Westin is here!

I know it's been way too long since our last update but here are the pics of our new baby boy. He was born April 12, 2008 at 4:37pm at Sutter Medical Center in Roseville, CA. He was 6lbs 11 oz & 19 1/2 inches.

Labor and Delivery:

What a crazy, amazing experience! Kierstin had decided back when she was in college, that one day when pregnancy came along, she wanted to try a natural delivery at least once. I thought it was a good idea too. We took the class and read the books, did the exercises, and basically tried to prepare the best we could.

Kierstin felt her first real contraction at 7am, April 12th. We stayed at the house until about 1030am, using our techniques from class to get through the contractions as relaxed as possible. When we arrived at the hospital, Kierstin was dilated to a 3. By 1pm the contractions had become a lot more painful for Kierstin, and I was doing everything I could to help her relax and make it through each one. Overall we were doing pretty well. At this point there was another check, but Kierstin was only barely at a 4. The next two hours were extreme! There was no mistaking that Westin was coming through and there was no stopping him. Kierstin said she was not going to be one of those women who made a bunch of noise, but she let out some good yells, involuntarily. I was freaking out in my head, but knew letting it show would do no good. I did my best to help Kierstin remember to breath and do her best to relax. Around 330pm we had another check. Thankfully, Kierstin was at a 9 and was relieved to know that she was almost done. The doctor was called, and then we waited. It seemed like forever before the doctor arrived. Kierstin was out of bed through all the dilation. It was kind of funny, because the nurse said asked Kierstin to "not have the baby on the floor" and to "please get into bed if you feel like you need to push." In the next few minutes things progressed to the pushing point and Kierstin was asked to get into bed, which she did. The doctor walked in right as the nurses were finished prepping her for pushing. The doctor broke the water, which still had not broken on its own. Kierstin pushed for about 20 minutes and then we had our little baby Westin!