Drum roll please....

Introducing the newest member of the Jake and Melissa Baldwin family,
weighing in at 7 pounds 14 ounces and standing tall at 22 and one half inches,
LILY CATHRYN BALDWIN!!!!

(And the crowd goes wild.)

16 September 2006 - 11:48 P.M.

Mother and baby are doing well. Lily has all of her fingers and all of her toes. She already has more hair than her old man. (She has been quite a celebrity among the nurses here because of it.) This was our second try to get Lily here. Saturday at about 2 pm Melissa noticed that she was leaking a little fluid. We'd been in the night before because of steady contractions, but were sent home because they weren't "intense" enough and Melissa was only dilated to a 1-plus. The contractions continued through the night and into the day until Melissa noticed the fluid. We went to the hospital and she had dilated to a 3. Dr. Larkin was on call and, given that Melissa was a couple of days past due (and perhaps little persuasion from Cyndee), he decided to break her water completely. We were both thrilled because at that point we knew that we would not be going home until Lily was on the outside.

Melissa progressed somewhat slowly at first and the staff expected that she would most likely have to endure and long labor. Fortunately for her, by the time she was finally dilated to a 6 things started to move quite quickly. We arrived at the hospital at about 4 pm and by 10 pm it was time for her to push. Melissa responded with vigor. She truly played like a champion yesterday. She pushed and pushed and pushed and nearly two hours later Lily made her triumphant entrance into the world. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice (which the doctors suspect could have contributed to a fairly drawn out pushing period). It didn't seem to affect Lily much, though. She didn't sustain any bruises or noticeable ill effects from the cord. She was pretty purple when she arrived and it took her a few seconds to cry. However, she warmed up quickly. She has already shown herself to be quite capable at making her displeasure known. On the positive side, Melissa has been able to nurse her a couple of times and I even got to change my first diaper ever. My streak is dead.

We are staying in Cottonwood Hospital in room 131. We will most likely be here until Tuesday. Lily's pediatrician noticed that she looked a little pale and she has had some minor difficulty maintaining her body temperature. The doctor did a CBC (complete blood count) and found that her white blood cell count was a little higher than normal, which can be an early signal of a developing infection. He has taken the precaution of starting Lily on a dose of antibiotics which will make it necessary for her to stay here until Tuesday. (We had originally planned to leave Monday.) The doctor assured us that all would be well and that he was simply being cautious. Either way, your prayers in Lily's behalf would be most appreciated. Other than that little hiccup, everything is going well. She is a beautiful little girl and I've already started to spread the word to the newborn boys in the area: keep your distance.

I've included a few other pictures that I like at the end of this post. Many heartfelt thanks to all of those who've offered prayers and well-wishes on our (especially Lily's) behalf. The support that we've felt has been tremendous. Your continued prayers on Lily's and Griffin's behalf mean a lot to us.