Jamisen's Birth Day

The day of Jamisen's birth was clear and crisp. Chris and I double and triple checked the birth bag, the Anne-Marie bag and everything else. I woke up with a feeling of exciting and gentle disapointment that I wouldn't be carrying Jamisen with me everywhere I went. I knew I'd miss him in my belly. Grandpa and Grandma Faiola came to caravan into the hospital with us (after one quick last stop at Bramble Berry of course).

The last time to leave our home without being a party of three

And the last shot of my belly! This is my Operating Room Nurse Cynthia (who had just finished the Boston Marathon on Monday! Talk about a seriously amazing gal!).

Last belly shot; I already miss it.

Thanks to my clotting disorders, we ended up with a planned C-section so we were able to know just when Jamisen would be born and make sure that everything was in place for his grand arrival. Here I am, suited up in the Operating Room with Chris patting my head lovingly. The gal with the funky head covering is our anesthiologist. She has 3 1/2 month old little girl at home. You can tell from the look on my face that I'm a bit nervous and scared. It was a comfort to have my Dad in the room as well. He took all these great photos. Thanks Grandpa!

Scared

Jamisen Louis Renoud made his appearance into the world at 12:04 on April 22, 2011. He looks rather grumpy to be out but our Doctor was quite delighted that he was yelling right as his head came out of the incision. She was rather impressed with his early crying.

Healthy baby boy

Another thing she was impressed about was this fantastic flow of urine - look closely and you can see Jamisen peeing on Mommy's sterile environment (and the Doctor is laughing at that too!).

It won't be the last time I get peed on!

While I was being sewed up (yes, I have all those photos as well but I'll spare you those details), Jamisen was being weighed and measured. He weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces at birth and was 19" long. He had no vernix (the white covering that most newborns are born with) on him and looked so nicely formed that multiple doctors suggested that perhaps his original birthdate and dating was wrong. I just prefer to think of him as quite advanced.

See me looking on? I didn't want to let him out of my sight.

Getting a first look at our perfect little boy:



First look!

The happy Renoud family in the Operating Recovery Room:

New Baby!

We were in there approximately 90 minutes. Jamisen did his first feed in there (thanks to some stellar help from the incredible nurses at St. Joseph's in Bellingham) and I had a lovely cry with Chris over our amazing good fortune and new life.