I think that most of us know that happiness that comes after some of the most disappointing things that can happen in life. That is what Hope and Hunter Madden experienced, both before and after the birth of their daughter, Evelyn.
Things haven’t always been easy for the couple and they have seen their fair share of heartache. That was true when they had to endure 3 miscarriages, including one of a son, Owen, that was far along in the pregnancy.
Even though they endured that sadness, their happiness did come when their daughter was born on March 11. It was a day that none of the family will ever forget.
Hunter said that it was difficult when they lost their son. He said: “It was just such a gut punch … I think one of the worst things to come from losing Owen, other than his loss, was the way I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop with our daughter.”
After going through 3 miscarriages, they were nervous yet optimistic when they went to each doctor visit. They had a lot of anxiety but, as a family, they had faith and a lot of love for each other.
Hope said: “We were very much prepared for the worst. And I think my entire pregnancy was that way. We just kept waiting for the floor to fall out from underneath us every second.”
She said that she and her husband wanted nothing more than to have children. They had gone through a few rounds of fertility treatments and lost 3 children so they started to lose hope.
Things turned out well for them when Leilani Rogers was born. They documented the moment with a photographer and she was able to capture the emotion that really said it all.
You can see the feelings coming through loud and clear when they were holding their newborn daughter. The photographer shared some of those pictures, saying about how it was all about family.
Although all of the images are powerful, there is one that really says it all. Hunter is holding his daughter next to him and you can see the tattoo that was for the son he lost.
He said: “My tattoo is a tree that turns into an anchor at the bottom. The tree represents my family tree and the anchor represents God’s promise of love for us.”
In his words, he will never forget catching her as she was born and how he felt an overwhelming amount of love for her right from the start.
Perhaps he summed it up best when he said: “I could not believe I was allowed to hold something so perfect and I was overwhelmed with thanksgiving for finally getting to be a father.”