Deep Breaths

Your regular blog host is getting some well earned sleep.  Please welcome today's guest blogger.  You may remember him from games such as Pile! and Chase!

I woke up this morning at 1 AM to Kate leaning over my side of the bed to tell me about her contractions.  She'd been up since midnight, and the time between each contraction was steadily decreasing.  When her next contraction started, I realized this was not a drill.  With my brother out of town, I called Jake, the next best thing to family, to see if he could crash on our couch and take care of Izey in the morning.  Of course he can.  (Thank you, Jake!)

After a quick trip to pick him up, we were out the door and arrived at the hospital just after 2 AM.  Kate's water broke on the way through the doors--another good sign that this was not a drill.  Kate's labor was fast and pretty intense, but she performed like a champ.  No surprise there.

At 3:29 AM, Anders Timothy entered the world with loud cries and copious urination directed toward the pediatric staff.  At 9 pounds 5 ounces, the initial assessment is healthy, healthy, healthy.  Praise the Lord.

We took turns holding him for about half an hour before the neonatal team took him to the Infant Special Care Unit (the local flavor of NICU).  As expected, they're keeping him there for at least a few days for close observation.  We can be with him as much as we like, although other visitors are limited to family.  All the tests so far look good.  I'm about to go find out if they've approved regular feedings so that Kate can start nursing him.

More news (and pictures!) will be forthcoming.  Thanks for all your prayers.

Breathe easy, little boy.  Breath easy.