out again...hopefully it will be soon!

petrii said...

Bless you dear one!! The joy is absolutely undeniable in this post!! What an adorable child and what an unforgettable experience for you. God is so good!!

Thank you for sharing this. Have a Blessed weekend, Dawn

Brooklyn said...

i know we've already talked about this but I just wanted to say again how happy i am for you. what a blessing! i'm so glad God changed what was a trying situation for your heart into a rejoicing one. we'll miss you guys sunday!

Weeksie50 said...

Oh What a beautiful story and gorgeous family..

I love your blog. Whoo Hoo, another SOONER fan. Thank God for Football Season!

Heather said...

Julie- I loved reading this and I am so happy for all of God's blessings in your life- most of all HIS presence and favor at a time when you did not expect it. He is GOOD.
Praying for you today!

valerie said...

Julie,
Thanks for meeting us for lunch.
I had such a good time.
You are such a precious person. I'm so glad our paths crossed.
This post was great, by the way.
How special!

Vicki S said...

How awesome Julie! I am in tears about the experience and I wasn't even there. I love you and I am so glad God was there with you when we couldn't be. How exciting to be part of that miracle!