Last Wednesday, Carolyn gave birth to a beautiful girl weighing 7 lbs 15 ounces. Labor and delivery was relatively smooth with no complications; there was a 45 minute span though where contractions were coming fast and furious. Though I will never experience contractions, I never want to. I can see why the overwhelming majority of women choose to get an epidural or other type of anesthesia. Carolyn though was a champ all the way through. Zero drugs the whole way through even though there was a period of time where she did want an epidural. She never got it though as labor progressed too fast and it was too late by the time she requested one. She pushed for 5 minutes and baby Chloe was welcomed into the world. Total time spent in the labor and delivery room: a "quick" 3 hours.

Many thanks to Joyce and Katie who were in the delivery room for waaaay longer than they comfortably wanted to be. Both of them kept us company prior to the contractions. And both of them helped me help Carolyn manage the contractions up until maybe 5 minutes prior to delivery. Looking back, none of us (especially them) would have planned it that way, but without them there for moral and physical support, the day would not have gone the way that it did.

We recieved many visitors while we were in the hospital and the outpouring of support has been so humbling. We're back at home these days learning how to be good parents. It's hard, but it's been so rewarding.