It's a boy!

Harper Gregory Burke Gunnell was born on Wednesday, August 20th at 4:43 p.m. We are absolutely in love with our sweet, perfect, miraculous son.

We went arrived to the hospital at about 2:00 p.m. in preparation for our 4:00 p.m. scheduled surgery. Needless to say, we were filled with such excitement! The surgery went really well. We had a GREAT operating team in there with us. They treated us with dignity, respect, and gentle care. They had a tough time putting in the spinal block, and missed a few times (ouch), and I became nauseated when my BP dropped, but other than that, it was smooth sailing! Jeff never had to leave my side for a moment, which was a big source of strength for me.

Everyone in the operating room talked us through the progressive steps of the procedure, and before we knew it, he was born! Our doctor said "Would you like to see the sex of your child?" Jeff peeked across the curtain when they announced... "IT'S A BOY!" We cried, of course. This moment was worth the (almost) nine months of waiting to find out the gender. But - what truly made us sob with joy, was the moment they brought him to the warming table to get cleaned up on our side of the curtain. Oh my goodness...

Could that really be our baby? Could he really be that perfect... that beautiful... that healthy? Yes, he could - and he was. He delivered at 8 pounds 6.6 ounces and 20 inches. The best part (that still makes Jeff and I weepy), is that he was born without flaw. Not only was he picture-perfect beautiful, but he was born without the birth defects he was at risk for. Sure, we could have spent a TON of money on optional prenatal chromosomal testing to find out, but we knew that we would love our little sprout no matter what - so had decided not to do the testing. Even with this decision, it was still an intense relief when he came out so perfect. And seriously, we have received so many comments on his beauty and temperament... so we know it isn't just our biased point of view speaking when we say that he is the most beautiful baby ever.

So at almost 3 weeks early, 8 lbs 6 oz is still considered big, but not gigantic. Of course, if he had been born at 40 weeks, we'd be looking at about a 10 or so pound baby! We're still quite happy with our decision to do c-section instead of the drug-free natural birth that we had originally planned. Also, his cord was oddly wrapped around his shoulder and chest, so that could have led to an even trickier vaginal birth. So, everything happened exactly as it should have.

We spent 3 days at the hospital. I can give more updates, but its probably about feeding time (though I'm going to be sad to awaken Jeff and Harper since they're cuddling while they doze). Harper likely has jaundice, so we have to go in for a follow-up blood test on Sunday (which I guess is technically today). They let us go home because he's only testing at borderline, but we need to take all the regular precautions anyway. He is looking pretty yellow, so we're trying to get him into the sun. If they have to, they'll set up in-home phototherapy. We'll let you all know the results of the tests when we get them back.

Thank you all for your kind words and great gifts. I'm on the road to recovery from surgery (I'm still really sore, but am moving around and getting better), and our happy little family is getting acquainted with one another. Look forward to more pictures!

S