Happy BIRTH day Palmer Ellis Tate

This is the way your BIRTH day went (according to your Mother!).

Nana and Aunt Dee arrived yesterday and came to help Daddy take care of Connor while you are born and we are in the hospital. You were scheduled to be born via caesarean section at 9:30am at the Loudoun Hospital Center Birthing Inn, but they called us at 7am and told us to come an hour later because they had an emergency. That was nice because it let us have a little bit of a slower morning and it let us take your brother to the bus stop together. Everyone at the bus stop knew that you would be coming today, so we got lots of well-wishes for your arrival. This is how we looked when we headed to the bus stop.

After we dropped Connor off we came home, got our stuff, and headed to the hospital where we waited in a room for the OR to get ready for us.

We got two great people to take care of us...Shanny (on the left) who gave us our anesthesia and Lisa (in pink), our OR nurse who was with us for the whole thing. She held me up when they put the needle in my back and she held my hand when I needed her. Shanny also took very good care of Mommy's neck during the surgery and made sure that I was comfortable so that I could see you when you came out. The OR is really COLD, so they kept me wrapped up in warm blankets, too.

As soon as I was numb and all set up, they let Daddy come into the OR. And then they got started right away. It seemed like in just minutes, you were out. They let Daddy take some pictures of the actual surgery. They were a bit worried that Daddy might get queezy or faint but he was not bothered at all. Here's the first one of you. Its a little bloody, but I love it because you make that motion all the time--two hands out in a kind of modified "hook em horns" position:

I am amazed every time I look at this picture. Amazed at you. Amazed at modern medicine and how EASY this seemed. Amazed at the length of your umbilical cord!! They showed you to me very quickly. Daddy cried. Alot. He was very happy and very emotional. His glasses got fogged up and at one point the doctor said "Oh, God, Bob. You'd better sit down!". Too sweet.

After that, they took you to the baby warmer to do your check up. You weighed 8 pounds, 10.6 ounces. You were 21 inches long. We have lots of pictures of this and your brother particularly likes looking at the one where they are taking your temperature in your butt. This shocks him and when we tell him they did the same thing to him when he came out he CANNOT believe it.

While they checked you out, the doctor finished my surgery up and then she went to check on you. Here is a great picture of you, and the beautiful Dr. Thompson (who also delivered your brother the same way).

Then, I went to the recovery area while Daddy went with you to have your first bath.

I was in recovery for what seemed like a really long time. My blood pressure cuff wasn't working correctly and they couldn't "release" me to my room until they could get a final recovery blood pressure measurement. So, someone had to run around for awhile to find another cuff. One funny thing that happened is that Dr. Thompson came back to see me and said "I'm not here to check on you. I'm just here to report that Bob has finally stopped crying!" All the ladies in the hospital LOVED your Dad for being so emotional and excited to meet his son.

After that, they took me to our room where you were waiting peacefully with Daddy. And, at last, I really got to hold you. Here we are, back together again!

We rested for a little while, but after dinner, you got to meet your brother, Connor, who absolutely could not wait to see you. When he walked in the room, he barely even looked at me and just wanted to get right over to you in your bassinet. Here's how he looked right when he walked in the door. He was a man on a mission.

He couldn't wait to see you and to hold you. He's in love with you just like Mommy and Daddy are.

And here's our first picture as a family.

Welcome to the world, little man. We're so glad that you're here. We'll do our best and love you no matter what, no matter where. Thanks for making our family even better.