Blood, Guts & Nolan Daniel

Nolan Daniel Baker made his official debut this afternoon, March 25th, at 7 lbs. 13 oz. and 20 inches long. Here are pics of our sweet new nephew and his proud parents, Katie and Troy.

If you were to ask me what time Nolan arrived, I could tell you he came into this world a little after noon. Don't expect anything more specific, because I was still rapidly snapping pictures of that wriggling ball of cute and ogling as they stapled my sister's stomach shut. Yes, that's right, I was in the room during Katie's C-section. And they actually used real staples, along with a real "human-ized" staple gun, to seal her incision.

Although we've known for months that we'd be coming to Nebraska for Nolan's birth, I never had any idea that I would ask Katie at the last minute if I could go into the room during her surgery. She was all for it, as was Troy, and the doctor quickly agreed to let me join the party. I have never witnessed anything so amazing in all my life (just to cover myself, I am not counting things I experienced myself, such as the birth of my own daughter). As they made the first incision, I was standing up by Katie's head and could not see anything the doctor was doing. I slowly eased my way past the sheet they were using to block her view, and wound up down at Katie's feet for a completely unobstructed view of the entire operation. I watched as they cut through her outer stomach, then her muscles, then her uterus, and then the amniotic sac (I could be missing a layer or two here). I never became ill, but I did sympathetically grab my own stomach at one point when the incision wasn't big enough in her muscle wall and they grabbed onto the sides, ripping it the rest of the way open. It was incredible to watch as they made the puncture in the amniotic sac, and after the fluid spilled out, this tiny dark head came into view. Then suddenly, they were pulling Nolan's head out of Katie's stomach. Astonishing, extraordinary, remarkable, GOD. How can anyone believe otherwise??!

Sophie and Delaney have had fun together. Here is a pic of them watching a Baby Einstein DVD together. Such sweet girls. I also included a pic of Sophie with Katie (and Nolan) last night, while Nolan was still nestled snug-as-a-bug in his Mommy.