Joseph Paul Leo Cote IV is Born

Well, after weeks of agony (for Lynnell... I didn't do much) it finally happened.

Lynnell woke up last night at 12:30am with contractions. She woke me up as she stirred out of bed and said "Joe, it might be time. These are bad."

I answered in my 12:30am cheery voice "Ok, let me know when it's time."

Five minutes later she says "they're four minutes apart."

I answered with "Should I get in the shower."

Lynnell said "I don't know."

One contraction later she said "GET IN THE SHOWER!"

After my shower we hurried to get to the car.

1:55 AM: Here's Nell going to get her coat. This is the last good shot of her gigantic belly. Probably the last one we'll see on her.


2:06 AM: We arrive at the hospital.


2:25 AM: The ridiculously distracted (with nothing but her own brain) ER receptionist finally gets us checked in.

2:30 AM: The nurses realize that Lynnell is going to have a baby very soon and admit her to a room. Once we're in the room the contraction seem to become more severe and I go into survival mode. About 20 minutes into it this point Lynnell is getting pretty good contractions and my hands are ready to fall off from rubbing the pains away from the back labor.

4:30 AM: Lynnell gets her epidural. Five minutes later it's thumbs up.


5:50 AM: It was close to push time. The doctor came in to check the water, and it had broke by then. Here's Nell just before the doc showed up. She was much happier now that the epidural had fully kicked in.


6:30 AM: Little Iv arrived after only 15 minutes or so of pushing. The doctor made sure his head got out, and then I had the honors of getting the rest of him out. It was a fun experience. I wish I would have been able to do that with Izzie. It definitely made this one special. Then I cut his cord, and at 6:31 AM he was coming in for a landing on mom.


After a five minute stay with mom it was off to the scale for a quick weigh in. He was 8lbs 10.6oz.


6:39 AM: We had our first family photo minus Izzie because she wasn't there yet (planned).


9:00 AM: The little guy got carted off to the torture zone. I snapped a couple of pictures of him before the torture began.



9:15 AM: Iv gets his first shots in the new world. Poor guy didn't like them, but he didn't fuss too much.


9:16 AM: Foot print samples.


9:18 AM: Head measurements.


Just then Grandma Shirley and Izzie walked through the door, so I picked Izzie up so that she could see him. This is her expression when she saw him.


Security straps get put on Iv, mom and dad.


Here's another one of Grandma Shirley and Izzie looking on as Iv gets some more baby bling.


10:00 AM: Dr. Fritz, our new found pediatrician after Izzie's wicked bad ear infection last week, shows up. Turns out he was on call this weekend. What luck.


He checked Iv out and then tried folding him back up to put him back.


10:11 AM: Dr. Fritz hands Iv off to Grandma Shirley for her first hold with the new guy.


A few minutes later Izzie, Iv and Dad pose for a picture.


Here's a good picture of the little guy with his eyes wide open.


1:30 PM: Mommy & Iv.


Izzie and I had left for a nap around 11:00 or so, and when we got back it was time for Iv's first bath. Here he is waiting for the nurse.


3:45 PM: The first bath begins. He wasn't happy about the scrubbing part, but he did enjoy the bath part.



Here's Izzie & Grandma Shirley looking on.


3:52 PM: Here's Iv doing what he does best; sleeping under the heat lamp.


That's it for today. Grandpa Joe, Grandma Tonia, Uncle D and the Aunties came over to see the new addition today. They hung out at the hospital for a while with us. We also had some friends stop by. Then I headed to the house with all of our family and we ate dinner while Lynnell and Iv got some sleep back at the hospital. After dinner I came back to the hospital, and here we are.

It was quite a wonderful day. Babies are precious, and this only reminds me of how great parenthood is and how special life is.

Happy Birthday Iv. Daddy loves you, and I'm glad you're here with us now.