We're very proud to announce that this morning at 11:49am, Evan Kainoa Healy was born. He weighed in at 7 pounds, with a length of 19.5 inches. Here's a picture of him:

It was a bit of a crazy morning with the snow/sleet/ice/rain storm going on outside. Amy and I stayed at Henriette's house in West Hartford so we would be closer to the hospital, and that made the drive in much easier (though still somewhat harrowing). We made it just fine, though, and with plenty of time (6:30am) before the scheduled c-section (10:30am). Better safe than sorry.

The labor and delivery staff were nice enough to put us in a room despite our early arrival, so we got to rest for a while and watch some TV while we waited for Amy's surgery. Amy's OB stopped by and we had a fun exchange about the weather and its effect on people. As the surgery grew near, Amy changed into a gown and we started to meet with doctors and nurses. We met with the anesthesiologist to discuss placing Amy's spinal, as there was a lot of trouble with this when Amy had Seth due to her mild scoliosis and short stature. The doctors were very nice, and we discussed a plan and hoped for the best.

Finally the time came for the surgery. Amy headed off to the OR and I had to stay outside until the spinal was complete. I changed into scrubs and waited patiently, knowing that it might take a little while (it took 45 minutes with Seth). After 50 minutes of waiting, Amy's OB came out to tell me that they were still trying to place the spinal, and that they were going to try one more time so she wouldn't have to go under general anesthesia. I waited a little longer, and then the nurse came out to tell me that I could come in, and Amy was awake. It had been quite an ordeal; they finally managed to place the spinal using an epidural needle to guide their way. It was quite painful for Amy, caused a dip in blood pressure, and this lead to nausea. They gave her medicine to counteract the nausea, but this gave her a pretty big headache.

Despite the initial difficulties, the surgery itself went very well. Amy was extremely brave, and after only a short while little Evan was born. He came out screaming, but once the nurses had checked him out and wrapped him up, he calmed right down and was very content. He scored 9s on his initial Apgar tests, and as the doctors finished up with Amy, we got to hold Evan and see him up close.

Once the surgery was over, Amy and Evan were wheeled into the recovery room where Evan was immediately able to nurse on both sides (first try!). Grams and Geema ended up surprising us by braving the elements to come to the hospital without waiting for our call, and they were lucky enough to be able to sneak into the recovery room to meet Evan. Shortly after, Amy's room in the maternity ward was ready, and we all headed over to settle in.

Amy got some much-needed rest while I joined Evan in the nursery for his checkup. He got a quick bath and then spent some time in the warmer, which he really enjoyed.

Geema and Grams stayed with Amy while she rested and talked with a few of the doctors. She got a hand-written set of instructions from the anesthesiologist in case she ever needs another spinal. Meanwhile, the nurses started Amy on her medication to manage the pain from her incision and headache.

Grams and Geema headed home so they'd have plenty of time to navigate through bad weather and pick up Seth from day care. Seth has been staying with both of them while we've been away and has been having the time of his life. We've called to check in on him, and he's seemed very happy and doesn't miss us too much. He announced that he would come to see us in the hospital soon to feed Evan and "help him nap".

We settled in with Evan for some quiet time. He was very sleepy, and so wasn't very interested in nursing right away. The doctors told us this wasn't a big deal during the first 24 hours, as everyone is pretty tired after delivery. He was also a little "spitty" from some mucus left over in his system, so we had him propped up some of the time to help get that out. Most of the time, though, he was on one of us, and we've enjoyed having another snuggly baby to spend our days with.

We sent him to the nursery so they could keep an eye on his mucus while we got some sleep. They said they'd bring him in as soon as he wanted to nurse. They brought him in about 4 AM, but he was still too tired to nurse, so we had him sleep on one of us for the rest of the night.

It's been a busy and tiring first day, but well worth all of the effort. We're already in love with our new little baby, and we can't wait for Seth to meet him.